bmags Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 5, 2016 -> 09:59 AM) I thought that there's overwhelming support in PR against independence? Statehood is always going to face a huge uphill battle because it'd be a guaranteed 2 more Senate seats for Democrats and several House seats as well at the expense of other states. There is, I also can't even remember if they voted for statehood. But the issues that arose after Obamacare (none of the funding was provided for territories though the penalties WERE implemented), and this with the bankruptcy, there just has to be a either a separate body to deal with it, or put it under the executive branch, sell it off, whatever is practical. But relying on congress to act swiftly in emergencies for places they have NO skin in the game for...I mean, Congress shuffled their feet to provide hurricane aid to new jersey...what's it going to do for Guam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I thought that there's overwhelming support in PR against independence? Statehood is always going to face a huge uphill battle because it'd be a guaranteed 2 more Senate seats for Democrats and several House seats as well at the expense of other states. There are enough people in PR who want to keep things the way they are that they can't get a majority to vote for independence or for statehood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 There was a referendum a couple of years ago. If I remember correctly, it was worded pretty poorly and didn't really give the full spectrum of options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 From Wikipedia Puerto Rican voters were asked two questions: (1) whether they agreed to continue with Puerto Rico's territorial status and (2) to indicate the political status they preferred from three possibilities: statehood, independence, or a sovereign nation in free association with the United States.[2] 970,910 (54.00%) voted "No" on the first question, expressing themselves against maintaining the current political status, and 828,077 (46.00%) voted "Yes", to maintain the current political status. Of those who answered on the second question 834,191 (61.11%) chose statehood, 454,768 (33.34%) chose free association, and 74,895 (5.55%) chose independence.[3][4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (lostfan @ May 5, 2016 -> 10:15 AM) Trump was talking about this and he kept talking about his business record (irrelevant obviously) and he says well, they have no choice but to declare bankruptcy. Yeah but that's the issue, they CAN'T declare bankruptcy, and he doesn't understand that, like he doesn't understand most things. He's actually leading the party who is blocking the effort to allow them to do so, on behalf of (surprise!) people who are in position to profit off Puerto Rico's debt. To be fair, there are bills out there to allow PR to essentially declare bankruptcy, being led by the US Tres Dept. While they can't now, it is definitely something that is on the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 5, 2016 -> 01:24 PM) To be fair, there are bills out there to allow PR to essentially declare bankruptcy, being led by the US Tres Dept. While they can't now, it is definitely something that is on the table. I think that's about the only way to help them dig themselves out of this mess. It would suck but right now they are just continuing to suffer needlessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanOfCorn Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (greg775 @ May 4, 2016 -> 10:08 PM) Of course. He just said what all the experts say when they don't want to discuss this ... Hillary is storming toward the nomination, can't be slowed down no matter what. He won't discuss what I want to discuss and want the talking heads on TV to discuss. Like Bernie says, the superdelegates had made up their minds long ago to go for Hillary. His campaign, which could have a ton of momentum if the media didn't scoff at him and continue paying homage to Hillary, could reasonably sway the superdelegates to switch to Bernie. Bernie makes some good points about stuff like that and adds that if the superdelegates switch we could have the biggest upset in the history of politics. The media USUALLY likes a good underdog story ... not here, lol. I just don't understand why the media refused to allow Bernie fever to catch on. You have to admit, only thing he's missing is media credibility and that won't come. For the life of me I can't understand it. None of you will comment on what I'm saying. You are just doing what they do on TV. Half listen to what a person like me says then scream above the fray, "IT DOESN"T MATTER; HILLARY IS WINNING THE NOMINATION SOON; NONE OF THAT MATTERS." p.s. I did read something the other day, I wish I remember where, that was bemoaning the lousy candidates. It simply called Hillary "a foul mouthed granny with no new ideas." I laughed at that one. Two things hurt Bernie this year. 1) Trump. He took up so much of the news cycle that when the media needed to cover the Dems, they picked the frontrunner. Which they should, honestly.... But, then they continued to do that, which they shouldn't. 2) Bernie doesn't like big business, media companies are big business. Choice to protect business over media time. That being said, I think Bernie has gotten plenty of secondary attention on social media, which is becoming a bigger factor in elections as the years roll on. This system isn't going to change in one election cycle, but Bernie has started the discussion with the younger voters and that will manifest itself in coming elections. That's all we can hope for right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 i.e. Goldwater lost huge in '64, Reagan lost the nomination in '76, but Reagan won in 80 and ushered in a generation of right wing governance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 How similar is the situation in PR to the situation Argentina has been going through for a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 5, 2016 -> 02:59 PM) How similar is the situation in PR to the situation Argentina has been going through for a while? Argentina's problems almost all stem back to commodity price collapses. Their economy was basically built on oil and minerals. Puerto Rico is a huge debt problem. I want to say they have something like $80 billion in debt, by themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Argentina's had a debt problem for over a decade, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_debt_restructuring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 5, 2016 -> 03:15 PM) Argentina's had a debt problem for over a decade, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_debt_restructuring They defaulted in 02, retrenched, recovered and were doing okay, did not really change much, inflation went crazy, they were then pressured by a hedge fund, defaulted again...etc Defaulting was probably the correct choice in 02, but rather than follow-up with similar reforms as Iceland, they basically did nothing different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 One effect this is having: Puerto Ricans leave in record numbers for mainland U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 This cracked me up, he makes twitter into an artform: Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/posts/...7008375200725:0 … 1:57 PM - 5 May 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonWeltall Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Dude's got the Hispanic vote IN THE BAG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) It is perfection. There are so many layers. Benny ✔ @bennyjohnson Donald Trump is eating a taco salad on top of a bikini-clad photo of his ex-wife, Marla Maples. Edited May 5, 2016 by StrangeSox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shysocks Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 @nathanfielder .@realDonaldTrump Any day is a great day for pho soup. I love Asians! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shysocks Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Danny O'Dwyer @dannyodwyer 2h2 hours ago @realDonaldTrump C'mon man, even your Mexican food has a wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 QUOTE (shysocks @ May 5, 2016 -> 04:04 PM) @nathanfielder .@realDonaldTrump Any day is a great day for pho soup. I love Asians! lol. best twitterer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Chris Matthews appearing to get away with saying "My God that is good" regarding Trump's wife. He was caught on tape. No reprimand yet from the network or dismissal? He's accused Trump of being sexist. Then this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 he was talking about the Trump Tower Grill taco bowl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 QUOTE (bmags @ May 5, 2016 -> 04:03 PM) sigh. It will only get better /worse from here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 trump floating the idea of defaulting on the national debt Reminder that the 2nd place GOP nominee and a sizeable minority of their House representatives are also totally on board with this "crash the world economy" plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 State chemist was high daily, thousands of drug prosecutions jeopardized "All told, she estimated that she was smoking crack ten to twelve times a day." A former Massachusetts drug-lab chemist was high on the job nearly every day for eight years, according to a report from the state's attorney general. The report said that the chemist, Sonja Farak, was under the influence of drugs like crack, meth, LSD, and ketamine as she testified in court in drug cases and while examining drug samples in a crime lab between 2004 and 2013. The report from AG Maura Healey also said the chemist cooked crack cocaine in a crime lab at night while working overtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts