Puerto Rico Status

             One of the main issues in Puerto Rico today is the problem of status. Currently, Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth, or an organized incorporated territory. Under Commonwealth, it has control of its internal affairs, has its own constitution, flag, anthem, and elected governor. According to Senator of Puerto Rico Charles Rodriguez, "the reality is that this status, supported strongly by powerful American corporations who benefit from it financially, is that its simply another form of old fashioned colonialism." The three status options for Puerto Rico approved by Congress are independence, associated republic, and statehood. Puerto Ricans today face the problem of choosing the option out of these three that would be the best one for their country. I understand that the wisest decision Puerto Ricans can make is to vote for statehood since it would benefit greatly in almost every aspect of our lives.
             Becoming a state would give Puerto Rico the opportunity of improving its economic situation. Many people argue that if Puerto Rico becomes a state, we would have to pay Federal income taxes and therefore we would have to pay more money to the government than we do now. But what they don't know is that, since we don't pay Federal taxes, Congress is not very inclined to give financial aid for many of our local programs. Therefore, the Puerto Rican government has to come up with the money by itself. And how does the government come up with this money? By raising the local taxes, of course. So if Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States, it doesn't mean that there would have to be an increase on tax paying. "On the contrary, there wouldn't be much of a change at all"(Goachet). Other people state that the United States doesn't want us anyways since we would cost them much more than we give them. Well, did you know that Puerto Rico is the United States' sixth largest consumer a!
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