#6 - Puerto Rico

     The commentary posted by my classmate is in regards to Puerto Rico voting to become the 51st state of the U.S. This caught my attention because as he stated, the nation and the nation's media were so enthralled with the presidential election that they paid little to no attention that Puerto Rico was also voting to become the 51st state. The presidential election was pretty intense and everyone's focused was who was going to be our next president. This is a thought that crossed my mind the very next day when  the media finally put some attention on Puerto Rico. I was caught by surprise.
     I think that Mr. Nooning's intended audience is everyone that had no clue about Puerto Rico, and that is a pretty large part of the nation. Even though Puerto Rico has always juggled with the decision, it's never been such a big deal to the majority of Americans such as now when 61% of the territory voted to become a state. That is pretty big news and Nooning is using this opportunity to make the readers aware of the difficult decision that Congress has to soon make. Those that are concerned about the budget should have their ears perked because of the financial burdens that could possibly be brought on by Puerto Rico. Nooning claims that the U.S. would be assuming Puerto Rico's unemployment rates and the the additional funding that would have to be sent to island. Nooning also states that there is issue over the fact that the majority of Puerto Ricans speak spanish because of the anti-immigrant sentiments of some of the states. Political parties are also playing an issue. While many believe that Puerto Rico would be a blue state, it is difficult to say which way it will swing because of the political issues that they tend to focus on. Nooning favors Puerto Rico, but is still concerned with the commitments that the U.S. will be making if Congress decides to make the island a state.
     I agree that Congress has so much to consider; however, the U.S. has been in Puerto Rico for so many years that it is about time it is made a state. According to the U.S. council for Puerto Rico, they are more concerned over equality than anything else. They believe that many of the territory's problems are a direct result of the undefined relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico. I believe they are right because with out knowing where they stand, they have little chance of moving forward.