Puerto Ricans Say No

Well, the U.S. didn’t want it either. In a national referendum Sunday, pro-statehood Puerto Rican governor Pedro Rossello gave the island’s voters two ways to get closer to becoming the 51st U.S. state -- and 50.2 of them chose "none of the above." Statehood has now been rejected in three votes in less than 30 years, and yet somehow Rossello managed to claim victory, using an argument that politicians normally steer clear of: Voters don’t hate statehood, they just hate him.

Undeterred, Rossello announced that he would be taking the results to the U.S. Congress, where, as we know, the will of the people doesn’t carry the weight it once did. But Puerto Rican statehood is one thing that the Republican Congress eschews: Only a third of Puerto Ricans speak English well, and the island's per capita income is about $8,100, less than one third the U.S. average. Frankly, they sound a lot like Democrats.