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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Puerto Rico's pointless primary proves GOP inconsistencies

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard about Puerto Rico. Wait, I can’t remember when I’ve ever heard Puerto Rico mentioned during either parties’ primaries.

So why all the hype about the primary results of a U.S. commonwealth? There shouldn’t be. It is trivial.

As a territory of the United States, Puerto Ricans can vote in the primaries but are unable to vote for the actual president. That hasn’t stopped Mitt Romney from trying to make last Sunday’s primary look like his key to the White House.

CNN quoted Romney saying, “Those people who don’t think that Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look in Puerto Rico. Hispanic voters are going to vote for Republicans if we stand for something.”

Funny how an island that doesn’t have to pay federal income tax represents Latinos in the 50 states.

It’s also funny how the Republican Party is trying to gain support from Puerto Rico with a “low-tax” message. One thing Puerto Rico did was shed some light on a few of the candidates’ backward thinking.

Rick Santorum was almost run off the island when he said that Puerto Rico’s principal language needed to be English before it could be admitted to statehood. 

Romney, on the other hand, is showing off his “I can say conflicting things and get away with it” skills, much like President Obama did when talking to Alabama and Florida about offshore drilling when he ran.

The day after Santorum said what he did, Romney’s spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said Romney “would not, as a prerequisite for statehood, require that the people of Puerto Rico cease using Spanish.”

Notice the discrepancy? They’re saying the same thing as Santorum, only Romney’s camp is saying it in a roundabout way.

In January, Romney said at a CNN debate, “English should be the nation’s official language,” which would make it a prerequisite for any entity seeking statehood.

The only problem is that the majority of Puerto Ricans don’t want to be the 51st state.

A bill in 2010 to require a vote for statehood to be brought to Puerto Ricans took a bipartisan slam.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said these referendums would allow 2.5 million Puerto Ricans living in a U.S. state to cast their votes, which is absurd.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, called the bill and referendums a means to “impose” statehood on people who “have repeatedly rejected the idea.”

Not listening to constituents is nothing new, which needs to change, but making English the official language of the U.S.? Hogwash.

¡Viva la ensalada mixta americana!

­— nsobecki@indiana.edu

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