Compare and Contrast on Puerto Rico
Alex Muniz
1A 3/11
The first thing that comes to mind when a person hears Puerto Rico is "tropical paradise" (Mumford!). What most people don't know is that Puerto Rico is an under developed U.S. commonwealth, and that like most places, it has very unfortunate locations. I believe that Puerto Rico unlike the U.S. has a lot of advancements to make, and that it should become a state. The first thing that should change is the school system. A public school system in the U.S. is currently what a private school in Puerto Rico can offer. Another problem in Puerto Rico is facilities, most of the schools in Puerto Rico have a capacity of two hundred and fifty students, a fourth of what a Patterson Mill has. If Puerto Rico becomes a state the chances of it becoming a better education resource are extremely high. To me the most important thing that the U.S. would bring is variety. In the U.S. there so many more sports and extracurricular activities that Puerto Rico could adapt. It’s not true that Puerto Ricans pay no federal taxes. Residents of the island do not pay federal income taxes. But then, since the three federal income tax cuts of the last decade forty five percent of mainland Americans don’t pay federal income taxes, either. Puerto Ricans pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, which fund their federal retirement and health care benefits. Companies doing business in Puerto Rico are nearly exempt from federal corporate taxes. Statehood would cause companies there to pay corporate taxes. Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections. They can vote in presidential primaries, which are run by the parties, and have no senators or true members of the House of Representatives. If Puerto Rico became a state its residents would vote for president and command approximately the same number of electors as Oregon. The new state would have two senators and four to five representatives. Membership of the Senate would rise to one hundred and two, while the four
1A 3/11
The first thing that comes to mind when a person hears Puerto Rico is "tropical paradise" (Mumford!). What most people don't know is that Puerto Rico is an under developed U.S. commonwealth, and that like most places, it has very unfortunate locations. I believe that Puerto Rico unlike the U.S. has a lot of advancements to make, and that it should become a state. The first thing that should change is the school system. A public school system in the U.S. is currently what a private school in Puerto Rico can offer. Another problem in Puerto Rico is facilities, most of the schools in Puerto Rico have a capacity of two hundred and fifty students, a fourth of what a Patterson Mill has. If Puerto Rico becomes a state the chances of it becoming a better education resource are extremely high. To me the most important thing that the U.S. would bring is variety. In the U.S. there so many more sports and extracurricular activities that Puerto Rico could adapt. It’s not true that Puerto Ricans pay no federal taxes. Residents of the island do not pay federal income taxes. But then, since the three federal income tax cuts of the last decade forty five percent of mainland Americans don’t pay federal income taxes, either. Puerto Ricans pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, which fund their federal retirement and health care benefits. Companies doing business in Puerto Rico are nearly exempt from federal corporate taxes. Statehood would cause companies there to pay corporate taxes. Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections. They can vote in presidential primaries, which are run by the parties, and have no senators or true members of the House of Representatives. If Puerto Rico became a state its residents would vote for president and command approximately the same number of electors as Oregon. The new state would have two senators and four to five representatives. Membership of the Senate would rise to one hundred and two, while the four