Puerto Rico Is Out Of Luck For At Least Two More Years

The House passed a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to hold a first-of-its-kind binding referendum on statehood or to gain some kind of independence:

The House voted on Thursday to allow Puerto Ricans to decide the political future of the territory, the first time the chamber has committed to backing a binding process that could pave the way for Puerto Rico to become the nation’s 51st state or an independent country.

The measure, which has the support of the White House, has little chance of becoming law in the short term. It is all but certain to fall short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster in the Senate, where most Republicans are opposed, and there is little time left under this Congress before the G.O.P. takes control of the House in early January, likely burying the effort for at least the next Congress.

But the bipartisan vote — the bill passed 233 to 191 — was a symbolic statement by the House that Puerto Rico’s status as a colonial territory was both untenable and unwanted by many of its voters.

And Republicans react with their usual flair, and totally not racist:

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