What would be your criteria for making a 51st State?

Funny how this topic keeps coming back.

I think to be a state, you need some regional identity that justifies making you cohesive within that border and distinct from communities beyond that border. And secondly, you need to be significant enough to justify holding a place in the Senate.

With those criteria, Puerto Rico is the obvious next candidate. IMO, continuing the status quo isn't really acceptable with PR. I want them to either be independent or be a state.

The other islands might have their own regional identity but they're too insignificant to allow them to dilute my representation in the Senate. So, no statehood for Guam, Virgin Islands, etc. They aren't big enough to be their own countries either. So they can stay territories or latch on to someone else.

Greenland, like the other territories, is too unpopulated to justify diluting my representation. And, if it should be changing hands at all, it should be Canadian, not American. Most of the people there are Inuit.

DC might have more people than Wyoming, but there is a Constitutional carveout for the District. You could shrink it, but the ceded area is culturally indistinguishable from Maryland and Virginia. So, no statehood for them but they can join an existing state.

Some existing states could theoretically split, though I don't see it ever happening. I think northern and southern California are distinct enough to rationalize two states. I think Texas is a little more complicated because there is a cultural distinction between east and west, but West Texas would have a hard time going it alone. Also by this logic, there are probably some tiny northeastern states that should be fused together because they are too small and culturally indistinct to justify having their own Senators. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware -- should they really be states unto themselves? I wouldn't say the same about Wyoming. Yeah, not many people, but regionally distinct and its big so it could potentially have many people in the future.

So, tldr, Puerto Rico yes; everyone else, no.

 

I prefer Southern Oklahoma.

 

Yeah, 'southern salient' of OK is OK.

 

Make all of the Pacific Islands one state (Hawaii). Throw the Virgin Islands in with PR. Done. Truthfully I don't really want any of the non-CONUS to be a part of the US. I get why we wanted them, but they don't really feel like part of the US.

The key is the population of the territory and the existing US, both want the other to become a state.

 

This should be the driving principle.

The Rs will never go for expanded representation, unless it explicitly gives them more power (since the Rs are not principles driven).

All territories should have voting representation in the US House, including American Samoa (whose citizens have to explicitly apply for US citizenship rights rn). That would give all US citizens and "non-citizen nationals" of American Samoa representation in the US House. A Constitutional Amendment is likely required to get this done.

The Senate is a different beast. The Senate origins lie with the slave holder states, when the US Constitution was written. Many of the states added were for explicitly partisan reasons. North and South Dakota, anyone? The last two states added, Hawaii (blue) and Alaska (red), were done to in a fashion to balance political power, versus a principled reason. Puerto Rico will likely only become a state if a red state can added at the same time

The current structure of the Senate prevents Californians from having equal representation in the Senate. Changing that would take another unlikely Constitutional Amendment.

 

This is a really good post. If you don’t see the R downward slide into more and more cheating and voter suppression due to the national shift to the ‘left’ you aren’t paying attention.

However, Latinos are shifting more and more to voting R. Not sure what the political climate is in PR but there’s probably a strong subset of conservatism there. Not enough to entice the Rs to allow it to become a state, but I think people would be surprised.

DC being a state would be a landslide D state, instantly.

 

Spare us the sanctimony.

Democrats would not be in favor of making PR or D.C. a state if they were conservative places or would increase Republican power in Congress.

Naturally, Republicans are not going to vote against their political self interest and hand democrats more senators and representatives.

 

, run that by me again, elaborate more

NoCal and SoCal are culturally indistinguishable, no?

there is a better chance of Calif (the 4th largest economy in the world) secession !

​

 

I am sure that both parties would behave badly if given the chance.

One would be naive to believe otherwise but some issues like voter enfranchisement should be beyond partisanship. Likely a Constitutional Amendment and a nonpartisan SCOTUS would be required to fix this.

 

I annexed your mom's a$$ last night.

 

If socal had enough water, splliting the state up in halves or thirds would be best.

State government is too entrenched and bloated to do anything remotely necessary to fix or reform problems started 2 decades ago.

 

Yet you only mention and rebuke the Rs in your post.

Don't act like if the Democrats thought PR would add two for sure Republican senators they wouldn't oppose PR statehood. That Democrats are "more principled" as you put it. That they would make that political sacrifice in the name of enfranchisement. What a laughable notion.

Adding states is an inherently political consideration. Always has been.

No party is going to voluntarily slight themselves, Democrats or Republicans.

 

Dems need at the minimum a balanced or tilted left Supreme Court, overturn Citizens' United, outlaw gerrymandering, and unicorns to fly through the sky. Maybe then things will start to favor the middle/working class vs the large corps/wealthy. In this new year one can always dream of true democracy being revived...

 

First post, yes. Second post, no.

Which party wanted to bypass the 2020 election and just anoint Trump as God Emperor? The Rs appear to not even want to live in a constitutional democracy anymore. FTW.

Again both parties behave badly; it is just that the Rs appear to be exploring a new low.

 

Democrats have to fall in love, Republicans fall in line...

 

5th. California needs more face/neck tattoos and heroin needles. Apropos homeless tho.

 

Cool, what are you 15?

 

Funnily enough I have floated annexing Mexico and Canada for years.

DD