Puerto Rico owes close to $123 billion in total liabilities, according to The New York Times, including $73 billion in bonded indebtedness and $50 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. There is zero chance that the island of 3.5 million people can or will ever be able to pay those debts. That comes to over $35,000 per man, woman and child, living in Puerto Rico, where only 40% of working adults have a job.

What’s the solution?

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselo has a two step plan. First, make those debts disappear through bankruptcy and a bailout from American taxpayers. Second, bless the Caribbean welfare state with American statehood.

What is the root cause of Puerto Rico’s fiscal woes? Simply put, liberal policies.

The government promises lavish welfare benefits to its citizens. And absurd government spending on questionable projects has created a mountain of debt.

Adding to the problem are foolish policies imposed on Puerto Rico by Democrats in Congress over the last two decades, with little push back from cowardly establishment Republicans. These include the U.S. minimum wage, and the anti-competitive Jones Shipping Act that raises the cost of living for Puerto Rico without any offsetting benefits.

Citizens of Puerto Rico are given American citizenship. And over the last decade, there has been a massive population exodus from the island to the United States. Ten percent of Puerto Ricans have left for the mainland, further exacerbating their economy’s destruction.
As Investor’s Business Daily points out, a household of three in Puerto Rico can collect $1,743 a month in food stamps, Medicaid and other welfare goodies. Meanwhile, someone earning the minimum wage takes home $1,159. People are literally being paid not to work.

As the citizens of Puerto Rico continue to flood onto America’s shores, the implications for America’s electoral map become more clear. The culture of PR is steadfastly liberal, as are the voting records of the Puerto Ricans flooding into swing states like Florida.

Now Puerto Ricans are demanding full statehood. There is a vote this Sunday in Puerto Rico to determine the territory’s status. If statehood wins, as expected, the island will enact what’s known as the Tennessee Plan, where U.S. territories send a congressional delegation to demand to be seated in Washington.

If this were to happen, there would be two more far-left liberal Senators working to destroy America’s conservative values, and five more liberal Congressman from the island doing the same.

We cannot allow our current politicians to destroy our country by granting this financial basket-case full statehood.