Puerto Rico and D.C.

Puerto Rico has voted more than once to become a state. It’s long past time for that. It has more than three million people on an island that is constantly being messed up by direct congressional control. The people there are citizens, and it’s past time that PR becomes a state to join the rest.

Washington, DC, has less than a million people and it’s in a corner of Maryland, not separate as is Puerto Rico. One of the reasons for congressional incompetence is there are too many small states with inordinate power slowing down action.

There’s no excuse for DC becoming a state. It should become a city in Maryland. The federal district should be shrunk to the Capitol, the Mall and the government buildings close together. There should only be two families living in the federal reserve: those of the president and vice president.

PR and DC are two different scenarios and should not be viewed as twins. The US citizens in both places deserve better representation, but that should happen in different ways. Puerto Rico should be a state, the District of Columbia should be a city in Maryland.

David Teich

Spokane Valley