puerto rico: I understand that Puerto Rico would be able to vote and have to pay federal taxes, but are there any other benefits to Statehood besides voting?|||Puerto Ricans will become real US citizens and they will pay the taxes as Americans.|||Not in my opinion...the U.S.A. has the biggest prison rate of any other country. I know some people need to be locked up, but really too many in my humble opinion. read this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con鈥?/a>|||Puerto Ricans ARE real US citizens already. What they are not is US residents... unless they come to live in the US, of course. What would change if PR becomes a state?: Politics (e.g. the right to vote for a US president, government structure, US Constitution instead of ELA -or Puerto Rican- Constitution) Economy (Federal taxes, assignment and use of federal funds, Corporate regulations and taxation, wages, etc.) International relations, collective psychosocial state and some cultural characteristics will change, but I don't think that the average Puerto Rican will notice those changes the very next morning; it can take years of adjustment and trial-and error. I think most things will remain the same (e.g. the use of two languages-spanish and english-, food and lifestyle).