DC vote advocates pressure Senate
The Washington Post reports in “11th Hour Pressure Applied on DC Vote” that DC advocates are putting pressure on the Senate to pass a measure to allow consideration for a vote giving DC a voting member of Congress;
Facing a critical Senate vote today, supporters and opponents of the D.C. voting rights bill made impassioned speeches and lobbied on Capitol Hill in a last-minute push on the District’s efforts to get its first full member of Congress.
The motion coming up on the Senate floor would merely clear the way for lawmakers to consider the bill. But if supporters fail to get the necessary 60 votes, the legislation will probably be doomed for this year, according to senators and staff.
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Both sides expect a close vote. So, in an eleventh-hour offensive yesterday, advocacy groups launched a nationwide call-in campaign to senators’ offices. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), meanwhile, joined the District’s nonvoting House delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), at a rally in which they recalled the Senate’s notorious history of filibustering civil rights legislation.“Not since segregation has the Senate blocked a voting rights bill. And this is a voting rights bill,” Fenty declared outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Behind him, about 60 activists waved signs reading “I Demand the Vote.”
Now, personally, I think everyone should have representation in Congress – every single human. If residents of DC are really so upset that they don’t have a voting representative, they should move – it’s only ten miles from Maryland to Virginia across the District, so no DC resident is moving too far to get the vote they covet, if they really wanted to vote.
It’s not like Congress just up and changed the rules recently – it’s always been like that. There’s no one in DC who had their voting rights taken away – well, except maybe Eleanor Holmes Norton – she might have been living here when the Constitution was written.
Why am I against DC having a voting member in Congress? Well, DC voters are morons, for one thing. They’ve elected a cracksmoking whoremonger to the Mayor’s Office after he was released from prison and then voted for him to sit on the City Council while he’s being investigated for tax evasion. When the District elected a straw Senator a few years ago, who’d they elect? Jesse Jackson, an Illinois resident who has never claimed residence in the District.
The previous mayor was found to have hired people who falsified his filing documents for reelection and was denied entry into the election on the Democrat ticket – he ran as an independent and won anyway – despite his record of surrounding himself with known criminals and incompetent numbskulls.
My opinion has nothing to do with the District’s political leanings – Utah would balance that out -it has to do with their electoral boobery. Why should the rest of the country suffer DC’s fools gladly. Aren’t Jim Moran and Chris Van Hollen enough?
I’ve said this elsewhere, but I have long thought the only fair compromise under the circumstances is to remove DC’s federal tax burden. Puerto Rico doesn’t have representation in Congress, but then Puerto Ricans don’t have to pay federal taxes. Why should we? If the Houses of Congress are opposed to allowing us our vote then at least they should cease their hypocrisy. Stop demanding federal taxes of the citizenry. No taxation without representation – those words should mean something.
Jonn wrote: Thanks for your comment, bcc, however I must disagree. Since the District is mostly funded with Federal tax dollars, residents should pay their share, otherwise it’d become a tax haven for everyone that can open a PO box. No, you and I both know that there is a choice for residents if representation in Congress was the real issue – they could move two or three miles in any direction and have that representation. This is a ploy by Democrats to get two more Senators eventually and nothing more.  Like I said, everyone who currently lives in the District knew the situation before they decided to take up residence there. No one had their representation taken away – they voluntarily surrendered that representation. I know lyrical phrases are attractive, but that particular one is worn out. When I had DC plates on my car, I bought a frame to cover up that ill-conceived platitude because it embarrassed me to be associated with a government that thought itself activist more than a servant of the people. Once again, thank you for your comment and I hope you come back often.
John, I’m as much of a cynic as you are about DC voters, but that’s why I’m not troubled by the thought of DC becoming a tax haven. Establishing state residency is a little more complicated than simply opening a PO Box (otherwise, why wouldn’t everyone in “Taxachusetts” declare themselves residents of New Hampshire?) and the prospect of an influx of wealthy individuals to the District doesn’t trouble me in the slightest. Aside from adding more money to the city’s coffers, the more important contribution would be voters who are fiscally responsible. Tell me DC couldn’t use that! With enough such newcomers, the whole issue of 2 more guaranteed blue-state Senators effectively vanishes.
Not that any of this would possibly occur before I pack up the family and move to Virginia of course…
Jonn wrote: Well a lot of corporations would suddenly headquarter themselves here – not that it’s a bad thing, but that’s excuse enough for Congress to avoid creating a tax haven here. Congress is addicted to that corporate revenue. I wouldn’t hold my breath, either, if I were you.