Sunday, March 01, 2009

Taxation Without Representation

One of the first things I noticed when I moved to DC was my inability to vote for much of anything. To vote for anyone who matters on the national station. Congress was kind enough to let me vote for President as well as a non-voting member of Congress. Yup, my representation in the national legislation was one person who doesn't get to vote on anything. Oh yeah, and in return I still got to pay federal taxes. It's no wonder that "Taxation Without Representation" has been the shout out from DC residents for years now. Sadly many tourists who see that on our license plates have no clue. The few polls done on the topic show that most Americans don't realize that DC residents have fewer rights than they do.

But in return, I do get to live in a city where a brain-dead representative from No Place, Georgia, can create legislation that affects my day to day life as a resident of the city. Who wouldn't sign up for such a lovely situation! Can you imagine what would happen if this was offered to people outside DC? Hi citizens of Dallas, Texas, we're taking your US Representative and Senators away, and oh yeah, and by the way, the Representative from New York City gets to decide what laws you'll live by in Dallas.

With trepidation (will I jinx us?) I am watching legislation move along that will provide me with a delegate who can actually vote on national legislation. Wouldn't that be something.

1 Comments:

Blogger Karlo said...

It's beyond me why the people in DC should have no vote. Of course, I'm sure that conservatives may have noticed the fact that their presidential candidates have had a hard time beating Ralph Nader. I think the offer of partial representation along wtih the deal where Utah (the most Republican-leaning state) temporarily gets an extra delegate is a bit of a sell-out. If people are really adamant about DC not getting representation, we should shrink the city down to the land that the White House and Congress sit on and allow the remainder to join Maryland and Virginia.

3:48 PM  

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