Imagine you lived in the most powerful city in the world. Imagine elected officials from all across the country came there to debate the nation’s future. Imagine you paid taxes and fought in wars. Now imagine that only you didn’t have an elected representative, or a say in how the country chooses its president.
By now, you obviously know I’m talking about Washington, DC, which since its inception has been disenfranchised. That could be changing, finally, and not a minute too soon. “The House of Representatives will vote on a bill to give the people of Washington, DC full representation in the People’s House by the end of the month,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced this week. “The people of the District have waited too long to have a voice in the House.”
This is an important first step. But, as Sam Schramski reported last summer, the real goal for DC residents is statehood, which the House bill does not address. The motto should be: “No Taxation without full Representation.”
UPDATE: Posters in the comments section are already saying that this is a ploy to get Dems an extra seat in the House. Not so. The bill would add another seat in the red state of Utah, enlarging the House to 437 members and offsetting a likely Dem in DC with a likely Republican in Utah.
