Representation without Taxation
Tuesday, 30 January 2007 by Jacob TomawLast week the 110th HoR passed HRes 78. HRes 78 overturns the constitution and allows non-States to have votes for all matters but final passage of bills.
George Will has a good article on this issue, but I will summarize. American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands elect people Delegates to the House. These Delegates represent the interests of our Territories and Protectorates. However, as these areas are not States and only Representatives from States have the right to vote in the House. That was until 1993 when Democrats first notices that all the Delegates are Democrats and the House voted to give them voting rights In 1994, Republicans took the House and repealed the act. Now the Democrats have done it again.
We should be up in arms about the House trying to change the constitution via Resolution. If these territories should have a vote, and I think they should, there is a very simple solution. It has happened 37 times in the last 218 years. They should seek Statehood! Why don’t they seek statehood? The answer to most questions is always follow the money. The Right of voting used to come with the Responsibility of paying taxes.
Posted in Activism, politics
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February 21st, 2007 at 11:45
My city, Washington, D.C., has been seeking statehood for decades. Sure, we’re small (1/20th the size of Rhode Island!), but we have have more residents than Wyoming, and we pay our taxes.
George Will knows all of this, of course. But he ignores it because it doesn’t support his argument. That’s disingenuous and misleading, and he knows it.
February 21st, 2007 at 15:10
I don’t see how the District of Columbia’s status would change Mr. Will’s (or my) argument. The constitutiion says only states have a vote in congress. It does not say areas where people pay Federal income tax have representation.
I don’t think the taxation without representation ought to be an issue for Washingtonians because taxes ought not be collected in the amount or method that they are today. I also don’t think there should be Washingtonians.
I do not any one state to have special sway over the Federal capital. The best way to do this is to have a federal district separate from all the states. However I don’t think people should live there. If people did not live there, there would not be a need for representation. DC is currently too large to fit this bill. Much of it should be returned to Maryland.
I would be interested to read anything the founders had to say about the nature of the Federal Capital. Please pass along any suggestions.
February 22nd, 2007 at 0:13
Jacob-
Yes, paying taxes doesn’t automatically get you representation (we learned that from the British!).
The problem with George Will’s argument is that he cherry picks. He notes that Puerto Rico has not voted for statehood. He notes that Samoa does not pay federal taxes. It outrages him that Puerto Rico would have the vote of a state, or that Samoa would weigh in on disbursing federal taxes.
But since he’s raised those points rhetorically as apparent issues, let’s look at DC. DC does pay federal taxes. DC has voted for statehood. He doesn’t note this because it’d complicate the argument he’s making. But the situation really is complicated! That’s why rational people can have different opinions as to how to solve it.
You note: “I don’t think the taxation without representation ought to be an issue for Washingtonians because taxes ought not be collected in the amount or method that they are today.” Okay, but they are so it is. If you’re not happy about your taxes now, imagine how you’d feel if you weren’t allowed a voice in your government or in the spending of those taxes.
You say: “I also don’t think there should be Washingtonians.” Yeah, I’m not sure what to say to this. My family has lived in DC since the 19th century, so I guess you could say we’re still skeptical about whether there should be an Illinois.
But seriously, should Samoa get the vote? Nah. But DC should. There are four possible objections as to why it hasn’t:
1) It’s too small.
But not in population. It outpopulates Wyoming and is within spitting distance of three more states. And Rhode Island could make fun of someone else for a change.
2) It would unduly influence Congress to be located inside a real state.
A more reasonable objection. But consider: there are 65 lobbyists for every member of congress. That’s right - there are 34,750 registered lobbyists. They’re the folks that unduly influence congress, and they don’t represent equal voting rights for DC. I’d like to read a George Will column about that. Anyhow, it’s hard to see how putting most of DC into Maryland would change those residents’ geographical proximity to the Capitol building. The possibility of DC unduly influencing Congress seems a bit anachronistic anyway, what with jetplanes and the internet and all. Congressmen can be home every weekend, and I don’t exactly rub shoulders with the president shopping at Safeway.
3) It’s full of black people.
BS - not a real objection to DC statehood that anybody would make, though racism is a charge made by some statehood advocates.
4) It always votes democrat.
The real reason it hasn’t happened, and won’t happen anytime soon. Republicans will never let it happen, because DC always always always votes democratic. If DC Democrats nominated a block of cheese for senator, it’d win in the general election, as long as nobody ate it at the victory party. Giving DC 3 representatives and 2 senators would be giving them to the democrats. George Will knows this too. And so he cloaks his (conservative Republican) objections to the idea of three reps and two senators from democratic DC as principled objections rather than as partisan politics - while at the same time accusing the democrats of being partisan. Meanwhile 580,000 Americans pay taxes, serve in wars, and read smug George Will articles about why they shouldn’t have a voice in their own government.
P.S.> like the blog