District of Columbia Statehood and Voting Rights

[Ebowed]

Does the District of Columbia deserve statehood (and therefore voting rights)?  I say yes, they need their own Senators and Representative if they're going to pay taxes.

[Peter]

Does the District of Columbia deserve statehood (and therefore voting rights)?  I say yes, they need their own Senators and Representative if they're going to pay taxes.

Arguably it would require the consent of every State in the Union to give DC Senators thanks to Article V: "[A]nd that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate", but only a standard constituitonal amendment to give them Representatives in the House.

I would give them Representatives and their full voting rights in the EC.

[Jake]

Cut out the government district, or as much as possible, and stick the rest with Maryland. Maryland gets an extra liberal Rep and the DC problem is gone.

[A18]

I agree with Jake. Carve out the federal government areas, and give the rest to Maryland.

The new city can be called Columbia. Same thing was done with Arlington and Virginia.

[Frodo]

unbelievable, i actually agree with Jake and A18 on this...

merge all the residential and commercial areas of the DC with Maryland, in either adjacent county, be it Montgomery or Prince George's.  the immediate area around the National Mall (the area that contains all the official government buildings connected to the federal government) should be an entity unto itself, a kind of secular Vatican City.   

[Rob]

I think it should be merged with Maryland, realistically.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Only realistic option: Make DC a state.

I would support an amendment to give it 4 senators for the same length of time it was deprived of the 2 senators it should have had.

[Lunar]

Combine with Maryland.  There is no need for the federal government to own the area its buildings are on and there is no need for an arbitrary state in the middle of Maryland.

[Ebowed]

Combine with Maryland.  There is no need for the federal government to own the area its buildings are on and there is no need for an arbitrary state in the middle of Maryland.

It's not in the middle of Maryland; it's between Virginia and Maryland, so there wouldn't be any weird business with states inside states.

[A18]

Combine with Maryland.  There is no need for the federal government to own the area its buildings are on and there is no need for an arbitrary state in the middle of Maryland.

It's not in the middle of Maryland; it's between Virginia and Maryland, so there wouldn't be any weird business with states inside states.

It's also in the middle of Maryland, though Maryland does not surround it on all sides.

There would be weird business with making a CITY a state, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Why don't we make my county a state?

[A18]

There is no need for the federal government to own the area its buildings are on

Of course there is. Maryland shouldn't have that kind of influence.

[Lunar]

There is no need for the federal government to own the area its buildings are on

Of course there is. Maryland shouldn't have that kind of influence.

The influence to have apartment buildings in the surrounding area be under its jurisdiction?

Maryland wouldn't have any influence over the actual affairs.

[Akno21]

Put it in Virginia, I don't care how bad it looks.

[Alcon]

Put it in Virginia, I don't care how bad it looks.

Virginia already contains a Washington. This would be rather confusing.

[Akno21]

Put it in Virginia, I don't care how bad it looks.

Virginia already contains a Washington. This would be rather confusing.

Yeah, but the 13 EV's make it all better. Even if we don't get them, the GOP would have to fight for them.

[angus]

go all the way:  option 1.  There are no other fair alternatives, since even the last one puts our nation's capital within the borders of one of the states.  It's time we put the rights of the people of the district ahead of the interests of our party.

[Cashcow]

go all the way:  option 1.  There are no other fair alternatives, since even the last one puts our nation's capital within the borders of one of the states.  It's time we put the rights of the people of the district ahead of the interests of our party.

Why are you a Republican again?

Oh, and let's give the residential areas to Utah.

[A18]

Akno, shut the hell up and quit being an idiot. What remains of DC was taken from Maryland.

Angus, the residential and commercial areas would be given to Maryland. The federal government's buildings themselves would be in the "District of the Capital"  (in case anyone's to used to calling it DC ) or whatever.

What about the rights Virginia Beach to have two senators? Give me a break. It's a CITY for crying out loud.

How does the last option violate anyone's rights?

[A18]

There is no need for the federal government to own the area its buildings are on

Of course there is. Maryland shouldn't have that kind of influence.

The influence to have apartment buildings in the surrounding area be under its jurisdiction?

Maryland wouldn't have any influence over the actual affairs.

I just checked the Constitution, and you're correct. Any place purchased by Congress in any particular state -- with the consent of the legislature -- is subject to the exclusive legislation of the federal government.

[A18]

Oh, and let's give the residential areas to Utah.

Yeah. We all know what remains of DC was taken from Utah...

[angus]

go all the way:  option 1.  There are no other fair alternatives, since even the last one puts our nation's capital within the borders of one of the states.  It's time we put the rights of the people of the district ahead of the interests of our party.

Why are you a Republican again?

Oh, and let's give the residential areas to Utah.

ouch.  okay, whatever I did to deserve that must have been pretty bad, so I'm sorry for whatever.  Okay, how about, "it's time you secretive controlling bastards stop putting your partisan interests ahead of the rights of the decent hard-working people of DC."

that better?

[WMS]

Cut out the government district, or as much as possible, and stick the rest with Maryland. Maryland gets an extra liberal Rep and the DC problem is gone.

Exactly. I've said this months before, but since issues never die, just recycle, I'll say it again.

[nclib]

D.C. definitely needs representation. I voted Option 2.

[WalterMitty]

the race issue is a bigger factor than the party issue.

a lot of people, dems and reps alike, would be reluctant to have a majority-minority state.

sad but true.

[WMS]

the race issue is a bigger factor than the party issue.

a lot of people, dems and reps alike, would be reluctant to have a majority-minority state.

sad but true.

*snorts* I'm IN one already. Hawaii also counts. Give all the people to Maryland, since it is simply too small in population and area to be a separate state.