It sure is interesting living in Washington D.C.
I’m not talking about the inauguration yesterday, which was spectacular by the way – but in general, you just can’t get away from politics here.
The latest issue that’s getting my goat is this idiotic push to make Washington DC the 51st state. The DC license plates proudly proclaim “Taxation without Representation” and there are posters all over the city pushing for DC statehood.
The underlying issue is the fact that DC has no representation in congress. Some residents feel that our voice isn’t heard because of this, so we shouldn’t be subject to federal income taxes.
HOGWASH, I say!
I got to vote in the presidential election. We get MORE than our fair share of government funding, with free museums, monuments that are managed by National Park rangers, and we benefit from just about every federally sponsored program you can imagine. And since there is no “state” government here, all the D.C. laws that are above the “city” level go through congress for approval. I don’t feel under-represented in the slightest. Quite the contrary, in fact.
There was a reason why the founding fathers wisely decided to make the District of Columbia a “neutral” area. As the nation’s capital, we have a responsibility to treat ALL the states equally. It works quite well, thank you very much.
And just think of the cost and extra overhead that it would add. The city bureaucracy is outlandish as it is. Can you imagine adding yet ANOTHER layer of useless politics on top of that? And changing the nation’s flag and all the textbooks – just to appease a few people that want to have SOMETHING to complain about? Frankly, it’s such a bad idea I can’t even imagine what these people are thinking.
District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty (who I have met, by the way – pleasant chap) is the latest politico taking charge of this proposal. Frankly, I think he just wants to secure his place in history. That’s not a good enough reason, in my book.
Let’s offer statehood to Puerto Rico. Let’s offer statehood to Guam. Heck, let’s let Québec succeed from Canada and we’ll offer statehood to the rest of the provinces. But the District of Columbia? NO WAY!