DC is virtually a colony. A high portion of the most valuable land is occupied by the federal gov and thus not part of the city's tax base, the sole representative has no vote (and there are no Senators at all) and Congress can directly interfere with the city's legislative system, adding or killing measures pretty much at will. (For instance: the District voted on allowing needle exchange programs some years ago. Congress put out a measure barring the District from using any federal or local funds to count the ballots. Into the black hole they went.)
Puerto Rico, Guam et all also have non-voting Reps and no Senators; but they also pay no federal taxes. District residents get the double whammy.
No hangover this morning for me, just a need for more sleep.
~ma for askye
smonster, the nowdothis site is so rocking. I use it when I need something else to focus for me because I can't. Thanks for the recommending it!
Oh, yay, I'm so glad! I use it every single day, seriously. It's amazing what showing one task at a time in large font can do. Plus the feeling of accomplishment when one clicks "done."
smonster, the nowdothis site is so rocking. I use it when I need something else to focus for me because I can't. Thanks for the recommending it!
Oh yes, I use it all the time too! I have it open in toolbar form on the left of my browser (and I've just noticed I can tick off a list item. Hurrah). I have such trouble concentrating on one thing at a time that it's a huge help.
The basic reasoning behind DC not having representation is that representation is apportioned by state, and DC is not in any state. (The land it's on used to be part of Maryland, and Maryland and Virginia kept having disputes about who had fishing rights in the river, so the federal government took some of the land on each side of the river and said "This is where our capital will be, and it's not in any state." After a little while, Virginia somehow took back their part of it, which is why DC is bordered by straight lines most of the way around and then by the squiggly river.)
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics had a fantastic episode about a month ago that dealt with the issue of DC's representation in Congress. The main political problem with giving DC statehood is that it would add 2 Democratic Senate seats more or less by default, which obviously would make it hard to get bipartisan support for. (One solution that's been tossed around is to grant DC statehood, but also split California into two states on the assumption that South California would probably elect Republican senators and keep the current balance intact.)
Another solution I've heard would be to incorporate most of DC into Maryland, and to keep just a small area around the Mall as the district proper.
Yeah, Ward 3's been trying to defect for years now - MD doesn't want it.
Please tell me I'm not the only murrican who ends up with a bit of the Queen's English in the mouth after watching QI segments. It wasn't so hard to talk like myself after the Fry & Laurie bits but this just creeps in and makes me annoying.
ETA: For values of annoying that equal "bad accent which is not one's own".
Please tell me I'm not the only murrican who ends up with a bit of the Queen's English in the mouth after watching QI segments.
Heh. I wouldn't know - but it's funny imagining you guys watching QI and talking like Stephen Fry.
