"Taxation without Representation"

November 6, 2000 10:57 AM

"Taxation without Representation" - The new DC license plates are giving the people a way to express the fact they pay federal taxes, but have no voice in Congress
posted by john (6 comments total)

Here's a suggestion for DC residents: if you want a voice in Congress, move. Here's a suggestion for Congress: make DC a federal tax-free zone, and watch all the millionaires move there.

My old DC plate used to say "A Capital City," which looked really stupid, considering DC had a reasonable claim to being the capital city.
posted by lileks at 12:20 PM on November 6, 2000

If you don't like it, move. That is not a real solution. I don't see what is wrong with them having a voice in government. Though 2 senators seems lke a bit much for a city.
posted by john at 12:30 PM on November 6, 2000

It's a city, a Federal enclave, not a state. They could give it to Maryland or VA, but neither one wants the botheration. DC is screwed in a variety of ways that plague big cities, but it has one unique disadvantage: huge amounts of land are off the tax rolls. Until Congress pays more than it does for assistance, the city will have to tax the locals at ridiculous rates.

Giving DC Congressmen and Senators wouldn't change a thing.
posted by lileks at 12:55 PM on November 6, 2000

Hey! We have 600,000 people here, on par with North Dakota, Alaska, and Wyoming (maybe some others--I just looked up some of those sparsely-populated wastelands that no one in their right minds would live in). Why should I have to move to have a voice in the federal government?
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:04 PM on November 6, 2000

Yeah, take away a senator from each of those states and give them to DC, why doncha. If that seems unfair, well, Alexandria could always rejoin the district to help balance things out, in more ways than one.

That's the rub, though. To give DC representation would necessarily take away from somebody else, even if you drop out of the equation the whole three-guaranteed-Democrats thing.
posted by dhartung at 1:19 PM on November 6, 2000

Having lived in both NoDak and DC, trust me: the percentage of people "in their right mind" was much higher in the former.

Statehood was always a sham, a means for some local pols to strut on a larger stage. Wouldn't have done a damn thing for DC. I repeat: more money from Congress, and make it a tax-free zone. And now that I'm repeating myself, I'll shut up about it.
posted by lileks at 2:02 PM on November 6, 2000