Would you like statehood?

[CalebHayes]

Poll question: Would you like statehood?

.

[brainshrub]

1. I don't get it.

:shrug:

[Paradise]

2. Statehood for Washington, D.C.!!! Yes!!! n/t

[mb7588a]

3. No reason not to have statehood. NONE.

Though when we get control of both houses and the presidency, I have a good feeling some good people who actually like the constitution like Feingold, Lieberman etc. will push statehood through... at least equal representation in Congress...

[CalebHayes]

4. agreed

[bruce21040]

5. What do you hope to gain from State hood?

Just curious.

[Skinner]

6. Oh, nothing important...

...except for full voting representation in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

(I seem to remember the Founding Fathers having something to say about Taxation without Representation.)

[ronnykmarshall]

7. FREE DC!!

You should be a state. I've never understood this.

[primavera]

9. The background on this...

... is that at one point during the federal government's early stages, when it was housed in Philadelphia, riots in the streets threatened the capitol and the Pennsylvania state government did nothing to protect it. The event convinced the feds that they needed their own territory which was was beholden to no state for its security and operations.

The perceived need for an independent, self-sufficient home for the federal government is likely to keep DC statehood untenable. Nor am I sure that it's an entirely spurious justification for preserving the District as a federal zone. While I doubt that we live anymore in an age where the capitol requires independence for security reasons, its inclusion in any state would entail a lot of complications. Which is why I personally think that the most viable solution to the problem is not to try to make DC a state, but rather to scale back the District's territory to only that area which houses the federal government buildings and allow the rest of the city's residents to revert back to Maryland. That way, you'd eliminate a lot of the objections that Congress has to DC statehood. It would effectively accomplish the goal of restoring representation to DC residents, without all of the complications of creating a new state. DC could simply become a new congressional district in Maryland, it would be a whole lot easier.

And there would be solid legal grounds for advancing that cause. One of the strongest arguments DC statehood advocates have advanced in courts has been that, when the District was formed, Maryland residents, who previously had had representation, were summarily stripped of their voting representation without due process. The courts thus are uniformly in agreement that DC/formerly Maryland residents were done an unlawful injury; what they've balked at is the remedy to the acknowledged injury: the courts don't have the authority to create states, only Congress has that authority. By scaling back the District to its nonresidential, government areas and allowing everything else to revert back to Maryland, you'd simply be undoing a widely acknowledged historical injury, not trying to create new legal entities.

[mattclearing]

13. It would be nice to have Senators to write to...

eom

[LTR]

8. I for one would love DC statehood!

Two solid Dem seats in the Senate, 1-3 Dem reps in the House.

GOP will never let that happen, unfortunately.

[Wabbajack]

10. ANd they'd never let it go to Maryland either

cause Bob Erlich's ass would be gone.

I heard an idea of uniting DC with Montgomery and Prince Geroges counties in MAryland and Arlighton Virginia to form a new state.

But that would rob Virginia of Democratic county and Maryland would become a swing state.

[Virginian]

15. That would be a very densely populated state.

... and definitely Democratic.

It would be nice if the people of DC could make decisions for themselves instead of congressmen someone else elected having control.

It reminds me of the issue of medical marijuana. Congress couldn't keep it off the ballot since a legal petition had signatures to put it on the ballot. Congress ruled that the results couldn't be released for a while.

Does anyone remember the particulars about that election and issue?

The people of DC did not have anything to do with electing JFK. They couldn't even vote for President back then.

[Griffy]

18. forget that.. MD wouldnt give up its moneymaker county .. Montgomery!..

Same with VA.. these counties bring in huge amounts of tax revenue. DC should have statehood, or become part of MD,, MD would gain seats in the house.... but nothing will happen with these criminals in charge!

[DaveinMD]

11. retrosession

to Maryland may be the way to go. I'm in favor of statehood, but the Republicans will never let it happen.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. That may be the most workable solution

But it doesn't seem to be very popular with DCers.

[Lenape85]

14. I would love for DC to have statehood

Even though I don't live there, it would be a great idea. Would only give us more Dems in the legislature

[Virginian]

16. That is exactly why the Republicans won't let it happen.

They are hanging onto their majority by just a few Senators. Two DC Senators would really mess them up.

I hope to see a backlash in the midterms that will knock out the Republican majority. Unfortunately, we do have BBV and the will of the people may not prevail.

[northzax]

17. why does it matter if it's dem or repub?

don't voting rights and representation for everyone matter, no matter how they might choose to execute those rights?

[journalist3072]

19. Absolutely, unequivocately, yes!

We pay federal taxes; we deserve adequate representation in the U.S. Congress. In case they don't get it, it's called taxation w/o representation!