Should Washington D.C. become a state?

[ringmastery]

What are the arguments for and against?

[Mattforclark]

1. For:

No taxation without representation

Against:

Republicans don't want DC to have 2 senators. (It's just fine for Wyoming though).

[Catch22Dem]

2. Pukes in congreess

DC is like 80% DEM. The pukes wouldn't want DC reps in congress.

[goclark]

3. DC is African American

Let not forget the basic issue. DC is predominantly African American and their vote is not suppose to count. I see this as a Civil Rights issue.

African Americans and others all over this nation have been insulted with this situation. Yet Nothing happens.
It is wrong for their vote to not count.

Question: Does Nevada tax their citizens?

[SemperEadem]

8. Texas doesn't do state tax

[fortyfeetunder]

4. Absofrigginlutely YES

Valid points all brought up.

Yes it was a civil rights issue. Did you know that DC residents couldn't vote for President until 1964? They only got limited home rule in 1974 with an elected mayor. Their current sham of a government, controlled by your Congress, puts artificial barriers on what the city can do for itself.

For those of you in the 50 states, please insist on asking your representatives to Congress to let my hometown residents enjoy the same benefits of self-governance as you do in your states.

[Bridget Burke]

5. Too many Democrats and/or African Americans in DC...

Even the non-African/Americans who live inside the beltway are suspect...

So, of course, those in power must prevent statehood.

[JohnLocke]

15. Of course.

It's a ridiculous, if not deliberate, attempt to deny U.S. citizens the right to vote.

[SemperEadem]

6. No.. there is no place on the flag for a 51st star

it would ruin the pattern...

(/sarcasm)

[stevedeshazer]

9. It could create new jobs...

In China. Someone's gotta crank out all those new 51-star tatterflags for the SUV crowd.

[Muddleoftheroad]

7. It's more complicated than all this

You can't condense this issue so easily.

Even under the best plans to make D.C. a state, part of D.C. stays a federal enclave. And that enclave would still be the district and still have electoral votes. I think one plan had something like 300 people still living there and getting those votes. So any plan needs to address that issue.

Then there is the issue of retrocession -- giving D.C. back to Maryland, which does NOT want it.

Then there is the concern about a commuter tax. As a federal enclave, D.C. can't institute one. As a state, it can. So two states -- MD and VA -- are automatically opposed to statehood.

[cally]

10. Absolutely!

I think if DC was predominately white and Republican, then it would be granted statehood immediately. I see it as blatant racism that DC does not have representation.

[goclark]

12. Totally Agree - Racist To The Core

If all the African Americans in DC moved out tonight and Republican Whites moved in tomorrow morning, this would be a non-issue by the weekend.

[NewJerseyDem]

11. It requires a constitutional amendment

And that is obviously very difficult to accomplish. However, it should be passed because it is wrong to deny DC residents the right to vote. Also, I think it is difficult to make it a state because it is a city and most cities, at least, partially depend on the wealthy suburbs in other parts of the state to get money. However, that could not happen for DC so they would have to deal with getting money and in the past DC has had a lot of issues with their finances. So, perhaps a good option is to get them full voting rights in Congress but not give them full statehood.

[goclark]

13. Full Voting Rights For DC

Yes!:party:

[CalebHayes]

14. Population larger than Wyoming. Why not?