4 Responses to “voting in DC”

1. Shoshana Says:
   May 1st, 2007 at 5:37 pm

   I went and clicked on the button, and as usual there isn’t anything that I can do expect tell my friends. Most of them live inside DC though, so that doesn’t help. Oh well.

2. David Says:
   May 1st, 2007 at 11:00 pm

   I am conflicted about this bill – on the one hand, it’s a noble attempt to right a wrong, and it is refreshing to hear that a majority of Congress would like to hear our opinions.

   On the other hand, what Congress giveth, they can take away – this bill is just another law, subject to being amended or repealed by simple majority. It also suffers from relatively dubious Constitutionality: if we’re a state, we should get two Senators. If we’re not, we should be treated like the other territories (no representation, but no Federal taxes either).

   So I don’t know quite what to do.

   But I really, really appreciate your effort (as a DC ex-pat) to bring the cause to those who currently enjoy full voting representation…

3. Mike Panetta Says:
   May 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am

   Thanks for posting a link to my site. I am getting some good traffic from this blog. We really have momentum with this bill now that it’s in the Senate and Hatch is on board. Your help spreading the word is exactly what we need.

   I agree with David that the bill is not perfect, but it’s the best thing that’s been on the table in almost 30 years….we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If it gets struck down, then we’ll re-group and try something else.

   Thanks again,
   Mike Panetta
   DC “Shadow” Rep.

4. Angel one Says:
   May 2nd, 2007 at 3:21 pm

   Yes it can be repealed, but so can any other law – does that mean we shouldn’t support any laws which aren’t constitutional amendments?

   As for the senators, the bottom line is that politics is decided in the middle. (I got this line from the book “why we lost the ERA” and it has been my political canon ever since). Right now a bill or amendment making DC a state and/or asking for full representation and 2 senators will simply not pass. Strike while the iron is hot, and once DC has a voice in congress, it can use that voice to get the full representation that we want.

   For the record, this idea was introduced into the house a few years and it was torpedoed by Eleanor Holmes Norton who didn’t think it went far enough. Her bill (which would have given DC 2 senators as well), went absolutely nowhere. The moral of the story is: take what you can get when you can get it – political change happens slowly.