Submitted by throwawayobviousw t3_y8mu9a in washingtondc
I’m growing more and more annoyed that by living in DC I don’t have any representation in the federal government.
I don’t understand how we don’t have anyone. I deserve to have someone representing me.
Yeah, it needs a good edit.
welcome to liberal democracy. arbitrary exclusion of certain groups is par for the course
Washington DC is a federal district with direct oversight of the federal government. The supremacy clause in the Constitution means that it cannot be a state (and therefore cannot have representation in Congress). DC was also never intended to be a city that people lived in. It was always meant to be the seat of the government, and only the seat of the government.
> DC was also never intended to be a city that people lived in.
Uhhhhhhhh, tell the people living in the cities of Georgetown and Alexandria that.
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I mean, people living in London and Berlin have representation. This is just some hokey American shit where people with a 4th grade knowledge of civics lecture about how it's perfect because they've never bothered spending an iota of time thinking critically about it.
Because that would still put the federal government inside a state. You can’t put the seat of the federal government inside a state. That’s the whole reason DC exists in the first place.
They also tried something similar to what you suggest. Alexandria and Crystal City used to be in DC, but Virginia took the territory back when offered. Maryland declined the same offer.
The simple fact is that DC isn’t allowed to have a voting representative in Congress. If you don’t like that, move to Montgomery County - then you’ll get Jamie Raskin.
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We’re stuck in democracy alpha testing.
Notice how we never export our ridiculous version of democracy overseas? It would never fly
This is a really tired set of ahistorical arguments you are making. First, GW himself angled the 10x10 square miles to incorporate Alexandria and Georgetown and he saw Haines Point and the Navy Yard as having great potential for commerce. So the argument no one was meant to live here is just dumb and false. Second the big reason that this idea of the federal govt not being in a state came about is because in 1783 a group of Revolutionary War veterans mobbed congress in Philadelphia and the state refused to help. Congress decided it needed its own enclave after that where it controlled the security. This has been effectively moot since DC home rule in 1973, now the police dept for everything outside of the property lines is MPD and controlled by a locally elected mayor. The federal property in DC operates just like any federal property located throughout the country with federal law enforcement on the grounds. And lots of federal enclaves like district courts and appellate courts exist just fine in states, and guess what, those courts weren’t even mentioned in the constitution because shit changes and people come up with new ideas... Lastly, Alexandria retroceded to Virginia largely because DC was moving to abolish the slave trade and Alexandria was a major slave trading port. It wasn’t a matter of “taking it back when offered.”
Ironically DC houses the document that disenfranchises it's residents
You can literally move about 45 feet to MD/VA, we got representation.
Don't pay taxes and take the IRS to court if/when they order you to pay back taxes.
>his has been effectively moot since DC home rule in 1973, now the police dept for everything outside of the property lines is MPD and controlled by a locally elected mayor.
Except that the president can commandeer MPD for federal purposes and there is no direct mayoral-control of the national guard. Plus the US Park Police has full police powers throughout the entirety of DC.
Haines Point did not exist during the life of George Washington. Pierre L'Enfant certainly envisioned what it now Navy Yard to be a commercial hub but I doubt George Washington gave it much consideration. In addition to Georgetown and Alexandria, Bladensburg was a major port town (back in the day).
Care to show us where it says that?
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Don’t be pedantic. The confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia (eastern branch before you try to correct me) was specifically chosen by George Washington for its suitability as a port. The furthest point south is now is Hains Point which is why I used it as a reference.
And do you really think the Mutiny of 1783 is relevant in the age of multiple federal law enforcement agencies operating with the sole purpose of defending federal buildings nationwide? Not to mention it was the president who didn’t order in the national guard on J6 so congress would have been better off in a state. And guess what, Park Police also have jurisdiction in MD, and VA, and are a relatively recent invention. So I’m not really sure what that has to do with anything.
Point is that in our modern era there is a very large federal footprint within states and it manages just fine, whether it’s court houses, executive agency offices, or Interior and Agriculture land.
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That phrasing is from the American Revolution not the Constitution lol
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Yes?
"No taxation without representation" was a popular slogan during Revolutionary times, but I don't believe you'll find it anywhere in the Constitution, nor will you find any Article or Clause forbidding it.
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UK and Germany allow citizens of their capital cities to vote, but they still arbitrarily exclude other groups of people living in their countries. One of the scams successfully pulled off by the architects of liberal democratic systems is that it's totally fine and normal to disenfranchise people if they meet certain criteria. As long as it's seen as acceptable to say a non-citizen living within the country's borders cannot vote, for example, the door is open for excluding other groups.
its needed an rework since the civil war
This is the worst reasoning for keeping 700k people disenfranchised there is.
Don’t you all periodically bring up voting for DC statehood? Which makes total sense, probably has more people than most of the western states.
Look up Universe 25 … The Beautiful Ones. The cities are not designed for comfort. We need to address crime and if you want statehood you’ll need to talk to Maryland about their land and the conditions of the lease. You live in DC, Maryland … I live in Northern VA … we dislike how they make all of us live. But staying close to the city comes with rules. I wish they would tell people … you’ll become Maryland if you won this idea in the courts. It breaks the agreement — the land is Maryland #PeaceAndLove
DC has more people than a couple - I think Wyoming and Vermont. DC pays more in federal taxes than several more states. Per capita DC pays the most in federal taxes than any state.
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Interesting, I had no idea license plates set legal precedent.
There are going to be a few million prisoners who aren't going to like the news once the Supreme Court gets wind of New Hampshire.
Professional-Can1385 t1_it0yzgv wrote
Read the Constitution, it's all in there.