# DC Statehood **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 18, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818 "2000-05-18T00:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818/21 "2000-05-23T12:04:10Z")
**opus** maintains: > [@](#): > > Because we are living in a society where laws are supposed to be applied fairly and equally to everybody. The gripe is not that we don’t like where we’re living, the gripe is that we don’t think we are being treated equally under the law. The law forbids taxation without representation, and yet we are being taxed without representation. […] DC sales tax is 5¾%, and our “state” income tax rate maxes out at 9½%; the third highest right behind Montana at 11% and North Dakota at 12%. Now before you start feeling sorry for Montanans & Upper Dakotans, realize that their upper tax bracket is a whopping $69K & $50K, respectively; probably not putting too many people at the 11% & 12% rate. On the other foot, DC’s upper tax bracket is a mere $20K, which slaps virtually everybody down to your average Burger King employee with that maximum tax rate of 9½%. Two problems with the “no taxation without representation” thing. That scum-sucking…whoops, this is GD, not the Pit. Anyway, the able and distinguished Chris Dodd doesn’t represent _me_ in any significant way; I’ve never even voted for him. Does that mean I get to withhold my federal income tax? (Incidentally, I trust everyone knows the old joke about how one senator disses another on the Senate floor? No, I’m not a senator, but sauce for the goose…) Also, what about this “tax bracket” thingie? Does taxing my income at twice the rate of another give me two votes instead of one? No? “Taxation with representation” appears to mean “Any amount of taxation with any amount of representation”. So, D.C. is _already_ represented through the offices of the extremely able Eleanor Holmes. Now, stop whining. You’re embarassing the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818/22 "2000-05-23T14:49:48Z")
Wait a sec…how is DC “well represented” by Eleanor Holmes? She can’t vote! Yeah, that’s great representation there. Also, doesn’t Congress have to approve DC’s budget every year? (My memory may be faulty on this…) If Congress gets to decide how DC spends its tax money, then damn straight DC deserves a vote on that one. And FTR, I’m not whining. Just saying DC deserves what EVERY OTHER FREAKING STATE has. Including mine. Then again, I’m one of those wackos who agrees there should be a commuter tax in DC, so what do I know… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818/23 "2000-05-23T15:17:19Z")
Remember back in . . . what, '96? When D.C. had a medicinal marijuana ballot issue, and when it appeared it was going to pass, Congress would not release the necessary funds to D.C. City Council to let them finish counting the ballots? Boy, that sure was democratic of them. ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818/24 "2000-05-23T16:06:44Z")
THANK YOU Phil! That was the issue I was trying to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818/25 "2000-05-23T16:33:49Z")
**Falcon** asserts: > [@](#): > > Wait a sec…how is DC “well represented” by Eleanor Holmes? She can’t vote! Yeah, that’s great representation there. Oh, you don’t want _representation_, you want someone with a long-handled spoon to go in and get you your share of the swag. That’s _different_. The “taxation without representation” issue was pretty much killed by the 16th amendment; the 24th amendment drove a stake through its heart to ensure it stayed dead. When the New Columbia crowd is ready to discuss repealing the 16th (I’ll concede the 24th to the civil right folks), we’ll talk. Until then, _hasta luego_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818/26 "2000-05-23T18:45:43Z")
Akat- I’m completely confused by your position here. Are you saying that someone who attends meetings of Congress and participates in debates is just as valid a representation of the votes as a Congressperson who votes? No matter what the issue, Eleanor Holmes Norton cannot vote (okay, specifically, she _can_ vote upon an issue when the votes have already been cast and her votes specifically **would not** change the outcome of the vote, but that’s about the equivalent of not being able to vote). Congress decides how much they’ll pay DC for the services DC provides to Federal buildings? Norton can’t vote. She can talk, she can debate, she can whine, but when it comes down to the vote on the matter, she just sits off to the side and watches. In essence, DC has a federally-funded lobbyist. That’s all Norton is. What DC wants is for Norton to actually gain a vote, to be able to have her voice mean something, for some sort of representation in the Senate (where DC has _nada_). I don’t see how this is merely “getting [their] share of the swag”- this is allowing DC citizens the same rights as, oh, say, the citizens of Vermont or North Dakota. Why should DC residents have _no_ say in how the Federal government acts towards their city, especially given how important what the Feds do is to their city? This isn’t going in for the pork barrel- this is just giving DC citizens the same rights that, say, New Yorkers have. Why is that such a problem to you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-statehood/19818.md?page=1)