Reply to Are there any legitimate reasons why someone would oppose DC statehood?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As someone on the West Coast, my first thought is that there's a lot of good stuff that DC gets that the rest of the country doesn't get. For example, you have the Smithsonian museums that are way better than anything we have in the rest of the country. You also get paid WAY more for frankly less work than the rest of the country gets.

I'd be fine if they distribute the government departments/functions throughout cities in the rest of the country, distribute the museums and any other things like that that are supposed to be national facilities and services, and then let the surrounding states absorb the DC properties and its residents.[/quote]

People in DC may get paid more, that is, you know, how capitalism works. It is also a high cost of living area. Not as high as NY or SF, but higher than almost anywhere else in the US.

The Smithsonian is Federal and open to ALL visitors free of charge, whether they are a US taxpayer or not.

Distributing departments across the country would actually make the federal government less effective. As it is, more than 90% of federal workers are outside of DC. But you have to be able to have leadership and senior staff etc in a location where it makes sense to work with the WH and the Capitol on policy.[/quote]

I don't think any of your points are actual arguments.

People in DC being paid more, when that money is generally coming from taxpayer funds, is not a good thing. And yes, I can see that there might be more inefficiencies if the departments are distributed, but that would be balanced by the fact that the costs would be so much lower. (I don't think you have any idea how well paid "feds" are for what they do.) It would be a wash in the end, plus there would be well paying, stable jobs available in other parts of the country too, which benefits other cities and regions.

As for the museums, the US is a BIG country. Here on the West Coast, it's just not possible to go to DC to visit some museums. So we don't, and our kids miss out. The cost of entry might be free but the cross-country flights and accommodations certainly aren't. If they were available throughout the US like they should be then more people would have a chance to visit some museums. There could also be benefits for tourism, with more draws for other parts of the country and not everything centered in one city.

The fact is that if DC has a lot of benefits. It's a special city with special pros & cons. If they want to remove a con and essentially get all the benefits of a regular state then they need to give up their pros too. Nobody reasonable could argue with that. And in the meantime, nobody is forcing you to stay there.[/quote]

How can you possibly think that free museums compensates for lack of representation in the Senate?[/quote]

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