Anonymous wrote:Isn't DC a district because its defined as such in the Constitution?? Not to offer sour grapes but in today's partisan world I don't see this changing. Since DC residents electively choose to live there, if they are unsatisfied there is always the option to electively choose not to.

This country was founded on the idea of "no taxation without representation." That idea is really central to our independence. Acting like it is not important is like acting that private property is not important to capitalism. The founding fathers didn't expect the capital district to become a metropolis or even a full-time seat of government. Their experience, largely based on the English experience, was that legislators lived at home and only attended periodic legislative sessions. They would find a situation in which a population larger than two states was taxed without representation unfathomable. The fact that people can move away from this injustice does nothing to resolve the injustice. Those colonists who didn't like paying British taxes were not being held prisoner. They also could have moved.

Also, keep in mind that the founding fathers' idea of "representation" was not comparable to ours. They generally limited it to male property owners. The right to vote for a representative government has expanded significantly over the years. There is no reason such expansion shouldn't extend to DC.

The residential areas of DC with retro-cession from federal areas.

Isn't DC a district because its defined as such in the Constitution?? Not to offer sour grapes but in today's partisan world I don't see this changing. Since DC residents electively choose to live there, if they are unsatisfied there is always the option to electively choose not to.

Anonymous wrote:DC would not be subject to conservatives legislating their own morality for DC. Example: needle exchange programs.

Also, when they shut down the Federal Government, DC could keep running. Right now DC's elected officials could get charged for spending money in this situation.

OK I'll be the token 'conservative'... let's see liberals running amok in DC the past 50 years have provided more taxes, poorer schools, more crime, more poverty, less jobs, more drugs and less ability for citizens to defend themselves. Good thing DC has some parental oversight or it'd be really bad.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DC received statehood, in addition to representation in Congress, what else would happen?

Governor Barry - with the power to pardon criminals.
The creation of two layers (state and local) bureaucracy for many functions.

Power to pardon....just like EVERY president has done at the end of their final term.

When most politicians seek office, they court the farm bloc or the tech bloc. Barry courts the cell block.

Barry is not long for this world. What will you do when he is gone? You will need to get entirely new material. Maybe you should start working up some Harry Thomas or Michael Brown lines?

What will we do? Keep blaming him the way democrats keep screaming "Bush's fault" even after 6 years.

Only in Barry's case, it is true; his legacy is the cause of many of DCs current stubborn problems. And he helped create a local culture of corruption which lives on (ie two former CMs in prison at the moment).

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.

You mean "Heckuva job, Brownie" the guy who wrecked FEMA during Katrina?

No. Not that one either. This Michael Brown has been serving as our Shadow Representative. In 2008, he ran against Phil Mendelson -- trying to take advantage of name confusion when "Michael Brown" was still a positive name. Now, name confusion is hurting him.

I dont know his middle name, but maybe he should insert his middle initial or go by his middle name, for example M. Douglas Brown.

When he ran against Mendelson, Wells nicknamed him "White Mike". I think he should go with that: "Vote for White Mike Brown!" That has the advantage of having two colors in the name and you know how popular color names are in DC politics.

""Color" names seem to be popular in DC politics, but some voters View them as a kind of litmus test for unethical tendencies: Brown, Brown, Gray, Orange?

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.

You mean "Heckuva job, Brownie" the guy who wrecked FEMA during Katrina?

No. Not that one either. This Michael Brown has been serving as our Shadow Representative. In 2008, he ran against Phil Mendelson -- trying to take advantage of name confusion when "Michael Brown" was still a positive name. Now, name confusion is hurting him.

I dont know his middle name, but maybe he should insert his middle initial or go by his middle name, for example M. Douglas Brown.

When he ran against Mendelson, Wells nicknamed him "White Mike". I think he should go with that: "Vote for White Mike Brown!" That has the advantage of having two colors in the name and you know how popular color names are in DC politics.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.

You mean "Heckuva job, Brownie" the guy who wrecked FEMA during Katrina?

No. Not that one either. This Michael Brown has been serving as our Shadow Representative. In 2008, he ran against Phil Mendelson -- trying to take advantage of name confusion when "Michael Brown" was still a positive name. Now, name confusion is hurting him.

I dont know his middle name, but maybe he should insert his middle initial or go by his middle name, for example M. Douglas Brown.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.

You mean "Heckuva job, Brownie" the guy who wrecked FEMA during Katrina?

No. Not that one either. This Michael Brown has been serving as our Shadow Representative. In 2008, he ran against Phil Mendelson -- trying to take advantage of name confusion when "Michael Brown" was still a positive name. Now, name confusion is hurting him.

"Shadow representative" -- now there's experience for you.

If my name were Michael Brown, I might choose another profession than political office!

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.

You mean "Heckuva job, Brownie" the guy who wrecked FEMA during Katrina?

No. Not that one either. This Michael Brown has been serving as our Shadow Representative. In 2008, he ran against Phil Mendelson -- trying to take advantage of name confusion when "Michael Brown" was still a positive name. Now, name confusion is hurting him.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.

You mean "Heckuva job, Brownie" the guy who wrecked FEMA during Katrina?

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DC received statehood, in addition to representation in Congress, what else would happen?

Governor Barry - with the power to pardon criminals.
The creation of two layers (state and local) bureaucracy for many functions.

Power to pardon....just like EVERY president has done at the end of their final term.

When most politicians seek office, they court the farm bloc or the tech bloc. Barry courts the cell block.

Barry is not long for this world. What will you do when he is gone? You will need to get entirely new material. Maybe you should start working up some Harry Thomas or Michael Brown lines?

Tom DeLay should've been added to the material.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DC received statehood, in addition to representation in Congress, what else would happen?

Governor Barry - with the power to pardon criminals.
The creation of two layers (state and local) bureaucracy for many functions.

Power to pardon....just like EVERY president has done at the end of their final term.

When most politicians seek office, they court the farm bloc or the tech bloc. Barry courts the cell block.

So did Richard Nixon, and many others who slipped through the system.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New flags. Lots and lots and lots of them.

I think we will keep our flag. Lot's of the pro-statehood folks have it tattooed on them.

I didn't mean the DC flag. I meant the US flag, which will need one more star.

Anonymous wrote:I've seen Michael Brown for council signs. Can't believe he's running again.

Different Michael Brown. The one running is white. The corrupt one is still in prison.