Duane Shank: Taxation Without Representation
Like many other Americans, I have avidly followed the campaigns this fall for the House and Senate. I have seen scores of political ads on television. I know it is an important election in which a great deal is at stake for the future direction of our country.
But today, when the rest of America finally gets to vote, I will still be at home watching. I live in the disenfranchised colony of the District of Columbia, which has no vote in the U.S. Congress. The ads I saw were all for Maryland and Virginia. (I get to vote for a Mayor, City Council, and School Board, which are certainly important, but no vote for Congress.)
When there are debates in the next Congress on tax and budget policies, deciding whether they will benefit the wealthiest or the common good, I will have no vote. Yet I pay federal taxes, and I care about how my money is spent.
When there are debates in the next Congress on Iraq, on whether we will “stay the course” of violence and death, or begin a policy of withdrawal, I will have no vote. Yet young men and women from D.C. serve and die in that war.
D.C. has more people than Wyoming, and just slightly less than North Dakota and Vermont. Yet they each have a Representative and two Senators. I have a “non-voting delegate.”
So, to the rest of the United States on this Election Day, enjoy your day in the sun, as you play your role in the great drama of democracy. You will elect people who will affect your lives and mine, while I am forced to sit on the sideline watching. Today, “We the People” doesn’t include me.
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Comments
As a Latino, today I'm supposed to be fearful of deportation if I show up to vote.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/19/latinos-vote/
Thanks GOP.
I'm also supposted to avoid voting Democrat to keep white women safe from savage, darker-skinned men.
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/11/even_lower.html
Thanks GOP.
Oh, and I'm also supposed to fear another 9/11 if I dare vote Democrat.
http://fuzzyandblue.blogspot.com/2006/10/lets-get-ready-to-fear-monger-gop.html
Thanks GOP.
Thanks GOP for continually sharing the love of Jesus.>
Posted by: Tenoch | November 7, 2006 5:30 PM
Our teenagers also are taxed without the ability to vote. (A 16 year old taught me this years ago.)>
Posted by: Sam Halverson | November 7, 2006 7:18 PM
This is also an issue with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.>
Posted by: Ray L | November 7, 2006 7:44 PM
There are other US territories without voting representation. Puerto Rico. Guam. US Virgin Islands.
There would be a simple solution to give the citizens of the District representation in Congress. Since the District of Columbia was originally part of Maryland, let the residents of DC be considered a part of Maryland for purposes of electing members of Congress AND President.
By making DC a part of Maryland for purposes of federal representation, we won't have the messy issue to consider about DC not being a state. There were reasons the founding forebearers wanted the national capitol not to be in any state. I think they are good reasons. To give DC congressional representation itself (not part of a state) would be the equivalent of making DC a state.>
Posted by: Robert Chapman | November 7, 2006 8:11 PM
I am not sure why the founding father did not give the DC area representation in congress? I myself have moved from one community to another so that I would have better representation. We are free to speak our minds - write our own thoughts in e-mails for others to read and respond to. (Cuba - Egypt - China - etc. do not have that freedom) I also find the 'blame game' interesting, when you can't really find the source - blame the GOP. That would be like me saying 'Thanks Clinton and Dem's legitimizing sexual harassement in the work-place.' Could we as Christians right the wrong without blaming another group? Who knows - you might just find you can create a friend from what you access as the opsition and work together on the solution - what a concept. I am a conservative! I am more moderate socially in the fact that I am my brothers keeper. (not his caretaker) I will gladly teach him to fish - I just will not do his fishing for him if I know that he is able. I am a conservative and I thanks great minnesotians like Mondale - Anderson and Wellstone for making me the thinking person I am today. (tongue in cheek) Thank for EDINA matrons for slapping me for my insensitivity on the 'poor' and verbally bager me that I need to pay my fair share of taxes so that we can take care of those people. (although they wanted to make sure that those poor people stayed in the area so that they had a supply of maids and party servers for them to pay 'cash' for at the below market rate - you gotta love those Dem's of Edina) Go ahead - label me you liberals all you want, I will make my mark on soceity and for the Kingdom one soul at a time.
Let's take someone fishing
RWS>
Posted by: Robstur | November 7, 2006 8:20 PM
Duane - If it's any consolation, taxation with representation ain't so great, either.>
Posted by: timks | November 7, 2006 8:56 PM
I have trouble understanding what this has to do with "God's politics". Maybe the people of D.C. have a beef, maybe not, but why should this be an issue on this site?>
Posted by: Gordon | November 8, 2006 12:33 AM
I don't know if you could have the residents of DC part of Maryland for Congressional voting purposes only without a Constitutional amendment. What could be done by simply majority vote on legislation is to retrocede all but the Federal core (i.e., everywhere that people live with the exception of the White House whose residents vote as legal residents in some state and the homeless who live on the sidewalks, in the parks, etc. in the Federal core) back to Maryland. This was done long ago with the part of the original District that had been ceded by Virginia - present day Arlington and Alexandria.
This is an appropriate issue here if one believes that God cares about social justice. Would God want some people excluded from the political process?>
Posted by: Bill Samuel | November 8, 2006 12:40 AM
Well, Bill, peopl in D.C. aren't excluded from the democratic process. But the rules are that in order to have voting representation in Congress, one has to live in a state. I'm not convinced those rules are a matter of social justice.>
Posted by: Gordon | November 8, 2006 2:12 AM
"the rules are that in order to have voting representation in Congress, one has to live in a state. I'm not convinced those rules are a matter of social justice."
That's why we need to change the rules. It is certainly a matter of social justice for those of us who live in DC. Voting is the basic right of democracy and a right we are denied.
duane>
Posted by: Duane | November 8, 2006 3:36 AM
I believe that every disadvantage I have in life is a matter of social justice. Most people don't agree with me, and I suspect they are sometimes right.
If you feel that this is wrong, by all means press for a constitutional amendment. But "social justice" has a moral connotation I don't think applies here.>
Posted by: Gordon | November 8, 2006 4:09 AM
I have trouble understanding what this has to do with "God's politics". Maybe the people of D.C. have a beef, maybe not, but why should this be an issue on this site?
Because DC is mostly liberal, and since liberals are more godly, it belongs here. Duh. It certainly has nothing to do with a partisan blog disguised as a non-partisan Christian one.>
Posted by: HAC | November 8, 2006 5:32 AM
Some things folks who don't live in DC may not know is that Congress has the final authority to approve the District's local budget (even though most of it is locally-generated, not federal), and can repeal any legislation passed by the DC Council. The latter has happened, for example when voters approved a referendum permitting domestic partnerships back in the 1990s. I am not aware of any other local jurisdictions that is subject to this kind of power by a body for which we have no voting representation. The effects of this system is very much a social justice issue.>
Posted by: Tanya | November 8, 2006 5:03 PM
DC was supposed to be a non-partisan federal city. It cannot and should not be able to vote in national elections, because it is the center of our government. Having Congress regulate it is perfectly reasonable, due to its position and the fact that members of Congress live and work in DC for a good portion of the year (thus, there is representation in a way).
_>
Posted by: HAC | November 8, 2006 5:26 PM
"The effects of this system is very much a social justice issue."
I would characterize it instead as a political issue.>
Posted by: Gordon | November 8, 2006 10:56 PM
So stop complaining and move to a place where you can vote. Duh.>
Posted by: Jim Smith | November 9, 2006 1:26 AM
Duane, thank you for bringing attention to this issue. I find that many of my friends and family are unaware that I cannot vote as a DC resident. I don't have a representative or senator to write or call about issues. I don't have a voice in national politics. Contrary to Gordon's comment, DC residents are in fact excluded from the democratic process. We're sidelined, just observers, as members of congress meet with their constituents, as people rally their representatives, as votes come in on Election Day.
If the solution were so easy as Jim Smith suggested, DC would empty of permanent residents. However, we do not all have the mobility he blithely assumes. The majority of DC's residents are poor and underemployed, many depend on social and family networks here in DC. These same people do not have any power to lobby Congress nor do they have any advocate in Congress. This is absolutely an issue of social justice.
DC residents need a real solution and a vote for national representation.>
Posted by: Andrea | November 9, 2006 8:06 PM
I'm not sure what you mean by "I am forced to sit on the sideline..." Is there some new law that requires people to live in Washington D.C.? There was a reason that D.C. was not included in a state - I would suggest that if you don't like it, you move!
I'm not as familiar with the Virgin Islands, but Puerto Rico has consistently voted not to be a state, and as far as I know the residents of Puerto Rico pay no federal income taxes. This is the best of all worlds - no taxation, no representation, U.S. citizenship and all of its benefits, and the opportunity to become a state and start paying taxes anytime you want!>
Posted by: Tom Richards | November 9, 2006 8:57 PM
If the solution were so easy as Jim Smith suggested, DC would empty of permanent residents. However, we do not all have the mobility he blithely assumes. The majority of DC's residents are poor and underemployed, many depend on social and family networks here in DC. These same people do not have any power to lobby Congress nor do they have any advocate in Congress. This is absolutely an issue of social justice.
DC residents need a real solution...
Maybe they should stop electing the corrupt, Democratic leaders that got them where they are.>
Posted by: HAC | November 10, 2006 5:53 AM
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