Vulgano Brother

I was, uhh, abducted when all this went on, but I saw a car from the other Washington the other day and noticed the license plate, bearing the words "Taxation Without Representation." "What a Vulgano idea!" I thought, and wondered if it was for real. It was. Cutted and Pasted from Wiki:

"While the District's official motto is Justitia omnibus ("Justice to All"), the words "Taxation Without Representation"... were added to D.C. license plates in 2000....
President Bush ordered the removal of the "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on the presidential limousines, replacing them with blank Washington, D.C. plates. This came shortly after President Bill Clinton had placed the new license plates on the limousines. Bill Clinton waited until his final weeks in office before ordering the new license plates to be placed on the limousines."

Isn't freedom of expression great!

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Siegtrmpt

This subject comes up all the time here in DC. The obvious move is to simply return the residential areas of DC back to MD the same way Arlington was returned to VA. Nobody really wants that. MD doesn't want the problems that come from that part of the city and the District residents want two senators out of the deal and not simply a congressional district. Nobody really wants what is obviously the right thing to do......just what gets them the most.

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Eclipsehornplayer

I must plead the 5th on this topic...

However it is humorous!

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Manny Laureano

This is fascinating after having read a little history about this. So, yeah... why doesn't Maryland reincorporate the district? Is it really that screwed up over there? Why didn't Clinton push this when he had a Democrat majority if he thought it was so important? I'm assuming that's the only reason the Democrats care about it, because it would mean expanding the present majorities in the House and Senate.

ML

Siegtrmpt

I'll venture my guesses as to why all this plays out the way it does. For MD it's pretty simple.......the costs associated with taking over the residential parts of the District would outweigh the revenue generated. Lots of rundown areas and infrastructure, particularly in the SW areas.

As for Clinton it's a fair bet that he bases his political posturing on how it benefits him personally and not necessarily the Democrat party. I suspect it was easier for him to come up with a licence plate and then be able to blame rich white Republicans for holding him back than to actually own the issue and do something about it. If it became a disaster politically he would have to shoulder the blame and that's not something he did a lot of.

I'm not so sure it's a foregone conclusion that statehood for the District would result in more Democrats in the Senate and Congress. Short term it would BUT, with "urban renewal" it wouldn't take too long for wealthy and perhaps Republican leaning individuals to start pricing poorer folks out as whole neighborhoods of old, dilapidated buildings are replaced with office structures or upscale residences. Ultimately it could end up a Republican stronghold. That's why I figure the Democrat's are not as hot on the issue in terms of actually pushing for statehood. It's more to their advantage to talk about it from time to time and make the rich, white Republicans look bad for standing in the way. Anyway, that's my very cynical take on the subject.

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Bill S.- NY Bach 6, 38 Mt. Vernon 43 Bach "C" cornet, NY Bach trombone 6vii Monette mouthpieces