and congress being completely red


The chances of DC's Advisory Referendum B, petitioning for DC Statehood thereby giving almost 700,000 representation in congress, being acted on are bleak.

Man, The State of Washington, DC (Douglas Commonwealth) ain't never gonna exist.

11/9/2016 5:23:19 PM

Lol, wut?

11/9/2016 5:26:46 PM

taxation without representation

11/9/2016 5:29:24 PM

The capital city shouldn't be a state.

All the residential areas should be annexed into either Maryland or VA.

11/9/2016 5:57:12 PM

Seems like that should require an amendment to the Constitution

11/9/2016 6:58:33 PM

How the fuck are we gonna fit an extra star on the flag man.

11/9/2016 8:26:50 PM

11/9/2016 8:52:44 PM

another 80 thousand or so and you can have a single representative

11/9/2016 9:14:26 PM

they may figure out how to annex NOVA into the new DC statehood and turn Virginia red again.

11/9/2016 10:48:56 PM

lol, annex NOVA, as if it wasn't part of the district before

11/10/2016 6:44:21 AM

Quote :

"All the residential areas should be annexed into either Maryland or VA."

/thread

11/10/2016 10:17:08 AM

Meh, I can think of a few reasons why retrocession wouldn't be the greatest. And retrocession is exactly what you're suggesting. Leave Virginia out of it....they already took their hunk of flesh back in like 1847 because they wanted to keep slavery in Alexandria and Arlington.
So, the issue becomes should DC reteocede back into Maryland (minus the federal buildings)? Well when parts of the district retroceded back into Virginia it wasn't a huge deal because a lot of the affected residents were Virginians before the district was formed. Meaning what? Meaning that in mind, body, and spirit, these people were just going home.
Contrast that with current times where there are cultural and political differences between Maryland and DC making it a bit more difficult.
In addition, DC statehood only requires one step (congressional approval), whereas retrocession involves Congressional approval, DC being willing to go back, AND the willingness of MD to take DC back....which the latest polls show they are not willing to do. Which I can understand... An influx of 700,000 new residents would most likely shift the political home of MD away from Baltimore.

Now, politically, if you are a Republican, you are most likely not itching to give DC statehood as it would add two blue senators and a rep. to congress. You are also more likely to support lumping the entire district in with a blue Maryland. Neither of which are very good reasons in my opinion for denying citizens full voting rights.



[Edited on November 10, 2016 at 10:50 AM. Reason : No justice, no peace]

11/10/2016 10:48:22 AM

^I would say join Maryland or fuck off. In land size they are 1/22nd the size of Rhode Island, which many already consider comedically small. If they deserve a separate state what is to stop NYC or LA from seceding from their respective states? After all, those voters in California deserve more than 2 senators as they have a larger population than a dozen of the lowest population states combined.

If you want to have a more serious discussion, discuss statehood for Puerto Rico.

11/10/2016 10:16:00 PM

Quote :

"lol, annex NOVA, as if it wasn't part of the district before"

NOVA, as in Northern Virginia from Fredericksburg to Leesburg and north from there. Not just Arlington and Alexandria. If you're going to jerrymander a state, don't halfass it.

It's hard to imagine what DC would look like as a state. Could you imaging the levels of scandal we would be hearing about constantly with the likes of Vincent Gray, Marion Barry, and Harry Thomas becoming US senators? Or how grossly mismanaged state funds would be without congressional oversight? On a positive note though, our capital would become the first state in the mid-Atlantic region with legal recreational marijuana. People watching at the Mall would be so much more interesting.

[Edited on November 11, 2016 at 4:08 PM. Reason : .]

11/11/2016 4:07:36 PM

Quote :

"After all, those voters in California deserve more than 2 senators as they have a larger population than a dozen of the lowest population states combined"

I see you don't know how the two houses of Congress work.

11/11/2016 4:13:39 PM

^^ The number and severity of scandals that I've seen in the district are not unlike those of any other big city.

11/11/2016 5:07:08 PM

^^I see how you don't understand that if larger states such as California and Texas were split into multiple smaller states, their respective populations would have as many House seats as now and would gain a substantial number of Senators as well. If we are going to advocate for DC getting a pair of its own voting Senators for its small population and ridiculously small land area, then what is to stop other metro areas from seceding from their respective states to get better Senate representation?

11/11/2016 8:39:23 PM

If DC can't be a state then they should at least get their own Olympic team

11/11/2016 8:45:11 PM

Well for one, we are talking about some (any) represention in the senate... not more representation for states that already have it. And we are ar advocating for a real representative , not just a non-voting member that gets booted out of the house whenever grown folks need to talk. Which brings us to the House...

The House is how the founding fathers deal with the population issue. Come on man, you know that.

11/11/2016 8:52:08 PM

At least when people like Frank Ballance and John Edwards get caught up in a corruption scandals while serving in federal positions, they get chased away by their own party in the state the ran in, never to enter politics again. DC has no qualms with re-electing a person even after they get bogged down in scandal. Vincenty Gray just recently got elected back onto city council, and Marion Barry served as a ward councilman until he died.

11/11/2016 9:07:52 PM

you're not getting two senators with 50% more population than just the city of Raleigh

11/11/2016 9:32:56 PM

Vincent Gray was not convicted of a crime. He was cleared in that shadow campaign nonsense. He most likely orchestrated the entire thing, and he even looks like a rat...but he was cleared.

Marion Barry was an entirely different story. It is very hard, if not impossible, to fully understand how he was able to have such influence on DC (yes, even after the scandals) if you're not from here. I won't go into details which I'm sure would bore you to tears, but I will say He really was the type of politician that would walk the streets listening to the people....and then don't things about it. He's responsible for little shit like getting all the black kids summer jobs back in worse days of racism, and helping to spread the contracting wealth around when metro was being built. Despite scandals with drugs and women, he was a talented politician who the city forgave.

11/11/2016 9:44:27 PM