September 18, 2007
Voting Rights: Failure and the Future
And so it was -- the U.S. Senate voted today 57-42 in favor of closing debate on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, three short of what was needed to prevent a Republican-led filibuster. The measure, which passed the House in April, is now likely dead, and another attempt to correct a 200-year injustice has been thwarted. Of course, the legislation could be re-introduced, but it won't be this year, and might not even be until after the 2008 elections.
This defeat is particularly painful. After other attempts similarly failed, the legislation was written as a political compromise, a proposal to grant the District only its voting seat in the House and off-setting the expected Democratic gain with an additional seat for Utah. Some saw this as a cop-out -- you don't compromise on essential principles, they said -- while others defended it as a step forward instead of no step at all. We backed it, and there isn't much second-guessing to be done now. What we have now is the chance to forge ahead with new ideas.
Amend It: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted yesterday that the cause of voting rights is as important to him as it is to anyone else. Fine. Let's hold him to that. If it takes an amendment to the Constitution, let's propose one, and let's regularly remind him of the very words he used -- "If we want to give the residents representation, then we should begin the amendment process."
Publicize It: Let's force the voting rights message on to everything the District owns, controls or has even the scantest of influence over. The new baseball stadium? We'll call it Taxation Without Representation Field. The Wilson Building? Let's get a big sign out front tallying how much in federal taxes we have paid, how many residents we have lost in foreign wars and for how many days the injustice has continued. Let's partner up with local businesses to have them display signs supporting District voting rights. Whenever members of Congress come back to town, they should know that the cause is still alive. Whenever tourists come to visit, they should be forced to ask what the ruckus is about, and then ask their own members of Congress where they stand on it.
Change It: One of the biggest impediments to effective lobbying for District voting rights is a law Congress passed that forbids the city from using its funds to lobby for the cause. This has to be changed. Our shadow delegation should be paid so they can make this more than just a part-time gig. If the District wants to hire a lobbyist to incessantly push the issue on the Hill, it should be able to.
The voting rights cause may have taken a hit today, but it's far from dead. We'd like to express all our thanks to the many activists and residents who allowed it to get as far as it did, not to mention the members of Congress who walked it through many hearings and floor debates. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) -- thank you. And of course, even though the vote was lost today, we'd like to give a big shoutout to the Republicans who voted the right way -- Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.), Sen. Susan Collins (Me.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (Me.), Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.), Sen. George Voinovich (Oh.), Sen. Orrin Hatch (Ut.) and Sen. Robert Bennett (Ut.).
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martin,
damn right....fenty needs to get a sign up on the wilson building, pronto.
and if dear old mitch feels so strongly about the amendment, then for goodness sakes, he better be proposing one sometime soon. i'll just sit over here and hold my breath until that happens.
seriously....we have to get the amendment process moving forward. that's the way we should have gone to start with, and it's the way we're left with now.
Wow. I'm shocked.
Anyone who thought this would pass is delusional.
Taxation Without Representation Field is a grand idea.
DC doesn't have naming rights for the stadium.
New Idea: There are two sides of the coin to "taxation without representation." Represenation looks close to impossible so why don't you try to get rid of taxation. This will put DC on a similar status to Puerto Rico. Get rid of Federal Tax in DC.
That's actually a great idea, Guest 5. Republicans should be all for abolishing the federal tax in DC, right? I'm guessing that could happen way before they support full representation for the district.
Amend, Publicize, Change! Yes! This is what I want to hear! Enough of this compromise crap where we don't get any Senators and our voice is muffled by a super-rep from Utah. Let's get the amendment push moving.
~Rusty
Personally I just don't care that much about this issue. I know you guys are borderline obsessed about it, but I'd really prefer that Fenty not spend that much time or political capital on this. We tried. It failed. Oh well. Life goes on. It's likely that it would get vetoed anyway.
On a list of priorities I'd write for Fenty, quite frankly this wouldn't even be in the top ten. Maybe not the top twenty.
No federal tax in DC
I'm not too PO'ed about this, Utah didn't deserve another vote anyway. Just pass the damn amendment which grants D.C. residents voting rights, give us a representative and two senators, and be done with the thing.
Thank goodness you censored the comment previously known as Guest #7. What a bunch of bs.
I feel a bit defeated to be honest...I knew what I was getting into when I became a DC resident, but that doesn't mean that I don't yearn to have voting rights added to all the other things that make this city a great place to live, play and work. We are running out of time to get something done this cycle though.
Reid,
Being "bordeline obsessed" with a matter of principle isn't a bad thing, it is?
GREAT IDEA regarding re-naming buildings, plastering signs up, etc. why not???
visitors landing at all three area airports could be leafletted on arrival.
plaster the message of billboards, region-wide.
etc. etc.
let's do it!!!
Martin, thanks for the coverage. I really got my hopes up this time - a lot of us did - but I guess the result isn't surprising.
Let's hope the composition of Congress is more in our favor in 2008.
Reid,
As citizens, voting for our representation is our only means of political power (aside from money of course). I'm glad you seem to have ten or twenty other civic passions and priorities, however i'm guessing none of those changes you wish for could be accomplished without political representatives in power that are sympathetic to your interests. Sure, local government is great, but Fenty can only do so much without other DC Residents serving in Congress.
Let's all not pay Federal taxes for a year. But everyone has to participate...
People who are annoyed when politicians such as Carl Levin stick their nose into the District's business need only point to this as the reason why they continue to do so.
The naming rights package for the new baseball stadium will run in excess of $20 million. I am sure that if DC Vote offered to spend that kind of money, it would be considered.
Leaflet the aiports!
You people really are delusional if you think that anyone outside of DC (and for the last year Utah) cares at all about this issue. "All politics is local" is an old saying that couldn't be more true in this case.
Well, at least Levin has a point. The taxis in DC do suck.
I've been amused with the endless press releases from McConnell's office about how the Senate must be the protector and guardian of the Constitution, and that's why he voated against the bill. One of my colleagues asked his spokesman what other legislation he has opposed recently because it was -- as he claims this is -- "unambiguously unconstitutional." They said they'd have to get back to us.
I'm not saying it isn't unconstitutional. I just don't recall McConnell ever making such a fuss about the constitutionality of any other legislation. I'm sure it's just a convenient argument for him.
"Being "bordeline obsessed" with a matter of principle isn't a bad thing, it is?"
Yes it can be. You see that guy outside the Vatican Embassy everyday protesting the molestation of little kids? Being against child molestation is a pretty principled position; but it's crazy to spend so much time fighting for that principle.
I don't doubt that it would help the DC local government to have a voting rep. But I don't think it would help that much. At some point you have to do a cost benefit analysis, and I just don't think the benefit of a voting rep is worth distracting our mayor from his primary responsibilities.
Secretly Major Fenty couldn't be happier about today's developments. The lack of DC voting representation has always given DC horrific local politicians cover over their failures.
Schools suck: well what do you expect, we don't get a voice in Congress.
Streets are plagued with crime: Well if Eleanor could only vote.
City services are a joke: Blame Congress!
Reid (and others),
You're right -- the District won't suddenly be a better place if Norton gets a vote. But the issue is that when it comes to principles like voting rights, the cost-benefit analysis doesn't cut it. After all, I'm sure any American could make the same argument about their specific congressional representatives, yet the system soldiers on.
The fight for voting rights isn't taking much away from Fenty's busy schedule. He isn't involved on a day-to-day basis, so it's not like he ignoring the schools or crime while pushing for voting rights.
MikeB: To his credit, McConnell was against BCRA (aka McCain-Feingold) on Constitutional grounds, and was one of the parties bringing the case that went up to the Supreme Court.
But there are many other bills that would qualify under this argument that he doesn't seem to have any problems with.
Just think of the side benefits of having a Federal tax-free DC.. it would become a mecca of people trying to save a few bucks, just like Delaware, home of tax free shopping!
Good call on the McCain-Feingold bill. I had forgotten about that one.
Martin-
The D.C. Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. I've said that time & time again. No matter how much DC residents deserve congressional representation, it shouldn't be given on the grounds of such constitutionally dubious legislation. I think you know what to promote next: amending of the constitution. If that is what the opposition wants, give it to them. If the amendment brings *full* representation to the residents of Washington, DC, I will support it. However, if it's like the D.C. Voting Rights Act, I will call it out for what is. Good luck and thank you for your efforts.
-NS
Nik-
That argument was thrown around plenty, but if there is one thing we can say is true it's that the legal community was split on this one. Ultimately, the courts would be the ones to choose which side was right.
I always felt that it was unfortunate that we'd have to approach this as part of a compromise. But given the circumstances, that's what happened. Was it a bad choice? I don't think so. It got plenty of people talking about the issue, and it forced members of Congress to speak out on it. Now that the opposition has laid out its cards -- amend the constitution, they say -- we can exploit those to push the cause again.
Yeah, Reid, and the Founding Fathers were borderline obsessed with a few things, too. Thank goodness lazy SOBs like yourself can just free ride off the efforts of others.
"The fight for voting rights isn't taking much away from Fenty's busy schedule. He isn't involved on a day-to-day basis, so it's not like he ignoring the schools or crime while pushing for voting rights."
I agree. I'd like to keep it that way. I was merely responding to your suggestion to turn the DC government into a virtual arm of DC Vote. Some of your ideas are worthwhile, I just don't think it should be that high of a priority.
"Yeah, Reid, and the Founding Fathers were borderline obsessed with a few things, too. Thank goodness lazy SOBs like yourself can just free ride off the efforts of others."
DC residents have it nowhere near as bad as the colonists did. Besides, if you want to blame anyone for the lack of a vote, it's the founding fathers themselves.
Anyway, who's the real freeloader? You could make a case that those tilting at windmills are freeloading on those that fight for the smaller things.
As a DC resident of 25 years, I'd happily forfeit voting rights in exchange for not having to pay federal taxes any day of the week.
Those of you people calling for elimination of federal income tax in DC, are you all millionaires? How many of us do you think would be able to afford to live in this city if it became a tax haven? If you think rent and house prices are bad now, imagine where they'd go if that happened.
Those of you people calling for elimination of federal income tax in DC, are you all millionaires? How many of us do you think would be able to afford to live in this city if it became a tax haven? If you think rent and house prices are bad now, imagine where they'd go if that happened.
Though I'd imagine much of the federal income tax cut would be eaten up by an increase in District income taxes.
"Those of you people calling for elimination of federal income tax in DC, are you all millionaires? How many of us do you think would be able to afford to live in this city if it became a tax haven? If you think rent and house prices are bad now, imagine where they'd go if that happened."
i own a house.
i don't rent.
think the GOP would be as concerned about the constitution if dc was largely republican?
think the Dems would be as concerned about DC voting rights if DC was largely Republican?
Some may honestly believe in the constitutional issue, but we don't have a vote in DC for purely political reasons, and all of us, left and right, know it. Most Republicans just don't have the balls to say it out loud (it doesn't look good that while Americans are dying for "democracy in Iraq" we don't have it in our nation's capital).
It's a disgrace.
It was a dishonest way of going about it and really gave us nothing except for a vote for Eleanor automatically cancelled out by Utah. If we're not willing to do the hard work to pass a constitutional amendment we don't deserve it. And we should ask for exemption from federal taxes in the meantime -- although, I suspect, a large number, perhaps a majority, would prefer that in the end anyway.
:-(( :-(( Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :-(( :-((
I would enjoy secession. The nation's capital declares itself independent because of no representation. Heck, if the 13 colonies could do it, why not the district? We even have a flag!