New Hampshire Looks to Smack Down Senators: After the U.S. Senate failed to overcome a filibuster on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, voting rights activists swore they would have their revenge. On the top of their list are Republican senators John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.), and Thad Cochran (Miss.), not to mention the lone Democrat to vote against the bill, Max Baucus (Mont.). But one state legislator from New Hampshire is looking to punish the state’s two Republican senators — Judd Gregg and John Sununu — also. Representative Cindy Rosenwald (Hillsborough District 22) recently introduced legislation that would declare the state’s regret for the votes of its two senators and throw the Granite State’s support behind the move to enfranchise the District’s 600,000 residents. Rosenwald has said that she expects a hearing on the bill in early 2008, possibly around the time the state hosts its all-important presidential primary.

Another Reason We Love Bob Herbert: No, the New York Times didn’t give voting rights activists a huge discount on a full-page advocacy ad or anything, but columnist Bob Herbert did take the GOP to task yesterday for their opposition to District voting rights. He wrote:

Enough is enough. Last week the Republicans showed once again just how anti-black their party really is. The G.O.P. has spent the last 40 years insulting, disenfranchising and otherwise stomping on the interests of black Americans. Last week, the residents of Washington, D.C., with its majority black population, came remarkably close to realizing a goal they have sought for decades — a voting member of Congress to represent them. A majority in Congress favored the move, and the House had already approved it. But the Republican minority in the Senate — with the enthusiastic support of President Bush — rose up on Tuesday and said: “No way, baby.”

Thanks for the consistent support, Bob.

Let’s Bury the Tax Argument, Please: After every setback to the voting rights movement, someone has to chime in and argue that if District residents aren’t to be represented, they shouldn’t be taxed either. While we see the obvious value in not having to pay taxes, the principle of receiving voting representation simply shouldn’t be for sale. We were surprised to see a blogger as liberal as The Atlantic’s Matthew Yglesias almost endorse the idea, given that it should be progressives more than anyone else that would want to see a historic injustice in a majority African American city undone. We don’t even want to think about what might happen to this city should it become a tax haven for the super-wealthy. It’s voting representation or bust for us.