Photo by philliefan99

Late last week the White House posted a somewhat under-the-radar response to a petition demanding that it place the city’s “Taxation Without Representation” license plates on President Obama’s fleet of limos. The response, written by David Agnew, the Deputy Assistant to the President and the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, read as follows:

After living in the District for four years, President Obama has seen firsthand how unfair it is for D.C. residents to spend their lives working hard, raising children, and paying taxes without a vote in Congress.

We hope you noticed that during his Inauguration President Obama’s Motorcade was sporting the D.C. “Taxation without Representation” license plates. Well, we’ve got some good news for you.

Those tags are staying on.

President Obama supports a vote in Congress for the people of Washington, D.C.—as well as Home Rule and budget autonomy.

President Obama will continue to show his support for efforts in Congress to bring full representation for the people of the District of Columbia — including displaying its license plates.

So thanks for your petition, and taking part in the We the People platform.

The response isn’t so much notable for the content—Obama has said before that he supports budget autonomy and voting rights—but rather the timing. The White House announced that it would put the plates on Obama’s limo in January, after Agnew had met with D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson and Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3). The petition itself was posted in late December, and only ever received 3,735 signatures. That’s quite a ways short of the 100,000-signature threshold that the White House set in January for responses to the petitions, which are hosted on the White House’s “We the People” site.

Still, D.C. voting rights advocates are happy, including D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who applauded the White House for responding even though the petition didn’t meet the necessary threshold.

“The White House response shows that our city’s aspirations for full independence are more than momentary symbolism. Though DC Vote’s petition did not reach the standard threshold of 25,000 signatures within 30 days in order to receive a response, the petition brought national attention to D.C.’s status, and the White House responded anyway. The ‘Taxation Without Representation’ license plates were put on the President’s inauguration motorcade, and they are staying on. Most important, the White House has responded with a ringing endorsement of not only D.C. voting rights, but of home rule and budget autonomy, our major goal this year,” she said in a statement.

D.C. Vote’s Communications Director James Jones said much the same: “The decision by the Administration to reach out to people from all around the country who signed the petition provides more evidence that the Administration is prepared to step up for the District. They didn’t have to do this, and we are hopeful that we will have the President’s support as our fights for budget autonomy and self-determination move forward.”