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Washington, D.C., statehood battle says a ton about today’s partisan politics | John Baer
Updated 5:30 AM;
Congressional Democrats argue people paying federal taxes should have federal representation, so the District of Columbia should be a state. Seems fair.
Democrats could say, “Yeah, well, Republicans grabbed four Senators by making the Dakota Territory two states back in 1889.”
And Republicans could say, “I know you are but what am I.”
Point is, we’re off again on an issue reflecting our politics: ultra-partisan, mostly meaningless, pandering to the base of one party or the other, in this case Democrats to the left.
NAACP, Planned Parenthood pen letter supporting D.C. statehood By Kate Smith Inside the push for D.C. statehood
The heads of Planned Parenthood, the NAACP and hundreds of prominent women of color are throwing their support behind Washington, D.C. statehood efforts, claiming the issue is one of racial equity and public health.
In an open letter to Congress released Thursday, they call statehood for the district a matter of life and death, citing issues like inequitable vaccine availability, a staggeringly high maternal mortality rate among Black women, and limited tools for local D.C. politicians to combat these problems. Signatories included Alexis McGill Johnson, head of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Akosua Ali, president of the NAACP Washington, D.C.; Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois; attorney and television personality Star Jones; and more than 250 other women leaders in fields like medicine, public policy, community activism and ed
House of Representatives passes Washington D.C. statehood bill
On Thursday, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted for the second time in less than a year to admit the District of Columbia the seat of the federal government as the 51st state in the United States. House Resolution 51 passed on a party-line vote of 216-208, with every Republican opposed. The bill will now go to the Senate, where Democrats hold narrowest of majorities, thanks to the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The District of Columbia, renamed the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, with a population of 700,000, would become the geographically smallest state in the United States, one-eighteenth the size of Rhode Island, although it would have a larger population than the states of Wyoming and Vermont.
Commentary: Sens. King, Collins should give D.C. residents the same rights as Mainers
People who live in the nation’s capital lack not only voting representation in Congress but also sovereignty over local affairs.
By Anna KellarSpecial to the Press Herald
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The essence of democracy is the idea that the people govern themselves. That the people are the source of power. That those who serve do so with the consent of the governed. That the people have the right to be heard, to call for redress when necessary, to petition the government, to vote and be counted.
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