The Constitution??? What's that????

The SASTEB is now dabbling in Con Law. Hide the women and the children.

“DC should not have full vote in congress" - May 1st.

House Democrats and 22 Republicans congratulated themselves recently by voting to give the residents of the nation’s capital a member of Congress with full voting rights.

The bill, which passed 241-177, would expand the number of House members from 435 to 437. This proposed deal would give the reliably Democratic District of Columbia a member and reliably Republican and fast-growing Utah another seat.

Reliably Republican, yes. Fast-growing is debatable. The proposed 4th district of Utah is actually the slowest-growing portion of the state (although the St. George metropolitan area is booming in the Southern portion of the district). Also, Utah is growing about half as fast as Arizona.

The Senate should reject this proposal because it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Oh, SASTEB!!!! Enlighten me with your wisdom. Let your constitutional brilliance shine forth upon the dark souls of the uneducated and unenlightened.

House seats are apportioned based on population, and the standard congressional district is about 685,000. Regardless of D.C., Utah surely will qualify for another seat after the 2010 census. D.C. had a population of 550,500 as of 2005, down 22,000 from 2000, and likely to decline again in the next census. On population alone, Washington doesn’t qualify.

Where to begin?

1) DC only lost 519 people last year. This is hardly a cause for alarm. Actually, if murders went down, then DC would probably be gaining population.
2) It is not constitutionally mandated to have 685,000 people per district. This is merely a rule of thumb (aka: “General Thumb”). Many districts have much more and many districts have far fewer than the average. That’s why its an “average.” Thus, this argument is totally incongruous with the idea of the piece: that the proposal violates the US Constitution.
3) Wyoming has only 509,000 residents. Based on the SASTEB’s logic, it should be stripped of its Congressional seat. Sorry, Barbara Cubin (R-WY)!
4) Delaware has 850,000 people but only one congressperson. The 685,000 number is extremely rough.

Pray continue. You were misrepresenting the Constitution?

The Constitution gives the House members a free hand in choosing their number, but it is also unmistakably clear that the House “shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the People of the several States.” Article 1, Section 2 creating the House goes on to specify the “states” or “state” seven more times.

True. DC residents also have to pay income taxes, even though the 16th Amendment refers to “apportionment among the states.”

Should we get rid of the income tax for DC residents? No! Of course not; such a plan would make DC a continental Bermuda. However, we tax DC like a state but represent it like a territory. It gets screwed.

It’s not surprising that Democrats would support D.C. getting a full-voting member of Congress. That would give them one more vote in Congress. This type of political chicanery at the expense of the Constitution is not why voters put Democrats in control of Congress.

What??? You previously wrote that they will add a seat in Utah. UTAH!!! Can you get more conservative than Utah’s proposed 4th district? NO!!!! You even called Utah’s proposed 4th “reliably Republican!!!!” They will vote Republican ALL THE TIME. Just like DC will vote Democrat ALL THE TIME. Thus, there is a net gain of zero for either party. This type of blatant misinformation at the expense of truth is not why people subscribe to your newspaper.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to block the bill on constitutional grounds, and if he can’t, President Bush has pledged to veto it for the same reasons. Quite simply, the District of Columbia is not a state, and attempts to make it one have failed twice in the past 30 years.

Yes. It’s not a state, but it should be taxed as such. Wouldn’t the taxing of DC without representation not hold up under Constitutional scrutiny?

Currently, the representative of the District of Columbia, like those from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam, can vote in House committees but not on final passage on the House floor. It might be unfair, but the solution is not to play fast and loose with the Constitution.

What??? The Constitution isn’t even truly harmed by this proposal. It’s currently being flaunted - hence the DC license plate: “No taxation without representation.”