Am I mistaken, or do senators not lobby for their states and the people they represent now?

If DC were a part of MD, would those MD senators not then be lobbying on behalf of DC residents as well?

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 1:52 PM. Reason : hoo]

11/8/2012 1:46:47 PM

yes but they'd be working for all maryland residents. the point is dc is too small and too focused to be allowed 2 senate seats. they should get house members based on their population. whether they join maryland to do it or become a special case it doesnt really matter (though joining maryland would probably be better)

11/8/2012 2:01:35 PM

^^^ it would certainly be less expensive.

Just admit you want them to be a state for the congressional votes.


[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 2:13 PM. Reason : ]

11/8/2012 2:02:00 PM

If Puerto Rico wants to be a state, more power to them. As for taxes, might as well bring them into full compliance rather than the weird piecemeal of Federal taxes they currently pay.

11/8/2012 2:04:12 PM

Quote :

"So let's hear the argument for why it SHOULD be a state, rather than annexed by a current state."

multiple facets of the argument have been posted in this thread, but sure, just spin my criticism of an argument being unsubstantive back around, i guess

Quote :

"ftfy. dc statehood would basically install 2 lobbyists into the senate."

you realize the defense contracting companies are mostly, if not all, located in virginia and maryland, right?

Quote :

"Just admit you want them to be a state for the electoral votes."

DC already gets 3 of those..............?

11/8/2012 2:12:28 PM

So the best argument for statehood is that they are accustomed to governing themselves, despite the fact that the reason for this self governance was expressly because they were not supposed to be a state or part of a state?

DC isn't like every other state that we have admitted (and Puerto Rico if it became one) and built out of previously non-state territories or colonies. DC was formerly a part of a state and was taken away to be a neutral territorry for federal government.

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 2:27 PM. Reason : I guess the closest analogue would be WV, but it took a civil war to make that happen]

11/8/2012 2:16:54 PM

I guess I will just have to accept the fact that I can't understand the logic behind your point then, shaggy. It appears as if DC is indeed large enough, and I was unaware that being too "focused" could disqualify an area from statehood.

11/8/2012 2:36:02 PM

So your best arguments, Andy, is that the best arguments for them becoming a State, based on their current conditions and how they arrived there, are flawed because when it was created the conditions were a different way. Okay, I'll leave that up to the peanut gallery as to which conditions, immediate present or distant past, are more relevant.

11/8/2012 2:49:34 PM

Wasn't DC formed from state territory and if people want state representation, should DC just go back where it came from?

11/8/2012 2:51:09 PM

^^ Sounds good to me.

When DC becomes a state you can say "I told you so"

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 2:52 PM. Reason : ]

11/8/2012 2:51:50 PM

Yeah and my shit originally came from food, that doesn't mean the best way to deal with a turd is to eat it.

11/8/2012 3:02:37 PM

Quote :

"^^ Sounds good to me."

because things that were once a certain way in this country have never been changed or anything

11/8/2012 3:03:05 PM

^^Though I'm pretty sure you like getting your shit shoved back up your ass.

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 3:07 PM. Reason : .]

11/8/2012 3:07:36 PM

Quote :

"DC was formerly a part of a state and was taken away to be a neutral territorry for federal government. "

It wasn't taken away, it was given away by Maryland. We almost had as our national capital Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (which later became the capital of that state), but Thomas Jefferson made one of the last grand compromises because he disdained northeastern culture and didn't want the capital to be up there. Therefore: what became the planned city of Washington, District of Columbia, built on useless swampland as Virginia and Maryland saw it.

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 3:23 PM. Reason : /]

11/8/2012 3:22:53 PM

Note:

Puerto Rico didn't necessarily vote to become a state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_status_referendum,_2012#Results

There were 2 parts
- Do you agree that Puerto Rico should continue to have its present form of territorial status? (yes with 54%)
- Regardless of your selection in the first question, please mark which of the following non-territorial options would you prefer.

Then apparently 3.5% didn't answer the first question, and 25.64% didn't answer the second one. In other words, about 22% of Puerto Rican voters are idiots who can't read instructions.

If you divide it out, actually 48.28% of the voters filled in the blank for statehood. The difference between this and the majority in the first question is a large contingent who voted that they don't like the current status, but are didn't take the time to read the instructions for the 2nd question, which clearly states that it needed an answer.

You can't quite say that statehood is reflecting the will of the people. It's also likely that while the majority don't like the current status, you could not get a majority to agree on a single plan.

So what's the right thing to do?

11/8/2012 3:26:39 PM

I say we bring'em in and kick out California.

Keep it at 50

11/8/2012 3:59:59 PM

I think the right thing to do is just wait on them to decide the right thing to do. Even if more than half don't like the current status quo, until they decide what it is they want then they are going to keep it.

Also, while I'm all for making them a state, I think it should take more than a simple majority. Once they become a state, that's it, they have committed. There's no getting out after that.

If there was we wouldn't have had that little brouhaha in the 1860s.

11/8/2012 4:21:44 PM

But didn't they already have a vote and determine to go for it?

In a certain sense, demanding a more clear signal is kind of like subverting their democracy. We plunge headlong into all kinds of really dumb shit with a razor-thin majority. Or less, like GWB!

11/8/2012 5:38:29 PM

"If DC wants the benefits of statehood they should just go back to being part of VA.

11/8/2012 5:54:46 PM

...but part of old DC already is part of VA, when VA asked for its cession back in 1846, about 14 years before it seceded outright from the Union; if the rest of DC wants to become part of MD, it will need to convince MD to ask Congress for it.

11/8/2012 8:35:52 PM

Puerto Rico won't become a state because it would likely bolster the position of the democratic party. The approval process won't make it through the house (assuming the house has to approve it).

11/16/2012 11:55:22 AM

Denying Puerto Rico would doom the republicans far more than allowing them.

11/16/2012 12:29:57 PM