Should the District of Columbia be declared a state?

[coloradodem2005]

I was flipping by C-Span to see the debate at the D.C. primary. Dennis Kucinich was talking about having the District be declared a state. What do you people think?

[La_Serpiente]

1. hell yes

two more Democratic Senate seats are fine with me :-)

That place is a hotbed for liberal activity.

[tedoll78]

3. You read my mind!

Yes!!!

[TexasPatriot]

2. puerto rico too...

4 million people in Puerto Rico...
that's a lot of people

[tedoll78]

4. How many electoral votes would that be?

I'm guessing about 9 or 10. That's good!

[Ready4Change]

5. DC should be absorbed by surrounding states.

While I'd love there to be a new strongly Dem state, and STRONGLY believe it's citizens are wrongly being taxed without representation (love their license plates!), DC is a city, not a state.

I live in MD, and what I hear said against this idea is that it would be a heavy burden on whichever state "got" it. DC has major fiscal problems. While I don't want my state to have to support it, I think, since it's on the MD side of the Potomac, that it should become a city of MD.

[Bucky]

6. "city, not a state" is hogwash. It's a community of interest

Drawing of state lines is pretty arbitrary. DC is badly run, no doubt about it. That alone isn't grounds for denying full citizenship rights to a community. I think some of the problem with the city's management is that its lack of autonomy has led to a lack of accountability within its government. I'm pretty sure Maryland wouldn't DC to administer. I know that the people of DC wouldn't be likely to support being absorbed by another state.

I also assume that Democrats will support the principle of self-determination. I mean you could say Rhode Island isn't a state, just Providence, its burbs, and a few islands. Delaware is mostly Philadelphis suburbs. This is no qualification. By any objective standard, New Hampshire and Vermont shouldn't be separate states, New Mexico and Arizona shouldn't be separate states, and Brownsville and Dallas shouldn't be in the same state.

There's issues of basic justice going on here. Wesley Clark's made the strongest case I've heard so far. You really can't argue against it without devolving into situational ethics at best or racism at worst.

[spooky3]

9. the Repugs don't want more Dem votes

they'll agree only if they get something back in return. So much for justice.

[ithacan]

7. bigger population than Wyoming

DC is a very different place than Maryland. It has its own political identity, traditions, and interests. It has been separate from Maryland for over 200 years. There is no reason it should not become a state, other than:

a) racism. DC would be the ONLY state in the union with an African American majority.

b) political discrimination. Republicans are very much against DC statehood, some perhaps for reason a) above, but in general because it will most assuredly vote democratic. Of course this is not a valid reason to not allow a territory to become a state. But historically it seems that territories have become states in pairs: Maine (non-slave) and Missouri (slave); Alaska (R) and Hawaii (D).

[Eric J in MN]

8. Yes. With 2 Senators and 1 Rep. (nt)

nt

[retyred]

10. It boggles the mind that it isn't already

And yes most definitely!


retyred in fla
“Good-Night Paul, Wherever You Are”
So I read this book

[spooky3]

11. An alternative is to simply give it at least one Senator and one Rep.

without declaring it a state.

I believe that there was a constitutional amendment in the 80s (?) that did pass both houses, but failed to be ratified by the states.

What does Australia do? Canberra is located in ACT, similar to Wash in DC.