The framers of the Constitution were not stupid, but the document contains some monumental screw-ups

[11 Bravo]

For 218 years, the Constitution of the United States of America has allowed the District of Columbia to exist as a playground for Congress and the courts. D.C. residents have fought and died in every war this nation has fought, yet they have never been allowed to cast a vote for or against the individuals who sent them to their fate. D.C. residents pay the same taxes as everyone else, yet are denied the opportunity to elect a representative with any say in how their tax money is spent. (As I recall this nation can trace its genesis to a war of rebellion in the face of that particular inequity.) D.C. residents are permitted to elect a city council which may determine how local revenues are employed, but Congress can step in at any time and forbid the expenditure of local funds for any endeavor of which Congress disapproves. Earlier injustices within the Constitution have been remedied, including, but not limited to, slavery and women's suffrage. It is time to address this one.

[unblock]

1. i think the screwup was letting people live there in the first place

i think they should have allocated less land to washington d.c. and reserved it for government office buildings only (specifically, no residents), and the people who actually live in the area would naturally be residents of either virginia or maryland.

i think the idea was to protect the federal government from state and municipal laws and/or influence. i.e., there was a legitimate problem to be solved, they just implemented a poor solution, which time has only made worse as there are now many, many residents of washington, d.c.

[hlthe2b]

2. I agree, unblock...

[Igel]

3. Return most of the land to Maryland.

The land Virginia ceded was returned.