Sign the petition: No taxation without representation! Statehood for D.C.
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No taxation without representation was the slogan that started a revolution, yet it is still happening today. Although Washington D.C doesn’t have representation in Congress, they are forced to depend on Congressional approval when deciding their laws.
The people of the District of Columbia pay more federal taxes than those in 22 other states and pay more to the federal government than they receive in services. D.C. residents are taxpaying Americans bound by the laws Congress passes and are entitled to the full voting representation other Americans enjoy.
If taxation without representation wasn’t okay in 1776, it still shouldn’t be okay today. It’s time to make Washington D.C. a state.
Sign the petition: No taxation without representation! Statehood for D.C.
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To pass laws, D.C. must first acquire congressional approval, something which no state must do. Congress has repeatedly vetoed many important D.C. laws, causing great harm to the public health and safety of frontline communities. They have challenged the District’s plan for a medical marijuana program, and D.C’s efforts to control gun violence. They have barred the District from spending to offset the costs of abortions for low-income residents.
But they have been denied that right since the District was created in 1801. Back then, Congress argued the District was too small to warrant representation, but that has long since changed. With more than 700,000 residents, D.C. has a larger population than both Vermont and Wyoming.
Opponents to D.C. statehood are afraid that it would partially correct a structural bias in the Senate’s composition, which overwhelmingly favors low-population, rural states that are usually more conservative than the rest of the country. That imbalance gives those residents more power when they cast their votes, and results in public policy that is out of line with national popular sentiment. Moreover, the campaign against D.C. statehood is a ferocious attempt to disenfranchise Black voters. D.C. is a historically Black city and Black people still make 47% of the population. It's time to give them the voice they deserve in Congress.
Sign the petition: D.C deserves proper representation. Give D.C statehood now!
In solidarity,
LeftNet
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