Monaco on the Potomac.Living in Washington, D.C., requires some annoying compromises. The non-specialty supermarkets are abysmal. There's a Giant Food near my house that looks like live chickens and Polish peasants should be wandering around inside. Of course, the public schools compare favorably with schools in other national capitals--Baghdad comes to mind--but are dreadful compared with other schools in America. A friend of mine once ran a painting company in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden when he was younger. Its motto: "We may be slow, but we're expensive." D.C. schools should translate that into Latin and inscribe in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. it over every door. But, as petty as it may seem, what bothers me the most are the license plates. I have to drive around with "Taxation Without Representation" on my license plate whether I like it or not. New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). has "Live Free or Die!" and I get the rallying cry Noun 1. rallying cry - a slogan used to rally support for a cause; "a cry to arms"; "our watchword will be `democracy'" war cry, watchword, battle cry, cry catchword, motto, shibboleth, slogan - a favorite saying of a sect or political group 2. of the D.C. Green party. There's so much I can't stand about the slogan. For starters, most of the folks who think "Taxation Without Representation" is the distillation of everything unjust about D.C.'s non-state status are also the sorts of folks who think the American Revolution was a riot of hypocrisy by rich white men. They look down their noses at anybody who sees the American Revolution or the Founding as a source of moral and constitutional guidance in any other sphere of life. Their arguments for D.C. congressional voting rights Voting rights The right to vote on matters that are put to a vote of security holders. For example the right to vote for directors. voting rights The type of voting and the amount of control held by the owners of a class of stock. and statehood state·hood n. The status of being a state, especially of the United States, rather than being a territory or dependency. (not to mention gun control) do horrible violence to the Constitution. But they just don't care. They wear T-shirts with the phrase and even sport bumper stickers repeating what's already on their license plate. They think it's clever to bebop bebop or bop Jazz characterized by harmonic complexity, convoluted melodic lines, and frequent shifting of rhythmic accent. In the mid-1940s, a group of musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker, rejected the conventions of and scat off of the perceived inconsistency between the American Founding and D.C.'s status. But actually respecting what the Constitution says? That's for suckers. But they are the suckers. And that's what drives me the battiest about this whole Taxation Without Representation thing: They have a point! It is wrong to tax people without giving them political representation. But look: You, Dear Reader, are a rational person. Imagine you are presented with the following choice: Option A: Continue to pay your federal taxes, but with the enormous satisfaction of having Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is a member of the United States House of Representatives but is not a full voting member. She is a Delegate to Congress representing the District of Columbia, a position that carries more limited voting powers than full House members. vote for you in the House of Representatives and--for the sake of argument--a couple of hacky D.C. pols representing your interests in the Senate. Or ... Option B: Pay nothing in federal taxes while living in the civic hell of being "voiceless" in Washington. Right scale: No taxes, no "voice." Left scale: Taxes, with "voice." Am I a crazy man, or is this like the biggest no-brainer since Larry Craig asked me if I was headed to the bathroom? No taxes! What am I missing? Sure, there would be repercussions repercussions npl → répercussions fpl repercussions npl → Auswirkungen pl to such a policy. Within hours of the court ruling that federal taxation of D.C. residents is unconstitutional, the nation's capital would be bought up by billionaires. But that's okay. I'd be happy to sell my house for $40 million. As for the poor, we could voucherize their stakes in their rental or public housing so they could make a buck from the transformation of D.C. into Monaco-on-the-Potomac. It would be the greatest private-sector wealth transfer in human history, a living laboratory for low-tax zealots Zealots (zĕl`əts), Jewish faction traced back to the revolt of the Maccabees (2d cent. B.C.). The name was first recorded by the Jewish historian Josephus as a designation for the Jewish resistance fighters of the war of A.D. 66–73. (like me). And, I guarantee you, the supermarkets and public schools would be awesome! |
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