Ronald W Kenyon

Washington City: Real Stories from the Nation's Capital Ronald W Kenyon

Why do District of Columbia license plates display the legend, "Taxation without Representation"? This is because its 700,000 residents are deprived of most of the voting rights granted by the Constitution to the citizens of the fifty states. Although the Twenty-third Amendment granted them the right to vote for president, they have no representation in the Senate; and their sole representative in Congress is a delegate who sits in the House of Representatives along with those of the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Not one of the six delegates is entitled to vote on pending legislation in the House of Representatives. On the other hand, residents of the District of Columbia, unlike those of the five insular territories, pay Federal income taxes, so Washingtonians have the worst of both worlds. For them, "taxation" is, indeed, "without representation." The author discusses Washingtonians' disenfranchisement and three alternative solutions: statehood, retrocession to Maryland or continuation of the status quo. In another essay, "What Happened to the Democrats?", the author explores how the Republican party achieved a virtual monopoly of political power in America, despite the fact that millions more voters are registered Democrats. Washington City also includes five essays recounting the author's adventures and discoveries and his usual unexpected encounters with total strangers in the Nation's Capital. Table of Contents:1. Why Washington City?2. Minervois in the Dorchester3. J Street or, Rather, Jay Street4. The Case of the Missing SmarTrip Pass5. Lunch at Billy Martin's6. Chào Mung7. What Happened to the Democrats?SourcesAbout the Author