Editorial: It's a couple centuries past time for Washington, D.C., to get statehood

You can live in Washington, D.C. amid the nation’s cherished monuments to democracy and representative government — the U.S. Capitol, the stately congressional office buildings, the White House — and still be among the most disenfranchised citizens in the nation.

Since Congress started meeting in D.C. in 1800, it’s been more overlord than neighbor to the residents of the District. They have no senators and can send only a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. And they’ve been able to do that much only since 1971. “Home rule” allowing a locally elected mayor and city council wasn’t enacted by Congress until 1973 — and Congress still retains the power to modify or veto D.C.’s laws and budgets. And it took a constitutional amendment for D.C.

In the founders’ zeal to keep the nation’s capital separate from the fray and sway of partisan politics, they sentenced its residents to a kind of second-class citizenship. For decades in the 1800s, that was fueled by openly racist members of Congress intent on keeping the District, with its growing Black population, from wielding any kind of power. Today, Black and white residents each account for about 46% of the District’s population, according to the Census Bureau.

But it’s 220 years later. Giving the people who live within a few miles of the Capitol the same voice in Congress and the same power of self-rule as the residents of the 50 states seems embarrassingly overdue. It’s time to grant the District of Columbia statehood.On Friday, the House of Representatives is expected to take up a bill by the District’s longtime Democratic delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, to do just that.

opinion To do this you would need to amend the Constitution. Good luck with that! DCStatehood

opinion ASAP

opinion and all black and democrat and spanking new democrat senators and congressman. why not just say what it is really about?

opinion What taxes do they pay?

opinion Blatant attempt by Democrats to seize power in a corrupt manner. WalkAwayFromDemocratsForever

opinion just make DC a part of maryland

opinion It's not going to happen, just nonsense to get people riled up. If they want to have full representation, fine add DC to VA or MD. Dems just want to cheat their way into a majority because they're worried that their mail in ballot scam won't work. We don't have city-states.

opinion Dumb and dangerous idea.

opinion No no and no

opinion Bad idea. Te-elected Raymond Barry? Need adult supervision

opinion Peak Stupidity

opinion Great another slum!

opinion Do these people know nothing of our country?

opinion Tough, they do more to influence votes than any state in the Union. DC is a cesspool of Evil, and needs cleansed out, not given more power to destroy us sooner.

opinion i am not surprised with LA Times lack of history. same paper who wrote about the Vietnam War like it's some regional war and never bothered once to mention the Cold War, that it was proxy war between the U.S. and Soviet Union.

opinion the whole point of Washington DC is that it isn't a statehood. why they moved it from New York City, which is in a state. maybe open a history book sometime.

opinion

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House set to vote on DC statehood to create Washington, Douglass CommonwealthHouse of Representatives laying groundwork for potentially historic vote that aims to grant the District of Columbia statehood, as Democrats say the district’s more than 700,000 citizens have been “disenfranchised” for too long. Now Puerto Rico, too. Dear NPR you poetic geniuses : keep reporting the 'real' numbers which equates to the mortality from COVID19 as low or lower as the highest percentage (+s) you put out 😂😂😂 after all the COMMON FLU KILLS MORE THAN Kungfluvirus weijia realDonaldTrump VP kaitlancollins desperate for electoral votes and 2 more DNC shill senators. never going to happen!!!!!!! make DC Rome, MD again!!!
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

U.S. House on verge of approving Washington, D.C., statehoodFour decades after launching its drive for U.S. statehood, Washington, D.C. was poised to take a step toward becoming the 51st state as the House of Representatives on Friday was expected to approve its admission. They should have statehood & representation, proper. Just like California , & some other rather large states should have more than 2 senators, & the ElectoralCollege should be tossed in the rubbish. The point of D.C was to literally not be a state....these “elected” officials are now dumber than their constituents We need to turn the DC land back over to Maryland, just like we did years ago with Virginia (Alexandria & Arlington). This way DC resident can share the 2 Maryland Senators and have their own House Rep. Making DC a state is nothing but a pure Democratic partisan power grab.
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Examining the renewed debate over granting Washington D.C. statehoodNBC News’ Andrea Mitchell takes an in-depth look at the politics behind granting statehood to Washington D.C. and why the debate has been renewed. Now If you can’t win Senate seats ..... just makeup states and guarantee 2 pts for your team. It’s genius! Now DCStatehood Now DC was created so the national capital would not be in a state.
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »

Opinion | Republicans are no longer hiding that the D.C. statehood fight is about raceBattles for statehood have always been political, but they've also quite often been about race. Washington, D.C.'s fight for recognition is no different. THINK THINK Democrats the real racist THINK DC burns as a city. Now they want chaos expanded to statehood No thanks
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »

Pros And Cons Of D.C. StatehoodThe movement to make Washington, D.C. the nation’s 51st state has continued to gain momentum and is emerging as a significant issue in an increasingly polarized country, but the proposal has many critics. The Onion looks at the pros and cons of granting D.C. statehood. D.C. is full of pros and cons. This is gonna become a legitimate news article soon.... One major pro: All the US flags around the world will need to be burned immediately.
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Tom Cotton’s Oh-So-Principled Case for Denying D.C. RepresentationTom Cotton's premise about which groups of Americans can be trusted with equal political representation, and which cannot, comes through perfectly clear. jonathanchait writes jonathanchait Needs head check. jonathanchait Sweep them ALL out on November 3rd. jonathanchait SenTomCotton a man of whiteblessing, educated at the best schools, yet some say he has a spirit of bitterness
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