tlowdermilk, good point.

Make DC a county of Maryland? Don't think so, we have enough problems. Anyhow - as far as DC getting the vote, etc.; does anyone read history books? DC was formed as a separate Federal city for a reason! With all of the other problems DC has, I can't believe that the DC government is wasting so much time and effort on this.

I am thrilled that DC lost this battle as DC continues to feel it is above the constitution when it comes to the gun laws. Until DC decides to go by the rules that the rest of the country follows I will continue to press my representative and senator to oppose any voting rights for DC residents. I expect that it will not be long before the Superior Court either decides against hearing DC's case against hanguns, or overturns the ban all together anyways. DC residents are nothing but easy prey as long as the gun ban stands, and it's been ruled that it's not the DC police's legal responsibility to protect any of it's citizens (D.C. 444 A. 2d 1)...

If the US government doesn't want to give DC representation then maybe DC residents should quit paying taxes, quit registering for selective service and quit protecting the idiots on the Hill.

Or just make the citizens of DC exempt from federal taxes and there is no longer an argument about taxation without representation. I wonder if taxation without representation is as unconstitutional as giving DC representation? It is certainly un-American.

Personally, I'm not at all interested in being dumped into Maryland.

Hey John.....you have the same name as officer hanged as a spy during the American Revolutionary War

excelent legal argument, John....

......but!

wouldn't it be easier to revert the land donation made by MD and ** convert DC into a county of MD, and therefor have a representative....and the right to vote for 2 senators????

yeah, I know, MD **AND** VA donated land, but I'm sure it can be deal with more efficiently if we get out of the equation a lot of politicians in Congress who are afraid of one single Democrat more....

I did not respond to the poll above since the proper choice is not there. As I have indicated previously, the proper choice for the District of Columbia (not a State!)is representation by ONE REPRESENTATIVE AND ONE SENATOR by Constitutional amendment! Unfortunately, the President is correct in vetoing this bill since the District of Columbia CANNOT be a State by Constitutional provision. The proper procedure to assure a D.C. vote in Congress is to amend the Constitution to give the District ONE Senator plus the number of Representatives the District would have by census were the District a State. (This would normally amount to a single Representative in the House.)

Please note that this Constitutional "fix" ensures that there never can be a tie vote in the United States Senate due to the fact that there's an even number of Senators, as we have today. There can still be a tie vote due to the absence or "present" vote of one or more Senators on a Senate vote. With an odd number of United States Senators due to the special Constitutional status of the District of Columbia, a tie vote and a Vice Presidential tie-breaker in the U.S. Senate become less likely. End of story.