The Senate votes on cloture today on the D.C. Voting Rights Act. I've already weighed in on this one -- it's a great policy idea, but sadly unconstitutional. Details here. And here. And a little bit here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A Law Professor Looks at the News, the World, and Life
Labels
- politics (177)
- law (97)
- life (75)
- cases (54)
- income tax (36)
- blog (34)
- supreme court (32)
- constitution (31)
- academia (23)
- bush (23)
- senate (23)
- business (21)
- d.c. (18)
- sports (17)
- Iraq (16)
- law school (16)
- technology (14)
- golf (11)
- justice department (11)
- mn senate (11)
- u.s. attorneys (11)
- interpretation (10)
- books (9)
- gonzales (9)
- religion (9)
- administrative law (8)
- computers (8)
- ip (8)
- statutes (8)
- movies (7)
- movies and TV (7)
- war on terror (7)
- bridge (6)
- economy (6)
- standing (6)
- culture (5)
- economics (5)
- congress (4)
- consumer (4)
- bush administration (3)
- procedure (3)
- scandals (3)
- taxes (3)
- virginia (3)
- attorney general (2)
- courts (2)
- doan (2)
- math (2)
- regulation (2)
- travel (2)
- GW (1)
- Iran (1)
- cheney (1)
- d.c (1)
- education (1)
- guantanamo (1)
- gun control (1)
- harvard (1)
- ideas (1)
- immigration (1)
- national security (1)
- public health (1)
- scholarship (1)
- software (1)
- statistics (1)
- thomas (1)
2 comments:
Here's a thought:
If DC isn't to be allowed full voting rights, then why not just eliminate our federal income tax requirement? No representation = no taxation, right?
I would seriously like to know why this idea isn't given wider airing. After all, the U.S. has territories and protectorates which - like DC - aren't given a voice in Congress, but then they aren't federally taxed either. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico come to mind. So, why tax the citizens of DC? (At the federal level only - residents would still pay DC taxes.)
If this has the effect of making a tax haven out of DC then so much the better: how long do you think the interests of the newly-arrived wealthy would remain unrepresented in Congress?
Eleanor Holmes Norton (our nonvoting delegate) did push this plan a few years ago. It would have been great, and I expect the population of DC would have skyrocketed as many Americans would happily trade their representation for freedom from income tax. It would certainly be good for property values here!
Post a Comment