re: John Oliver discusses DC Statehood -- Agree or Disagree?

If we really wanted true representation, why not split California into 7 states once it goes bankrupt (there is a proposal for this)?

It's actually very hard to move these days, and the people that say to just move are very ignorant. The average cost to move these days is around $2000 dollars. Most people don't have this lying around. When I move last year it was around $1500 with deposits and the moving van, and all I had was my stuff.

You're not supposed to live there. It's a federal district. If they want representation, then they need to move to a state. Only an idiot would pitch a tent on the courthouse lawn and then bitch that the county doesn't recognize that as a valid residential address. Washington City is the same way.

Plus, if they were a state, Congress would lose the power to overrule DC city government decisions. You may think Congress is inept, but they're wonder working magicians compared to the DC crew.

Here's a hall of fame of DC luminaries:


Anthony A. Williams, Mayor 1999-2007 -- Led a campaign encouraging DC residents to purchase a home in the district. Did not purchase one himself. Also bankrolled a fancy stadium for the Nationals. Whether or not you think that's a good deal is a matter of opinion, I guess, but I think they can afford to build their own stadiums without getting the taxpayers to do it for them.


Adrien Fenty, Mayor 2007-11 - DC lawyer who was sanctioned by the Bar association for allowing people to steal money from an elderly client whom he'd been appoint guardian of. In 2011, he lost the Dem primary for his own reelection, but ran as a write-in on the GOP ticket, too. Nothing like covering the bases, right?


Vincent C. Gray, Mayor 2011-15 - While mayor, he was arrested for blocking traffic in front of the Hart Senate Office Building. In the middle of city-wide budget crisis, he hired one of the largest mayoral staffs in city history, including one Sulaimon Brown, who was arrested on gun charges in 1991, convicted of unlawful entry in 1995, and had a restraining order slapped on him by a 13 year old girl in 2007. On top of that, turns out that Gray had been illegally diverting campaign funds to Brown to pay for Brown running a smear campaign against Fenty.


Marion S. Barry, Jr., Mayor 1979-91; 1995-99. Councilman, 1975-79; 2005-14 -- One-time distinguished leader of the Civil Rights Movement who disgraced himself and became a crackhead. In 2006, someone broke into his house and robbed him at gunpoint. Barry said he was surprised that someone had done this because, "there is a sort of an unwritten code in Washington, among the underworld and the hustlers and these other guys, that I am their friend."


Yes, this is a distinguished group of citizens who deserve to be recognized as a state.

I don't trust the British's opinions on how a Constitutional republic should work. Move out of the federal city, you ingrates. Virginia and Maryland are right there!

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Yes, this is a distinguished group of citizens who deserve to be recognized as a state.

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Mere amateurs compared to the professional cronys we have running my fair state.

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You're not supposed to live there.

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you're not supposed to live in a city that's basically a bowl, but plenty of people live there.

this is an incredibly stupid argument

It will never happen. And nobody wants to be a Maryland resident.

I reject any argument that equates to "just move!" or "you shouldn't be living there anyway"

You could apply that to any and every situation and that's just oversimplifying a complex issue

I just don't understand what the big deal would be just to merge DC with Maryland. Doesn't give us any more senators that would be ridiculous if DC had two of them and would increase by a member or two in the House. There's no logical reason not to do this.