Two-Thirds Of Americans Oppose DC Statehood

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

None of the laws you mention could be applied against the federal government. States can’t tax the federal government. States can’t tell the federal government how high to build buildings on federal land. So what exactly is the scenario you fear?

The states can tax the federal government...  what do you think sales taxes and commuter taxes would be? And most of DC is not federal land.

I work for the federal government. They throw a fit if we pay sales tax. If I go down to Napa Auto and get a $4 pack of fuses and pay 30 cents in sales tax, you better believe I’ll have to go back and ask them to take the sales tax off. It’s a massive pain in the butt.

[Figueira]

Title should read: "Two-thirds of Americans think 51 sounds worse than 50 & don't think more critically than that."

Or they think, "DC, that means politicians, screw them."

And I'm sure very few of them realize that DC residents support statehood. I wonder what the poll would be like if it was "Would you support allowing residents of Washington, DC, to vote on whether they should be a state?"

[Slander and/or Libel]

What precisely are you claiming? Like what things would the DC state government have control over that would mean it would have undue influence over the federal government? I'm not tracking what the argument is here.

I've already explained - the law, infrastructure, city planning, to start. If this were not a serious issue that logical people had already considered before, why have countries around the world even bothered with capital districts?

But like, how? Can you give one concrete example?

The law

It doesn't take any imagination to figure that one out.

But what does this mean? Do you mean that DC will be able to make laws that will what, become federal laws? Impact federal laws? Impact the federal government's ability to make laws? All I'm asking for is one concrete example of what you mean.

I don't understand how this is so difficult to figure out. Congress maintains authority over DC, even after Home Rule was instituted, so that the laws of the city will not be against the interests of running the business of the 50 United States. The interests of the residents are heard, but must ultimately be balanced against the interests of the rest of the nation.

Obviously, this means DC statehood is open to political blackmail, but even ignoring that, the federal government would be powerless to stop the DC government from creating new taxes, set zoning regulations, or set infrastructure priorities that would hinder the operation of the government. Things as "simple" in other cities such as closing/moving a road/bridge (I don't mean Bridgegate, I mean regular infrastructure), permitting tall buildings to be built downtown, and commuter taxes, would directly affect the operations of the federal government, and by extension the residents of the 50 states, which is unacceptable. These are just examples of very innocent, politics-free decisions that would hinder the federal government. With any degree of political animus, the powers of a state government are vast.

A "cute" solution to the taxation without representation issue would be to exempt DC residents from federal income tax and perhaps even repeal the city government's taxation authority and fund DC directly from the federal government.

I've worked at federal facilities before, in New Jersey and Maryland. They each had multiple entrances, but if one of them closed because of state road work, or because the budget for clearing roads in winter was slashed, then there was a bottleneck, and the operations of that facility were necessarily curtailed. What's the difference?