The Price of Statehood
Dear Cost Counters:
If I think that DC’s elected officials and statehood advocacy
groups are using wrong and counterproductive strategies to get statehood
for the District — and I do (themail, April 13) — then what would I
suggest instead? I’d suggest not seeking statehood, since the price of
statehood would be higher than its current advocates would be willing to
pay.
First, let me dismiss two claims that statehood advocates make about
the federal government’s failure to give statehood to DC: racism and
power hoarding. Congress won’t give statehood to DC, they insinuate
(and sometimes claim outright), because Congress doesn’t want black
people to have political control over a state. Nonsense. Congress didn’t
give statehood to DC when it had a majority white population, for
generations and centuries before the past few decades, when it had a
majority black population, and it won’t suddenly turn around and look
favorably upon statehood if the white population of DC continues to grow
to be a solid majority of DC again. Second, advocates claim that “power
is never given up willingly,” and that the federal government has to
be forced to give statehood by hostile demonstrations. That’s a
complete misunderstanding of what admitting states to the union has been
all about. Admitting states to the union increased the wealth, size, and
strength of the union; it didn’t reduce it. The earlier states didn’t
lose any power when later states joined; all the states gained more
power by being together. New states were admitted with celebration, not
with grudging, reluctant acceptance.
The main impediment to DC statehood is the Constitution, which
provides (Article 1, Section 8) that one of the powers of Congress is
“To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such
District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of
the Government of the United States. . . .” Some advocates argue that
DC can be made a state through shortcuts, but there are only two
options: amending this section of the Constitution or reducing the size
of the District that was created by Congress. The second option is
easier; it could be done by an act of Congress that would create a small
Federal District of several blocks with relatively few residents (who
would still not be represented by senators or even by a delegate in the
House of Representatives) and would leave the larger portion of the
District of Columbia, which could then become a state.
How do the residents of the District of Columbia persuade members of
Congress first to reduce the size of the Federal District, and then to
pass a bill admitting the nonfederal part of DC to the union as a
state? (These steps could conceivably be collapsed into one bill.) We
don’t do that by insulting members of Congress; by making enemies of
Republicans, who control one house of Congress now and who may control
both houses of Congress after the 2012 or 2014 election; or by insulting
the residents of the fifty existing states by rubbing it into their
faces that we don’t share their values, in fact are contemptuous of
their values, and that we won’t be a congenial member of the club once
we’re admitted. Over the past several months and years, DC government
has worked to convince the nation that our highest values and legal
priorities are government financing for abortions, especially for poor
black women; legalizing marijuana, with medical marijuana as the opening
wedge; facilitating the use of injectible illegal drugs by providing
free hypodermic needles to addicts; preventing poor children from
receiving financial aid that could enable them to attend private
schools; legalizing gay marriage and forbidding the participation of
Catholic church organizations in governmentally financed social service
programs (though, interestingly, not forbidding the participation of
Islamic mosques) because of their support for traditional morality; and
even refusing a floor vote in the House of Representatives for our
Congressional delegate, if the cost of that vote would be that the DC
government could no longer deny its citizens their Second Amendment
rights. Those may be the highest values of DC’s elected officials and
voters, but collectively and taken as a package they place us on the
fringe of American politics, far to the left of all states and all but a
few municipal areas.
If DC really wants statehood, it needs to follow a political route,
to moderate its political stances and show that it would be a moderate
state. There is no potential Republican state ready to be admitted to
the union at the same time, with which DC can be paired to preserve the
political balance in Congress. The only potential candidate for
statehood in the near future is Puerto Rico, whose citizens will vote on
a statehood option next year, but Puerto Rico is nearly as Democratic
(though not as far to the left) as DC. It would help if DC would elect
some Republican councilmembers, or even a Republican mayor or delegate
to Congress. That is the cost of statehood, but DC politicians and
voters are likely to decide that adopting more moderate political
positions or electing a few Republicans is a price too high, a cost that
they are unwilling to pay.
If DC wanted to pay that political cost, its strategy would be
simple. It would stop the anti-Congress and anti-Republican protests
that gather no more than a handful of attendees (and whose low
attendance undermines the claim that statehood is a high priority and
widespread desire of DC citizens). It would start mass pro-American,
pro-federal government celebrations, even as small and symbolic as
trying to get every household in DC to fly an American flag for flag
day, that emphasized the Americanism of DC residents and our connection
to and affection for the nation, not our grievances and complaints about
it. And then it would start playing an inside game of lobbyists and
lawyers, of the “leading citizens” who already have ties to and
friendships with members of Congress. That is how other states have
succeeded in their quests for statehood — they have had positive
rallies with enthusiastic citizens and have exploited the influence,
prestige, and powers of persuasion of their leading citizens. DC is
blessed (or cursed) with a surfeit of influence peddlers who have moved
Congress on a multitude of issues for a multitude of clients and causes
and companies. And these influential people have kept their distance
from the cause of DC statehood. Convince them of the cause first, and
then they will convince Congress. Finally, DC will have to write a state
constitution that will impress Congress that our readiness for
responsible self-government — a Constitution that is not filled with
all the faddish, slogan-filled causes of the day, but a noble
Constitution that will stand up to comparison with the United States
Constitution itself and with the best of state constitutions, and that
will stand for the ages.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Gray and Brown, Unaccountable
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Last fall, after their victories in the September primaries, both
Vincent Gray and Kwame Brown announced that they would not rely on
public funds to pay for their transition and inauguration expenses. To
that end, they both established nonprofit entities to raise and expend
funds. Vincent Gray established the DC One City Fund, Inc., with
Lorraine Green, Thomas Gore, and Lloyd Jordan as the three incorporators
and board of directors. Jordan was also named the fund’s registered
agent. Kwame Brown registered the Making a Difference Fund, Inc., with
DCRA, and he named Aura Garcia, Dawn Cromer (who was also the treasurer
for Brown’s 2008 campaign committee, which the Office of Campaign
Finance recently audited), and Victor Fenwick (who was also the
registered agent for the Fund) as the Board of Directors. The articles
of incorporation are strikingly similar, because they were both written
by the same attorney, Lloyd Jordan.
In separate press conference last fall, Gray and Brown both promised
to be open and transparent with regard to their fundraising, and
indicated that they would provide full accounting for all funds raised
and expended. Now, four months after taking office, and after repeated
requests for information, Gray and Brown have cloaked their fundraising
in secrecy. Unfortunately, neither the District’s campaign finance or
election laws require the reporting or disclosure of nonpublic funds
raised or expended for the transition or inauguration of elected
officials. The only legal reporting requirement Gray and Brown will be
required to meet will be the tax returns the two nonprofit entities will
file in the fall.
Regarding Kwame Brown, this is what we know to date: 1) in addition
to the Making a Difference Fund, Inc., there were two other entities
that raised funds for Brown, Kwame Brown Inaugural 2010, Inc., and Kwame
Brown Transition 2010, Inc. 2) The expenses for Kwame Brown’s
transition and inauguration should have been minuscule, since he largely
piggybacked on Vincent Gray’s inauguration and relied on free
government resources for his transition (e.g., office space,
supplies, etc.). 3) With regard to the funds Brown raised, we
know that at least one entity, Kwame Brown Transition 2010, Inc., raised
approximately one hundred thousand dollars. 4) What we don’t know is
the amount raised by the other two entities, how their funds were
expended, and whether there were any unspent funds. 5) Lloyd Jordan
serves as the attorney for Kwame Brown’s transition and inaugural
committees, and was also the attorney and registered agent for Vincent
Gray’s inaugural/transition committee. 6) According to Jordan, the
disclosure of financial information by the three Kwame Brown entities is
up to “the decision of each board of directors.”
With regard to Vincent Gray, we know that: 1) Reuben Charles, whose
questionable background and business practices were the subject of
several media stories last fall, was both the director of Gray’s
transition/inaugural committee and the principal fundraiser for the DC
One City Fund. 2) As recently as two weeks ago, Charles was still
working and conducting fundraising operations out of Gray’s transition
office in the Reeves Building. 3) Charles’ fundraising included having
envelopes picked up from individuals and operations up and down the east
coast from New York City to Richmond. Many individuals association with
Gray’s campaign and transition allege that in many instances the
envelopes contained cash money. 4) Charles’ fundraising prowess was in
large measure attributable to his claim that he would be appointed Gray’s
Chief of Staff. After the negative press stories about him, however,
Geri Hall was appointed Chief of Staff. Charles then switched his sales
pitch to telling potential contributors to “give if you want to assure
access in a Gray administration.” 5) Mayor Gray is now refusing to
release any financial records until an accounting firm chosen by the
transition committee (that is, Lorraine Green and Reuben Charles)
completes an audit. That audit is likely to take several months.
Moreover, will the cash money that was allegedly passed to Reuben Charles
ever be accounted for?
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Metro and Fairfax/Loudon Counties
Vic Miller, millervic@hotmail.com
Almost forty years ago, as a young staffer at the Office of
Management and Budget, I wrote enthusiastically in the President’s
Budget about the coming Metro. Roger Adkins, then Transportation Branch
chief, advised me to tone it down — nothing was here yet, and a lot
might not ever arrive. A lot did eventually get built, sadly not
maintained, but the extension to Dulles never did. When I worked
internationally for the Treasury Department in the 1990’s, other
countries’ finance officials would regularly express amazement that in
this capital of all there was no real transportation to the
international airport.
But Fairfax and Loudon grew like Topsy, the two richest counties in
the nation, and the strain on Dulles’ small facilities was
intolerable. So the airport expanded to serve this increased demand.
However, all of us have paid for it for more than a decade through
increased taxes on our tickets even though those of us in the inner
suburbs and DC itself did not create the need for the expansion. And we
paid even more, both in time and money, for the increasingly difficult
privilege of getting there. I am amazed that it is cheaper to get a bus
from Washington to New York than to Dulles. Now we will all pay again in
lost time, first because of the increasing delays in getting the
extension to Dulles, and because of the diversion through multiple Tyson’s
Corner stops to get there.
I am now almost 67, and I don’t ever expect to ride Metrorail all
the way to Dulles. Again, this is not a problem for Fairfax and Loudon,
which are a short car or cab ride away. But for the residents of these
two counties to say they are being put upon to place the final stop near
the terminal is absurd. We have paid for their terminal. It is their
time to pay for our Metro station.
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DC Council At-Large Candidate Positions on
Social Issues
Richard Urban, richardurban@ultrateenchoice.org
ULTRA (Urban Life Training and Reality Assessment) Teen Choice has
compiled the positions of the DC Council At-Large Candidates on
Abstinence Education, Same Sex Marriage, and public funding of abortions
here: http://www.ultrateenchoice.org/special_election.html.
We have also posted video on the ULTRA Teen Choice candidates forum on
health issues held on March 10.
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White House Response to DC Riders Is Tone Deaf
Ann Loikow, aloikow@verizon.net
DC residents contribute vast sums of money to candidates from all
over the country, from those running for President to those running for
Congress and other offices and we also send large numbers of volunteer
workers around the country to help these folks get elected.
Unfortunately, we have rarely asked for anything for ourselves. If we
want to cure the tone deafness of the President and Congress, we should
start by refusing to contribute to or work for any national or state
candidate that does not support DC statehood. Similarly, we should tell
all national public interest groups that solicit our money and help
lobbying for X, Y, and Z issues, that we won’t participate unless they
put DC statehood on their agendas. We have leverage. We just need to use
it. Go to http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topzips.php
and take a look at where campaign contributions come from.
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I hope you are actually reading/viewing al-Jazira, if you wish to bad
mouth it. At least in the English language web and TV versions, I see
none of that bias. They just lack the pro-American bias normal in the
American press.
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May I ask what the source is for the statement that Al Jazeera Arabic
“promotes the Muslim Brotherhood and anti-American and anti-Western
propaganda” [themail, April 17]? My understanding is that it is the
most objective and authoritative Arabic language satellite network with
editorial independence from the Qatari government. I’m a bit
suspicious of such characterizations which are quite similar to those
leveled by Donald Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials
during the Iraq War. Furthermore, if we wish to ask District residents
what they think of support for human rights abusing regimes by District
financial backers, we might also examine US Federal government support
for Saudi Arabia (to mention one of many).
My experience watching Al Jazeera English (since I don’t speak
Arabic) has been that it is by far the best international news available
on US television, with far superior reporting and analysis than BBC
America, cable news, or broadcast news. Anyone who followed the recent
Egyptian revolution will probably agree with me. Incidentally, the Al
Jazeera English US studio is in Washington, DC, as well. Washington
viewers can watch it on Comcast channel 275, on over the air broadcaster
MHz, as well as online at http://english.aljazeera.net/.
[Whether al Jazira Arabic presents moderate, trustworthy, and
independent news coverage, or whether its news coverage is slanted
toward the Muslim Brotherhood and against the United States, is a topic
that is too far from the local DC focus of themail to be debated in
detail here. I would just suggest that those who don’t trust anything
said by a conservative, or who think the US press is too conservative to
be believed, should read an article on the station by John Arlidge that
is reprinted from the (London) Sunday Times Magazine, http://tinyurl.com/66v86re.
Arlidge write frequently for the Guardian newspaper, which should
give him sufficient leftist credentials. As a side note, I recommend http://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-al-jazeera-as-women-journalists-resign-over-dress-code
and http://dekhnstan.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/aljazeeras-women-rebellion-a-new-media-story/
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Ward 6 Candidates Forum, April 19
Wendy Glenn, wendy.glenn2@gmail.com
The Ward 6 Democrats will cohost the final special election
candidates forum of the season. This is your last chance to see the
candidates before Election Day on Tuesday, April 26. Tuesday, April 19,
6:30-8:00 p.m., in the north hall at Eastern Market. Accessible by
Metrorail, Metrobus, and Bikeshare. Moderators will be Bruce DePuyt,
host, NewsTalk, and Martin Austermuhle, DCIst.com. Please RSVP and
submit questions in advance to http://bit.ly/W6At-LargeCandidatesForum.
Join us after the forum for the debate after the debate and a little
social fun, across the street at Tunnicliff’s Tavern, 222 7th Street,
SE.
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Events at Woman’s National Democratic Club,
April 21-April 28
Tonya Butler-Truesdale, gotonyago@gmail.com
Thursday, April 21, luncheon with Alon Ben-Meir, New York University’s
Center for Global Affairs. Dr. Ben-Meir is an expert on Middle East
politics and affairs, specializing in peace regulations and conflict
resolution. For the past twenty years he has been directly involved in
various negotiations and has operated as a liaison between top Arab and
Israeli officials. He regularly holds briefings at the US State
Department for international visitors. Dr. Meir writes a weekly column
for the Jerusalem Post and has appeared in numerous newspapers,
in magazines and on web sites. This is an opportunity to learn from an
expert. Bar opens at 11:30 a.m.; lunch 12:15 p.m.; presentation and
question and answer period, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. $25 members; $30
nonmembers; $10 lecture only. Register at https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=25033
Tuesday, April 26, luncheon with Patricia Smith Melton, “Sixty
Years, Sixty Voices. A stunning book by Peace x Peace Founder, Patricia
Smith Melton, offers a rare perspective on the possibility of Middle
East Peace through the eyes of thirty Israeli and thirty Palestinian
women whose practical approaches have already gained traction across
both sides of the Wall. Printed in English, Hebrew and Arabic, the book
illuminates each woman’s deepest feelings, visions, and hopes for
peace along with the tactics they use every day to make peace a reality
in their lives. From Knesset member to Bedouin sheepherder turned
community leader, from comedian to the widow of a Hamas principal, from
prisoner to soldier, from rabbi to teacher of the disabled, these women
say who they are, what they do, what they believe, what their life is
like, and what is needed to build peace. The result is a mosaic of sixty
different lifetimes of struggle, spirit, and sheer leaps of faith in one
of the most war-torn regions of the world. The collection of interviews,
biographies, and photographs documents the power and experiences of
these diverse women, who have struggled to find a mutual destiny where
each can thrive.
Ms. Smith Melton is a poet, playwright, and photographer with more
than thirty years of experience in the arts. She produced and
co-directed the award-winning 2003 documentary Peace by Peace: Women on
the Frontlines, which highlights the often invisible work of women
around the world in building the components of sustainable peace, filmed
in Afghanistan, Burundi, Bosnia, Argentina and the United States. Peace
X Peace is an international nonprofit organization that uses the
Internet to support the peace-building work of women — locally and
globally. This Global Network includes more than one thousand women’s
groups in sixty-five nations linked as Sister Circles for direct
cross-cultural conversations for education, information and
collaboration. In 1990, Ms. Smith Melton co-founded the Melton
International Education Foundation, which brings together university
students in India, China, Chile, Germany and the United States to
participate in an international effort using the Internet to establish
cross-cultural understanding. Bar opens at 11:30 a.m.; lunch 12:15 p.m.
Members $25, nonmembers $30, lecture only (no lunch) $10. Register at https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=21599
Thursday, April 28, Calder Portrait Exhibit Tour at the National
Portrait Gallery. While Alexander Calder’s name is most often
associated with his mobiles and stabiles, over his long career he also
produced delightful three-dimensional portraits of art world friends and
celebrities such as Babe Ruth and Calvin Coolidge. An exhibition of such
portraits is currently at the National Portrait Gallery, and curator
Wendy Wick Reaves has offered WNDC members a special
before-opening-hours guided tour. We’ll assemble at the desk inside
the Gallery’s G Street entrance (between 7th and 9th Streets NW —
Gallery Place Metro stop) at 10:30 a.m. Following the tour, attendees
can choose to remain at the Gallery or lunch at any of the excellent
restaurants that now abound in Penn Quarter. Twenty-five is the maximum
number that can be accommodated so get your reservation in early. 10:30
a.m.-12:30 p.m. Free. Reservation required at https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=22347
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The Alternative Housing Pilot Program, April
26
Stacy Adamson, programs@nbm.org
Please join us for the final program of the Community in the
Aftermath series, The Alternative Housing Pilot Program: Conclusions and
Recommendations. Tuesday, April 26, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Developers, policy
makers, and housing researchers discuss the successes and lessons
learned from the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (AHPP) projects and
propose next steps for creative post-disaster housing solutions.
Speakers include Katherine Fox, FEMA Housing Division director;
Mikhael Schlossman, AHPP program manager; Larry Buron, Abt Associates;
Dana Bres, research engineer, HUD; John Peavey, director of Applied
Technology, NAHB Research Center. This program is free. At the National
Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square Metro station.
Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
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Eco/Justice Cafe, May 6
Joe Libertelli, jfl@udc.edu
The next UDC Eco/Justice Cafe will be on May 6 at the Firebird Inn,
4200 Connecticut Avenue, Building 38, B-Level (on the Red Line at Van
Ness/UDC). We begin with a happy hour from 4-6:00 p.m. Food by Fresh
Start Catering comes out at 7:00 p.m. Shabbat at 6:50 p.m. Special guest
speaker/hip hop artist, Shahid Buttar, executive director of the Bill of
Rights Defense Committee, http://www.bordc.org/
For a peek at Shahid’s musings and music, see http://www.shahidbuttar.com/index.php?sn=42
The Eco/Justice Cafe feature friendly people, tabling organizations
with important information and services, live music, relevant
information, pool, video, great vegetarian and vegan food, beer and wine
and soft drinks, a children’s play/art area and more! Join UDC Law
Professor John Brittain for drumming session to end the evening! (BYO
Percussion instruments!) Donations are requested: $15, $10 for
students/low income; $5 for kids under thirteen. Feel free to donate
more. We do not turn people away for inability to pay but, seriously,
where can you eat, drink, and be merry (in a P.C. kinda way) for
$10-15/person?) To donate in advance, please go to https://udc.site-ym.com/donations/donate.asp?id=2477
and use the general fund with a note to May Cafe.
The meta-point of the Cafes is networking and community building. So
don’t just sit there, help build the Cafe! Contact Joe at JFL@udc.edu
regarding 1) tabling organizations (no charge) and additional performers
welcome; 2) volunteers always sought before, during, and after the Cafe;
3) potluck dishes welcome in lieu of or in addition to donation; and 4)
other initiatives! Sponsoring organizations sought! Please sign up at
the Cafe Facebook Event page, http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175444349171386&ref=ts
or at the School of Law web site at http://www.law.udc.edu/event/May_Cafe
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