Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner Are Now Pushing DC Statehood, which is Not in The Nation’s Interest or in Virginia’s Interest.
Before senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner came along, I can’t think of another Virginia senator who backed DC statehood. For good reasons. DC statehood is a bad idea, it goes against the wishes of the framers of the Constitution, it’s not justifiable (DC is a mid-sized city at most) and it is not in Virginia’s interest. But now the hard left has taken over the Democratic Party and Mark Warner has changed his mind. He wants to go to bat for the District of Columbia’s interests which are at odds with Virginia’s. Spoiler alert, Warner is siding with DC.
He and Virginia’s junior Senator Tim Kaine are now behind an initiative to make the District our 51st state. In their statement explaining why they back such a move, Kaine and Warner cite as a reason, “DC residents have overwhelmingly voted for statehood.” Well, most every adult who lives in DC moved into the District knowing that it wasn’t a state. That didn’t stop them from moving in, yet now they are offended about being “denied” their representation in Congress. They voted with their feet. Now it is important. Well, no one forced them to live and stay in DC.
The DC statehood cause is a perfect example of a special interest. The average American would never even think about it, but to the extent that they do, they recognize that DC is a federal district, our nation’s capital. The average American knows that DC was never intended to be a state, and they wisely don’t wish to make it a state today.
But for Democrats this cause has received some new life. President Trump’s latest initiative to crack down on crime in DC has upset Democrats. They claim that Trump is “occupying” DC. But Washington is a federal district, and the President has broad authority over security. If DC were a state Trump couldn’t put pressure on them to clean up their failing city. He couldn’t take control of the police force. So, in response Democrats want statehood for DC to stop Trump. How dare he show up the Democrats who run the city by stopping crime.
The other reason, besides Trump derangement syndrome, that the left wants DC statehood deals with raw politics. The city, inhabiting less than one million people, votes at least 90 percent Democratic, which means that they are guaranteed to send two Democrat senators probably for the next 100 years. So, the city and Democrats have a desire to make the District a state.
But Warner can’t admit that the real reason for DC statehood is to get two more Democrat senators, so in a social media post last week he tried to make a non-partisan case. He wrote:
“DC has more people than two states. They pay more per capita in federal taxes than any other state. But they don’t get a seat at the table to decide how they’re governed. DC statehood now!”
Warner’s argument seems quite weak. I will break it down. First, he writes that the city has “more people than 2 states”, wow, 2 out of 50. Another way to look at it, 48 states have more people than DC, yet DC should get 2 senators. Florida with over 20 million people has 2 senators, so in the name of democracy DC should also get 2 senators. That doesn’t seem fair or democratic.
He then writes that DC pays “more in federal taxes per capita than any other state.” Well, that is the result of having a small population, and lots of federal workers. It was that very combination, small population and lots of federal workers, that made Falls Church Virginia the richest city in America for many years back in the 80’s and 90’s.
Sure, incomes are high in DC because there are a lot of swamp dwellers and beltway bandits living there, so the tax rate per capita is high. Hardly a reason to make them a state. And that argument reminds me that since they are so rich they could probably afford to move to a state, if they really want to live in a state.
Warner concludes that they deserve a “seat at the table”, by which he means that they should get two senators. That is a convenient conclusion coming from a Democrat.
But DC statehood is not something that two senators from Virginia should be pushing. Adding a state comes at the expense and influence of Virginia, and every other state. It is conceivable that at some point DC’s two senators could cancel out Virginia’s two senators. They could also vote against Virginia’s interests.
Look at it this way, there are 100 members of the United States Senate. If another state is added, because every state gets two senators, there will be 102 senators. More senators and states dilute the power of each state. A Virginia senator goes from 1 of 100 to 1 of 102. Not good. It weakens Virginia’s clout on the Hill
And since Senator Warner brought up the population of Washington DC, which is around 700,000 people, I will mention that Fairfax County in Virginia has a population of over 1,150,0000 people. Warner wants to give DC, which has fewer people than Fairfax County 2 senators, while Fairfax has to share their 2 senators with 94 other counties in Virginia, and 38 independent cities in the Commonwealth. If Warner and Kaine get their way DC will have more influence in the Senate than Virginia.
It has been estimated that about 800,000 people work in the District of Columbia, and it is safe to assume that a fair amount of those people are Virginia residents. In addition, tens of thousands of Virginians visit the district every week. And many of those Virginians are victimized by crime, and subject to the poor governance of the DC government.
As a federal district Congress has oversight regarding the DC government. Virginia’s congressional delegation can more easily protect Virginians from crime and DC’s bad governance. But if DC becomes a state they can more easily ignore the good advice of Virginia’s representatives and senators.
DC statehood is a bad idea. Warner cries, “DC statehood now”, Virginia should respond, “DC statehood never.”
David Shephard is the author of two books: Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.
Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books
4 comments
I don’t agree with the status quo, and I think it is wrong to have so many Americans lacking a real Congressional voice. I think one of two things should happen: 1) Most of DC should revert back to Maryland leaving just the core (what the National Park Service manages) as DC or 2) Statehood that encompasses the ENTIRE DMV and would include Mongomery and PG counties in Maryland, and Arlington and Fairfax counties in VA as well as parts of Loudoun and Price William in VA and part of Charles County in MD . My reasoning is that statehood would solve our never-ending transportation problems and bring us all into one jurisdiction. This would be politically palatable because it would extract the bluest parts of Virginia into DC which would put Virginia solidly back in the Red.
DC has more population and pays a lot more taxes than several states. These two facts alone are reason enough for DC statehood.
yep
I’m tired and going to bed but I think it is a good idea, a fair idea