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Proposed revision: Home of taxation and representation
The license plates in Washington, DC say Washington, D.C. across the top, and like many states, have a little motto or quotation along the bottom to represent the place it's from. Michigan, for example, has license plates that say "Great Lakes," less attractive ones that say "Great Lakes Splendor" and unspeakably ugly ones that say "World's Motor Capital."
Except that in the US capital, the motto appears to be "Taxation without representation."
I understand that this phrase has great importance in American history, in that it was one of the reasons we fought for indepedence and created this new nation of ours. And yet, I don't think that it's quite appropriate for a license plate slogan. It doesn't say "Against taxation without representation" or "Taxation without representation... sux0rs!"
If taxation without representation is DC's official motto or a dream that unites Washingtonians, I think we may have a problem on our hands. I'm funnagonna secede.
srah - Sunday, 29 February 2004 - 5:20 PM
Tags: travel
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Comments (8)
Matt S. - February 29, 2004 - 10:56 PM - ℓ
Virginia has seemingly hundreds from which to choose, if you're willing to cough up a few more bucks... The standard ones now mention our quadricentennial, 1607-2007.
Matt S. - February 29, 2004 - 10:56 PM - ℓ
Virginia has seemingly hundreds from which to choose, if you're willing to cough up a few more bucks... The standard ones now mention our quadricentennial, 1607-2007.
Josh Crockett - February 29, 2004 - 10:59 PM - ℓ
It's a political thing -- D.C. statehood backers got control of the motor vehicle administration a few years back (98 or 99) and changed the license plate motto from "Celebrate and Discover" to "Taxation Without Representation," since they don't have voting representation in Congress even though they pay federal taxes. Perhaps they thought it would shame Congress into giving them what they want.
Problem is, all those Congresspeople that would have to vote for it live there. So they know perfectly well that, whining license plate slogans aside, the District is completely incapable of governing itself -- every time Congress (meaning the House D.C. Subcommittee) decides to relax its constitutionally-mandated oversight, the locals run things into the ground and Congress has to bail them out. The place would be a disaster area if it got statehood and thus couldn't call the feds for money anymore.
tbone - March 1, 2004 - 12:26 AM - ℓ
ohio's license plates say (or used to say), "the heart of it all" except my dad instead calls ohio, "the fart of it all"
malia - March 1, 2004 - 11:19 AM - ℓ
As a DC resident, I thought I'd chime in. Local DC politics is fairly complicated and I couldn't even attempt to explain it since I don't understand it myself.
I am proud to have the taxation without representation phrase on my bumper sticker. there's a DC statehood party but that's not what the license plate is about (DC can have voting representation on congress without being a state). it's about having a voice in our federal legislative branch. we pay federal taxes but i don't have anyone to represent me in Congress.
To quickly dispute Josh's statement about most Congressmen living in DC, while true, it's moot. They may have homes here but they "reside" in their home state. They ARE the vote for their state/district. In some cases their cars aren't even registered in DC. They register them in their home state and drive 'em down. In short, they aren't screwed like the rest of us DCers.
As long as I'm at it, the reason DC seems to run itself into the ground without Congressional control, as Josh mentions, is because we have a miniscule tax base to raise revenue from. Much of the city is government property, immune from taxes. Much of the population is surviving close to the poverty level. Most people who work {i.e. earn millions of dollars} here live in VA or MD and there's no way to get $ from them. They aren't even charged a fee on the bridges into the city like folks commuting into NYC are. Nevermind how unique it is for a city to be run like a state.
Gosh, that turned into a rant. Sorry!
katie - March 1, 2004 - 12:43 PM - ℓ
I find it humorously ironic that the D of C was created on the idea that if we put the capital in a state with a vote, our government would be biased, but now the folks in that 'unbiased' area are getting the shaft.
Point of clarity: I don't find it humorous that y'all are getting the shaft. I find it humorously ironic.
I already decided that I wanted to move out of the US last summer. Wisconsin is "America's Dairyland" and has a red barn on it on one side and a sailboat on the other to represent that its also fun here I guess. MN is "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and sometimes has a loon