Nobody knows him, and nobody cares
Since Bob "Freedom Fries" Ney resigned, I don't have a Representative in the House. Which is a shame, because H.R. 5388 is important.
There are a pretty limited number of things you can do to invalidate your franchise in the United States. You can repudiate your citizenship; that'll do it. Being convicted of a felony will ding it, but even then a couple of states will let you vote from prison, and most will let you vote sometime after you get out.
Or you can move to the District of Columbia.
The guards at the doors to our Congress probably don't have a vote in it. Neither, for that matter, do a lot of the staff. The cops and firemen and Metro drivers and teachers and librarians of D.C., the folks that make the governing possible, nobody actually represents them when Congress calls the question.
Although a fair number of somebody else's representatives have been happy to experiment on them.
According to Morning Edition, DC might finally be getting a voice in the House. H.R. 5388 gives the District a voting member in the House, and adds a member to the delegation from Utah, remedying an undercount in the last census.
Virginia Rep. Tom Davis has been championing this idea for 3 years. Now we're down to one week for this Congress to get the deal done. Everybody's saying the leadership is going to take a knee and run out the clock, and since most of America has no idea this is going on, they might be right.
That's where you come in.
The Utah legislature resolved the last major objection to H.R. 5388 on Tuesday. Now it's all about waking up our legislators. I don't have a Congressman, so I have to ask you to call yours for me. Ask them to get the DC Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act to a vote this week. Call or email your Senators and ask them to contact a colleague. Call the President, and ask him to light a fire under it. Spread the word through emails or your blog.
Enough is enough, and we shouldn't have to wait until February. There are half a million people waiting for a seat at the table they set.
There are a pretty limited number of things you can do to invalidate your franchise in the United States. You can repudiate your citizenship; that'll do it. Being convicted of a felony will ding it, but even then a couple of states will let you vote from prison, and most will let you vote sometime after you get out.
Or you can move to the District of Columbia.
The guards at the doors to our Congress probably don't have a vote in it. Neither, for that matter, do a lot of the staff. The cops and firemen and Metro drivers and teachers and librarians of D.C., the folks that make the governing possible, nobody actually represents them when Congress calls the question.
Although a fair number of somebody else's representatives have been happy to experiment on them.
According to Morning Edition, DC might finally be getting a voice in the House. H.R. 5388 gives the District a voting member in the House, and adds a member to the delegation from Utah, remedying an undercount in the last census.
Virginia Rep. Tom Davis has been championing this idea for 3 years. Now we're down to one week for this Congress to get the deal done. Everybody's saying the leadership is going to take a knee and run out the clock, and since most of America has no idea this is going on, they might be right.
That's where you come in.
The Utah legislature resolved the last major objection to H.R. 5388 on Tuesday. Now it's all about waking up our legislators. I don't have a Congressman, so I have to ask you to call yours for me. Ask them to get the DC Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act to a vote this week. Call or email your Senators and ask them to contact a colleague. Call the President, and ask him to light a fire under it. Spread the word through emails or your blog.
Enough is enough, and we shouldn't have to wait until February. There are half a million people waiting for a seat at the table they set.
posted by Joe at 11:53 PM
4 Comments:
I've called already, but I'll call again. Thanks for the reminder!
I'm really hoping that this congress passes this, because I'm really afraid that I'm gonna end up really pissed at the next one. The Dems won't pass it because Utah gets another seat; heaven forfend that the other side of the aisle gets another of ANYTHING!
Sometimes I really hate politics.
took the words right out of my mouth.
word.
Tom
Happy Anniversary, Joe...of the last post on this blog. Hope all is well.
It's been eons since you posted anything, I know, but perhaps a little meme-age will inspire you to start up again.
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