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Sen. Tom Carper Announces Bill To Give D.C. Statehood
OAN ^ | Jan 27 | OAN Newsroom

Posted on 01/27/2021 1:51:55 PM PST by RandFan

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To: o2bfree

Pretty sure the text of the constitution is clear on this subject:

Washington DC shall not now or ever become a state.


21 posted on 01/27/2021 2:08:38 PM PST by o2bfree (Trump > Obama)
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To: DoodleDawg
They can probably get around that by carving out the Mall, the Capitol, and the White House and leaving that under the control of Congress...

The article defines the district as "...not exceeding ten Miles square..., but doesn't say if Congress can make the area smaller.

Again, this one needs to be adjudicated for clarity before any vote can be had.

22 posted on 01/27/2021 2:09:33 PM PST by Magnatron
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To: ConjunctionJunction

Carper, another clown from Delaware. “Guilty” Coons is First Goof , then comes Tommy.


23 posted on 01/27/2021 2:09:49 PM PST by Hartlyboy
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To: RandFan

Why stop with DC? Why not LA? Detroit? Chicago? /sarcasm


24 posted on 01/27/2021 2:11:13 PM PST by comps4spice (Progressivism is a threat to life and liberty in the USA.)
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To: Magnatron
The article defines the district as "...not exceeding ten Miles square..., but doesn't say if Congress can make the area smaller.

It already is smaller than 10 square miles. Currently it's a hair over 68 square miles in size. Congress can make it any size they like as long as it isn't larger than 10 square miles.

25 posted on 01/27/2021 2:12:31 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: theoilpainter
See the 23rd Amendment.

That amendment only designates who can represent the district, but does not define the district or Congress' powers to change that district. In fact, it muddies the water further by stating: "The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

26 posted on 01/27/2021 2:13:11 PM PST by Magnatron
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To: RandFan

If we still had a Constitution they would need an amendment.


27 posted on 01/27/2021 2:16:10 PM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents)(Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: DoodleDawg
It already is smaller than 10 square miles. Currently it's a hair over 68 square miles in size.

Did we miss a decimal point somewhere?

28 posted on 01/27/2021 2:16:50 PM PST by pfflier
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To: RandFan

Too bad Marion Barry croaked, he would have made the perfect Senator from DC.


29 posted on 01/27/2021 2:17:53 PM PST by nascarnation
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To: pfflier
Did we miss a decimal point somewhere?

If you insist, D.C. is 68.34 square miles.

30 posted on 01/27/2021 2:18:28 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: Magnatron

It establishes 3 electoral votes for the District, that would remain with the District after it is broken off to form the new state. An anomalous result, as a small handful of people - the First Family - would have 3 electoral votes. This would violate one man, one vote that is the basis of Congressional districts and allocation of electoral votes, and is why the dems’ own proposal calls for a constitutional amendment.


31 posted on 01/27/2021 2:19:53 PM PST by theoilpainter (but, )
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To: Rurudyne

Agree.

Residents would be taxed and represented by whichever State they lived in after the division. The DC would just be a portion of each State, designated to be the Capitol.

Could be done like National Parks encompassing more than one State are done.


32 posted on 01/27/2021 2:30:25 PM PST by octex
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To: RandFan

You can’t make it a State by ‘bill’... it would require a Constitution Amendment.


33 posted on 01/27/2021 2:33:30 PM PST by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
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To: KC_Lion

What is this “Unconstitutional” you speak of?


34 posted on 01/27/2021 2:34:30 PM PST by dware (Americans prefer peaceful slavery over dangerous freedom)
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To: RandFan

Here we go.


35 posted on 01/27/2021 2:37:50 PM PST by gcparent (Justice Amy Coney Barrett)
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To: RandFan

Here we go.


36 posted on 01/27/2021 2:38:44 PM PST by gcparent (Justice Amy Coney Barrett)
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To: KC_Lion

I had a liberal social studies teacher in high school who would tell us about the importance of DC being a federal district to prevent concentration of power. He also taught that no entity should be allowed to have more power than State and Federal Governments (think Big Tech). He would be considered far right by today’s standards.


37 posted on 01/27/2021 2:44:28 PM PST by packagingguy
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To: theoilpainter

Yes, when the Democratic-controlled House passed D.C. statehood in mid-2020, the press and others acted like its chances of surviving a Supreme Court challenge were iffy, and of course that was even before Ginsburg died and got replaced by Amy Coney Barrett.

It failing at the Supreme Court would kill the issue forever sans a constitutional amendment. It almost makes me wonder if it’d be a smart chess move to let it pass if you think the current Court will strike it down, because if you block it, and Dems have a House and Senate majority in the future and some Democratic presidents like Biden or Harris have replaced a couple of the Court’s conservatives...


38 posted on 01/27/2021 2:45:49 PM PST by Trump20162020
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To: RandFan

Statehood vote only requires a simple majority vote in Congress, meaning 51 votes in the Senate. Of course there is the requirement of 60 votes to shut down a Senate filibuster, but that is an internal Senate rule and it only requires 51 votes to abolish the filibuster for statehood.

I think Senate Dems in swing states will be very leery of statehood for DC, but it is a real possibility.

Actually Dems could grant statehood to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and any other territory or locale with a simple majority vote in Congress. Talk about a requirement of a 3/4 majority in Congress or Constitutional Amendments is just wrong, granting statehood is very simple, the major exception being you can’t carve new states out of an existing state (meaning no new states from California for example). Dems could easily separate out a portion of DC from Capitol Hill, the White House etc and grant statehood.


39 posted on 01/27/2021 2:46:04 PM PST by Roadrunner383 ( )
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To: DoodleDawg
Ten miles square equals 100 square miles. It's larger than 10 square miles. Originally the district was 10 miles by 10 miles but in 1846 the part of the district on the Virginia side of the Potomac was returned to Virginia (roughly corresponding to Arlington County, VA).

They could return most of DC to Maryland, except for the part where most of the federal buildings are located, which would entitle Maryland to one more representative in Congress, but that would not create two more senators.

Of course that would mean that a very small number of people would get to choose 3 electors. Whether that would be a few dozen people, a few hundred, or a few thousand would depend on how they drew the borders. The result would be the same--90% for the Democrat, 6% for the Republican, 4% for third parties.

40 posted on 01/27/2021 2:47:20 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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