Conservative Democrats Kill DC Voting Bill.

TheHat · #1 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 06:19 AM

Score one for the good guys.

OK, here is the deal: Democrats are pushing for the citizens of DC to get Congressional representation for the 1st time ever. But DC is not a state and so therefore has never had the ability to have a House Representative, actually represant them in Congress b/c the Constitution says only the states have that power and DC is not a state so they dont get that power. But, the people of DC do pay taxes, so it is quite the weird instance on which way it should go.

Anyways, the Senate passed the bill, then it went to the house for a vote. A Republican stuck in a gun rights amendment into it, which would give the citizens of DC the right to keep and bare arms in DC. Which is also a Constitutional right. Remember last year, that the Supreme Court said the DC gun ban was unconstitutional, and so this Republican along with conservative Democrats in the House voted for this amendment.

The socialists didnt want the citizens of DC to have these gun rights, b/c put quite frankly, they dont like people being able to defend themselves. So delegate Elanor Norton went off on the House conservative Democrats, who voted for the amendment.

This woman acts like law abiding citizens owning guns causes crime. Then she pulls out the race card ASAP.....lol. Another liberal playing the race card, go figure.

Why dont liberals want the citizens of DC to own guns? The Supreme Court said the gun ban in place was unconstitutional. So why not give the citizens of DC the right to keep and bare arms?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...voting-rights/

Quote:

Firearm Provision Blows Up D.C. Voting Rights Bill
The House Democratic leadership Tuesday decided to delay a plan to grant a seat in the House to the District of Columbia

For the second time in as many weeks, the House has had to postpone action on a major bill important to Democratic leaders.

The House Democratic leadership Tuesday decided to delay a plan to grant a seat in the House to the District of Columbia. Since it is not a state, Washington, D.C., does not get a vote in Congress.

The Senate approved a similar bill to give the District voting representation. And approval in the House seemed all but assured. But an amendment attached to the Senate version of the legislation by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., created problems in the House.

Ensign's amendment would give Washington residents better access to firearms. The Supreme Court last year ruled that the District's 32-year-old ban on firearms was unconstitutional.

Washington, D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton ripped pro-gun Democrats following the news.

"There is no choice between a vote for American citizens and a completely unrelated and reckless gun bill. That is a non-choice," Norton said during an emotional impromptu press conference following the Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday afternoon. "That's not a fair exchange. That's not even an unfair exchange. That is an absurd exchange that no one would accept."

Passing the District of Columbia legislation was supposed to be easy in the House compared to the Senate. But the National Rifle Association signaled it could make a procedural vote on the issue a test case for lawmakers' Second Amendment voting records.

Nearly every piece of legislation that comes to the House floor must receive what's called a "rule." The rule establishes the guidelines for how lawmakers will handle the measure on the floor. Everything from time allotments to amendments are contained in the rule

However, the Democratic leadership faced a potential revolt from moderate and conservative Democrats on the vote to approve the rule if the leadership failed to include Ensign's firearms provision.

The House cannot debate a bill if the procedural vote on the rule fails.

So this conundrum forced the Democrats to punt on representation for the District of Columbia for now.

Norton asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to temporarily pull the bill until they can come up with a strategy to move forward.

"The gravest insult is to pit the safety and security of everybody in the District -- from the president down to the kids who can now get hold of military weapons plus District residents -- put all that at risk by putting this reckless bill forward," she said.

This episode mirrors a scenario two years ago when Republicans forced Democrats to yank a similar bill for Washington, D.C. off the floor when they attempted to make pro-Second Amendment lawmakers to either vote for the legislation or against gun rights.

Last week House Democrats had to postpone a vote on a bill designed to ease the nation's housing crisis. Democrats intended to approve a plan that would grant bankruptcy judges the right to lower mortgage rates and interest payments for struggling homeowners. Concerns about whether there were enough Democrats to support the plan made the leadership delay a vote on that plan until later this week.

For her part, Norton let loose on her fellow Democrats, threatening that they should consider the potential loss of black voters in 2010 if they support the gun amendment.

"If members are here by virtue of some support of the NRA, I have news for them. Many of the Democratic members are because there is a solid group of Democrats who vote for them. The most solid group are African-Americans," she said. "It will not help any Democrat to go home this time and say he killed a civil rights bill with a gun bill."

Norton said she is patient but wants a resolution soon.

"I certainly think the delay should not be very long," she said. "We certainly don't want this to stretch out so it fades away."

JavaBlack · #2 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 06:23 AM

The House of Reps represents the people. The Senate represents the states. It's an injustice that we haven't made whatever changes are necessary to give people living in DC the right to vote.
What gun laws have to do with it I don't know. Is DC also not worthy of setting its own local gun laws?

Do the citizens of DC count as humans at all in the eyes of Pubs/Blue Dawgs?

Whaler17 · #3 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 06:23 AM

Wow isn't it interesting that when an extreme party takes control, a portion of its members morph into moderates or even move toward the opposite extreme because even they are afraid of what their extremism will do if it goes unchecked!

Whaler17 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JavaBlack

The House of Reps represents the people. The Senate represents the states. It's an injustice that we haven't made whatever changes are necessary to give people living in DC the right to vote.
What gun laws have to do with it I don't know. Is DC also not worthy of setting its own local gun laws?

Do the citizens of DC count as humans at all in the eyes of Pubs/Blue Dawgs?

Puerto Rican's are humans, does that mean they should get "STATE" status for Puerto Rico?

Marx · #5 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 06:26 AM

It would appear that some have actually read and remember the constitution while others have not.

Whaler17 · #6 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marx

It would appear that some have actually read and remember the constitution while others have not.

Well Karl, go do some reading then.

Birdzeye · #7 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whaler17

Puerto Rican's are humans, does that mean they should get "STATE" status for Puerto Rico?

DC residents pay federal income taxes (I have some 1040s from my younger years, when I was a DC resident that prove that) but have no voting representation in Congress.

Perhaps the neocons who oppose giving DC residents voting representation could show their sense of fair play by pushing to exempt those people from having to pay federal taxes.

I won't hold my breath waiting for that.

TheHat · #8 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JavaBlack

The House of Reps represents the people. The Senate represents the states. It's an injustice that we haven't made whatever changes are necessary to give people living in DC the right to vote.
What gun laws have to do with it I don't know. Is DC also not worthy of setting its own local gun laws?

Do the citizens of DC count as humans at all in the eyes of Pubs/Blue Dawgs?

Java, your focus of the root cause is off. This isnt Republicans doing this, its the Constitution. The Republicans are actually following the Constitution in this matter.

Only the states shall have representation. DC isnt a state. This is why they have never had the representation part. So in that regard, I would think that would mean the federal government has no right to tax the citizens of DC. B/c they are being taxed without representation.

TheHat · #9 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birdzeye

DC residents pay federal income taxes (I have some 1040s from my younger years, when I was a DC resident that prove that) but have no voting representation in Congress.

Perhaps the neocons who oppose giving DC residents voting representation could show their sense of fair play by pushing to exempt those people from having to pay federal taxes.

I won't hold my breath waiting for that.

This has nothing to do with neocons. Nice try.

DC doesnt have the right to representation according to the Constitution, so they shouldnt be taxed by the federal government without representation.

Whaler17 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheHat

This has nothing to do with neocons. Nice try.

DC doesnt have the right to representation according to the Constitution, so they shouldnt be taxed by the federal government without representation.

The neocon boogieman must be blamed for everything, haven't you figured that out yet?

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