It’s Not The Flag

On Monday, Fox News reported that in honor of Flag Day on Tuesday, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered 51-star American flags to be displayed along Pennsylvania Avenue. There are only 50 states, but the Mayor wants to have Washington, D.C., declared the 51st state. There is a reason that our Founding Fathers did not recognize Washington, D.C., as a state. Because the Founders sought a government that did not concentrate its power in Washington, D.C., they did not make it a state. The only reason that Mayor Bowser and the Democrats want to make it a state is that because it has a solid Democrat majority of voters. That would give the Democrats two more Senators and at least one more Representative in Congress.

The article reports:

Republican lawmakers have argued that because Washington, D.C.’s establishment is based in Article 1, section 8, clause 17 of the Constitution, any change to the district must come in the form of a constitutional amendment – not legislation from Congress. They’ve also argued that the idea of D.C. statehood amounts to little more than a power grab by Democrats to expand the majority in the Senate by adding two more senators from a liberal enclave.

If the residents of Washington, D.C., are not being represented, one alternative might be the reduce the actual property of Washington, D.C., and cede most of the land to the neighboring states. If lack of representation is the problem, that would solve it. However, I don’t believe lack of representation is really the problem.