Thundar
Regular Member
imported post
Amazing isn’t it. Voting rights are seen as civil rights even though the Constitution does not afford persons living in the Federal District congressional “Voting rights”. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which is an individual right is seen as “Poisonous” by the Washington Post.
DC gun laws will be gutted by SCOTUS next year when they tell the District what “Bear” means. Too bad they didn’t learn when they were told what “Keep” means.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/28/AR2009102804142.html?wpisrc=newsletter
The Washington Post
The Democrats' dodge on voting rights
D.C. representation in Congress isn't being seen as the civil rights issue it is
Thursday, October 29, 2009
"DO THE DEMOCRATS have the political will to get this done?" That's the question recently posed by an advocate for voting rights for the District. If action is the measure, the answer -- sadly -- is no. Despite Democratic control of the White House and Congress, the 600,000-odd residents of the nation's capital are no closer to getting their rights as American citizens.
A bill that would give the District a voting member in the House of Representatives, along with an extra seat for Utah, remains in limbo even as advocates such as DC Vote executive director Ilir Zherka say that there's majority support in both houses. The immediate problem is that the Senate passed the bill with a poisonous amendment (courtesy of the ethically challenged Sen. John Ensign of Nevada and other Republicans) gutting D.C. gun laws. Democratic leaders say that they are at a loss as to how to proceed; bringing the bill to the floor would probably mean a messy floor fight with Democrats forced to cast a politically difficult vote on guns. The gun language is unpalatable to D.C. leaders, but the National Rifle Association is threatening to retaliate against any lawmakers who oppose it.
We don't deny the legislative difficulties. But when they really care, Democratic leaders manage to devise legislative strategies around far greater obstacles. They extended hate-crime protections to gay men and lesbians by attaching the measure to the must-pass national defense authorization act; there's talk now of attaching an increase in the debt limit to the equally important defense spending bill. It seems that righting the historic wrong of disenfranchised Americans is less vital as far as they are concerned.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) has proposed a variety of ideas on how to advance the bill. But the reaction from party leaders, as the Web site Politico reported, seems to be "forget it." No doubt Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), looking ahead to his own tough reelection battle, sees no gain in irritating the powerful gun lobby. In fact, Mr. Reid voted for the Ensign amendment, making it easier for other Democrats to follow suit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says that she's looking for opportunities to pass the bill, but to date that hasn't involved pressing members to put principle ahead of political interests. President Obama, who sponsored voting rights legislation as a senator, has done nothing on the issue.
It is increasingly clear that D.C. voting rights are being treated as a special-interest issue that is losing out to other party priorities -- and not as the civil rights issue that it is and that Democratic leaders have long claimed to believe it to be.
Amazing isn’t it. Voting rights are seen as civil rights even though the Constitution does not afford persons living in the Federal District congressional “Voting rights”. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which is an individual right is seen as “Poisonous” by the Washington Post.
DC gun laws will be gutted by SCOTUS next year when they tell the District what “Bear” means. Too bad they didn’t learn when they were told what “Keep” means.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/28/AR2009102804142.html?wpisrc=newsletter
The Washington Post
The Democrats' dodge on voting rights
D.C. representation in Congress isn't being seen as the civil rights issue it is
Thursday, October 29, 2009
"DO THE DEMOCRATS have the political will to get this done?" That's the question recently posed by an advocate for voting rights for the District. If action is the measure, the answer -- sadly -- is no. Despite Democratic control of the White House and Congress, the 600,000-odd residents of the nation's capital are no closer to getting their rights as American citizens.
A bill that would give the District a voting member in the House of Representatives, along with an extra seat for Utah, remains in limbo even as advocates such as DC Vote executive director Ilir Zherka say that there's majority support in both houses. The immediate problem is that the Senate passed the bill with a poisonous amendment (courtesy of the ethically challenged Sen. John Ensign of Nevada and other Republicans) gutting D.C. gun laws. Democratic leaders say that they are at a loss as to how to proceed; bringing the bill to the floor would probably mean a messy floor fight with Democrats forced to cast a politically difficult vote on guns. The gun language is unpalatable to D.C. leaders, but the National Rifle Association is threatening to retaliate against any lawmakers who oppose it.
We don't deny the legislative difficulties. But when they really care, Democratic leaders manage to devise legislative strategies around far greater obstacles. They extended hate-crime protections to gay men and lesbians by attaching the measure to the must-pass national defense authorization act; there's talk now of attaching an increase in the debt limit to the equally important defense spending bill. It seems that righting the historic wrong of disenfranchised Americans is less vital as far as they are concerned.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) has proposed a variety of ideas on how to advance the bill. But the reaction from party leaders, as the Web site Politico reported, seems to be "forget it." No doubt Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), looking ahead to his own tough reelection battle, sees no gain in irritating the powerful gun lobby. In fact, Mr. Reid voted for the Ensign amendment, making it easier for other Democrats to follow suit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says that she's looking for opportunities to pass the bill, but to date that hasn't involved pressing members to put principle ahead of political interests. President Obama, who sponsored voting rights legislation as a senator, has done nothing on the issue.
It is increasingly clear that D.C. voting rights are being treated as a special-interest issue that is losing out to other party priorities -- and not as the civil rights issue that it is and that Democratic leaders have long claimed to believe it to be.
