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I wouldn't hold your breath on that.Puerto Rico will likely be the 51st state at some point in my lifetime...
I wouldn't hold your breath on that.Puerto Rico will likely be the 51st state at some point in my lifetime...
The District of Columbia is not a very big place anyone who lives there and wants to have a state Government can just move a few miles a way to a real state.
Because it is district that was part of the State of Maryland specifically ceded to the federal government to be the national capital of the country. Wyoming was a territory carved out of the Louisiana Purchase which was acquired via Federal Treaty. Big difference...
DC receives far more. It isn't a self sufficient city by any means. Maryland didn't want it because of the cost. I think it's best staying as a territory of the federal government subject to Congress. It's the federal city home to congressional buildings, the capitol, and many other important federal agencies. It's better off being run and funded by the federal government and not turned into an independent state that now houses the branches of the federal government.
So how will DC be paid for as a state? As I said, the main reason is the sheer cost of the city. DC should not become a state. It's best for the country to have it remain as a federal territory under the jurisdiction of Congress. I think it's important that Congress keep ultimate power over DC and not have it turn into an independent state run by an independent state government. Maryland gave up its land to the federal government to create a federal district, not to create a new state.
I don't really have a major problem with them having a voting member in congress, but allowing that would open the door for other territories of the US like Puerto Rico and Guam having representation in Congress.
Wyoming wasn't in the Louisiana Purchase. I think most of it was part of the Mexican Cession. A small part of it was part of Texas originally, if I'm not mistaken.
I believe personally that as a general principle there should be no taxation without representation. Puerto Ricans and DC residents pay federal taxes. They should have a voice, at least.
Because it is district that was part of the State of Maryland specifically ceded to the federal government to be the national capital of the country. Wyoming was a territory carved out of the Louisiana Purchase which was acquired via Federal Treaty. Big difference...
Actually, Puerto Ricans living on the island of Puerto Rico do NOT pay federal income taxes, though those living in the mainland DO, but they also have the right to vote in the areas in which they life.
n The Federalist No. 43, James Madison explained the need for a "federal district," sub*ject to Congress's exclusive jurisdiction and sep*arate from the territory, and authority, of any single state:
The indispensable necessity of compleat authority at the seat of Government car*ries its own evidence with it. It is a power exercised by every Legislature of the Union, I might say of the world, by virtue of its general supremacy. Without it, not only the public authority might be insult*ed and its proceedings be interrupted, with impunity; but a dependence of the members of the general Government, on the State comprehending the seat of the Government for protection in the exercise of their duty, might bring on the national councils an imputation of awe or influence, equally dishonorable to the Government, and dissatisfactory to the other members of the confederacy.
Madison's concerns about insults to the "public authority" were not speculative. In June 1783, several hundred unpaid and angry Conti*nental soldiers had marched on Philadelphia, menacing Congress in Independence Hall itself. Pennsylvania refused all requests for assistance and, after two days, Congress adjourned. Its Members fled into New Jersey.
The incident made a lasting impression. The Framers referenced it over and again in defend*ing their provision for a "federal town," which Anti-Federalists persisted in visualizing as a sink of corruption and a potential nursery for tyrants. In fact, however, the need for a territo*ry in which the general government exercised full sovereignty, not beholden to any state, was probably inherent in the federal system itself.
Giving DC (or any US territory) a voting representative in congress would require an amendment.I don't really have a major problem with them having a voting member in congress, but allowing that would open the door for other territories of the US like Puerto Rico and Guam having representation in Congress.
Wyoming mostly drains into the Mississippi river basin, and so would have been part of the LP.Wyoming wasn't in the Louisiana Purchase. I think most of it was part of the Mexican Cession. A small part of it was part of Texas originally, if I'm not mistaken.
Cannot comment on PR... But in the USVI, the population plays federal income tax, which then all remains in the VI.Actually, Puerto Ricans living on the island of Puerto Rico do NOT pay federal income taxes, though those living in the mainland DO, but they also have the right to vote in the areas in which they life.
The reason DC is not a state is because DC is supposed to not have any undue influence over any one state. If you go back to the original intent of the union, it was to have 13 separate states acting under their own accord. The purpose of the federal government was to maintain the civil rights of the citizens, an organized army and negotiate trade agreements and treaties. If the capital had been in any one state there may have been a conflict of interest. So no, DC should not be a state.
Wyoming mostly drains into the Mississippi river basin, and so would have been part of the LP.
Louisiana Purchase - New World Encyclopedia