Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, doing his best Scrooge impression, ended this term’s hope for a legislator for the District of Columbia, as today’s procedural vote for cloture failed 57-42. 60 votes in the affirmative were required to end debate on the floor and get the bill passed through the Senate and sent to committee for resolution before being sent to President Bush, who had promised a veto for the Bill. Looks like DC will have to wait for a change of administration in order to get their right to vote.
It’s a tough thing to see this come so close, only to be ripped out by a mere procedural vote’s failure. This is one of those times where I sit back and can’t decide whether to laugh or to start drinking. DC’s got more people than Wyoming, yet Wyoming gets a vote in the House and two in the Senate, while we get just a delegate with no right to vote. It’s so frustrating to see such a well-spoken and intelligent woman not get the vote in the House that she rightfully deserves, and to see DC deprived of proper representation, all because it might be a firm Democratic stronghold seat.
Look. We’re Americans here in DC. We are, I promise. If you get born at GW Hospital, you’re an American the same as if you’re born in Fairfield, California or Ely, Minnesota. We pay our taxes, but we don’t get a legislator to lobby for our funding. We don’t get a vote on major issues, we don’t get a spot in committee, we’re pretty much boned.
And today, when it looked like we had it set, we were shut down. Damn Congress, you always leave me walking away muttering under my breath, wondering what possible subset of jackasses and morons brought you here to our town.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
