A different view

Over 4 Million Votes Unserved

There was an odd debate in the House the other day.

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) were debating the rights of four delegates to vote.

When the Republicans took control of Congress in 1995 they took away the (mainly symbolic) vote of four delegates representing the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands. Since the Republicans are concerned about these areas actually having representation and a voice in politics I'll assume they're probably Democrats.

The District of Columbia has long chafed at not having a say in their governance. But being small and mostly minority no one paid them much attention. But Puerto Rico includes over 4 million people, much larger than the typical 600,000 or so constituents.

Rep. Hoyer argued well and he put Blunt on the defensive. Being the minority Blunt won't have a lot to say about it anyway.

I was just at the Alamance Battleground in North Carolina where Regulators first protested unfair representation by royal governor William Tryon. That was in 1771. It seems odd that 236 years later we're still having that battle.

posted by don1one @ 9:42 AM