A bill will be sent to the floor of the House of Representatives to give the District of Columbia voting rights in Congress. This is the Norton-Davis version that will expand the House from 435 to 437 by also adding a district in the reddest of the red states, Utah. Is it a pathetic and childish gesture on the part of the GOP? God yes. Though I will say this, we have a better shot at turning that seat in Utah blue than the GOP does turning D.C. red. Predictably, the Judiciary Committee's Republican from Utah, Chris Cannon, voted with the Dems. And in a pleasant surprise, mega right-winger Mike Pence, a Republican from Indiana, also voted with the Democratic majority.
The Democratic House Leaders say they have the floor votes to send it to the Senate. But once there, it's up in the air as to whether or not it has the votes to send it to Bush's crib desk. Fortunately it has the support of Sen. Joe Lieberman (?-CT), so maybe he can entice some of his fellow Republicans to cross the aisle with him.
Criticize all you want - that's the only way, the only way, that this is going to pass. And we should all be thankful that it will! This bill has been crafted and worked on for the better part of four or five years. Finally the time for action has come.
It unequivocably proves that the GOP only cares about denying D.C. voting rights because it's a Democratic stronghold. It's disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Your point is well taken. I think for a lot of conservatives, it's not necessarily denying folks in DC the right to vote, it's the Constitutional issue. Which according to articles, I suppose is a very legitimate claim - but it could of course be an excuse to cover up their true motives. Does it make their position right then? No, it certainly doesn't - but it's the only ground they have to stand on if in fact they're insistent on denying voting rights.