As a resident of Washington DC, and the proud owner of license plates bearing what I suspect is America's Only Sarcastically-Toned License Plate Slogan (Taxation Without Representation), I know that residents of DC don't have any voting members of Congress, even though we pay all the same federal taxes as other legislative-representative-having Americans. (Boo!!) Apparently this knowledge puts me in an elite minority, because 78% of Americans think that DC residents have the same voting rights in Congress as everybody else. (This is higher than the percentage of US Weekly readers who think that TomKat is a publicity stunt, proving . . . Um. Nothing.)
Anyway, I can't really toot my own horn about my knowledge of my own lack of voting rights, because I was kinda surprised to read last week that Puerto Ricans can't vote for President, even though they are also U.S. citizens. This makes me wonder: do Puerto Ricans have it worse than Washingtonians? To answer this question, a tally:
DC:
Electoral college representation (since 1961): 1 point
No Senators, one non-voting House delegate: 0 points
Federal income taxes: -1 points
Lots of Republians wearing pleated pants: -2 points
Attractive neighborhoods and architecture (I'm not biased!): 2 points
Total = 0 points
Puerto Rico:
No vote for President: -1 point
No Senators, one non-voting House delegate: 0 points
No federal income taxes, but pays Social Security taxes: -1/2 point
Beaches: 3 points
Total = 1 1/2 points
Whew. I can now sleep soundly knowing D.C. residents are officially more screwed than everybody else.
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