Author Name: BoingBoing
This story was originally published on Boingboing.net. [1]
Senator Rounds: Another Republican with an absurd argument against D.C. statehood
Date: 2021-03-23 00:00:00
The nonsense Republicans are spewing out as arguments against Washington D.C. statehood is priceless. Yesterday morning Rep. Jody Hice (R–GA) made the bizarre argument that D.C. could not become a state because it doesn't have a car dealership. Then later in the day Senator Mike Rounds (R–S.D.) tried to make the argument that "the founding fathers never intended for Washington D.C. to be a state." This, coming from a senator who represents South Dakota, a non-existent state during the days of the founding fathers that was later created to give republicans more votes.
The Founding Fathers never intended for Washington D.C. to be a state.#DCStatehood is really about packing the Senate with Democrats in order to pass a left-wing agenda.
Just look at the DC voter registration data:
🔵 76.4% Democrat
🔴 5.7% Republican — Senator Mike Rounds (@SenatorRounds) March 22, 2021
From HuffPost:
Many were quick to remind Rounds that the Founders didn't particularly envision statehood for any form of Dakota at all, much less a "South Dakota." And in the years prior to its eventual admission as two states, there was just one Dakota: the Dakota Territory. One reason it was split just before admission was to give Republicans two more Senate seats ― including the one Rounds now occupies.
Many on Twitter tried to educate the obtuse senator:
The Founding Fathers also never intended there to be a Dakota Territory, or split it in two.
The only reason Sen. Rounds has a state (SD) to represent is late-19th-century political deal to split the territory into two, explicitly to pad the number of likely GOP Senate seats.
https://t.co/fjrW1VGgpj — James Fallows (@JamesFallows) March 23, 2021
Dude, the founding fathers never intended for Dakota to be state. Then a hundred years later the territory was split in two to give Republicans more senators, including, unfortunately, you.
https://t.co/XnZqAJfFP9 — Ezra Levin (@ezralevin) March 23, 2021
Says the guy from Dakota Territory; oops, territory divided into two only to get around the Constitution for 2 more senators. Tell you what, merge North and South Dakota and we will continue to disenfranchise over 700,000 Americans in the part of DC that is not federal bldgs. — Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) March 23, 2021
The "founding fathers" never intended South Dakota to be a state either, you simpering dillweed.
DC has more residents than WY and pays more taxes than 20 states, including yours. The founding fathers _specifically_ said, "No taxation without representation!"
Nimrod. pic.twitter.com/18LuHFr7ao — Dean Gloster (@deangloster) March 23, 2021
This isn't very smart. Think about the 37 other states the Founders never considered. And think about the fact that DC has been counted in the Electoral College since 1961. If it counts as a state in elections,it should be repped by a governor & 2 senators as well as a House rep. — Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) March 23, 2021
The founding fathers? That what you got? DC has the population, pays taxes yet is unrepresented. America IS HERE is because we would not take taxation without representation but like all in the GOP you don't believe in our American values. Where did the founding fathers say that?
https://t.co/Z3PykzgTu4 — Titus (@TitusNation) March 23, 2021
They pay taxes. They have a larger population than 2 rural states. Why should they not have equal representation? — c.anne Reed (@24baseballReed) March 23, 2021
Image by Golbez – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
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