Washington: No Statehood, No Taxes

No Statehood, No Taxes

Like Revolutionary patriot James Otis, Walter Fauntroy, the District of Columbia's non-voting congressional delegate, insists, "Taxation without representation is tyranny!" He is urging District residents to withhold their federal taxes until the city, whose population of 617,000 is greater than that of three states, is granted statehood and full-fledged representation in the House and Senate. Fauntroy's call has triggered no rallying of the masses. Perhaps that is because the Internal Revenue Service has the same opinion of Fauntroy's idea that King George III had of Otis': with or without representation, nonpayment of taxes is a crime.

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