Representation Without Taxation

"Finally, the Pelosi House of Representatives is scheduled to vote this week on a rule change that will give non-members of the House a vote. The change would give the right to vote on the House floor to the five delegates from American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

You've probably already guessed the reason: Four out of the five are Democrats. But here's something you might not have considered: The Pelosi bill also makes a mockery of one person, one vote.

The average congressional district has about 630,000 people. But the Pelosi bill would give an equal vote to American Samoa, which is 91 percent smaller than the average state congressional district.

What's even more outrageous is that American Samoa pays no federal taxes. So what the House voting change amounts to is representation without taxation -- which would be great, if we could all have it. But as it stands, the Pelosi bill makes your vote only 1/10th as important as the people living in tax-free American Samoa. It is the same territory Pelosi tried to exclude from the minimum wage bill that just passed the Pelosi House.

This is profoundly wrong. There are no provisions for the territories' cancelling the votes of states. There is a process for becoming a state, and to have full power in the American system you have to be in a state.

The Democrats tried this same gimmick in 1993... We promptly took it out of the rules when we were sworn in in 1995."

Newt Gingrich