DC Tollbooths & The Founding Fathers

Now that the dust has (temporarily) settled on the latest DC government
scheme to tax others for their own benefit, a short review is in order.

The DC government proposal to establish tollbooths to "tax commuters" is the
best argument to date as to why the DC government is already too powerful
and should be put back in the bottle like some impish genie that only wreaks
harm.  This challenge to Constitutional government has been described as
"unfair" to commuters and "too much" when added to the already record
breaking taxes paid for takeout food in the District.  Nowhere, that I can
find, has anyone harkened back 230 years to the exact way that our Founding
Fathers foresaw the danger of either a State government or other government
exercising power in and over the Nations' Capitol City .

On 22 October 1787 John DeWitt noted "That the citizens of Philadelphia are
running mad after it (sic, the location of Congress and the site of the
national Capitol), can be no argument for us to do the like: - Their
situation is almost contrasted with ours (sic, he was a Dutch patriot from
Massachusetts); they suppose themselves a central State; they expect the
perpetual residence of Congress, which of itself alone will assure their
aggrandizement."

In the Federalist Papers, No. 32, Alexander Hamilton was concerned about a
Federal or Capitol City "where the exercise of a concurrent jurisdiction
might be productive of occasional interferences in the policy of any branch
of administration".

In the Federalist papers, No. 48, James Madison strongly supported that the
Congress " exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cessation of particular
States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the
United States".  He goes on the state the need for, "The indispensable
necessity of complete authority at the seat of government carries its own
evidence with it.  It is a power exercised by every legislature of the
Union , I might say of the world, by virtue of its general supremacy.
Without it not only the public authority might be insulted and its
proceedings interrupted with impunity, but a dependence of the members of
the general government on the State (sic, today's District government)
comprehending the seat of government for protection in the exercise of their
duty might bring on the national councils an imputation of awe or influence
equally dishonorable to the government and dissatisfactory to the other
members of the Confederacy (sic, today's Unites States)".

What were they concerned about in today's world?  What would be the role of
DC government (dare I note an avowedly racial minority government at the
moment) tollbooths in the event of a national convergence of demonstrators
on Washington to say, eliminate all racial and sex-based preferences?  What
would be the role of DC government tollbooths in the event of farmers
converging on Washington to demand higher food prices that DC residents
would fiercely oppose or to oppose Roe v Wade that most DC residents
support?  What would be the role of DC tollbooths when any American seeks to
enter the Capitol and redress grievances with the government?  What would be
the role of DC tollbooths when Congressional staffs or certain lobbyists or
experts are hurrying to address some national issue that is of no concern to
the DC government or that it opposes?

To even entertain such possibilities reminds all of us how smart the fellows
that founded this great nation were and how parochial and cowardly are those
that today cater to and encourage such dangerous actions.  The issue is so
much more than fairness to commuters or funding DC schools and roads.  The
DC government is too big for its britches (and the national good) and the
Congress should either administer the Capitol City or let us replace them
with those that can, for the benefit of all of us.

Jim Beers
14 May 2007

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- Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist,
Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow.
He was stationed in North Dakota , Minnesota , Nebraska , New York City , and
Washington DC .  He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western
Pacific and on Adak , Alaska in the Aleutian Islands .  He has worked for the
Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security
Supervisor in Washington , DC .  He testified three times before Congress;
twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60
Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to
expanding Federal Invasive Species authority.  He resides in Centreville ,
Virginia with his wife of many decades.