D.C. Commuter Tolls

After years of having Congress knock down attempts at imposing a commuter tax, three D.C. Council members have proposed a workaround, Harry Jaffee reports. Three council members — Kwame Brown, Harry Thomas Jr. and Marion Barry — have introduced legislation to study the idea of creating a toll system to charge commuters who want to cross the D.C. line. [...] Says Ward 2 ...

President Threatens Veto for D.C. Vote Bill

The White House yesterday issued a press release threatening to veto the blatantly unconstitutional bill creating a House seat for the District of Columbia. There's a reason it took a Constitutional Amendment to give D.C. three Electoral College votes. Indeed, the Supreme Court had rejected attempts to accomplish that through simple legislation. Congress passed an Amendment in 1978 to ...

D.C. One-Third Illiterate

When I saw the YahooNews headline "Study finds one-third in D.C. illiterate," I presumed it was some sort of play on Mark Twain's line that, "Those who can read and don't are no better off than those who can't." Apparently, they're serious. About one-third of the people living in the national's capital are functionally illiterate, compared with about one-fifth nationally, according to ...

Giving D.C. a House Vote Redux

My Congressman and D.C.'s pretend Congresswoman are teaming up in a dubious and unconstitutional effort to give D.C. a vote in the House of Representatives. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is teaming up with U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) to introduce a bill that would for the first time give the District a full vote in Congress, a sign ...

Marion Barry Tests Positive for Cocaine Use

Barry Tested Positive for Cocaine Use In the Fall D.C. Council member Marion Barry tested positive for cocaine use in the fall in a drug test ordered by a court after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax charges, according to two sources familiar with Barry's case. Barry, who served four terms as mayor and was elected to the Ward 8 ...

DC Bar May Allow For Attorney-Client Sex

Apparently, the District of Columbia's attorneys are having a little trouble with a rule that they refrain from having sex with their clients. DC Bar's Rules May Allow For Attorney-Client Sex The American Bar Association's code word for "sex" is "transaction." And the A-B-A's recommended ethics rules state it is a conflict of interest for an attorney to "transact" with a client. ...

D.C. Council Approves Smoking Ban

The Washington, D.C. city council overwhelmingly passed a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants this afternoon. The D.C. Council today approved a broad ban on smoking in District bars and restaurants. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) has threatened to veto the bill, but supporters have more than enough votes to override a veto. The ban, which passed by a ...

D.C. Has Nation’s Third-Worst Traffic

Residents of the D.C. Metro area can take some solace in the fact that people in Los Angeles and San Francisco have longer commutes. Area Has Nation's Third-Worst Traffic, Study Says (WaPo) Washingtonians spend an average of 69 hours a year in traffic jams, according to a national study released today that once again found that the region has the third-worst traffic ...

Giving D.C. A Vote in the House

The Washington Post editorial page advocates giving the District of Columbia "A Vote in the House." WHEN THE HOUSE of Representatives votes on federal taxes or decides solemn questions such as when citizens must go off to war, the District's representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, has to stand and watch as her Democratic and Republican colleagues decide the fate of her constituents. ...

D.C. Safety Stops Questioned

Safety Stops Draw Doubts (WaPo, B1) Lisa Davis had done nothing wrong. She was wearing a seat belt, was obeying the speed limit and produced a valid driver's license when D.C. police pulled her over one recent night at a traffic safety checkpoint in a crime-plagued neighborhood. Even so, an officer jotted down some basic information before letting her go, ...