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The Guardian

Welcome to Politics Weekly Extra. I'm David Smith, filling in for Jonathan Friedland.

I don't have a fancy microphone like he does, but I certainly have an interesting topic to bring you.

Adding DC State could, and adding a state should not be about politics. It's about equality.

It's about democracy. If you're a big fan of drama series centered around the US government,

you'll often watch scenes where grandiose music accompanies overhead footage of the Lincoln Memorial,

Washington Monument, White House, and of course the capital building with its celebrated dome as

well as the steps that lawmakers climb to ensure democracy continues to thrive in America.

That's why it's baffling to many that the place where democracy is meant to be upheld

is located in a rather undemocratic location, at least for the people who live there.

Washington DC's population has been bigger than Wyoming's for that state's entire existence.

Its residents pay more in total federal taxes than the residents of 22 other states.

And yet the more than 700,000 residents of the District of Columbia remain essentially

disenfranchised with no voting representation in either Chamber of Congress.

Last week, both sides of the DC statehood debate put forth their arguments at a hearing

before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Democrats planned to put a statehood bill

up for a vote on the House floor before the summer, but there are snags, mainly Republicans who

...