What About that License Plate?

As nearly everybody in this area knows, the license plates for the District of Columbia carry the famous motto "Taxation Without Representation" on the bottom of the plate.

On the other side of that argument, D.C. City Councilman Adrian M. Fenty is trying to revive the idea of a commuter tax on D.C. workers who live outside the city.

It is less than surprising that D.C. politicians sign a different tune on taxation without representation when trying to raise revenues from non-residents. Thankfully, Congress will almost certainly shut down any efforts to enact this silly idea on the workers of the District. In fact, a rejection by Congress, combined with the previous declarations of such taxes as unconstitutional, are a blessing for the District. Non-resident District workers bring much more into the District's economy than they use. A commuter tax may provide businesses, partiuclarly small businesses, an incentive to move to Virginia or Maryland, thus reducing the tax base even further.

If D.C. politicians put as much time into governing the city as they did with publicity and putting ideas out in the press, perhaps they could actually work to lower the crime rate or improve D.C. schools. Instead, D.C. leaders seem to talk only for the purpose of hearing themselves talk.