Am I the only one who finds this proposal a bit disturbing?

Three members of the D.C. City Council are considering placing tollbooths at the city's entrances.

Marion Barry introduced legislation Tuesday proposing a commission to study the measure. He said commuters and visitors to the District have been getting a free ride on D.C. roads and tolls would help cover the costs of upkeep and repairs.

Barry's proposal doesn't set a rate for entering the city. He said the commission could make a recommendation after they study the issue.

The former mayor and Ward Eight councilman said tolls are collected from motorists entering New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

According to statistics, about 400,000 people drive into the nation's capital each day from suburban jurisdictions. Critics have already labeled Barry's idea a commuter tax.

Councilmen Kwame Brown and Harry Thomas are co-sponsors of the proposal. If approved by the D.C. City Council, the legislation would still face congressional review.

Let me spell out the problem with this – one that goes to the heart of the special nature of Washington as our nation’s capital city. What this tax (and have no illusions about it, that is what the toll clearly is) does is set a fee for being able to access your government in person.

Want to peaceably assemble at the Capitol in order to seek a redress of grievances? Ante up first, or you cannot do it.

Need to make personal contact with senior government officials? CanÂ’t happen unless you pay the tax.

Desire to access records at the National Archives, make use of the Library of Congress, view exhibits at the Smithsonian or visit our nation’s signature memorials and monuments? You would be unable to do so without being subject to a city fee – effectively holding our national treasures hostage.

Once again, we see why the Founders wisely chose to establish a federal district that was subject to Congress, not as an independent entity with the right to make policy for itself. Rather than unconstitutionally giving Washington a voting representative in the House, Congress needs to reassert its full and constitutionally mandated sovereignty over the District wherein the seat of government has been located. After all, this is the sort of situation that the authors of the Constitution feared when they wrote Article I, Section8, Clause 17.

Posted by: Greg at 11:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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