When I gave a campaign contribution to Jon Tester's Senate campaign a few years back I was participating in the democratic process in one of the only effective ways available to me. My family lives in DC under "Home Rule", or "on the plantation" as we say here.
A lot of good that contribution did me. Jon Tester has proven to be one of the few ugly oppressors on the Democratic side of the aisle, joining those who use their position in the Congress to crush the will of the people. If taxation without representation is tyranny, then meet your latest tyrant.
DC residents are not only denied a vote in the Senate, where Members confirm Supreme Court justices and declare war, and in the House, where they decide how to spend the federal taxes they collect from us, but all of our laws and our budget are subject to Congressional review. That means that if we raise local funds through a high state tax (oh, the irony!) and the people vote overwhelmingly for elected officials who want a needle exchange program, then some philandering Congressman from Indiana or wherever can de-fund it (and they have). A Congressman from Texas or Georgia can name every street after Ronald Reagan (they've tried!). Without Congressional intervention, billions of dollars in income taxes earned in the District by suburban residents flow to Annapolis and Richmond instead of DC (Thanks for the clarification, Chief Justice Roberts!). Our ability to pass overwhelmingly popular measures like same sex marriage and medical marijuana have been denied year after year while we waited for the rest of the country to vote in a Democratic majority. Our restrictions on deadly weapons, supported overwhelmingly by the citizenry and law enforcement authorities, are the subject of endless fascination from out of legislators from states where they hunt wolves from helicopters and think they know what's best for us.
The latest indignity, thanks to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Jon Tester ("D"-MT), is a bill that restricts how our elected officials interpret the Second Amendment and enforce our gun laws. These laws have already been loosened up by the Courts. Now that our elected officials have brought them into compliance with the right-wing interpretation of the Second Amendment, we are trying to figure out how to enforce them, self-appointed Constitutional scholars McCain and Tester (and their upstanding buddy Mark Souder in the House) think that it's their job to pass laws to single us out. They are so desperate to fellate the NRA that they will pick on a jurisdiction that can't fight back, that can't even vote against their crappy bill, much less debate it on the Senate floor.
Senator Tester has reiterated that he doesn't care about democracy when guns are at stake. He wants more guns everywhere, even if it has nothing to do with Montana and the people affected live in a densely populated city.
Limited "voting rights" couldn't pass with Democrats in control of everything. It's time for statehood. Is there a better argument for statehood than this kind of bullying from both parties?
Meanwhile, let's reflect on what an ass Senator Tester is and how indifferent I am between him and a Republican alternative right now. If you live in Montana, PLEASE give him a call. Maybe, just maybe, he can come to his senses, but only if he hears from a lot of you.
Update I shouldn't have called Tester an ass. He's done a lot of great things as a Senator. Co-sponsoring this hateful patronizing bill, though, whatever you think of the gun control debate, qualifies him as a tyrant. I stand by that one.