Taxation Without Representation

For the last 6 months or so, we’ve had no representative in the House of Representatives from the “Upper” Upper Left Edge (that would be Clatsop County). That seems a bit weird. You’d think that someone would be appointed to step in when there’s a vacancy – in this case because of the resignation of our former representative, David Wu. I looked up what happens when our representatives leave office before their term is up, and found the answer here. Turns out that the Constitution requires that the governor of the state call a special election to replace said rep, but the time frame is not really specified. The whole election cycle has to happen, and we’re just about done, after candidates came forward and competed in party primaries, and now we need to decide between 4 candidates running for Wu’s spot by next Tuesday.

Between the time that Wu resigned in August, to now, we’ve had no official representation in the House. Wu’s staff (the ones left) is still in place, but no one votes on the House floor for us, and no one engages in House debates or policy issues with constituents. If you have an issue, you need to bring it up with our senators, or go to Washington and stand in line to lobby someone else’s representative.

But I contend that even when Wu was in office, since 2010 us “Upper” Upper Edgers (Clatsoptonians?) have not had any representation in the House. (That reminds me that the Clatsop tribe has had no recognition from the U.S. government at all, but that’s another topic…) That’s because when the Republicans took over the House in the last election, they took over all the committees, subcommittees and procedural apparatus of that esteemed (not) institution. I don’t know of one major bill to pass the House since then that’s gone my way, and for many issues, Wu represented me adequately.

Mainly because of Portland, the First Congressional District in Oregon has voted Democratic since 1975 (before then, it was Republican since its inception in 1893). But as the Congress, and the nation, have become more conservative over the last 30 years, progressives here and elsewhere in the U.S. have lost representation, even when they elect progressive candidates. Our system just doesn’t give adequate representation to minority voters.

But we get taxed the same as the majority, and that’s just not fair!

Yes, I think we progressives should take up the battle cry of the Tea Party, and the tactics of the Republicans, to demand representation. This will require a change in the Constitution and our voting procedures. The fancy name for the answer is proportional representation, and it’s practiced in several other countries and in local elections in some jurisdictions in the U.S. Under this system, voters are represented in proportion to how they voted, with the result that jurisdictions have more than one representative.

In the current election for U.S. Representative here on the Edge, I would be represented best by the Progressive Party candidate, Steven Reynolds. But a vote for Reynolds, according to my progressive friends, is a vote for Rob Cornilles, the Republican candidate. And he (Cornilles) certainly would be least likely of the 4 candidates to represent me well. No, you have to vote for Suzanne Bonomici, the Democrat, say my friends. She says all the right things, and seemingly would continue to represent the district in much the same way as Wu, at least on policy matters.

But remember, under the current regime in Congress, Bonomici would get little or no time with the movers and shakers, and her vote would be meaningless, unless she decides to vote with the Republicans, who usually are on the wrong side of the issues, from my perspective. In the horse race, the Dems could put a pin in the 1st District in Oregon, at least until November (when yet another election will take place), but in the reality game of representation and how my taxes are spent, it won’t make a bit of difference.

My ballot is still sitting on the dining room table, and I usually vote on Election Day, since I am sentimental for the old in-person community voting system, but I’m likely to vote for Reynolds. I toyed with the idea of voting for Cornilles, thinking that at least he’d have a seat at the table in Washington, and might even be inclined to listen to his constituents every once in a while, but given the current Republican power structure, I doubt I would be represented at all.

The sad fact is that it doesn’t really matter who I vote for. The result will be the same. I’m guessing that’s why so few people bother to vote anymore. The Republican primaries are garnering percentages of registered voters in the low 20s, and our election here probably won’t top 40% of registered voters. Look for a future post from me about a better way to govern, but for now, I will vote, because I can’t rightly claim the Tea Party banner without at least attempting to elect someone who might represent me.