Moskie

While I think Mr. Madison's points are valid, there must be a middle ground that could be decided on. There must be a way to avoid what he is talking about, without disenfranchising so many people. DC is pretty big city, with a ton of people who have nothing to do with the government. They're normal people living in a normal city. They're taxed just like everyone else, and they should be represented just like everyone else.

Also, there are plenty of federal employees who work in DC, but live in Maryland or Virginia. Should they not be allowed to vote for their states' representatives? Actually, the idea of commuters muddies the situation quite a bit. This is an aspect that Madison did not consider, as far as I can see. Madison's concern is that federal employees (as DC residents) would exercise a sort of unfair advantage though their congressional representation. But, this seems to assume that all of DC's federal employees live in DC, which is absolutely not the case.

Perhaps the solution is not allow federal employees the right to vote for state representatives? Seems a bit extreme, and I don't think I'd agree with it, but does that accomplish what Madison wanted?

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