13 ms·

"By virtue of living abroad, they are second-class citizens, paying onerous tax burdens without representation." This seems pretty ironic to me given the "no t

by rlpb 11y ago

"By virtue of living abroad, they are second-class citizens, paying onerous tax burdens without representation." This seems pretty ironic to me given the "no taxation without representation" principle.

amalcon 11y ago
There's actually a more direct case of this: Washington, DC. Yes, people who live in the capital of the United States have no representation in congress. For years, they've even advertised this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DC_2013.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DC_2013.jpg edit: spelling / typo (thanks mikeash)
- ckozlowski 11y ago
  Mmmhmm. Observer status only. You can vote for president, but you have no voting congressman. Cultural tidbit: If you're a resident of the D.C. area, and you live in Southern Maryland or Northern Virginia, be careful not to call yourself a Washingtonian. Residents will kinda frown at that. There's a perception that sometimes residents from the neighboring states will make it seem (unintentionally or not) that they're part of the city itself, without paying the cost of being an actual resident: No representation. Consider that as you will. I always thought it was yet another little quirk of what is a pretty unique city. (I'm from Northern Virginia. ;)
- mikeash 11y ago
  Nitpick: capital, not capitol. If somebody lived in the capitol they wouldn't have representation either, and that would be even more ironic, but I don't think anybody does. Wacky question: does the President count as a DC resident and is therefore bereft of Congressional representation, or does he technically remain a resident of wherever he came from and get to vote for those members of Congress? I really love those DC license plates. What I especially love is how Congress still has the final authority over all government matters in DC, so this is quite a snub by the local officials at their Congressional masters.
deong 11y ago
I'm an expat, and the quoted statement is nonsense. I'm eligible to vote in the US with an absentee ballot, and I have a congressional district based on my last address in the US. Certainly my representative doesn't particularly care, because there aren't that many of us living abroad, but to say I'm therefore without representation is no different than saying I'm without representation as an Atheist (my voting district is in the deep south).
- ckozlowski 11y ago
  My guess is that the author was trying to say that we (I'm an expat as well, Germany) probably aren't a core constituency as some of our brethren at home might be. Nonetheless, I still agree that it's incorrect, and strangely enough, I thought the author's own mention of the bipartisan support of FACTA reform is evidence enough of this. Spread out among constituent states, our impact is probably insignificant. On a national (federal) level, it certainly can be. We're large enough (as he notes) to be a significant body, and we have an oversized impact compared to the rest of the population with regards to how America is perceived in the rest of the world. It's good to know they're examining the issue. I'm sure it had good intentions in the beginning, and I'm confidant they can make some improvements.

by rlpb 11y ago

amalcon 11y ago

There's actually a more direct case of this: Washington, DC. Yes, people who live in the capital of the United States have no representation in congress. For years, they've even advertised this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DC_2013.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DC_2013.jpg edit: spelling / typo (thanks mikeash)

ckozlowski 11y ago
Mmmhmm. Observer status only. You can vote for president, but you have no voting congressman. Cultural tidbit: If you're a resident of the D.C. area, and you live in Southern Maryland or Northern Virginia, be careful not to call yourself a Washingtonian. Residents will kinda frown at that. There's a perception that sometimes residents from the neighboring states will make it seem (unintentionally or not) that they're part of the city itself, without paying the cost of being an actual resident: No representation. Consider that as you will. I always thought it was yet another little quirk of what is a pretty unique city. (I'm from Northern Virginia. ;)
mikeash 11y ago
Nitpick: capital, not capitol. If somebody lived in the capitol they wouldn't have representation either, and that would be even more ironic, but I don't think anybody does. Wacky question: does the President count as a DC resident and is therefore bereft of Congressional representation, or does he technically remain a resident of wherever he came from and get to vote for those members of Congress? I really love those DC license plates. What I especially love is how Congress still has the final authority over all government matters in DC, so this is quite a snub by the local officials at their Congressional masters.

deong 11y ago

I'm an expat, and the quoted statement is nonsense. I'm eligible to vote in the US with an absentee ballot, and I have a congressional district based on my last address in the US. Certainly my representative doesn't particularly care, because there aren't that many of us living abroad, but to say I'm therefore without representation is no different than saying I'm without representation as an Atheist (my voting district is in the deep south).

ckozlowski 11y ago
My guess is that the author was trying to say that we (I'm an expat as well, Germany) probably aren't a core constituency as some of our brethren at home might be. Nonetheless, I still agree that it's incorrect, and strangely enough, I thought the author's own mention of the bipartisan support of FACTA reform is evidence enough of this. Spread out among constituent states, our impact is probably insignificant. On a national (federal) level, it certainly can be. We're large enough (as he notes) to be a significant body, and we have an oversized impact compared to the rest of the population with regards to how America is perceived in the rest of the world. It's good to know they're examining the issue. I'm sure it had good intentions in the beginning, and I'm confidant they can make some improvements.