It’s Time to Make Washington D.C. a State Already, Damnit | The Couch Report 

Over a decade of illegal jailing of a plant, voted not illegal by the people.

@@Robert_McGarry_Poems Decades & hundreds of thousands of people in prisoned. Nationally I mean.

69 for 420 ayyyyy

@@Mr.Rogers91 this guy gets it 😎

I'm going to celebrate this 90's factoid by legally lighting up.... in Washington, DC.

No, its just that they are in such a similar scenario that making a video is just copypasting this one with a new name

Florida can annex Puerto Rico and California can annex Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Problem solved.

They should have the option to vote for statehood but It should be their choice.

Yes

message to dc: Maryland or Virginia, pick one.

Agreed

Lemme guess, you got OCD too like me

give west virginny back to east virginia. they only split up because of the civil war.

@@BigTruckerB I agree too

I disagree. I see no issue with having 51 states.

Truly the GOAT

I bet he bought him a brand new pair of socks before the show lol

You are correct. A state's National Guard troops entering the Capitol without permission can be seen as an invasion and can possibly trigger a civil war. I wish schools would teach the importance of jurisdictions. The USA is not just a country with a collection of states. It is a collection of states agreeing to work together to form a country. There is a difference.

@Kevin Baker Because they’d vote left too?

Amen

Same tbh looking at that like to dislike ratio

Because people at Vice and the ones who watch them have low IQ’s.

Making DC a state is possible. The current proposal would make the District of Columbia the main federal building like the capital and White House, while making the areas where people live a state, the Douglass Commonwealth (DC) . Named after Frederick Douglass

Maybe cut back on the weed?

@@RichardRjmccoy lol yeah thats probably not going to happen.

The land can only be returned to the states from which it came. That was in the deal that made DC. DemocRATS always try to change laws they can’t live by.

Poor Puerto Rico. But to be honest, PR is less deserving of statehood. It's just not America. I've been there and it just doesn't feel like America. PR honestly stands better as an independent country rather than a colony of the US

@@raidb0ss29 They are Americans. People used to say the same things for Florida. They do not need to have SUVs and guns for being Americans.

They say that, on average, humans use 10% of their brain power. John Graboski here uses about 99%

Wow you could say this same thing about trump for the last 4 years, way to repeat the same talking point cause you aren’t smart enough to make up your own

@@coldmexican288 what an honor being in this legends presence

You’d think but you run the gambit that they would go even further to the right, and knowing the GOP they’re crazy enough to do it

@John Graboski Sorry but you're too late! Key & Peele already did a sketch on this idea, but with Obama. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B46km4V0CMY.html

How?

Technically we have a Tesla dealership

LOL!!!

I don't know about car dealerships, but the DC area airports are all in Virginia or Maryland

Republicans in Congress literally disregarded the people of DCs objection to changing the name of their airport from National Airport to Ronald Reagan National Airport....now they don't think it has an airport. Strange people these Republicans.

it's like... sir? this is the united states. there's a car dealership every half mile of highway.

As we all know every state had an airport before becoming states.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uY9nfxKPlWM.html

yeah lol

As an independent remembering how pissed off democrats were after RGB passed away and her grand daughters claimed basically her last words were my most fervent wish is my seat not be replaced until a new President is elected, man all that fear mongering that new justices were going to rig the election in a court case and then the Supreme Court didn’t hear a single case on election fraud or anything making democrats who were fuming look sketchy since RGB had within 13 months given an interview about not increasing the number of sitting justices and that the president has the power to nominate a justice given to him by the constitution which democrats under Obama believed in and republicans under orange man believed in and they actually agreed on something but not at the same time because then democrats who went hard for Obama trying to get his nomination confirmed by the senate were pissed that the senate they had no majority in that they lost in 2008 to republicans vowing to block Obama’s pick if they get a majority so 2008 democrats say presidents constitutional powers are to nominate a justice, republicans agree with this and say but to hold a confirmation hearing you need a majority leader to call that into session which the American people gave to us for this reason and democrats lobbied and fought and threw words on the news speaking of how a hearing must be held. Fast forward to 2020 republicans say president is given constitutional powers to nominate a justice to a vacant seat yet democrats said no not in an election year this time and republicans said the American people gave us the majority again this time because we promised to hold a hearing on whoever trump appoints sorry in 2008 the senate was not blue. And democrats I still can’t say it enough actually quoted RGBs grand daughters who claimed RGB the same RGB who within a year of passing away god bless her soul had said it’s the presidents constitutional authority to nominate replacements and his alone and that we need the filibuster and that we can’t add any new seats to the Supreme Court for the consequences would be enormous. Yet Schumer twisted her grand daughters words claiming republicans were breaking their 2008 stance and tradition and precedent and covered their ears when they were told no we had both White House and the senate then and we didn’t get rid of the filibuster we didn’t add states we didn’t add supreme court justices in 2020 this is not the same and now democrats are actually talking about packing the court about killing the filibuster and about DC statehood which they need to do those things so frankly Vice says republicans disenfranchising Americans by blocking DC statehood when if precedent was followed and two states one 90% democrat(DC) one 90% republican this wouldn’t be an issue due to it seeming like an obvious power grab spewing lies because how can all bills passed in the first months of 2021 not disenfranchise Americans when budget reconciliation was used to pass them without any republican support or input. Democrats right now hold a minuscule majority in fact it’s a tie in the senate and in congress it’s a razor thin majority for dems by two congresswomen so much so PELOSI actually tried to take away congressmanship from someone who not only had already won their election they had it certified and Pelosi was actively trying to give the seat to a democrat yet it wasn’t covered equally as trump trying to take the election as well and if you’re made at what I said just recognize all I’m seeking is equality for each side and to not throw their words and impassioned speeches they made for weeks a decade ago mean nothing because they’re attempting a power grab I think swalwell and Gaetz should be kicked off intel committees swallwells allegations have been confirmed he was sleeping with a Chinese spy and gaetz is looking super suspect guilty with his connection to the tax collector who was his friend who got arrested and his call to tucker Carlson was hella sketchy and weird and then I got out of the news media of CNN Fox MNBC and ran for the likes of WION and China uncensored and America uncovered for my bias free comedy enriched news. #Independentsidingagainstdemocrats=\=mearepublican and #independentssidingagainstGOP=\=meademocrat it =meagainstcorruptionandpowegrabsIswhatindependentisabout

@@tybell4949 Sir, this is the unemployment line.

No he’s just an insufferable costal elite. I voted for Biden but this guy is so smug.

Or you know people who understand the Constitution.

@Cam Reno Well let me guess , work it all up to the top. For staters.

@@onikatangiro1096 Works for you, what's about others?

@Cam Reno I still live there and get paid of it.

What are the opportunity that can be archived there?

@Cam Reno Isn't there a car showroom there? Want to buy one .

At most 10 square miles. If DC becomes a state the capital shrinks to just capital Hill and the rest of the city becomes Douglass commonwealth.

That is not to exceed 10 miles.

@@jo-vf8jx Square miles.

Conveniently missing this bit huh "a place not exceeding ten miles square", there's no lower limit.

you should look at a map of DC, notice how it is neither a square nor 10 mi^2, then you should read the rest of the constitution to find out why

Slayyy queen keep speaking ❤️✨facts✨❤️

The solution to the unbalanced senate system is to scrap the Senate, not deny the residents of DC due and fair representation.

@@gazpachopolice7211 They receive over due senate representation in both worlds. Whats more fair about giving them exceptional voting power? You mean well, but you miss the meat of my argument.

@@tigerfishdivisionlancey2725 might be wrong + ik this post is old but dont Wyoming, Vermont and Alaska all have more voting power than places like texas?

@@p6in237 Yes, they do! Making D.C. a state makes that problem even worse.

Nah 69 is

Such an arbitrary number too

Numerology/OCD is definitely a reason not to make DC a state.

@@frankeyithaka well its easier to say that than point out why making it a state is a pretty stupid proposal.

@@grizzlyblackpowder1960 there just needs to be reforms not a new state

Only the densely populated territories and Washington DC should become a state

Samoa, Virgin Islands and Mariana islands don’t want to become states.

They dont want to be a state, then they amd their businesses have to pay federal taxes.

You sound like an imperialist, lol.

The people of Puerto Rico don't want to become a state.

let puerto rico and guam stay territories

No.

If they vote to become states then yes they should be.

Puerto Rico (real name Boriken) and Guam are their own countries that have been occupied by a foreign army

@@charliejohanssen7421 Yes. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands etc should be their own Sovereign nations.

then have those 3 buildings be neutral, have the city where normal people live be the state

@@jimmothy1916 Maryland has residential areas to accommodate all the people who live within the borders of DC. Why anyone would want to live in either of those places is beyond me tho

PREACH!

And Puerto Rico, there should be 3 new states.

they dont want that

@@ASS_ault Why not

Make them all states. American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. They deserve representation for paying taxes. Either make them states, or make them tax exempt. Simple.

@@tonipwneroni9846 they don’t want that

Surely both arguments are technically 'self serving', it's just that one of them comes with enfranchisement. Denying choice to people, because you don't like the choice they'd make, is surely less moral than the inverse.

@@1882osr Then we should offer statehood to East Oregon and Eastern Washington, since they don't have representation either.

​@@sagunsingh7415 They do have representatives. You're entitled to vote for a representative, you're not entitled to a participation award in democracy. But hey, why not keep with your train of thought and start adding in those fast liberalizing cities in Texas as needing new representatives too. Keep going and you'll end on the logical conclusion that representation should be based on population rather than land masses. And oh dear, you've gone off the idea for some reason again haven't you?

@@1882osr You walked right into this buddy. You're entitled to representation in a constitutional republic, not a participation award. And guess what? DC has representation in congress. If Republican parts of Democratic states can't complain that their political views aren't pushed in congress neither can DC residents. In fact, it's possible for a democracy to exist with 49.99% of the population to be "represented" by someone who has completely opposing views and/or antagonistic attitude. Representation has NOTHING to do with population, and everything to do with the constitution. And what does the constitution say about DC? Representation, yes, but no vote. Period.

@@sagunsingh7415 That's not walking into anything. You've just admitted your argument was nonsense and then tried to somehow claim that your nonsense argument proves DC has representation. It doesn't. Representation without a vote isn't representation at all. Did you watch the actual video? If your state was able to have state wide legislation passed by vast majorities only to be constantly overturned by representatives from other states, I'm guessing you'd soon see the difference between actual representation and a pointless figurehead.

6:33 a large amount of supposed experts quickly compile a letter supporting this idea. Kinda reminds of the time how we were supposed to listen to a elite class of medical professionals who said the China leak was impossible.

A simple RU-vid search would prove that statement wrong. Also statehood isn’t as popular there and they do not have have to pay fed income taxes

@@dty1207 i live in puerto rico and ill say the people do want to be a state but for theyre own good they dont cause of yes the federal tax BUT we still are taxed and pay taxes so we’re more of a commonwealth

@@dty1207 so nice try but no

Because of its military and monetary reasons it will always be us owned. It is our foothold in the pacific

@@Kilo011 true. Let’s get rid of alabama

@@JoeY-ml9ri nah, California

@@shatteredstar2149 true actually. California has a high enough GDP to be its own country

@@JoeY-ml9ri Mississippi and Texas are far worse stains in the US so those are the ones at the top of the list to go.

Racist

DC resident here and 10-15 years ago it still was, but now it’s more so vanilla city.

DC would become a state with a few miles of the capitol buildings cut out to remain the capitol.

So I'm guessing you can't chew gum and walk at the same time. If your argument is that citizens shouldn't be represented because you think it's silly that the state capital would be tiny or that PR should be a state first, then you sir, are the dumbest person on the planet.

Republicans already have an advantage in the Senate. Would it "drastically" change it, or make it a tiny bit more representative of the US as a whole? Of course both parties care about power. But let's be real. If you want to talk about having a REAL democracy, we wouldn't even have a Senate.

This is very thought out thank you

Scrap the Senate, or make it proportional to state population. That's the root of the problem. DC residents can choose whether they want statehood , merger into Maryland ,or not because then it wouldn't make a power equation difference

Since Maryland votes democrat adding DC would keep the senate the same.

Let's make cuba a state then because that would be super red

That’s a really good fucking point dude. Nice.

Uh oh... Woketard triggered!

@@dog1331 be objective lol that’s 100% facts

@@AndrewLaMonica1 what

Yeah the Chuck Brown clip is clutch lls

Alaska, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam etc must secede from the United States

@@adineatha9766 Why?

@@adineatha9766 🤣

@@soukaryasamanta8073 Indigenous people should not have to be forced into a Union and then ruled by White, Black or even Brown people.

@@adineatha9766 💯 supporting this

@@ASS_ault who isn’t it’s the front page of the internet for a reason

It wouldn't be fair anymore if the Democrats won every time

@@Bruno-gj4jj if they had a polarity it is fair because that’s what the majority of country wants the republicans are already a minority and they will always be that way due to the extreme views the only reason they have any power is due to the senate systems where states with like 1000 people have the equal state as new york

The capitol would still be on federal land. Puerto Rico is another story. And yes it would mostly vote dem. That why the GOP is against it. Can't have brown people vote against you.

Puerto ricans do not want statehood sooo

The people of Puerto Rico do not want to be a state!

@@cr8zystar282 The vote in Puerto Rico says otherwise.

@@julianSana The vote in Puerto Rico says otherwise.

@@AlexGarcia-rz9gp lies!

It's a union territory

Should have it. Berlin is a state and the capital of a country

Okay, but are the citizens of New Delhi not allowed to have representation in their own government? That’s the issue here, 700,000 in the USA do not have ANY congressional representation, no voting power in the laws that affect them.

*Delhi is the STATE* (partial) & New Delhi is the *National Capital* _in the State of Delhi_ - Delhi should be FULL state since Delhi region's population is more than that of Australia's !!!

At least New Delhi has complete representation in both houses of parliament. Though Delhi police comes under Central government.

Boo

Thats right!

Amen brother

The reality is NO ONE should be calling D.C. home, it's supposed to be a separate Federal District outside the control of a state. If anything certain sections of city that has ordinary citizens should be carved out to become part of Maryland.

@@MarsGundam no….stop this

@@ToryFromDC Facts are facts

Based on what? I’m pretty sure they don’t pay state tax, only federal. And sales tax on sales, and income tax on income. What tax do you think they shouldn’t pay. I bet that sounded good in your head

Because people are dumb. These are the same people that don't know what a constitutional republic is either.

Because the senators and rappresentatives can't vote, the other territories don't pay federal taxes, meanwhile DC does.

@@ilbrasciolarochearrostelac8762 Yes, they can. By definition, senators and representatives can vote. The point I'm making is that they should be given that right without making DC a state.

No because people that live in east Oregon and east Washington still get representation in congress. Meanwhile people in Washington D.C. get taxed without representation. They are us citizens who follow us law and get no say in how the government is ran.

Not really… if you speak to most people in those parts of each of those states they don’t feel represented. This is due to urban communities making legislation that negatively impacts poor rural communities that don’t receive the same level of tax revenue benefit. In way that’s taxation without representation…. 😬😬😬😬

@@ryanguptill8851 no... Last time I checked east Oregon and east washington are each being REPRESENTED in the house of representatives. Washington has 3 GOP representatives and Oregon has 1...

@@ryanguptill8851 Just because the majority of people that represent your state don't align with your political views, it doesn't mean you aren't being represented OR have the chance to ELECT someone that represents you.

@@ryanguptill8851 Bye the same logic all the Democrats and Republicans of each state would form their own states and their would be no electoral challanges.

Yeah, white people

@@maestro9615 gods chosen people*

@@maestro9615 You sound racist

@@jamess3109 and you sound hurt

@@dadnonlyd3 Not at all. Racist. Lol

Yes, because every American citizen should be represented in congress no matter what side they lean on

Republicans favor voter suppression and benefit the most from gerrymandering so literally they would never support this. If they did I wouldn't criticize republicans for favoring voter suppression. If they did they wouldn't be republicans.

No, a Republican would say we should honor the constitution and DC cannot become a state per that constitution. If you want to change the constitution to create statehood for DC, there is a process for that.

@Yoo Wat the purpose for creating DC was so that no state would control the grounds of the federal government, and yes, the constitution clarifies this. As for the people that reside within DC, if they want a voting representative they can move to an actual state or petition the residential areas within the district be absorbed by Maryland and/or Virginia.

FYI do to a little known thing from 150 yrs ago, Texas is allowed to subdivide itself into 4 states. This would mean 6 more senators for the Republicans. I guess fairs fair right?

I get what you're saying, but please put a comma or a period chief.

The US Capital can not be located on state land as stated in Article I, section 8, clause 17 of the Constitution, which says that the “Seat of the Government of the United States” shall be a district. So for DC to be a sate the capital would need to be moved.

@@siinz8589 couldn't you just specify that any area that's used exclusively by the federal government as not being part of the state? That's such an easy fix here

@@siinz8589 well maybe it should originally it was Philadelphia I know that what I'm saying is a little whimsical it needs to be within the jurisdiction of the Constitution though and not a separate city state like Rome or the city of London

@@mr.familiar1136 lol sorry

Hello dear

No

Still wouldn't solve the ability of other states to decide what laws DC can pass

@@HunkMine why should the states NOT decide what goes on in DC. It's literally meant as a possession for the entire nation. No state has that distinction

@@tbishop4961 Should other states decide the laws that govern your place of residence? That argument makes literally no sense whatsoever

@The Adjudicator 🤣🤣👌

They already have one shithole city within their borders...

8:24

At least PR doesn't pay federal tax. DC pays federal AND state tax. I'd prefer no taxes, and not be a state

They voted on the subject, and PR doesn't want it.

Is it too much to ask for both?

No thanks 🙏

They don't want the trouble.... Baltimore is already a handful

Because the Democrats want those additional congressional seats so they can gain more power

@@shibbershabber so much fear coming from the right

@@chadwickelliott1461 The only fear I see is from the left over the voting bills being enacted throughout the country. If people on the Left voted without fraud than why would they be so fearful of these bills. 🤔

The capital can be in the city has to be in a neutral federal district all they're doing is redrawing the district borders and then allowing the rest of that landed become a state

the district can just be reduced to the government buildings, while the rest of the city can become a state.

​@zbdmo4914 very good argument and fix. You are one of the few that knows the history and intent. THANK YOU!!!!

Why

I think the issue is they win control of the Senate and have an equal say when they represent fewer people than states like California and new York. So no... If the will of the people goes in direct contrast to the Republican party as it has been doing for the last 10-20 years then they should not be winning control of the senate 50% of the time.

@@frankeyithaka It's not supposed to. We have a bicameral legislature for a reason. The House is representative and based on population, the Senate gives equal voting power for every state regardless of size. A compromise was required initially during the formation of the Union because many of the smaller states would have rejected a representative legislature. States like Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia would have dominated American politics, which was viewed as unacceptable for states like New Jersey, MA, Delaware, etc. It's critical to the functioning of the Union because the US is a two-party system and suffers from significantly less intraparty conflict than the often shaky coalition governments of parliamentary-based European systems. Remember, Trump lost by only 4 percentage points in the popular vote in 2024, without the Senate, any party that takes control could easily exert significantly more political power than it really has among the populace. As of now, the Senate favors the Republicans as they are in the minority by a couple percentage points.

The 13 colonies were never supposed to be a country 🤷‍♂️

Democrats also want statehood for Puerto Rico. Unsurprisingly, the GOP opposed democracy.

@@slickrick2420 In terrible irony, Puerto Rico is more GOP than you think. So I don't understand why the GOP blocks Puerto Rico from becoming one besides their economical problems.

it's not an advantage it's called no taxation without representation

It is an advantage. Obviously. The challenge is solving the problem of DC residents getting fair representation. Yes they can vote but are they being represented fairly? While at the same time future proofing our government system. There's no one true answer to defend.

@@HoshiFanatic . DC should get statehood regardless of which party it benefits because it's the right thing to do. Puerto Rico should get statehood as well if they want it as well .

@@zettatrigger Ok. I respect your opinion. But I think you're missing my point. The point is I'm commenting on how biased this video is. That is all.

@@HoshiFanatic The options is to have your nations capital without democratic rights or to have your nations capital with democratic rights. There is very clearly one wrong answer here.

It can be. Dems don't want to do it, better yet, congress doesn't want to do it.

V.s. The totally unbiased position of I dont like these people therefore they shouldnt have rights, isnt that right, mister wrong side of history?

@@MTobias I never said anything about people not having rights broski. Anyway what rights do any of us have......

Along with the clip of him in front of that church that has already been debunked that he didn't have the protesters cleared to take a picture. I don't give a damn about Trump I didn't vote for him, but come on people let's keep it real for once.

@@buckwildsrq Trump is all they care about.

Actually it’s on Maryland land. It’s on the Maryland side of the Potomac River because Virginia took back the land it gave to form DC.

damn thats crazy given how large canada is in comparison

So people would be subject to laws and a government that they never had the chance to shape?

Its written into the Constitution that way... but we all know the Dems want to do away with as much of that as possible

Yeah, 700k people not having democratic rights in the u.s. is a weak argument alright 🤦‍♂️

DC statehood maintains the federal district, it just shrinks it down to the actual federal buildings.

Ahh a level headed comment on a Vice video.. so rare. But you must be new here... Vice hasn't done any real journalisim in many many years. They fired all the real journalists and hired a bunch of yuppy mouth peices that pretty much hate anyone who doesn't same think like them. It's kind of a meme around here.

@@London755 why not give it back to Maryland instead?

@@johnnytsunami3695 Because neither DC nor Maryland residents like that idea.

@@MTobias Because their leadership are democrats' and memo is to gain senate seats so of course.

@@pacifactor LOL well good thing you have absolutely 0 military or ordinary authority