I was joined at the tattoo studio by former ANC commissioner and candiate for DC Council, Bryan Weaver who got a cool Mayan “13″ that was done in the style of the DC flag.

I had been thinking about doing something like this for a while, especially since getting arrested a few months ago in an act of civil disobedience on Capitol Hill. It’s a great way to mark that event, and will serve as a permanent reminder of the work that will need to be done to achieve statehood for DC.

The timing also worked out well for a “DC Flag Day in the Flesh” rally at Dupont Circle that was organized by the awesome Allyson Behnke. It was a great event where everyone with DC flag tattoos gathered in one place and we got some good media coverage for the issue. Thanks to her and Adam Eidinger for getting everyone together.

It’s been a crazy year so far…I’ve been arrested and have gotten a tattoo!  I’m turing 40 soon, I guess this is my version of a mid-life crisis! Check out the videos and links below:

DC Flag Tattoo Day – June 14 from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

Showing off some inked skin for D.C.

DC Residents Celebrate Flag Tattoos in Fight For DC Statehood: MyFoxDC.com

First, there was a blog post a few months back by the Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis about the new plates from Maryland commemorating the War of 1812. Those plates are functional, but I don’t find them very inspirational. They don’t do much to emphasize Maryland’s role in that war or how our national anthem was penned at Fort McHenry in Baltimore during that conflict. It’s just very “meh” in my opinion, and a wasted opportunity for the state to educate and inform others about that historic event.

Then, a few weeks ago, I saw a posting on the Washington CityPaper’s blog about someone on Capitol Hill who had a license plate cover that said “DC’s Not A State….Get Over It!“. I was shocked someone who lives and pays taxes in the District had that opinion, and was so vocal about sharing it. Granted it’s everyone’s right to have an opinion and voice it, but I didn’t really care for that particular expression.

Of course, here in the District we have our own “Taxation Without Representation” plates, but they are about 10 years old at at this point, and I think they’ve lost their effectiveness. More importantly, they are out of line with what we really deserve – full statehood.

Then I saw a Delaware plate, with the motto, “The First State“, based on the fact they were the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

That got me thinking….why don’t we have DC Statehood Plates?? So I took sometime to mock one up, what do you think?

How hard would this be to roll out? Let’s make it happen. This is the kind of bold move we need, and it would generate a lot of attention for the cause.

If you want to help me push this forward, or have other ideas, please email me or comment below.

We need more help in getting these introduced. If you have contacts in a state house or senate, please email me at mike.panetta@gmail.com and let’s find a way to get it introduced and passed.

RESOLUTION ON STATEHOOD FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Whereas, this nation is founded on the principled belief that all people are endowed with certain inalienable rights and that to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;

Whereas, the rights of the citizens of the District of Columbia are abridged when the U.S. Congress imposes its will on local matters and denies the taxpaying citizens of the District of Columbia voting representation on federal issues in both houses of the U.S. Congress;

Whereas, the people of the District of Columbia pay more than three billion dollars in annual income taxes to the Federal Treasury—more, per capita, than the residents of all but one state;

Whereas, the people of the District of Columbia, per capita, have fought in more wars to protect the liberties and rights of all American people and democracies around the world than any other state;

Whereas, the District of Columbia is the only U.S. jurisdiction not permitted to spend its own local tax dollars without approval by Congress;

Whereas, the people of the District of Columbia serve on federal juries;

Whereas, the people of the District of Columbia are subject to the rule of law of the United States;

Whereas, the people of the District of Columbia are the only Americans who still bear all of the responsibilities of citizenship, but who do not enjoy all of the rights of citizenship, including local sovereignty and representation in both houses of Congress, making the District, in effect, a colony under Congressional jurisdiction; and

Whereas, statehood will ensure that residents of the District of Columbia enjoy full sovereign rights in local matters and voting representation in both houses of the U.S. Congress just as every other citizen of the United States of America, and is a matter of simple justice;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the state legislature of ___________ (name state) support the attainment of statehood for the District of Columbia and will work with our colleagues in their respective states to petition Congress to use its powers under Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution and admit the District of Columbia as the 51st State of the Union.

I have three questions for you:

1) Are you still looking for the perfect holiday gift?
2) Do you like snarky T-shirts?
3) Do you want to support the DC Statehood Fund?

If the the answer was “yes” to any of the above, then look no further as the t-shirts below are perfect for anyone who needs to play Santa. I can’t guarantee we’ll get Congressional representation in our stockings this year, but I can promise a few chuckles from these shirts:

Give the gift that shows how much you love Senators from Nevada re-writing our local gun laws, or buy one for yourself to show everyone at the coffee shop that you call your “office” that you are demanding to be represented in Congress with some real votes – and have the t-shirt to prove it.

Proceeds from the sales go to the District of Columbia Statehood Fund.

UPDATE: According to the Office of the Secretary, the details of the grant are not ready for release. Stay tuned for a future update regarding the procedure and timing. In the meantime, get your thinking caps on…

The following grant notice was distributed last week at the Statehood Stakeholders meeting.  I don’t have more details beyond what’s listed below, but I  have messages into the Office of the Secretary to get more specific information regarding the process for submitting proposals, deadline, etc. I’ll be sure to post them as soon as I know more.

You may remember that Mayor Fenty and the  DC Council eliminated many appropriation earmarks in the last budget, and many non-profits, including DC Vote, saw annual allocations from the city dry up. It’s good to see that the Council put some money taxpayer money back into this fight, and even better to open it up to other organizations as opposed to a non-competitive earmark.

Here’s all the information I have so far:

COMPETITIVE GRANT FOR DC VOTING RIGHTS AND STATEHOOD FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

“…The Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia may issue competitive grants to one or more organizations with a history of promoting DC voting rights and statehood in the District in an amount not to exceed $250,000.”

From the press release:

“It is unacceptable that low income Americans are being left out of the digital revolution in the very country where the Internet was invented,” said Alan Davidson, Google’s Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs. “Google is strongly committed to making sure that all Americans have access to broadband Internet. We are thrilled to support this effort to bring the tremendous economic and social benefits of the Web to underserved students and families in Washington, D.C.”

The wireless service is being provided free of charge by broadband cards provided by Cricket Wireless, which entered the DC mobile phone market earlier this summer, and offers pre-paid plans that do not require a contract or credit check – the same sort of plans that just happen to be used very often by same low-income families who’d be getting free broadband. (Isn’t that a nice coincidence?  ☺ )

The free broadband is great for the 1,000 or so families that will receive the these wireless cards, and I applaud the companies involved for making it happen…but what about all the thousands of other lower-income people in the District who can’t afford broadband? What do they get?

What I’d like to see is free wireless broadband across the entire District of Columbia provided as a free municipal service. Of course, there would be companies that would object to this and would lobby to stop it — but if we are serious about preparing our children and existing workforce for a 21st century economy, we need make sure all our citizens have access to free and ubiquitous broadband.

It would be a real shame if the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Sergey Brin is currently a DC kid who couldn’t realize his potential because he didn’t get one of these free broadband cards or computers.

More information:
Free wireless broadband for low-income families in the District