D.C. -- Statehood ? Or Abolition?

[Rachel_X]

That was pretty gay, you one of those faggot lady-bois?

I'm a girl you muppet.
There's nothing gay about you being in love with me.

 

[phrodeau]

The United Kingdom Parliament, House of Commons and House of Lords, will have to move out of the Houses of Parliament for several years while the buildings are renovated.

There are no suitable buildings in Central London to house Parliament and people are looking around the country to find somewhere for Parliament to operate.

Of course, the Houses of Parliament are not like Washington DC. They are fairly compact buildings within walking distance of Number 10 Downing Street, Whitehall and the main Civil Service departments. Technically they are part of the Royal Palace of Westminster but they don't have the special status given to Washington DC.

In earlier days, Parliament was wherever the Monarch happened to be, but now we are a constitutional monarchy, the Monarch (or an heir) only has to be present for the formal State Opening, so our Parliament could meet anywhere.

Any suggestions? A likely place being considered is near Bristol. Another is near Birmingham International Station and airport.

I think the Outer Hebrides would be good, or Rockall.

In US terms think of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, or a sand bank off the East Coast.

You don't have megachurches there?

 

[Real_American11]

I'm a girl you muppet.

Yeah, I bet you have a bigger cock then most of your graduating class in high school.

 

[Rachel_X]

Yeah, I bet you have a bigger cock then most of your graduating class in high school.

I am a bigger cock, but I don't have a bigger cock.

 

[Real_American11]

I am a bigger cock, but I don't have a bigger cock.

You are a gay tranny.

You might be a trap, you might be a cave troll in drag, I don't know.

 

[Rachel_X]

You are a gay tranny.

You might be a trap, you might be a cave troll in drag, I don't know.

I'm not a tranny, no matter how much you want me to be.

 

[Real_American11]

I'm not a tranny, no matter how much you want me to be.

Lot's of weirdos on the internet say they are female, so you are a man.

 

[oggbashan]

You don't have megachurches there?

We have cathedrals, but they are ancient monuments mostly built before Columbus sailed West. They are difficult to adapt to house Parliament. We need our Cathedrals for the pagentry and to attract tourist dollars, yen, euros etc.

 

[Hypoxia]

We have cathedrals, but they are ancient monuments mostly built before Columbus sailed West. They are difficult to adapt to house Parliament. We need our Cathedrals for the pagentry and to attract tourist dollars, yen, euros etc.

Are any spare sports stadia available? I recall that the USA Manhattan Project began in open spaces under a Chicago football stadium. Such a venue might be suitable for politicos. At least they'll have locker rooms.

 

[oggbashan]

Are any spare sports stadia available? I recall that the USA Manhattan Project began in open spaces under a Chicago football stadium. Such a venue might be suitable for politicos. At least they'll have locker rooms.

Do you know how look it took us to rebuild Wembley Stadium?

The Olympic Park might be better but we've committed that to football.

 

[phrodeau]

Do you know how look it took us to rebuild Wembley Stadium?

The Olympic Park might be better but we've committed that to football.

I remember how long it took to reopen the Midland Grand Hotel.

 

[srgreene]

There is no Virginia part, by the way. That went back to Virginia a long time ago. What was the Virginia portion of Washington, D.C., is now Arlington County, Virginia, and reverted back to Virginia in 1846.

sr71plt-

But, why don't you try to exist without everything the federal government provides for you in exchange for your taxes (which I presume you don't try to dodge) for just two weeks (starting with jerking the roads out from underneath you, all of the work they do to ensure your food doesn't kill you, and keeping Russian tanks out of your backyard), and see how much you hate being an American then.

I would be quite happy to have roads left to the states (as most roads are). The closer to the people that government expenditures are, the better in my opinion. The interstate highway system did not being until after WWII, and I think it is a questionable long term benefit. The republic did survive 150 years without it. Why people in Kansas should be forced to pay for I-95 running the length of the East Coast of the USA is quite beyond me- no, it is simply wrong. You argument of "jerking the roads out" is simply silly, and is rather indicative of the banality and shallowness of your argument.

The proper role of government is to provide for the collective defense, provide for a judicial system, and to provide for police protection. National defense is truly a function of the national government, so your argument about "keeping Russian tanks out of [my] backyard" is again a silly argument. You have set up a straw man to avoid addressing legitimate issues. I stand for minimal government, but I do not advocate an anarchic system.

Food supply? Well we can both agree that selling poison under the guise of food should be illegal. And, under the Constitution, at least to the extent there is interstate commerce, the federal government would have a role to play in that.

You do seem oblivious to alternative mechanisms other than the most statist solutions. For example, in a free society, various constituencies would have an interest in a viable transportation infrastructure. Your argument sounds rather like those made by Soviet aparachnicks who extolled the blessings of what the state provided, and demanded to know why anyone would want such blessings as it provided taken away. I would encourage you to think more imaginatively. Where there is a sufficient demand and where resources are available to satisfy it, a free market will step in to fulfill the need without the need for the heavy hand of government control. However, government might be needed to establish rights of way.

 

[oggbashan]

I remember how long it took to reopen the Midland Grand Hotel.

We wouldn't have built the Houses of Parliament we have now if the old one hadn't burned down.

 

[Hypoxia]

I would be quite happy to have roads left to the states (as most roads are). The closer to the people that government expenditures are, the better in my opinion.

Nice theory. In practice, we get more local corruption. Read some Carl Hiaasen on how that works in Florida.

The interstate highway system did not being until after WWII, and I think it is a questionable long term benefit. The republic did survive 150 years without it.

Our democratic republic also survived 200 years without Internet (developed by... the US gov't) but let's not dump it. The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (a.k.a. the Interstate Highway System) has transformed the nation into a single economic unit, which it certainly wasn't before. You may not remember pre-Interstate days. I do. I would not go back.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

The interstate highway system did not being until after WWII, and I think it is a questionable long term benefit. The republic did survive 150 years without it.

Put an awful lot of towns on the map.

Wiped probably as many off it too.

 

[srgreene]

Nice theory. In practice, we get more local corruption. Read some Carl Hiaasen on how that works in Florida.

Our democratic republic also survived 200 years without Internet (developed by... the US gov't) but let's not dump it. The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (a.k.a. the Interstate Highway System) has transformed the nation into a single economic unit, which it certainly wasn't before. You may not remember pre-Interstate days. I do. I would not go back.

Hypoxia, you are making the same mistake as sr71plt did. I am not arguing against "progress", which seems to be the corner you are trying to paint me into. But there is a downside to the never ending highway building that is going on. BTW, where I grew up, not far from an interstate, we didn't have to lock doors before the Interstate came through. In and of itself, that may seem like a minor factor, but I recall adults who wished the interstate highway had never come close to us. Where I live now, the more roads we build, the more cars travel on it, and traffic is still a problem..

The nation's highways have had a devastating effect on passenger rail service, which in many ways is better than people driving in cars. We would have been much better off putting a hefty percentage of those highway dollars into mass transit. You seem to be implicitly assuming that had we not developed the Interstate Highway system, we'd still be stuck with the transportation infrastructure of 1950, and that just isn't so.

Nor, as I mentioned to sr71plt, is the federal government the only mechanism for developing roads. I would prefer the individual states, working cooperatively, develop highways. The closer decisions made about spending money are to the people paying the bills, the better, in my opinion.