"Taxation Without Representation." It's the slogan on license plates in Washington, D.C., and a daily fact of life for residents in the nation's capital. With typical wit, comedian John Oliver this week spent a segment of his HBO show Last Week: Tonight on the only democracy in the world with a non-representative capital city, saying, "The Dalai Lama ... called it 'quite strange.' And it is not good when a guy from Tibet says, 'Wow, this system is really undemocratic.'"
It's not all fun and games, though — as Oliver details, federal lawmakers having oversight over all Washington, D.C., legislation, including budget, can lead to serious concerns for the city. Oliver cites a particularly troubling example: D.C.'s high HIV/AIDS rate. For nine years, Congress blocked D.C. from funding a needle exchange program to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As a result, in that time frame 1,500 injecting drug users were diagnosed with disease. Since local lawmakers successfully secured funding in 2008, new cases dropped by 87 percent. Yet federal lawmakers continue to block efforts at D.C. statehood.
What's to be done? The problem seems, for now, entrenched. But as he's demonstrated time and time again: don't discount the Oliver Factor.
WATCH the whole segment below.
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