My friend Ben Miller e-mails:
Instead of all this hogwash with "votes" and "Congress" why not just do statehood like the way European soccer leagues work: Give U.S. senators and representatives to the 50 largest states/territories by population based upon the census every decade. If a state, such as Wyoming, is smaller than a territory, it gets relegated and loses its members of Congress. The more populous area then gets those members.By my logic, this would put Puerto Rico in as a state and relegate Wyoming. But D.C. is nipping at Vermont's heels and may be poised to make a run with the census coming up. Maybe even a little momentum from this whole Obama and "government is cool again" thing. Reconfigure who the loser is every 10 years with the census. It certainly could create a lot of competition and incentive to deal with certain issues: Keep the crime rate down because every person counts! Get more jobs so you don't have people leaving for employment elsewhere. Improve your colleges so residents don't leave. Big promo campaigns about why the Northern Mariana Islands are THE place to be.
That's the sort of bold, outside-the-box thinking this country, and this district, needs.
