In a White House press briefing yesterday, Robert Gibbs basically dismissed the idea that the President would concern himself with a symbolic gesture of changing his limo's license plates to the "Taxation Without Representation" design. Read an excerpt from the June 29 transcript:
Q Can I ask you one more question, just quickly, on sort of a D.C. issue? And that is, why hasn't the President changed his license plates on the presidential limousine? Is he planning to change them to the "Taxation Without Representation" plates or --
MR. GIBBS: I think rather than change the logo around the license plate, the President is committed instead to changing the status of the District of Columbia.
Q But it's a symbol, though, that a lot of people look at as --
MR. GIBBS: Well, I guess I would ask you to ask people in Washington whether they'd like to have that status changed or that symbolism screwed on to the back of a limousine.
The answer, Mr. Gibbs, is both. We want both. That little bit of symbolism goes a long way towards educating Americans about the issue and sends a signal to DC residents that the President is serious about his commitment to equal representation for DC. Even better, use your power and voice to urge Congress to pass a clean DC Voting Rights Act. More than half a million DC residents are counting on you!
