Our Two Bits

The District's quarter should be stamped with some truth-telling.

NEW HAMPSHIRE has "Live Free or Die," and Pennsylvania goes by "Virtue, Liberty, Independence." So, it's only fitting that the soon-to-be-minted D.C. quarter be engraved with the slogan that declares the defining fact of life in the nation's capital: "Taxation Without Representation."

This week D.C. officials will submit to the U.S. Mint their ideas for the design of the new quarter. D.C. Secretary Stephanie D. Scott, who is heading up the effort for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, told us that the city is allowed to submit three concepts and that each will include "Taxation Without Representation." The phrase, which appears on license plates in the District, was the most requested item from residents making suggestions about what should appear on the reverse of the coin, which will be minted in 2009 as part of the popular 50 State Quarters Program.

Nothing in the criteria set out by the Mint precludes the slogan. Indeed, the Mint urges designs "that promote the diffusion of knowledge among the youth of the United States about the state, its history and geography, and the rich diversity of our national heritage. Priority consideration will be given to designs that are enduring representations of the state." What's more enduring than the city's disenfranchisement? No doubt some might say that the phrase violates the Mint's admonition to avoid controversy, but there can be no dispute about the District's unique, undemocratic status. The phrase itself is nonpartisan. Nor does it advocate any particular action.

D.C. officials, accustomed as they are to federal second-guessing, fully expect pushback to their request and have already sent a memo to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. outlining the city's rationale and urging acceptance. We can think of only one valid reason to reject the District's request: Congress renders the phrase moot by granting D.C. voting rights.