Coin Tossed

Well, it was worth a shot. When District of Columbia officials filed their application with the U.S. Mint for a design for a commemorative quarter, they made a couple of suggestions for inscriptions on the coin: "No Taxation Without Representation" and "Taxation Without Representation." Those refer, of course, to the District's lack of full representation in Congress.

Setting aside the fact that the two suggestions are diametrically opposite statements, Mint officials quickly rejected the suggestions for another reason, the Washington Post reports: They violated the agency's policy against controversial slogans on commemorative coins.

"Changing how the District of Columbia . . . is represented in Congress is a contemporary political issue on which there presently is no national consensus and over which reasonable minds differ," Mint officials said.

So what's the District suggesting as an alternative? "Justicia omnibus" -- that is, "justice for all." Given that it's Washington, it does seem fitting to get the word "omnibus" in there.