Connect the Dots 101

“Biden Bows to Republicans [who tried to overthrow the government to invalidate *his* election] on Blocking D.C. Crime Law, Avoiding Veto Fight”

The move blindsided members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who were holding a news conference in Baltimore about their agenda for the 118th Congress when it broke.

“This is news to me, and I’m very disappointed,” said a visibly surprised Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting delegate.

Later, she issued a statement saying that Mr. Biden’s stance empowered a “paternalistic, anti-democratic” move by Republicans. Ms. Norton added that she had hoped the measure would die in the Senate for lack of Democratic support, “but with the nationwide increase in crime, most senators do not want to be seen as supporting criminal justice reform.”

Mr. Biden’s decision was a blow to home rule in the District of Columbia, and the issue is most likely not the last time Republicans will challenge local laws in the heavily Democratic capital city.

Over the years, Democrats have generally been willing to defend the District’s autonomy against Republican efforts to undermine it on a variety of issues ranging from health care to education to drug laws. If the resolution is signed into law, it would be the first time in three decades that Congress has overturned a District law.

Brian Schwalb, the District’s attorney general, lamented the likely Republican victory.

“Local autonomy and self-determination are fundamental American values,” he said in a statement. “Any effort to overturn the District of Columbia’s democratically enacted laws degrades the right of its nearly 700,000 residents and elected officials to self-govern — a right that almost every other American has.” He said the only answer was statehood.””

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/us/politics/biden-no-veto-dc-criminal-code.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

SEE ALSO:

Chris Hayes https://youtu.be/nTylv-dNMtk

The Atlantic— Why Is Biden Attacking Democracy?

Supporting self-rule for Washington, D.C., only when it does what you want isn’t supporting self-rule at all.

By Adam Serwer

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/biden-washington-dc-statehood-home-rule/673278/