The D.C. Statehood Debate Is Coming, Like It or Not
The most important liberal advocacy organizations and a broader swath of the public are pushing to make the District of Columbia the fifty-first state.
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While it remains unclear how Biden’s legislative agenda will take shape once coronavirus relief and impeachment have been dealt with, one item that will be competing for his attention will be statehood for the District of Columbia. Biden, like the last two Democratic presidents, reiterated his support for admitting D.C. as a state on the campaign trail. More Americans have come to back the idea in the last year, as well: A Data for Progress poll in September registered 43 percent support from American voters, an eight-point increase from 2019 levels, attributable mostly to new enthusiasm from Democrats.
President Biden calls for national unity, but his words ring hollow.
To be sure, DeVos had some missteps during her reign, but the number one reason the union bosses could not abide her was because she was adamantly pro school choice. In fact, before working in President Trump’s cabinet, she was chairman of the board of the American Federation of Children, one of the country’s preeminent parental choice advocacy organizations.
In Joe Biden’s inaugural speech last week, he stressed “unity.” In fact, he used the term eight times. So you might think that, in the education realm, he might extend olive branches to the disparate factions. Well, he did no such thing. Less than 36 hours after President Biden had been sworn into office, the aforementioned union leaders were being honored by Jill Biden at the White House, where she reminded the union leaders that she’d promised that if her husband was elected, the teachers unions “will always have a seat at the table.”
Yves here. The lack of any serious, concerted action to combat Covid transmission in schools is another example of how America has become a “can’t do” society. Evidence is mounting that teachers and other school employees are correct in seeing health risk in continuing to show up at work:
Wonder why I talk about the role of children in the pandemic a lot? It’s because the message isn’t getting through.
In November, a prominent Canadian politician said, “children are not transmitters of COVID.”
That is wrong and frankly horrifying to hear.pic.twitter.com/bhoiWxWpzC
Confusing to you and me @c drosten! I can’t work out the denial about transmission in children. The only explanation is ideological. We expected children to transmit covid just like they do other viruses. The science provided no surprises. Yes, they do! so we need to act on it. pic.twitter.com/gzwTxonGDk