MAGA House Republicans are targeting the ability of DC residents to govern themselves, inadvertently helping make the case long championed by Democrats that we just need to make the District of Columbia the 51st state already.
The latest effort is coming from Kentucky MAGA Congressman James Comer, who has introduced legislation that would block the DC Council from raising local taxes without explicit approval from Congress.
The DC Taxing Authority Review Act would require both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate to approve any tax changes approved by the DC Council within 60 days.
“Radical DC Democrats want to solve their spending problem by reaching deeper into taxpayers’ pockets and driving further on the path to socialism,” Comer said, per a release from his office that went out last week.
There we go with the magic word – socialism.
DC leaders are more focused on the billion-dollar budget gap that they faced in their spring budget season. Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic Party nominee for mayor, has advocated for a 3 percent business activity tax targeting law firms and consulting groups that do not pay city business taxes.
That’s who Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, is protecting here – the special interests.
“This bill is offensive to DC, but the entire committee, Republicans included, should be offended by this reckless waste of their time,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the nonvoting representative of DC in Congress, in a statement.
The Comer bill is unlikely to gain any traction going forward. Even if it were to pass the House, it would face an uphill battle, to say the least, in the Senate.
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Chris Graham
