Pubdate: Sat, 28 Feb 2015
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2015 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Colbert I. King

THE RIGHT FIGHT, BUT THE WRONG REASON

Sometimes it's hard to choose your poison, especially when all the 
options are horrible. That's what it's like when the District decides 
to take on Congress over an issue of self-government.

The District's chances of winning such contests are small because of 
that pesky Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives 
Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases 
whatsoever, over . . . the Seat of the Government of the United 
States." The "Seat" is us. Still, there are times when the District 
simply has to mix it up with Congress. The principle of 
self-government - the right of citizens to determine their own 
destiny - is too precious to forfeit out of fear that our overseers 
might take umbrage.

Even if we may lose a battle or two, over the long run the fight to 
expand self-rule in the District is still worth it.

Thus, once again, we find ourselves tightening the old chin strap, 
girding our loins and preparing for another skirmish with Congress.

But, I must confess, I wish we weren't going to war over pot.

I would much prefer to expend our limited time, talent and treasure 
fighting other congressional riders that prevent us from spending our 
own tax dollars as we see fit. Far better to mix it up with federal 
lawmakers over issues such as budget autonomy, congressional voting 
representation and the authority to pick our judges and prosecute 
crime in the District.

But that is not the challenge before us. We are going to the mat with 
Congress over the right to get high in our homes.

And that is because D.C. residents said in November, by a 65 percent 
to 28 percent vote, that they wanted to legalize marijuana in the city.

It matters not that there was only 38 percent voter turnout on 
Election Day, meaning that 284,000 voters stayed home. More than six 
in 10 of the voters who went to the polls favored legalization. So 
how do we find ourselves at the barricades? In December, Congress 
approved a rider to its omnibus appropriations bill intended to block 
the legalization initiative. The city, however, is proceeding with 
pot legalization anyway, because its lawyers claim that flawed 
language in the congressional rider does not actually block 
legalization from taking effect. Key House Democrats also support the 
city's position.

The decision to proceed, however, prompted Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), 
chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, 
which has jurisdiction over the District, and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), 
chairman of the subcommittee that handles D.C. affairs, to charge in 
a letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) that allowing legalization 
to take effect "is contrary to law" and that to do so would 
constitute "knowing and willful violation of the law."

So is it time to get our kids off the street? Should we take up 
defensive positions surrounding the John A. Wilson Building?

Not quite. After all the Sturm und Drang, this latest dust-up with 
Congress is not likely to end up with Bowser and D.C. Council members 
in handcuffs. I predict that there will come a day when, as D.C. 
senior citizens talk about their joints, they have something else in 
mind than the state of their hips and knees. (Not an original joke, I 
know, but ' tis enough, ' twill serve.)

That doesn't mean the city will have the last word in this latest 
confrontation with Congress. Meadows conceded that it's unlikely 
Congress will turn to the courts on the matter of congressional 
intent and the District's alleged defiance. But he said, ominously, 
"I think it plays out on the funding side of it," adding "whether 
it's specifically about this or other related topics that become very 
difficult for D.C. to be able to address without the help and will of 
Congress."

You don't have to be a tea-leaf reader to know what Meadows is 
getting at. It's all about purse strings, baby, and who has the power 
to tighten or loosen them. The overseers are planning to teach ol' 
uppity D.C. a lesson. That underscores the need for the District to 
pick its fights carefully. But we shouldn't give in or give up on the 
protection of our right to pass such an initiative, even if the Hill 
tries to confiscate our money.

D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) firmly contends that the 
city stands on solid legal ground. "This has nothing to do with 
marijuana," Allen told The Post. "This is about the autonomy of the 
District and the will of the District voters."

And yes, on those grounds, most of us local citizens will stand and 
fight. But let's not fool ourselves. This is all about the 
recreational use of pot.

I wish this latest fight for D.C. democracy was over something else.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom