There’s lots of things in the budget, agreed upon by the White House and Congress, that I would change if I had my druthers, but the only part that I find patently objectionable is the ban on the District of Columbia’s ability to fund abortions with municipal money.  My views on abortion have nothing to do with why I think this is so wrong.  The residents of the District should be allowed to set public policy without gross interference from the federal government.

When the Constitution was written, Congress was given so much power over the District because it made sense to have the capital be independent from any of the states.  If the capital of the United States was in a state, say Maryland, then Maryland would be able to leverage a lot more power over Congress than every other state.  Maryland would potentially have the power to close the streets around the Capitol Building, making the lives of legislators very difficult, unless Congress agreed to pass a bill that would be favorable to the state of Maryland.

Congress’ authority over the District made sense at the founding of the country, when there were no permanent residents of the District.  When Congress wasn’t in session, most of the people working in the capital moved back to their home states.  Today, there are over 600,000 people who live in the District permanently.  They should have the ability to govern themselves locally like every other municipality in the United States, without having to answer to the authority of Congress.