Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) was the first of the crowd to put a not-so-anonymous hold on the DC School Takeover Bill, and today, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was the second to do so. Sen. Landrieu has put a hold on the bill at the behest of the President of the DC Board of Ed President Robert Bobb.
Ah, DC. Just because a bill passes the council, twice, gets signed by the mayor, that doesn’t make it law.
This is DC. Bills that pass the council and the mayor, also have to pass through the Congress, meaning that there are 535 other people who can stop the bill at any point through the Legislature. And so, today, the chair of the Board of Ed ran an end around.
What’s next? Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) asking for a hold so that she can hold the District hostage over some other point? Sen. Brownback (R-KS) doing the same so that he can hold the District hostage over yet another point? This is just ludicrous that those elected by a wholly separate group of Americans, not even geographically or culturally close to the makeup of the District get to choose what happens here.
It’s honestly embarassing to me.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
