Faced with an inequality agenda, where can we find hope?
Last week while helping my daughter move into our newly-purchased house in Milwaukee (!!!), I watched from afar as DC’s Mayor released her proposed FY26 budget. It didn’t take long for the consensus to form: this budget abandons our neighbors with the lowest incomes.
For months, Free DC has been focused on Congress’s overreach, and its been easy to ignore the fact that our own Mayor embodies a brand of “Democrat” that leans dangerously towards trickle-down economics. With plans to invest in a new stadium while sustaining financial incentives for downtown businesses, the Mayor needed to search for ways to balance her budget. And what did she cut to make room for corporate handouts?
Budget slashes to the DC Healthcare Alliance, and the tightening of Medicaid and TANF eligibility - an estimated 25,000 people will lose their health insurance.
Elimination of the Pay Equity Fund—which increased compensation for early childhood educators and stabilized DC’s childcare sector, benefiting mostly black & brown women who work in child care.
Decrease in the emergency rental assistance program, putting more residents at risk of eviction.
Perhaps the most troubling, though, is the cowardly and undemocratic moves embedded in the budget—clearly taken to appease federal pressures.
A quiet repeal of DC’s sanctuary city status, a law passed in 2019 that restricts DC policy and the Department of Corrections from cooperating with ICE.
A failure to allocate funding for a voter-approved initiative to implement ranked-choice voting in DC primaries in 2026.
A repeal of wage increases for tipped workers—despite DC voters approving this measure twice.
Critics are calling it what it is: an inequality agenda.
DC is entering a period of growing hardship. Unemployment is on the rise, and a DOGE-driven recession is imminent. The federal government employs 17% of our region’s workforce, and we’ve lost 40,000 jobs since January. Last month Moody’s yanked DC’s triple-A bond rating, which makes it more expensive for the District to finance projects. Retail spending is down, gym memberships are dropping, and home listings are on the rise.
Its an existential question: Why, when so many of us are struggling, are leaders still prioritizing billionaires and sports team owners over the everyday people who keep this city running?
I recognize that DC’s political situation isn’t unique. The attack on the poor, on immigrants, and on vulnerable communities is happening nationwide. It’s heartbreaking and maddening. I spend my days listening to analysis—from podcasts to the New York Times—and still, I struggle to grasp what their endgame is. A massive transfer of wealth to the wealthiest few, and then… what?
I have to say, a glimmer of insight came when I heard JD Vance’s interview with the Times. Perhaps its his Yale-speak that resonates. While his views are rooted in a toxic, white supremacist ideology that makes me nauseous, he does state quite concisely his beliefs about immigration fracturing communities and straining public resources, and argues that the only path to stronger social cohesion is to control immigration levels. He sounds more rationale than others on the right (tell me if you agree, if you listened).
Despite the country marching towards authoritarianism, our DC Council continues to hold hearings—hearings anyone can testify at—about how our tax dollars should be spent. The Mayor’s budget is still a draft. So on Monday, I testified against the (increased) funding for policing and incarceration. I was number 76 in a line of more than 130 people who testified that day. And honestly - kudos to our Council members who sat through more than nine hours of three-minute testimonies!
The stories that moved me most were the personal ones: a mother describing the fear that grips her school community as ICE terrorizes their daily lives; a policymaker crying talking about the horrendous conditions of the DC jail; a neighbor’s voice cracking as she talked about how sad she feels walking the empty streets once filled with our vibrant Latinx neighbors.
It was a testament to the power of ordinary citizens.
Earlier that day, I was also privileged to hear Reverend William Barber speak at a national Moral Monday event, held on the steps of the Supreme Court. If your soul needs a little church this week, I encourage you to watch his address (from around 4:00 - 15:00)
At one point, Rev. Barber tearfully shared a deeply personal reflection about his own guilt at being alive, when so many people he loves have passed - many due to lack of medical care. He describes praying, “Lord, why? Why am I still alive when so many others have died?”
Who among us hasn’t felt that kind of guilt?
And he went on, “And the spirit of the Lord answered me, ‘Wrong question.’
The question, Rev. Barber said, isn’t ‘Why am I still alive?’ but ‘What are you going to do with the breath you have left?’
He had us turn to a neighbor, put our hands on one another’s shoulders, and repeat after him:
With all the breath that I have,
I will fight for justice.
I will fight for love.
I will fight for my neighbors.
With all the life I have left.
**
The power in that moment…. the power of everyday people, in solidarity.
May it be so.
We will stand for justice. We will stand for life. Such a moving speech.