Your tax refund might be bigger, but D.C. always pays a price
Here's what people need to understand—everyone's talking about how their tax refund might be bigger this year. That's great, betam, for folks who are getting a little extra back. But in Washington, D.C., that talk of a bigger tax refund hits different when you factor in everything else going on. We're looking at gas prices jumping, especially when you're filling up in the District compared to Maryland or Virginia. Metro ridership might be up because it's always going to be cheaper than driving a car, but that's a necessity, not a luxury, for a lot of DMV families. It feels like every good economic sign for the rest of the country comes with a quiet asterisk for us, the people who actually live and work in this city.
This is the kind of stuff that fuels the frustration you hear at Eastern Market, or on U Street while you're waiting for a half-smoke at Ben's. We watch the federal government operate, we house the institutions, we pay our taxes just like everyone else—more, in some cases—but we don't get the same say. A bigger tax refund is nice, ishi, but it doesn't solve the fundamental problem that this city, our home, is still treated like a federal ward. We’re still dealing with calls for federal intervention in local policing, we're still fighting for statehood. That's the District, DMV—no vote, all heart.
Selam Tesfaye-Williams, MiTL Sports Desk, Washington, D.C.
You know Keith and the crew are talking about this—catch them live every morning at mornings.live.