Boehner Meddling in D.C. Affairs: Voting Rights Demonstrators

Tea Party-style protest at House Speaker's home

House Speaker John Boehner is violating his own small-government principles by meddling in local affairs, D.C. voting rights activists said Thursday morning.

About two dozen protesters held a tea party-style demonstration outside Boehner's Capitol Hill home Thursday morning. They wore three-cornered, colonial-style hats and chanted, "Don't tread on D.C."

House Republicans have proposed a spending resolution that would prohibit the city from using local funds for a needle exchange program and abortions for low-income women.

Boehner shouldn't be telling residents of a city without full voting rights in the House how to spend their money, DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka said.

"Of course, the Speaker is the Speaker of the House of Representatives because of the Tea Party, and one of the basic tenets of the Tea Party … is that the central federal government should do the things that it is elected to do, and not intrude on the rights of local governments," Zherka said.

Instead, Zherka said, Boehner and the GOP have tried to federalize D.C. policies.

When they attempted to deliver a letter and a tea bag to Boehner's door, protesters were ordered off the property.

Boehner did not speak to protesters when he left his home, organizers of the protest said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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