It seems as though liberals are coming to regret the radical policies that they had previously been in support of and pushing for since the beginning of the lockdowns back in spring of 2020. From homelessness, crime, and COVID policies to just name a few, the left is beginning to walk back on it’s foundation in response to receiving less than adequate results from liberals. The most recent developments in the nation’s capital only add more fuel to the fire in this instance.
Metropolitan areas across the country are actually taking a much more threatening stance on destitute encampments in response to individuals’ grievances, including Washington, D.C. A February survey pushed out by The Washington Post indicates that over 75% of citizens are in approval of clearing out homeless encampments that have become rampant across the city.
Enforcement of the district’s plan for cleanup has not ceased, even in light of the American Civil Liberties Union and D.C. council members opposition. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has noted that over 70 percent of respondents, regardless of their indicated race, have voted in agreement to the clearing of the camps.
It is a bit ironic that the district has the backing of substantial local support, since many popular leftist associations, local area leftist forerunners, and also Democratic politicians have been making attempts to protect the camps. Ann Marie Staudenmaier, wife of Maryland gubernatorial candidate Tom Perez, is notably one of those that last year recommended for destitute camps in the district to be legally allowed and protected. “Don’t evict them from the only place that they have to call home,” she pleaded.
There’s a high probability that it has something to do with how the homeless population negatively impacts the cleanliness, security, and attraction of neighborhoods. A recent Washington Post write-up cited residents that discussed instances of being harassed by individuals in the camps. One D.C. homeowner said that the area is “not pleasant” which the ubiquity of the encampments intimidates the safety and security of residents.
There is likely to a sense of discomfort from those on the left when it is said, however national trends on reducing the number of encampments show that a large percentage of the rest of the U.S. feels similarly.
Mayors of America’s biggest cities, once receptive to defunding the police, have now been singing a different tune and are quickly attempting to reverse their actions in response to local frustration with increasing crime rates. Now “refund the police” has come to be the new saying of many liberal residents.
Increased criminal offense and also murder fees in the metropolitan area since 2020 have D.C. residents shifting their perspectives on crime and police funding. A recent Washington Post poll indicated a large majority (59 percent) now agree that enhancing the police force and community patrolling would aid in decreasing crime rates in D.C.
“The share of Washingtonians who say they are not safe from crime has risen to 30 percent this year from 22 percent in November 2019 and is the highest in more than two decades of Post polls,” stated The Washington Post.
This is a drastic shift in perspective following the “defund the police” campaigns urban area locals– as well as a variety of lobbyist groups— loudly recommended after the death of George Floyd. The D.C. government in 2020 supported steps to cut $15 million from the police department budget plan in June 2022. During that time, the police chief offered a warning indicating that the decrease in funding could cause numerous officers to leave the force and underfunded training and equipment may promote officers using more excessive force rather than less.
Luckily, there are many others in support of refunding the police. As NBC reported in February, Democratic politicians are actually labelling the “defund the police” movement “dead” and mayors in multiple big cities are actually “moving to increase police budgets and end ‘the reign of criminals.'”
Democratic states are additionally ending Covid constraints despite increasing grievances from their constituents. For example, D.C. Mayor Bowser’s mid-February statement that she would drop the city’s vaccination mandate for companies as well as “dial back” the metropolitan area’s indoor mask rules. This statement follows many other Democrat governed states that have chosen to take a step back on their restrictions in response to unfavorable polls indicating rising unpopularity. As a result of the change, D.C. party scene is “returning to normal,” states the Washington Post, despite COVID case numbers in and around the area being “high.”
This dramatic shift is quite surprising, considering the fact that the D.C. was one of the most strictly regulated areas in the country. This most likely has something to do with the increasing annoyance with COVID restrictions, also among liberal voters. Perhaps it results from the climbing tide of Democratic politicians paying attention to their constituencies and blatantly pushing aside the “public health guidance” professing the nation is moving faster than it should in loosening up the regulations.
Another point that made provide sway in these changes is that District of Columbia has ceased to experience a popular boom for many recent decades. According to the Census Bureau the population has decreased by 2.9 percent between 2020-2021 alone. Apparently many people do not find it appealing to live in a crime-ridden, dirty nagging city, the leftist population included. This has actually become a broader national trend as people around the nation in 2021 left behind Democratic states.
Maybe staying in a Democrat-run paradise filled with endless homeless encampments left to do as they please with defunded police turning a blind eye and being tied down by irrational health-related restrictions is not as great as it originally appeared.
Democratic D.C. residents have begun to learn that they, in fact, do not like their public space invaded by homelessness, their neighborhoods crawling with crime, and their cities caught in an endless cycle of public safety regulations.
Fortunately, all of this spells out that activist narratives that were once threatening have lost their power and previous policies will now become political obstacles in upcoming elections. It is nice to know that Americans can still agree on some things.
