Republicans Soft On Crime (A First Diary)

"US facing wave of murders and gun violence" is the title of an article put out on the wire by Reuters this morning.  It explores a consequence of the way Republicans are fighting the war on terror that I have not seen mentioned before.  Here is the money quote:

Explanations vary -- from softer gun laws to budget cuts, fewer police on the beat, more people in poverty and simple complacency. But many blame a national preoccupation with potential threats from abroad.

"Since September 11, much of the resources that were distributed to crime-fighting efforts in Boston and other major cities were redistributed to fight terrorism," said Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University.

More below the fold.

After reading the whole article, it seems like this may be a good scare tactic to turn the tables on republican candidates who have used fear so successfully in the past.  The republicans are not just making us less safe from attacks abroad, they are letting the criminals at home take back the streets.  Didn't violent crime go way down under Clinton?  Turns out it did.

"The Bush administration has scaled back funding for federal cops program," said Jens Ludwig, a criminal justice expert at Georgetown University. "From 1993 to 2000 we saw an impressive run-up in the number of law enforcement people patrolling against crime. That has really slowed down."

Let's get this new meme out there:  Republicans are soft on crime.