Democrats have just two weeks to pull off a hat trick. They absolutely need to retain control of both the House and the Senate — losing either is not a viable option. The massive chaos that would ensue if either chamber were lost would be incalculable. Endless investigations of specious petty rumors, political payback and retribution against the FBI, gamesmanship with the debt ceiling in order to force rollbacks of Social Security and Medicare, a national abortion ban, and multiple impeachment attempts of Biden and his Cabinet. It would be a Hyper-Fascist Gilead on Mescalin.
Democrats need to stand up and fight back. More Democrats need to speak up like Oklahoma Governor candidate Joy Hofmeister, Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow, Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman and Florida Senate candidate Val Demings. They need to more than just complain about Abortion, they need to take the fight to Republicans by pointing out the simple fact that everything they claim to stand for is an illusion, a delusion and a lie.
The economy, crime, immigration, freedom and voting are democratic issues — they are a plus in our column — it’s time we said so.
Oklahoma Governor Candidate Joy Hofmeister stood up to incumbent John Stitt by pointing out the fact that crime is higher in red states than in blue states.
Paul Krugman has followed up on this point:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, Oklahoma had 342 homicides in 2020. It's a rate of 9 deaths per 100,000. In California, the homicide rate is 6.1 and in New York the rate is 4.7. So, yes, Oklahoma has a worse rate than blue states.
"Was Stitt unaware of this fact?" asked Krugman. "Or was he just counting on his audience’s ignorance? If it was the latter, he may, alas, have made the right call. Public perceptions about crime are often at odds with reality. And in this election year, Republicans are trying to exploit one of the biggest misperceptions: that crime is a big-city, blue-state problem."
The Atlantic's Ron Brownstein cited an exhaustive study by seven academic researchers showed that "homicides over recent years increased less rapidly in cities with progressive prosecutors than in those with more traditional district attorneys. It also found no meaningful differences between cities with progressive or traditional DAs in the trends for larceny and robbery."
Mother Jones cited data showing a 30 percent increase in homicides under Donald Trump in major cities in 2020. Killings slowed dramatically under Biden to just a 5 percent increase in major cities in 2021. Another study by the centrist think tank, Third Way, looked at state crime rates that also proved an increase among red states over blue ones.
Murder rates were an average of 40 percent higher in 2020 in 25 states where Donald Trump won in 2020, compared to states where Biden won. The highest murder rates are in states like Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina and Arkansas. They're all run by Republicans and have been run by Republicans for decades.
When Republicans try to run on the argument of “Crime” they talking out of their hat. Red states all have higher crime and higher murder rates than Blue states. Why exactly should we trust Republicans to handle crime well?
There is also a new report that indicates that progressive prosecutors are not responsible for the rise in violent crime.
There is “no evidence to support the claim that progressive prosecutors were responsible for the increase in homicide during the pandemic or before it,” researchers at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto wrote.
As The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein wrote in a story published last week, researchers found homicides “increased less rapidly in cities with progressive prosecutors than in those with more traditional district attorneys.”
[...]
The new report does not downplay the magnitude of the challenge that the spike in violent crime posed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Nor does the Capital-Star’s analysis seek to downplay the gun violence in Philadelphia, which has seen 437 homicides so far this year, according to a citywide database. Through Oct. 23, there were 1,552 shootings in the city, 408 of which were fatal, the database indicates.
The overall increase was the “‘greatest annual increase in over 100 years,” according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” the report’s authors wrote. “It was also widespread. For instance, the number of homicides that year increased in 90 percent of the 65 cities in the Major Cities Chiefs Association, all with populations over 250,000.”
But “the increase in homicide in the United States was not a uniform or ‘national’ phenomenon, as some media organizations reported,” they continued. “Homicides decreased in several major cities, including ones served by progressive prosecutors.”
I have many more specifics in this diary here.
When it comes to the economy — Republicans have a terrible track record. [The following shows Trump’s numbers without including 2020 where things crashed.]
Many analyses look at which party is best for the economy. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Democratic presidents since World War II have performed much better than Republicans. On average, Democratic presidents grew the economy by 4.4% each year versus 2.5% for Republicans.
A study by Princeton University economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson found that the economy performs better when the president is a Democrat. They report that “by many measures, the performance gap is startlingly large.” Between Truman and Obama, growth was 1.8% higher under Democrats than Republicans.5
[...]
The chart below ranks the presidents since 1929 on the average annual increase in GDP.
President |
Final FY Budget |
GDP (in Billions) |
Added to GDP |
% Increase |
Annual Average |
Roosevelt |
1945 |
$2,352 |
$1,524 |
184% |
15.3% |
LBJ |
1969 |
$4,792 |
$1,089 |
29% |
5.9% |
JFK |
1964 |
$3,703 |
$443 |
14% |
4.5% |
Clinton |
2001 |
$13,131 |
$3,446 |
36% |
4.4% |
Reagan |
1989 |
$8,867 |
$2,107 |
31% |
3.9% |
Nixon |
1974 |
$5,687 |
$895 |
19% |
3.7% |
Carter |
1981 |
$6,759 |
$810 |
14% |
3.4% |
Eisenhower |
1961 |
$3,260 |
$685 |
27% |
3.3% |
Trump |
2019 |
$19,091 |
$1,360 |
8% |
2.6% |
GW Bush |
2009 |
$15,605 |
$2,474 |
19% |
2.4% |
GHW Bush |
1993 |
$9,685 |
$818 |
9% |
2.3% |
Obama |
2017 |
$17,731 |
$2,126 |
14% |
1.7% |
Ford |
1977 |
$5,949 |
$262 |
5% |
1.5% |
Truman |
1953 |
$2,575 |
$223 |
9% |
1.2% |
Hoover |
1933 |
$828 |
$(282) |
-25% |
-8.5% |
The next table calculates the average annual growth for Democrats versus Republicans. Because of the Great Depression, Democrats grew the economy by 5.2% annually, while Republicans grew it by only 1.4%.
During his time Trump increased the deficit by over $2.4 Trillion and because of the pandemic unemployment ultimately peaked at 14.2%. Since taking over Biden has reduced the deficit by $380 Billion in his first year and is on track to reduce it by another $1.7 Trillion — which is an all-time record — in his second year.
Trump’s average growth (including the year of the pandemic) has been shown to have been the worst since Herbert Hoover.
The revisions revealed that economic growth under Mr Trump was the worst since President Herbert Hoover, who was in the White House from 1929 to 1933, the period of the Wall Street Crash and the onset of the Depression.
[...]
GDP growth under Mr Hoover was negative 7.4 per cent. Mr Trump performed better, with the GDP growing 1.6 per cent during his time in office, but that number is extremely low when compared to every other president since Mr Hoover.
The coronavirus pandemic is a major contributor to those numbers, as the economy and global trade effectively ground to a halt due to the hurdles presented by the virus.
Once he came into office Biden’s GDP during his first year was 5.6%, far above the GDP for any of Trump’s years. Trump had promised that his tax cuts for the wealthy would skyrocket the economy to GDPs of 5-6% but that didn’t happen on his watch. It happened on Biden’s.
Republicans haven’t had a balanced budget since Eisenhower. EISENHOWER! When they are in power the deficit always goes up and usually growth goes down. Inflation is currently a huge challenge before us, and now is not the time to give the tiller to a pack of people who can’t steer straight and have a history of repeated economic failure. They have no credibility on this issue.
And, as pointed out recently by Rep. Katie Porter, at least half of the source of inflation has been corporate greed — which the GOP has no energy or appetite to fight against with a windfall profits tax.
During a congressional hearing Wednesday, Rep.Porter questioned Mike Konczal, director of Macroeconomic Analysis at the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive economic think tank.
Porter held a chart with statistics from the Economic Policy Institute and asked:
“According to this chart, what is the biggest driver of inflation during this pandemic… during this recent period?”
“It would be corporate profits,” Konczal said.
“And what is that percentage?” Porter asked.
“It is 54% and that number does stay that high if you update that to more recent numbers as well,” Konczal said.
Over half of the increased prices people are paying are contributing to an increase in corporate profits, Porter concluded.
The nonprofit Economic Policy Institute calculated corporate balance sheets and other federal data to come up with its numbers. The Roosevelt Institute conducted its own analysis, concluding similar results.
“We have very good measures of how prices are increasing and how they are being recorded,” Konczal told 12News Thursday. “I think the more evidence we look at the more that case grows stronger.”
When GOP Senator Ron Johnson was confronted with the size of corporate profitability by NPR he flat-out denied and ignored it.
This is a chart of non-financial corporate profits from 1950 to today, as you can see it’s a skyrocket to the stars after the pandemic.
I have much more written on his subject in this diary.
State Senator McMorrow made the viral interwebs vibrate with her impassioned plea against the othering of LGBTQ persons when she was falsely labeled a “groomer” for supporting the idea that people should have the freedom to be who they truly are.
LANSING MI — A Michigan senator went viral across social media this week after giving a speech on the Senate floor speech viewed more than 14 million times on Twitter.
Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, defended herself to much attention Tuesday after being labeled a “groomer” in the campaign fundraising email of her Republican colleague, Sen. Lana Theis of Brighton.
McMorrow’s spat comes as Republicans across the country are deploying unfounded accusations that children are being groomed by adults who support gay rights.
“I’m the biggest threat to your hallow, hateful scheme,” McMorrow said in her five minute Senate floor speech Tuesday.
Being LGBTQ or a supporter doesn’t mean that you support “sexualizing children.” Being gay is not just about sex. It’s not about creating confusion and self-loathing for children. It’s about freedom, it's about recognition of reality.
Even if in the worst-case scenario where being gay was “a choice”, people still have the right and the freedom to make that choice if they want to.
The fact is that medical and psychology professionals all agree that LGBTQ persons are legitimate, they all have done detailed studies of them biologically and mentally and they’ve found that it’s a natural phenomenon that is not part of any “agenda.”
Here Jon Stewart interviews Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge who just helped implement several anti-Gender affirming care laws.
Debating Rutledge is like trying to talk about climate change with an oil company executive whose job depends on him doubting it, or trying to talk about lung cancer deaths with a Tobacco company executive. They just stare blankly at you and continue to deny, deny and deny what the overwhelming science says is right in front of them.
Medical professionals have studied gender dysphoria among youth, and they do not recommend surgery or “mutilation” as many on the right would claim. They only provide puberty blockers and counseling until such a person becomes an adult. The entire “mutilation” and “groomer” arguments are merely old wives’ tales, Democrats should easily be able to say so and shoot down these deluded GOP myths.
The GOP constantly argues that there is a giant open border that needs to be closed. But the fact is that under Biden border patrol has stopped, arrested and deported up to 3 times as many people as were deported under Trump.
As you can see 1.9 Million people have been arrested and expelled during FY22 by the US Border Patrol. During Trump’s final year — FY20 — that number was 646,822. The GOP has a habit of looking at these numbers and claiming that these are people are illegally crossing the border and staying — when the case is the opposite, these are the people who were stopped and expelled after crossing the border. This is proof that the Border Patrol is doing their job, rather than sitting back and just letting people enter. The rate of those who cross the border and who are apprehended has averaged between 63-79% for decades. Biden has averaged about 75% which is the same as Trump. If we want that figure to increase we should better staff and equip the Border Patrol — but Republicans have blocked any and all immigration reform bills.
Fast forward to today, and it seems fairly clear that Republicans are only interested in obstructionism, poison pills, and blame when it comes to immigration. As Democrats look to exhaust each and every avenue for reforming our broken immigration system, a look back at how a few key Senators have shifted shows just how far the party has strayed. While Republicans may have once been interested in a deal, they’re no longer interested in even coming to the table. For years they claimed that once the border was secure, they would come to the table. But at the height of the Trump Administration, when the border was restricted more than ever before, nothing serious came forward. And because of that, it seems increasingly clear why Democrats are pursuing immigration solutions through the reconciliation process. There should be room for bipartisan progress on immigration, but it can’t happen unless Republicans return to reality.
Trump’s great idea of building a wall literally fell over and collapsed in a 37 mph wind. It’s also easy to climb and cut through.
Republicans have distorted and demagogued this issue long enough. They can’t be trusted to solve a problem that they used for fundraising and to drive people to the polls for years. It’s time we fought back with the truth.
I have much more on this subject in this diary here.
During this interview with Dana Bash Arizona governor candidate, Kari Lake falsely claims that “740,000” ballots could not be accounted for.
Her statement is factually wrong. First of all, it was “74,000” not “740,000” and as Bash claims in response it has been debunked.
Cyber Ninjas, the cybersecurity consulting firm hired by Arizona Senate Republicans to oversee a partisan review of the 2020 election, on Thursday pushed a false narrative that Maricopa County received thousands of mail-in ballots that had no record of being sent out to voters.
The firm’s CEO Doug Logan used the baseless claim to urge legislators to subpoena more records and canvass voters at home, grasping for evidence of fraud even as a hand count of a statistical sample of ballots and two post-election audits showed no proof of wrongdoing in Maricopa County’s election.
[...]
CLAIM: Arizona’s largest county in the 2020 election received and counted 74,000 mail-in ballots that had no record of ever being sent out to voters.
THE FACTS: False. The claim mischaracterizes reports that are intended to help political parties track early voters for their get-out-the-vote efforts, not tally mail-in ballots through Election Day. The reports don’t represent all mail-in ballots sent out and received, so the numbers aren’t expected to match up, according to Maricopa County officials and outside experts.
Her claims about Katie Hobbs being convinced as a "racist" are also wrong.
Again in this clip, Jon Stewart shows that the argument that the 2020 Election was stolen from Trump is completely fraudulent. And even Republicans who know that still can’t say it out loud.
The former "Daily Show" host confronted Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich about his actions to placate conservatives in his state who insist the 2020 election was stolen from the former president, and the GOP official justified his efforts by pointing out "millions" of Americans "think" fraud cost Trump a second term, reported The Daily Beast.
[...]
“The fact is, the election in Arizona was well-run, not fraudulent, and not stolen from Donald Trump, according to even your investigation,” Stewart says, but Brnovich remains noncommittal. “Why is it so hard to just say yes to that?”
“Why can’t you say that the election in 2020 was not stolen or fraudulent?” Stewart asks. “This is blowing my mind.”
People like Brnovich can’t simply state the truth and consequently, we have crazed and deluded vigilantes showing up to “guard” ballot boxes in Arizona.
Even though propaganda films like “2000 Mules” have been thoroughly debunked, we still have situations like this. This can’t be the future of America where people have to endure being filmed and threatened by armed men in tactical gear in order to vote. Welcome back to the Jim Crow South and the new Klan who wear camo instead of hoods.
Again, I have much more on this subject in this diary.
And on top of all that there is a push by the GOP to ban books that suggest new and different ideas be explored and declare those issues either “sexual deviation” or “terrorism.”
There’s nothing criminal in these books, all they do is present the perspective of LGBTQ, disabled and or minority individuals. So much for the GOP’s support for “free speech” and their claims that they don’t support and endorse White Supremacy. They do.
The GOP doesn’t have any solutions for crime, the economy, inflation, racism, voting or immigration. In far too many cases they are the criminals. Meanwhile, GOP Governors and legislatures around the country are censoring what teachers can teach, running LGBTQ people out of the public sphere, attempting to slip Christian Prayer and Indoctrination into the curriculum of Public Schools, viciously restricting voting rights, implementing voter intimidation and banning abortion by sticking politicians between a woman and her doctor.
They are literally trying to steal the soul of the country out from under us. This can’t happen. This is an emergency, it is not a drill. There's no reason to hold back or pull your punches Hit them on everything.
We can not afford to let these crazed policies go national. We have to fight back like the very fabric of the nation depends on it.
Because it does.