It’s painful to watch Marco Rubio try to deal with the bad bet he appears to have made on immigration reform. He’s now floating that idea that if reform doesn’t pass President Obama will unilaterally legalize all undocumented immigrants currently in the US.
After I wrote this piece yesterday about the defining role of rising and fallen murder rates (and violent crime generally) in shaping American politics over the last half century, I got numerous replies saying, “Hey, didn’t you know this issue has been solved and the issue was lead poisoning for a generation of Americans?” This was addressed to the second part of the post which focused on my claim that we still have very little sense of why the murder rate spiked and then fell or what to do about it. So I wanted to address this theory. Read More
TPM Reader BY says yes, McConnell’s troubles may hurtled the nation toward debt default and destruction. But it’s even worse than that.
I worked in the Senate over the 2009-2011 period that saw the influx of the Tea Party folks, and while I think you’re definitely right to focus on the McConnell situation, I think one key fact is generally given short shrift in all of this discussion.
Man accidentally shot by instructor during concealed carry safety class.
As we dig in to the question of mass incarceration and murder rates, Rep. Steve King informs us that legalizing immigrants “from a violent civilization” will unleash a new wave of violence in the USA.
TPM Reader JL says we need to look beyond murder rates to race to really understand the roots of mass incarceration in the USA …
You make a fair point that when murder rates go up, people’s concerns about their safety will go up, and those concerns will probably find their way into public policy. But I think you go too far when you say that “it’s wildly unrealistic to think you wouldn’t have a generation plus of draconian laws tied to people’s fears of violence and personal safety.” Going as far overboard as we did required a lot more than a rising murder rate.
McConnell says Obamacare must be delayed because of threat of “hackers and cyber criminals.”
The ‘Obama’ rodeo clown has now become the Pete Rose of Missouri State Fair rodeo clowns, drawing a lifetime ban from rodeo clowning at the Missouri State Fair.
Video of the festivities after the jump … Read More
It sounds like things are going quite badly for San Diego Mayor Bob Filner at the moment.
In addition to the 14 women who’ve come forward to allege various sorts of inappropriate or harassing or headlock behavior, “three members of the Sheriff’s Department have been assigned to handle phone calls from a hotline set up for Filner accusers to report possible criminal misconduct and conduct follow up interviews and investigations.” Read More
People who follow these things tell me that the specific changes Attorney General Eric Holder is introducing this morning tied to non-violent drug offenders are more symbolic than substantive. Not that many people are in the federal system on those kinds of charges. But the larger push to ramp back a generation of mass incarceration, driven in large measure by mandatory minimum sentencing laws, is just an incredibly important development. Especially when it comes from the very top of the criminal justice system in the United States.
But to put the news in perspective – not just today’s news but the news of the last half century which has gotten us to this point – you need to look at this chart. Read More