EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the next few weeks we will be enjoying spring break and this blog will publish only periodically.
does any of it make sense?
Last year we had a rash of “defund the police” shouts and actual actions in some cities.
This year we have those same cities “concerned” over their increased homicides.
Well isn’t that a surprise?
Here’s some numbers:
Police data and public reporting found that in the first three months of 2021, the homicide rate in 20 major cities across the country rose by 28% last year.
In nine of the cities that made the most dramatic cuts to police department budgets, homicides rose by nearly 68%.
Portland, Oregon, you have heard of them, has seen its homicide rate soar a staggering 1,900% in 2021. They carved $16 million out of its police budget.
Austin, Texas cut $20 million, 23%, from its department budget and shifted another $80 million by moving certain services to other departments.
Police reported a 35% rise in their murder rate.
Philadelphia reduced police funding by $33 million and saw homicides climb 25% in early 2021.
Minneapolis has had a 46% jump in the first quarter of 2020. The city council has shrunk its department’s budget by more than $9 million.
You get the idea. Did “defunding” make sense to anyone?
moving the all star game
Did moving the all star game out of Atlanta make sense to you?
First of all, even Atlanta officials, like their Mayor, said it was a bad decision that would hurt their average citizen and business owners.
Why did they move the game?
It gained momentum when President Biden went in ESPN and supported the move. Then local CEOs from Coke and Delta supported that too.
Wait, didn’t anybody see the Washington Post (the newspaper that has never, as in never, supported a Republican for President) say Biden lied?
They gave him four pinnoccio’s. Their highest lie rating.
Exactly where are they going to move the game? New York, where MLB is headquartered wants the game.
Except that NY has more restrictive voting laws than the new Atlanta one.
The new law requires voters to provide ID to vote by mail, a change that critics say will disproportionately affect some voters. Wow, you need an ID to vote.
It shortens the time during which voters can request early ballots, but from six months before Election Day to 78 days.
Counties can begin sending ballots to voters 29 days before Election Day, rather than the previous 49 days.
So let’s see.
You need an ID to vote, you can request a ballott 78 days before the election (Mid August), and you get the ballot 29 days in advance.
Why is that restrictive?
Polls don’t close at 5:00 as President Biden said, and water is allowed on line, just not by political campaigns trying to sway your vote.
With the expected announcement today of Colorado as the choice, watch the comparisons between their voting laws and Georgia.
I think MLB made a mistake here, a big one.
the salt argument
Five Governors, all Democrats, appealed to President Biden to undo a cap on state and local tax deductions enacted by the Trump tax program.
Now what this means is they want their state citizens to be able to deduct all their state taxes and not just $10,000.
You see by doing that they can raise taxes, and citizens in the low tax states can just pay more. So if your state kept taxes down locally you should pay more to support the New York’s, California’s and Illinois.
Some questions.
Who pays the highest taxes in those Democratic states?
Isn’t it the same rich who they say don’t pay their fair share?
So why do they want to give them a huge deduction?
In fact, I bet the top 10% would get 90%+ of this deduction.
Does that stand make sense?
Will the media point this out? Of course not.