“White House: Actually, It’s Republicans Who Are Trying to Defund the Police.” — nbc News, 7/8/21
“I think it’s important that people are educated on this issue… [I]t is significant that Republicans have chosen not to support, with their dollars and their votes, the police…” — Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D, PA), nbc News, 7/8/21
What a huge teachable moment. Democrats lie. And in this case, the lie is so obvious that it stands as a clear and abiding reminder: whatever Democrats accuse opponents of doing, you can guaran-damn-tee that is precisely what they’re guilty of doing. And here’s the crux of it. When Democrats blame Republicans, it’s a reliable clue that the truth is horribly politically damaging to themselves.
Like a law of physics, this should guide every single political contest. If a Democrat accuses you of something, start investigating. You are sure to find record of the very behavior he or she is most afraid voters will uncover about Democrats.
Which means it is time to use it full-bore against them. No apologies, no hesitation, no pulling punches. Flat-out bombard them with it. Never, ever, ever underestimate the power of the truth, courageously wielded.
In the matter of police defunding, the deception is so transparent that even Google can’t hide it. Everyone knows the Democrat Party explicitly ran on defunding the police in 2020. It’s on the record, and it’s recent — less than a year ago. So it’s still in living memory of even Democrat voters.
Not only that, Democrat officials consequently actually went ahead and implemented this stupid policy in real life. They defunded police in Democrat-run cities and districts. Yes, Democrats campaigned on this, and then Democrats enacted it. With devastating impact. And it has been deeply hurting them from the jump.
PRE-ELECTION
Since these Democrat statements have dropped into the Sea of Forgetfulness, let’s round up some of the actual quotes from last summer, demonstrating beyond question that Democrats — both mainstream “moderate” (ha!) leftists and far leftists — enthusiastically supported defunding the police. Sometimes they used terms like “reallocate” or “reexamine” to deliberately obscure, but they still meant moving money away from cops.
“De Blasio Vows for First Time to Cut Funding for the nypd.” — The New York Times, on the New York City mayor’s plan to “divert” funding to “social services,” 6/7/20
“I will never stop saying not only do we need to disinvest from police, but we need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.” — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D, MN), video via Twitter, calling the police “rotten to the root,” and “that cancer,” 6/7/20
“The ‘defund the police’ movement is one of reimagining the current police system … while relocating funds to invest in community services.” — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D, MN), on Twitter, 6/8/20
“Right now what we’re seeing in America is many cities spend over 1/3 of their entire city budget on policing. But … we’ve got to reexamine what we’re doing with Americans’ taxpayer dollars.” — Kamala Harris, Mediaite, 6/9/20
“I applaud Eric Garcetti for doing what he’s done.” — Kamala Harris, when asked if she supported L.A. Mayor Garcetti’s plan to “take some of the money from policing, about $150 million,” abc’s “Good Morning America,” 6/9/20
“Defund the Police — But Be Strategic.” — Kristen Clarke, now a Biden Assistant Attorney General, Newsweek, 6/11/20
“[O]n June 15, 2020, Mayor [Martin] Walsh will reallocate 20 percent or $12 million of the Boston Police Department’s overtime budget to make a significant investment in equity and inclusion across the City.” — City of Boston website, 6/12/20. Walsh was rewarded nine months later with a new post: Joe Biden’s Secretary of Labor.
“It is also critical for state and local leaders to heed calls from Black Lives Matter … activists to decrease police budgets and the scope, role, and responsibility of police in our lives…” — Vanita Gupta, now a Biden Associate Attorney General, statement, 6/16/20
“To truly address the root of police violence, we must … mov[e] funding away from police departments and toward programs that … address the roots of systemic inequality.” — Mondaire Jones (D, NY), who won his congressional seat on this issue, Teen Vogue, 6/18/20
“Democratic Party officials are expressing broad support for significantly reallocating funds away from police departments… Interviews with 54 Democratic National Committee members, convention superdelegates, and members of a criminal justice task force … found a near-unanimous sentiment that local governments should redirect more money toward social services, education, and mental health agencies.” — The New York Times, reporting that only four Democratic officials opposed “shifting funds away from law enforcement agencies,” 6/26/20
“Governments are going to have to look at how they can reallocate money. Of course it’s a good idea if we have more social services rather than police…” — ex-Sen. Harry Reid (D, NV), former Majority Leader, The New York Times, 6/26/20
“Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY), The Hill, 6/30/20
“Yes, absolutely.” — Joe Biden, when activist Ady Barkan asked, “But do we agree that we can redirect some of the [police] funding?” Fox News, 7/8/20. The “fact-checkers” have been denying this happened ever since.
“If we defund police and shift funding to things like healthcare, wellness, trauma centers, drug and alcohol treatment, peer support networks, and restorative justice programs, we won’t have a need for such a large, militarized police force. We can have fewer cops and replace them with crisis care units of violence interrupters, social workers, and mental health intervention.” — Jamaal Bowman (D, NY), who won his congressional seat on this, The Appeal, 7/17/20
That’s just a small sample of Democrat defund-the-police rhetoric. Now let’s list the number of Republicans who called for reallocating funding from police budgets. Here’s the list: zero Republicans. Zip, zero, nada.
ELECTION 2020: DEMOCRATS LAY AN EGG
They were supposed to win yuge. The “blue wave” — including the anti-thin-blue-line wave, the purportedly vast anti-cop voting bloc — was predicted to increase the Democrat margin in the House by leaps and bounds. The American people would send Nancy Pelosi astronomically large numbers of left-wing fortifications to be seated in the 117th Congress.
Well, oops. Democrats, expecting to flip ten seats, only flipped a pathetic three; Republicans flipped fifteen seats. When the smoke cleared, Democrats barely held onto a razor-thin majority. Ballotpedia notes that Democrats went from 232-to-197 — a 35-seat advantage — to clawing out 222 seats to the Republicans’ 213. If Republicans flip just five seats in the 2022 midterms, which is likely, Democrats’ current nine-seat margin vanishes, and Pelosi loses her Speaker’s gavel.
Noted one anonymous “frustrated Democrat,” according to Fox News, “We should have won big, but … the defund the police issue … killed our members.” Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D, VA), declared, “We lost races we shouldn’t have lost. Defund the police almost cost me my race because of an attack ad.”
On 11/6/20, The New York Times admitted that “the Democratic Party … lost seats instead of building its majority as expected,” and reported that “there was a grudging acknowledgment by Democratic leaders that their candidates had underperformed.”
Six months later, they blamed: wascally wepublicans. The Hill notes: “A report released in May, commissioned by three liberal-leaning groups, pointed to Republican attacks on ‘defund the police’ as one reason why Democrats did not do as well as they expected in congressional races last November… The report, principally authored by two veteran Democratic strategists, found that the defund slogan was ‘just one of the multiple issues that Republicans used to paint Democrats as radicals.’”
They are radicals.
POST-ELECTION
Having been given a smackdown by the voters, did leftist Democrats lick their wounds and ponder the error of their ways? Oh, please. Nope, they doubled down:
“When it comes to “defund” [criticism] … people need to realize these are racial resentment attacks.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY), pushing back against Democrats blaming her “defund the police” messaging for disappointing election results, on Twitter, 11/6/20
“So yes, defund your butts. Defund you… We are reallocating funds.” — Rep.-elect Cori Bush (D, MO), Red State, 11/10/20
“aoc Defends ‘Defund the Police’ Mantra After Dem Losses.” — The New York Post, 11/12/20
“A system this cruel and inhumane can’t be reformed. Defund the police, and defund the system that’s terrorizing our communities.” — Rep.-elect Jamaal Bowman, on Twitter, 12/29/20
“Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist… I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing… It can’t be reformed.” — Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D, MI), on Twitter, 4/12/21
“From slave patrols to traffic stops. We can’t reform this.” — Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D, MA), on Twitter, 4/12/21
“I haven’t thought about an amount, but yes, I support the reallocation of resources from nypd towards more social services.” — Rep. Jamaal Bowman, video with aoc, via The Daily Wire, 6/25/21. The very next day, The New York Post reported that Bowman had requested special police protection at his Yonkers, NY home earlier this year. Reallocate this, Mr. Congressman.
“I agree with Representative Bowman that I do believe that we need to reallocate resources away [from police].” — Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, rnc video, 6/25/21
Bowman and aoc created their defiant online video the day after the Democrat narrative engineers at The Hill had sent out new Democrats-love-cops talking points: “Liberals Tone Down Calls to ‘Defund Police’ Amid gop Attacks.” Quote: “Gone are the days when progressive lawmakers were calling openly for ‘defunding the police’ — a message that Republicans used to devastating effect in clobbering House Democrats at the polls in 2020.” Not so much, because aoc’s message right back to The Hill was: “The Squad tones down nothing.” And neither did radical leftists running blue cities across the country. Elected Democrats actually implemented this idiocy:
DEMOCRATS DEFUND
“Baltimore Council Approves $22M in Cuts to Police Spending.” — AP, 6/16/20
“Portland City Council Approves Budget Cutting Additional $15M From Police.” — opb.org, 6/17/20
“[Philadelphia] City Council … approved a fiscal year 2021 city budget that reduces funding to the Police Department by $33 million…” — City Council of Philadelphia website, 6/25/20
“D.C. Council Committee Approves $15M Cut to Police Budget.” — nbc Washington, 6/26/20
“lapd Funding Slashed By $150M, Reducing Number of Officers.” — The Washington Post, 7/1/20
“nyc Cuts $1B From Police Budget Amid Calls for Reform.” — abc News, 7/1/20
“A total of $76 million will be cut out of the Seattle Police Department’s 2021 budget, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced.” — King5.com, 7/13/20
“San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces cuts to police in new city budget: The mayor announced a $120 million cut to the police and sheriff’s department.” — abc News, 7/31/20
“How Austin [TX] Cut One Third of Its Spending on the Police Department: The city council’s vote to reallocate $150 million away from the apd’s budget took observers by surprise.” — Texas Monthly, 11/17/20
“Minneapolis City Council Votes to Remove $8 Million From Police Budget.” — The New York Times, 12/10/20
“cpac Plan Would Cut $600 Million From Chicago Police Budget…” — BlockClubChicago.org, on the Civilian Police Accountability Council ordinance, 1/6/21
“More than 20 major cities have reduced police budgets… In 2020 budget votes, advocacy groups won over $840m in direct cuts from U.S. police departments and at least $160m investments in community services…” — The [UK] Guardian, celebrating the “redistribution” of law enforcement money, 3/11/21
“Oakland’s City Council President is among those celebrating a new budget that shifts $18 million dollars from the police department to other programs…” — abc News, 6/25/21
And then guess what happened!
CRIME SURGES
“In Portland, homicides were up from six in the first five months of 2020 to 38 in the first five months of 2021, according to city police data, a more than 530 percent increase.” — AP, 6/10/21
“Los Angeles and Chicago have also seen double-digit increases in their homicide rates this year.” — AP, 6/10/21
“Number of Gunshot Victims in Minneapolis Is Up 90 Percent From Last Year; Solutions Elusive.” — The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune, 6/19/21
“The number of murders increased 79 percent year-over-year in May, according to the Austin police chief’s monthly report.” — Austonia, 6/21/21
“New York City police reported 462 homicides last year, up from 319 the previous year. Police in Phoenix said there were 200 homicides last year, up from 139 in 2019. In Philadelphia, there were 499 homicides last year, up from 356 a year earlier, according to police… In the first quarter of 2021, homicides were up over the same period last year in several cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Tampa, according to data collected by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a group of law enforcement leaders… Police in Los Angeles reported 148 homicides by last week, up from 121 over the same period in 2020.” — “As Homicides Soar Nationwide, Mayors See Few Options for Regaining Control,” in The Washington Post, 6/22/21
“Murders nationwide rose by about 25 percent last year, and many major cities fared worse still. In New York City, for example, homicides rose about 45 percent in 2020. Other cities including Miami and Atlanta have seen spikes this year.” — “Democrats Face Vulnerability as Crime Moves Up Voters’ Agenda,” The Hill, 7/4/21
“Murder rates soared with their highest one-year increase ever, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Americans. Homicides rose significantly in the very Democrat cities that voted to defund the police with murders up by 74 percent in Seattle, 72 percent in Minneapolis, 51 percent in Portland, nearly 40 percent in New York, 37 percent in Oakland, 35 percent in Philadelphia, 32 percent in San Francisco, 30 percent in Los Angeles, and 19 percent in Washington, D.C.” — amac Newsline, 7/7/21
POLLING PULL
All of this is unsustainable. The commonsense American public is not even remotely in the same neighborhood of the same ballpark as the Democrat Party on these issues.
“An Ipsos/usa Today poll released last month showed only 18 percent of Americans supported ‘defund the police’ including only 28 percent of African Americans and 34 percent of Democrats.” — Al Jazeera, 4/15/21
“Few Democratic voters support defunding the police. Seventy-two percent of likely Democratic voters in New York City’s mayoral primary agreed that there should be more police officers on the street… Only 20 percent disagreed.” — The Washington Post, 6/30/21
“The [Democrat] rhetoric on defunding the police comes amid polling that shows an overwhelming majority of Americans believe crime is on the rise, and vast public trust in police. Seventy-two percent of registered voters have ‘a great deal’ (36 percent) or ‘fair amount’ (36 percent) of trust and confidence in police and law enforcement…” — Fox News, 7/1/21
“The number of Americans seeing crime as an extremely serious problem in the United States is at a more than 20-year high, President Joe Biden is underwater in trust to handle it…” — “Biden Is Rated Poorly on Handling Crime…” abc News, on their poll showing 59 percent of Americans call crime a very serious or extremely serious problem, and only 38 percent approve of how Biden is handling the issue, 7/2/21
“78 percent of voters said they believe violent crime is a ‘major problem’ in the United States, and 73 percent said it is increasing. A third of voters say violent crime is increasing in their own communities.” — Morning Consult, 7/14/21
“New Polling Shows Democrats Alarmed About Crime, Too: By Listening to Activists More Than Their Own Party’s Voters, Democrats Have Been Complacent in Dealing With Rising Violence in American Cities.” — National Journal, 7/20/21. Author Josh Kraushaar tweeted the results: voters who called violent crime a “major crisis” — 57 percent of Republicans; 52 percent of Democrats; 70 percent of African American voters.
UH-OH. DEMOCRATS PANIC
“Defund the police was not the right message.” — Rep. Cheri Bustos (D, IL), complaining that she got “tied in with people in [the Democrat] Party who actually are saying those words,” The Hill, 6/24/21
“Clearly, we’re not about defunding the police… We’ve got to make sure that our messaging is clear that we’re not about defunding the police.” — Rep. Gregory Meeks (D, NY), The Hill, 6/24/21
“Everybody knows it’s a bad idea. People like having police keeping them safe. And I think we had to do a better job of demanding reform, but supporting the police. And we only sang one song [in 2020].” — unnamed “moderate Democratic lawmaker,” The Hill, 6/24/21
“Democrats do not stand for defunding the police.” — Sen. Mazie Hirono (D, HI), The Hill, 6/27/21
“Nuts.” — Michael Dukakis, Democrat Presidential nominee who lost in 1988 (by being soft on crime), on Democrats’ calls to defund the police, The Hill, 7/4/21
“When I spoke out against sloganeering, like ‘Burn, baby, burn’ in the 1960s and ‘defund the police,’ which I think is cutting the throats of the Party, I know exactly where my constituents are. They are against that, and I’m against that.” — Rep. James Clyburn (D, SC), House Majority Whip, The New York Times, 6/29/21
So now that “the walls are closing in” on the Democrat Party’s prospects for the midterms, they’ve got a new genius plan:
“REPUBLICANS DID IT!”
“Who Really Wants to Defund the Police? Despite the Slogans, Democrats in Congress Have Directed Huge Amounts of Federal Money to Local Police Departments.” — Bloomberg, 6/29/21
“Who’s really defunding the police? Republicans.” — Dana Milbank, claiming “all four members of [aoc’s] Squad are more pro-police than their Republican critics,” in The Washington Post, “Republicans Have a New Strategy: Blue Lies Matter,” 6/30/21
“The American Jobs [sic] Plan … [ was] voted into law by Democrats just a couple of months ago. Some might say that the other Party [i.e., the gop] was for defunding the police…” — Jenn Psaki, Biden spokesperson, WhiteHouse.gov, 6/23/21
“Let’s talk about who defunded the police… [C]ash-strapped cities … didn’t get funding until the American Rescue Plan, which our plan allowed state and local governments to replenish their police departments and do the other things that are needed. So look, Republicans are very good at staying on talking points of who says ‘defund the police,’ but the truth is, they defunded the police, we funded crime intervention…” — Cedric Richmond, White House aide, absurdly claiming that by voting against the American Rescue Plan, Biden’s bloated $2 trillion covid relief plan, Republicans were voting to defund police, Fox News Sunday, 6/27/21
“The American Rescue Plan … didn’t receive a single Republican vote. That funding has been used to keep cops on the beat.” — Jen Psaki, WhiteHouse.gov, 6/28/21. On 7/7/21 The Washington Post awarded Psaki “Three Pinocchios” because Biden’s relief package did not mention police at all.
“The White House has launched a counteroffensive as advisors push to shore up Biden’s low approval on crime and fight an attack that could damage Democrats in the 2022 elections.” — nbc News, 7/8/21
So here’s a question for you. Did a single Republican mayor approve the slogan “defund the police” being painted in huge yellow letters on a main thoroughfare? Nope. But, along with otherDemocratmayors, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser did, in this case on the street in front of the White House. (“We certainly encourage expression,” she said.)
These are the facts: Democrats kicked cops to the curb. Crime (of course) went up. People are mad about it. Polls show rising crime is hurting Democrats. Well, that’s not fair. So panicked Democrats whine, “Republicans did it.”
When James “Serpent-Head” Carville writes a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Democrats Are the Anti-Crime Party … Republican Law-and-Order Talk Is Empty,” attempting to blame Republicans for rising crime, that is your cue, Republicans: run on this.
Carville is clearly worried:
Now that violent crime is on the rise, we Democrats can no longer afford to sit by passively while Republicans trumpet bellicose law-and-order talking points. If we don’t aggressively begin to own the crime issue and make Republicans respond to their own failures, we risk losing our slim majorities in Congress… [Don’t] shy away from holding Republicans accountable for the crime wave they created. Democrats, don’t pivot on crime. Own the issue, or the issue will own you.
Carville is astute and sees the Democrats’ enormous and deserved vulnerability. Never forget, Democrats are actually defunding the police. Republicans defend the police. That’s the God’s honest truth. Keep hammering them with it.