CRIME IN DEMOCRAT CITIES IS SKYROCKETING
Sixty-three of the 66 largest police jurisdictions saw increases in at least one category of violent crimes in 2020, which include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, according to a report produced by the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Through the first three months of 2021, a number of major cities have indicated they are still experiencing high rates of violent crime, according to Laura Cooper, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
PHILADELPHIA
Shooting incidents in Philadelphia are up 57% from last year, the station reported, citing police records. Homicides, at 201 as of Monday, were up 24%
MILWAUKEE
Republicans lean into uphill battle against 2 little-known Biden nominees
Among the loudest complaints about Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke are coming from potential GOP presidential aspirants.
Vice President Kamala Harris looks on as Vanita Gupta delivers remarks after being nominated to be U.S. associate attorney general. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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The GOP almost certainly can’t stop Joe Biden from getting a lineup of leading progressives confirmed to senior Justice Department posts. But Republicans especially those eyeing the White House are eager to make the president’s party pay a political price.
Senate Republicans have spent weeks on a messaging binge portraying Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, tapped for high-ranking DOJ positions, as extreme and radical nominees who will weaken law enforcement. The GOP base is soaking it up, with Fox News host Tucker Carlson showing a keen interest in typically humdrum sub-Cabinet confirmations and focusing
Republicans attempt to paint Biden DOJ nominees of color as radical
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) declared that the attacks on Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke were essentially part of a smear campaign.”
Vanita Gupta and
President
Joe Biden nominated Gupta and Clarke, who comes with extensive credentials, for top-ranking positions at the Department of Justice. Gupta, who is Indiana American, previously served under President
Barack Obama as the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights division. She is being considered for Associate Attorney General.
Clarke, a well-known civil rights attorney, started her career in the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ and was a federal prosecutor. She is nominated for Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.
The claims made against Gupta’s nomination are baseless.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee’s ranking member, has been reduced to insisting Gupta’s “public record is too extreme” despite acknowledging he “appreciate[s] the work that she has done on criminal justice reform.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, another Republican on the committee, went even further by suggesting Gupta’s track record “demonstrated an intolerance for and hostility to anyone that disagrees with the extreme left political positions.”
As inconvenient as it may be for Republicans hoping to sink her nomination, the facts are on Gupta’s side. In her confirmation hearing, Gupta plainly stated, “I do not support defunding the police. She explained, “I have in fact spent my career advocating, where it s necessary, for greater resources for law enforcement and things like body-worn cameras, wellness and safety programs and any number of measures.”
Tribune-Review
AP
Vanita Gupta is seated during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine her nomination to be associate attorney general on Capitol Hill March 9 in Washington.
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Bipartisanship is often invoked but rarely practiced in politics these days. Unfortunately, the confirmation fight over President Biden’s nominee for associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, has become the latest example of partisanship crowding out substance in Washington.
Fair-minded senators like Sen. Pat Toomey have a reputation for rising above the red-vs.-blue fights that characterize so many current political debates. He should disregard the objections from some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who value partisan obstruction over confirming nominees based on their qualifications.