Trump Lies About Border Data, Praises Dictator Justice

In Defying the Odds, we discuss Trump's dishonesty and his record of disregarding the rule of law

Katie Bo Williams and Marcus Weisgerber at Defense One:

He rejected the claims by Democrats — and data from his own U.S. Customs and Border Protection — that most drugs seized at the border are being caught at ports of entry, not on unguarded frontiers.

“It’s wrong, it’s wrong. It’s a lie. It’s all a lie,” he said.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, 90 percent of heroin, 88 percent of cocaine, 87 percent of meth and 80 percent of fentanyl seized along the border in the first 11 months of 2018 was intercepted at legal crossing points.

Asked where he gets his statistics, the president said, “I get many stats.”

But there remains little evidence of any crisis the wall could solve. Illegal border crossings haven’t been as low since 1971; most illegal drugs are smuggled through ports of entry, not hauled across the open border; and there’s no evidence that undocumented immigrants commit more crime than native-born Americans. Meanwhile, the nation’s intelligence chiefs didn’t mention border crossings among the major threats to national security in their January congressional testimony.

Trump also appeared to suggest that he believed the perceived problem of drug smuggling into the United States could be resolved by more liberal use of the death penalty.

“When I asked [Chinese president Xi Jinping], I said you have a drug problem? ‘No, no, no.’ I said you have 1.4 billion, what do you mean you have no drug problem? ‘No, we don’t have a drug problem.’ I said why? ‘Death penalty. We give death penalty to people that sell drugs.’ End of problem.”

A 2016 report from Brookings Institution found that despite more than 500 Chinese laws regarding illegal drugs, these “’relentless and draconian countermeasures’ have been relatively ineffective against the country’s drug problems.

Last year, Trump said of the Chinese president: "He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day."

California Ballot Propositions

There are important measures on the California ballot this year. Here are some of the more prominent:

Proposition 30 would increase personal income taxes on annual earnings over $250,000 for seven years, and raise the sales and use tax by 1/4 cent for four years.  The state Legislative Analyst estimates that it will raise about $6 billion a year.  If it fails, $6 billion in budgetary "trigger cuts," mostly to education, will take effect.  Governor Brown, Democratic leaders, unions, education groups, and some big businesses are for it.  Against it are taxpayer groups and small-business organizations.

Proposition 38, a competing measure by civil rights attorney Molly Munger, would hike income taxes on a sliding scale for 12 years, from 2013-24.  It would raise about $10 billion a year, mostly for education, child care and preschool, and debt payments.  Even though it raises more money than Prop 30, however, the tax increases don't start until 2013/14 and the "trigger cuts" would still go into effect unless the Legislature changes them. The State PTA is for it.  Supporters of Prop 30 are against it, along with Chamber of Commerce and the taxpayer groups that also oppose Prop 30.

Proposition 32 would forbid unions and corporations from using payroll-deducted funds for state and local political purposes.  It would also forbid union and corporate contributions to state and local candidates and their committees.  It does not limit their ability to make independent expenditures and does not affect any contributions in federal campaigns.  California corporations generally don't use payroll deductions for contributions to state and local campaigns, so the main impact would fall on unions.  Accordingly, unions oppose the measure vehemently.  Supporters are conservative groups, taxpayer groups, and small businesses.

Proposition 34 would repeal the death penalty and replace it with life without parole. Supporters include the League of Women Voters, Calilfornia Democrats, and civil rights organizations.  Opponents include the California District Attorneys Association and numerous law-enforcement groups.

Proposition 37 would require the labeling of genetically-engineered foods.  It would forbid the labeling or advertising of such food or (possibly) other processed foods as "natural." It would also allow consumers to sure for violations. Supporters include makers and sellers of organic foods  Opponents include farm groups and major corporations such as Monsanto.

CA: The Death Penalty and the Brown Legacy

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." -- William Faulkner

A previous post noted that a member of the Brown family has been on the ballot in 14 of 17 midterm elections since 1946 (including 2010). Dan Walters reminds us that the legacy is not always helpful to Jerry Brown. For instance, the death penalty issue is never dead:

Kathleen Brown enjoyed a big lead over then-Gov. Wilson when she began her 1994 run for the governorship, but Wilson hammered her on capital punishment and won in a landslide.

"Kathleen Brown is against the death penalty," one Wilson TV spot said, "even for drive-by killings … even for carjackings that take innocent lives. Kathleen Brown has the same position on the death penalty as her brother, Jerry Brown, who appointed dangerously lenient judges like Chief Justice Rose Bird, who voted to overturn 68 out of 68 death sentences."

During this year's first debate, Whitman (whose campaign chairman is ex-Gov. Wilson), channeled the ad, saying, "Jerry has a long, 40-year record of being quite liberal on crime. It started with the appointment of Rose Bird, who was the (California) Supreme Court justice who tried to overturn the death penalty almost 64 times. She ultimately was recalled from office."

Whitman hit Brown again on the issue in their third debate this week, implying she sees it as a late campaign weapon, a la 1994.

The 2010 gubernatorial race is more or less tied. With capital punishment still popular with voters and Whitman facing fallout from employing and firing an illegal immigrant, she's playing the death penalty card that's damaged Browns in years past.