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Judd Legum Profile picture
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6 Oct, 13 tweets, 7 min read
1. One thing you'll hear about a lot between now and November 2022 is the purported "crime wave" sweeping the United States.

One thing that is lacking from this discussion is FACTS

Follow this thread for lots of facts.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
2. For example, @SenTomCotton wrote a piece in @BreitbartNews titled "Democrats’ Criminal-Leniency Policies Sparked an Undeniable Crime Wave"

The piece is festooned with images of people committing property crimes.

FACT: Property crime was DOWN in 2020

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
@SenTomCotton @BreitbartNews 3. What about violent crime? Violent crime was up about 5% in 2020. But it is still WAY BELOW the levels we saw in the 1990s or even the early part of this century.

Does 2020's increase in violent crime constitute a "crime wave"

We report, you decide.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
4. If you break down violent crime further there was a significant increase in murders -- about 25%.

But what is the cause?

Cotton says it was the result of "Democrat mayors, progressive prosecutors, and liberal governors are to blame"

Is he right?

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
5. Well, Wyoming, a state with a GOP governor and dominated by GOP officials, had the largest spike in homicides among the 23 states that reported data, 92%. The second-largest spike in murders, 67%, was in South Dakota, which also has a GOP governor.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
6. Cotton highlights that "murder rose 50 percent in Chicago, 44 percent in New York, and 38 percent in Los Angeles" — cities run by Democrats.

But he doesn't mention that murder rates rose 62% in Ft. Worth, Texas, which has a GOP mayor.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
7. For overall crime, "seven out of the twelve states with decreasing overall crime rates between 2019 and 2020 have Democratic governors" and "[f]our out of eight states with increasing crime rates have Republican governors."

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
8. Cotton and many other Republicans are abusing crime stats for political purposes. This makes it more difficult to identify and implement policies that could actually make the country safer.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
9. Popular Information is an independent newsletter with FACTS you can rely on.

That's why we were awarded a perfect score (100/100) for credibility and transparency by @NewsGuardRating.

Breitbart gets an F (49.5/100)

Sign up for more FACTS

popular.info/subscribe
10. Let's keep going. Is the rise in violent crime/murders connected with the police reform movement?

Cotton says yes: "During the fall and winter [of 2020] mayors and governors waged a relentless campaign to defund, disarm, and defame police officers”

What do the facts say?
11. Massachusetts, which created new training courses and oversight commissions, experienced the lowest increase in murder rate.

Colorado, California, and Nevada, all states that passed new police reforms, crime rates were flat

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
12. Meanwhile, Wyoming and South Dakota, two states that passed no police reform legislation, experienced steep increases in murder and violent crime.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
13. The police were not "defunded" in 2020. Among 105 cities with 200K+ people, just 37 reduced police budgets.

Funding was not linked to murder rates, which increased in 84% of the cities that lowered budgets and 79% in cities that raised budgets

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
7 Oct
1. Far-right extremists have been on the rise in America and now have an alarming influence on U.S. politics

A key source of funding for this movement: @ATT

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
@ATT 2. We knew that @ATT was a key source of funding for @OANN, a right-wing propaganda network that promotes unhinged conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, COVID, etc

Court records obtained by @Reuters reveal @ATT is the only reason @OANN exists

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
3. AT&T is responsible for 90% OF @OANN's REVENUE

A lawyer for @OANN testified in court that, if @ATT stopped doing business with the network "the company would go out of business tomorrow"

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
Read 12 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
5 Oct
1. While you were sleeping, the @USChamber executed one of the most brazenly hypocritical policy reversals in modern political history

It reveals the true nature of the organization

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/trouble-in-c…
@USChamber 2. For months, the @USChamber has enthusiastically promoted the bipartisan infrastructure legislation

It called the bill "a once-in-a-generation opportunity."

The Chamber plastered Facebook with paid ads supporting it

It was ALL IN

popular.info/p/trouble-in-c…
3. For better or worse, Pelosi pushed for a vote on the infrastructure bill last week.

That's exactly what the @USChamber wanted

A group of progressives, however, would not support the bill w/o a deal on the larger reconciliation package.

popular.info/p/trouble-in-c…
Read 12 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
4 Oct
"A Democratic super PAC headed by a former president of Planned Parenthood is set to unleash ads targeting Dallas-based AT&T for backing Texas lawmakers who sponsored the new state law that effectively outlaws abortion after six weeks."

cnbc.com/2021/10/04/tex…
These ads reflect campaign finance reporting from popular.info, which identified @ATT as a top donor to the sponsors of Texas' abortion ban

popular.info/p/these-corpor…
@ATT .@ATT told CNBC that "AT&T’s employee political action committees have never based contribution decisions on a legislator’s positions on the issue of abortion" and the company "has never taken a position on the issue of abortion"
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
4 Oct
1. The mail matters.

It may or may not matter to you but it matters to millions of people.

Particularly those in rural areas, the elderly and the disabled.

And, because of Louis DeJoy, the postal service is about to get much worse

popular.info/p/whats-really…
2. Starting this month first-class mail will TAKE UP TO FIVE DAYS TO ARRIVE AT ITS DESTINATION

This means delayed medication, missed court dates, late bills.

It's largely due to a decision to reduce the use of planes and rely on ground transportation

popular.info/p/whats-really…
3. DeJoy says the severe degradation of first-class mail delivery is necessary to SAVE MONEY.

But even by DeJoy's own estimates, it will save just $169.5 million annually.

That's 1/4 OF ONE PERCENT of the USPS' total operating expenses (82 billion)

popular.info/p/whats-really…
Read 11 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
30 Sep
1. Corporations are trying to have it both ways

This week @Walmart endorsed the climate provisions of the reconciliation bill calling it the kind of "bold domestic action" we need "now"

Walmart's CEO is leading an aggressive campaign to kill the bill

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
@Walmart 2. @GM explicitly endorsed the Build Back Better plan, saying it was a "once-in-a-generation opportunity for our nation

Then @GM CEO @mtbarra announced she would be the next leader of the @BizRoundtable, which is spending millions to kill the bill

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
3. @Apple endorsed the climate provisions of the reconciliation bill. But CEO @tim_cook is on the board of the @BizRoundtable, which is doing everything possible to sink the legislation

Apple has ignored repeated requests for comment

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
29 Sep
This statement where Manchin says he's opposed the reconciliation bill does not discuss any specific policies because the policies he's opposing are extremely popular -- in West Virginia and around the country
Manchin calls the tax proposals "vengeful"

OK, let's get specific. What's vengeful?

Closing tax loopholes for private equity managers?

A 3% surtax on income over $5 million?

Increasing the top tax bracket from 37% to 39.6%?
That's really the crux of it. Manchin is opposing this bill on behalf of corporations and the wealthy, who don't want to pay more taxes

Manchin claims to be concerned about the deficit, but if you increase revenue, the deficit doesn't have to increase
Read 4 tweets

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