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Republicans are telling three lies they hope will swing the midterms. They involve crime, inflation, and taxes. Heres what Republicans are claiming, followed by the facts.

This is pure rubbish. Rising crime rates are due to the proliferation of guns, which Republicans refuse to control.

Here are the facts:

While violent crime rose 28% from 2019 to 2020, gun homicides rose 35%. States that have weakened gun laws have seen gun crime surge. Clearly, a major driver of the national increase in violence is the easy availability of guns.

The violence cant be explained by any of the Republican talking points about soft-on-crime Democrats.

Lack of police funding? Baloney. Democratic-run major cities spend 38% more on policing per person than Republican-run cities, and 80% of the largest cities increased police funding from 2019 to 2022.

Criminal justice reforms? Wrong. Data shows that wherever bail reforms have been implemented, re-arrest rates remain stable. Data from major cities shows no connection between the policies of progressive prosecutors and changes in crime rates.

Research has repeatedly shown that crime is rising faster in Republican, Trump-supporting states. The thinktank Third Way found that in 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Trump than in those won by Joe Biden.

Lets be clear: its been Republican policies that have made it easier for people to get and carry guns. Republicans are lying about the real cause of rising crime to protect their patrons gun manufacturers.

Baloney. The major cause of the current inflation is the global post-pandemic shortage of all sorts of things, coupled with Putins war in Ukraine and Chinas lockdowns.

The major domestic cause of the current inflation is big corporations that have been taking advantage of inflation by raising their prices higher than their increasing costs.

Here are the facts:

Inflation cant be explained by any of the Republican talking points.

Bidens spending? Rubbish again. That cant be causing our current inflation because inflation has broken out everywhere around the world, often at much higher rates than in the US.

Besides, heavy spending by the US government began in 2020, before the Biden administration, in order to protect Americans and the economy from the ravages of Covid-19 and it was necessary.

American workers getting wage increases? Wages cant be pushing inflation because wages have been increasing at a slower pace than prices leaving most workers worse off.

The biggest domestic culprits are big corporations using inflation as an excuse to raise prices above their own cost increases, resulting in near-record profits.

US corporate profits are at the highest margins since 1950 while consumers are paying through the nose.

Lets be clear: the biggest domestic cause of inflation is corporate power. Republicans are lying about this to protect their big corporate patrons.

Nonsense. The IRS wont be going after the middle class. It will be going after ultra-wealthy tax cheats.

Here are the facts:

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in July, provides funding to begin to get IRS staffing back to what it was before 2010, after which Republicans diminished staff by roughly 30%, despite increases since then in the number of Americans filing tax returns.

The extra staff are needed to boost efforts against high-end tax evasion which is more difficult to root out, because the ultra-wealthy hire squads of accountants and tax attorneys to hide their taxable incomes.

The treasury department and the IRS have made it clear that audit rates for households earning $400,000 or under will remain the same.

Lets be clear: the IRS needs extra resources to go after rich tax cheats. Republicans are lying about what the IRS will do with the new funding to protect their ultra-wealthy patrons.

None of these three lies is as brazen and damaging as Trumps big lie. But theyre all being used by Republican candidates in these last weeks before the midterms.

Know the truth and share it.

Read the rest here:
Republicans are trying to win by spreading three false talking points. Heres the truth - The Guardian US

Most recently, the governors chief of staff helped Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) navigate the University of Florida presidential selection process, ultimately assisting the senator in becoming the sole finalist to lead the states flagship university, a move that caused hundreds of University of Florida students this week to protest.

DeSantis over the summer also appointed a top GOP legislative ally, state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, as Floridas chancellor for higher education a position from which he will wield enormous power over the states 12 public universities.

They want to take over higher education, and this is one way to do that, Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida union, said of Sasses selection as a finalist to lead the states flagship university. Gothard is a faculty member at Florida Atlantic University.

Conservatives in recent years developed an antagonistic relationship with academia, viewing college campuses as proving grounds for progressivism. And, fueled by the populist movement that elected Donald Trump, many Republicans have declared war on elitism and used higher education as a symbol of what theyre fighting.

But DeSantis, considered a leading contender for president in 2024, seems to be taking the notion a step further. The governor and GOP state lawmakers are expanding Republican efforts to reshape K-12 education in America, an undertaking that DeSantis has made a key pillar of his agenda.

The governor has pushed legislation that would allow parents to sue schools if they teach critical race theory in classrooms, prohibit teachers from leading classroom discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation for young students and reject math books that contain elements focused on race- and social-emotional learning.

Many of these GOP-backed laws drew condemnation from Democrats and teachers unions, who accuse Republicans of politicizing childrens education. But they are also proving popular among conservatives and in particular many parents that have grown frustrated by their local education systems.

Some of DeSantis higher education moves have also sparked a backlash, including Sasses pick as a finalist to lead the University of Florida. His selection was aided by a new law that shields university presidential searches from Floridas public records law, ending a tradition of open searches for the coveted and pivotal roles. The change in law was made possible by Floridas Republican majority in the Legislature, but several Democrats also supported it since it needed a supermajority to pass.

The new law, which Democrats and union leaders are criticizing, makes private all personal identifying information classified for candidates seeking college or university president posts. Names, however, must be unmasked either 21 days before a final selection is made or when a finalist group emerges.

Policymakers credit the new law with aiding UF gather a dozen highly qualified diverse candidates, including nine sitting presidents at major research universities and seven AAU universities, in its search.

We would have never gotten a sitting U.S. senator or multiple sitting presidents at universities to apply without the search exemption, said Rodrigues, the new higher education chancellor, who for years led efforts to pass the legislation. I think its accomplished its goal.

Faculty, students and Democrats, however, are raising questions about the selection process and want university officials to release the names of other top finalists, something the school is not bound to do.

Every student frustrated with the way UFs presidential finalist was chosen should understand that this unfolded exactly by design, Democratic state Sen. Lori Berman, who opposed the legislation, tweeted Monday. Florida Republicans passed a law to drape the search process in secrecy, giving you, the student body, less ability to weigh in and speak out.

The legislation clearing the way for Sasses pick was one of several bills that ushered in changes to Floridas higher education system in 2022.

Florida colleges and universities are searching for new accreditors in light of a state law passed by the Legislature this year that requires schools to find a new accreditation board by their next cycle.

Accreditation agencies generally ensure higher education institutions meet standards of quality. Florida Republicans, led by DeSantis, argue that they have too much authority over the states schools.

Floridas new law requiring the state to find a new accrediting agency was spurred partly by fights between higher education leaders and lawmakers and Floridas longstanding accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACS.

Those conflicts included SACS opening an investigation into the University of Florida after the school blocked three professors from testifying as expert witnesses in a federal lawsuit challenging a new law that places restrictions on mail-in ballots and drop boxes. The GOP-backed Legislature approved the voting law at DeSantis request.

Conservatives across the country, like the National Association of Scholars, praised Florida for its effort to reform such a vital and woefully broken component of higher education. They claim that accreditors are abusing their power by imposing political views and interfering with university governance.

Florida is also facing several legal challenges to one landmark piece of legislation requested by DeSantis, the Stop-WOKE Act, which targets how lessons surrounding race are taught in classrooms and the workplace. In one of the lawsuits, conservative free speech group FIRE argues that the law makes professors unsure about which lessons are government-approved or could result in punishment, including termination.

The new law, according to FIRE and other critics, constrains the ability of professors to play devils advocate and forbids them from advancing viewpoints even for the sake of Socratic discussion. And aside from race, faculty members are concerned about even broaching other topics like gender out of fear they could ultimately lose their jobs.

Its having a really far-reaching effect on the stifling of speech from what I hear from the colleagues who are consulting with me, said Robert Cassanello, a professor at the University of Central Florida who teaches classes on the civil rights movement, emancipation and the Reconstruction era and is a plaintiff in one lawsuit.

Lawmakers and state higher education officials, however, contend that the law doesnt outlaw any specific curriculum.

Its very clear what the act prohibits you cant place guilt on individuals for actions committed by others or by prior generations, Rodrigues, the new higher education chancellor, said. I would submit we should not have anyone teaching that one race is superior to another and be paid by taxpayers for that.

Another new state law approved by Floridas GOP-led Legislature in 2021 requires all state universities and colleges to survey students, faculty and staff annually about the intellectual freedom in schools. The voluntary questionnaire is believed to be the largest-scale campus survey in the nation.

The law was approved by Florida Republican leaders who were worried that schools are biased against conservatives. It has already drawn a legal challenge.

One recent report also shows that the DeSantis administration had even bigger plans for higher education this year, ideas that were left on the cutting room floor and could emerge in 2023.

Draft legislation obtained by independent journalist Jason Garcia this year shows that DeSantis sought to centralize more power in boards run by the governors political appointees and make universities more dependent on money controlled by lawmakers in Tallahassee. The proposal aimed to grant the 17-member board that governs the states university system greater power to launch investigations of school presidents, veto school budgets and fire university employees.

Florida in 2022 did, however, pass legislation allowing the state to adopt rules requiring tenured faculty to take part in a comprehensive review every five years.

Faculty at the University of Florida broached the issue with Sasse on Monday when the senator visited the campus, asking how he would protect tenure while noting that he ended it during his stint as president of Midland University, a Lutheran school in Nebraska.

Sasse said he would be a zealous defender of tenure at the university, outlining that it is necessary for a major research school like the University of Florida that differs from Midland, which has a fraction of the Florida institutions more than 55,000 students.

But qualms about potential tenure tweaks remain a top issue among faculty throughout Florida as they await forthcoming rules from university system leaders.

A draft of proposed system tenure rules indicated that reviews must consider any biased teaching or indoctrination constituting discrimination under Florida law by the professors, along with history of professional conduct and unapproved absences. Its unclear, though, if these policies will be included in the final cut of the tenure rule. The Board of Governors canceled its September and October meetings and convenes next on Nov. 9.

Gothard said lawmakers in Florida are relying on a cartoonish representation of what is happening in higher education to make policy moves.

He pointed to the extremely low response rate to the political diversity survey offered to students and faculty throughout the system as evidence that the issues brought up at the statehouse arent as prevalent on campuses.

Floridas students deserve the best education possible, and they deserve better than to be tinkered with, interfered with and harmed by the actions of politicians, he added.

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.

See more here:
How DeSantis and Florida Republicans are reshaping higher education - POLITICO

FILE - Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker campaigns Sept. 7, 2021, in Emerson, Ga. (AP Photos/Bill Barrow, File) Bill Barrow/AP hide caption

FILE - Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker campaigns Sept. 7, 2021, in Emerson, Ga. (AP Photos/Bill Barrow, File)

The Republican party is not known for ethnic diversity, but this year, 22 Black candidates are running for Republican House seats. And for the first time, we could see two Black Republican senators serving simultaneously. The historically diverse lineup also includes Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans on Republican tickets for the midterms.

Some in the party are hopeful that Ronald Regan's vision of the party as an inclusive "Big Tent '' may be on the horizon. But those who study race and politics say that the GOP's poor record on race and outright racist remarks from high-profile Republicans - like recent comments by Senator Tommy Tuberville -continue to keep Black voters away - even those who consider themselves conservative.

Host Michel Martin talks to Theodore Johnson, a researcher, and writer whose work focuses on how race plays out in politics and policy.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam. It was edited by Jeanette Woods. Our executive producer is Natalie Winston.

Read more from the original source:
What Does a Record Number of Black Candidates Really Mean for Republicans? : Consider This from NPR - NPR

Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump, on Friday discussed how the GOP has been reshaped in his father's image, and added that there is "no longer a Republican Party."

The younger Trump made the claim during an appearance on conservative news channel, Newsmax. The clip of Eric Trump's TV appearance was shared on Twitter by left-leaning pundit and former federal prosecutor, Ron Filipkowski, and has been viewed over 100,000 times as of Saturday afternoon.

"He's fundamentally changed the party," Eric Trump said about his father. "It's no longer the Republican Party, it's the Trump Party."

The claim is not a new one for the younger Trump, who has made similar comments in past interviews while discussing the present and future state of the Republican Party. During another Newsmax appearance in August, he said the same thing while discussing Representative Liz Cheney's primary defeat against Trump-endorsed GOP challenger, Harriet Hageman.

"There's no question. I mean, it's not even the Republican Party," Eric Trump said at the time. "I'd say it's actually the Trump party."

During his appearance in August, the former president's son also went into greater detail on his claim about the GOP, and said that his father's endorsements have "brought in a whole new party." Trump's endorsements this year have led to primary wins 92 percent of the time, according to Ballotpedia.

"My father has literally brought in a whole new party from the RINO [Republican in name only] class of the Republican Party," Eric Trump said. "He literally brought in a whole new party that stands for something totally different than the wider class of the Republican Party ever stood for. My father's really redefined what the party is, how the party speaks to its constituents and I think it's exactly why you have this overwhelming support in all of the people he's endorsed."

During his most recent appearance on Friday, Eric Trump also discussed the public hearings of the House select committee investigating last year's Capitol riot, saying that "not a single person cares about" them.

"Not a single person cares about the J6 hearings," he said. "The Republicans are absolutely going to steamroll the Democratic Party because they haven't accomplished anything in two years. This is all coordinated, it's all made up. It's all a diversion, a distraction."

Contrary to his claims, the select committee's hearings have appeared to draw significant interest, with the eight televised hearings from the summer averaging 13.1 million viewers, with the first hearing drawing in around 20 million. A PBS poll from July also found that 50 percent of respondents agreed that Trump should face charges for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, riot. However, only 28 percent believed he will actually be prosecuted.

Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump's press office and the Republican National Committee (RNC) for comment.

Original post:
Eric Trump Declares There Is 'No Longer' a Republican Party - Newsweek

SARAH WATSONQuad City Times

With a backdrop of spotless cars that spanned the decades of the 20th century in Dahl Fords Old Car Home in Davenport, Mariannette Miller-Meeks told dozens of Republicans shed work to bring down rising prices and be a check on the Biden Administration if reelected.

It was June, and the average price of gasoline that day was $4.62 cents a gallon, nearing Iowas peak price before falling under $4 in late summer.

It (the cars) hearkens back to a day when America was an innovator, was great, was a world power and there was so much hope in our country, Miller-Meeks told Republicans at her June campaign event, which was headlined by potential 2024 presidential contender Nikki Haley. And as I reflect on the things that we see today in our nation, there seems to be a lot of hopelessness.

Miller-Meeks puts the blame squarely on the Biden administration for rising inflation, and the veteran often has criticized the president for the U.S. handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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She joined all Republican House members in voting against the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act, describing it as wasteful spending, and voted against the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, citing concerns that it was tied to a larger Democrat-backed social spending bill.

At the federal level, we need to monitor what were doing and spending, not increase taxes, and allow more energy development, Miller-Meeks said in a recent interview.

She supports a ramp-up of domestic oil and gas production through more land permits and leases and encourages more bio-fuel production as ways to address oil and gas prices.

Her opponent, Christina Bohannan, has contended Miller-Meeks hasnt done enough to combat price increases, pointing to her votes against Democrats Inflation Reduction Act, which would allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. Some economists have predicted it will have a negligible impact on inflation.

Miller-Meeks also voted against the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that would funnel dollars to repair bridges, locks and dams, and other infrastructure in the district.

Miller-Meeks first came to Iowa for a residency in ophthalmology in 1988, and joined a private practice in Ottumwa. She ran for the 2nd District three times unsuccessfully, was the director of the state department of public health from late 2010 to early 2014, and served one term as a state senator.

The district

Miller-Meeks is seeking reelection in a newly drawn 1st Congressional District. She currently represents Iowas 2nd District in southeast Iowa. The new district covers 20 counties in southeast Iowa.

She won the seat in 2020, beating Democrat Rita Hart by six votes after a recount the narrowest margin of victory in a U.S. House election since 1984.

Miller-Meeks previously was the Republican nominee for the office three times in 2008, 2012, and 2014. She lost each election to then-incumbent representative Dave Loebsack, a Democrat.

She now faces an election challenge from state Rep. Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and former environmental engineer.

Bohannan won election to the Statehouse in 2020, unseating 20-year Iowa City representative Vicki Lensing in the Democratic primary for the Iowa City seat.

Political forecasters have rated the race as competitive, and each candidate has attracted support from the national party. Most recently, one forecaster the Cook Political Report tightened its forecast of the race, changing its rating from likely Republican to leans Republican.

The new district drew Miller-Meeks home county, Wapello, into the 3rd Congressional District. She said she and her husband, Curt, kept their home in Ottumwa and she now has a second residence in LeClaire. The new district includes 16 of the 24 counties Miller-Meeks currently represents.

Abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court returned the decision of restricting or allowing abortions to the states this summer, spurring considerable and ongoing debate.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks has said she supports a federal ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

A recent ad from Bohannan purports that Miller-Meeks wants to outlaw all abortions nationwide. No exceptions for rape, incest, or to save a womans life.

Miller-Meeks cosponsored the Life at Conception Act, a House proposal with 163 Republican co-sponsors that would guarantee a constitutional right to life of each born and pre-born human person from the moment of fertilization without explicit exceptions.

In an interview with a Quad-City Times reporter, Miller-Meeks said when asked about the Act: I think that you can recognize medically that life begins at conception, and still have exceptions... So, again, my long-held position in multiple public interviews has been Im pro-life with exceptions for life of the mother, rape, and incest.

The pandemic

Miller-Meeks called Operation Warp Speed, which cut red tape to speed up a COVID-19 vaccine a real shining moment for the United States.

She said, however, the U.S. had lessons to learn from the pandemic, including: amassing more sources of personal-protective equipment, or PPE; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention communicating pandemic risks more effectively; righting concerns that some state leaders prolonged lockdowns of schools and businesses longer than necessary.

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Who is Mariannette Miller-Meeks? Meet the Republican ophthalmologist running to defend her seat in Congress - WCF Courier