What You Were Promised: A Border Wall. What You Got: Lighter Sentences For Criminals [Warden]

Remember when Donald Trump ran on being nicer to drug dealers and violent criminals?

Just who among his base was clamoring for this?

The bill would overhaul the US justice system by giving more discretion to judges during sentencing, and by strengthening prisoner rehabilitation efforts.

Among the sentencing guidelines being revised is one reducing the "three strikes" penalty for drug felons from life in prison to 25 years.

The "three strikes" policy - introduced during the Clinton presidency - mandated strict penalties for those convicted of three serious crimes.

The left tries to cast the Three Strikes law as one that ensnares innocent poor dears who just happened to make a mistake or two, but that's not true. It imprisons violent, repeat offenders.

The "Three Strikes" statute is sufficiently important to our violence enforcement efforts that I want to underscore its key provisions. Under the federal "Three Strikes" provision, which is now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c), the defendant receives mandatory life imprisonment if he or she:

is convicted in federal court of a "serious violent felony" and
has two or more prior convictions in federal or state courts, at least one of which is a "serious violent felony." The other prior offense may be a "serious drug offense."

Donald Trump just can't wait to cut a break to these misunderstood, but ultimately good-hearted citizens who maybe sometimes slip up and beat someone with a wrench .

....This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance, to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved. I look forward to signing this into law!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018

Let's just say that I find the suggestion that releasing violent criminals back into our communities earlier as something that will improve safety to be... dubious. Border control would certainly accomplish that, though. I think maybe Trump mentioned that once or twice in 2016.

Trump has responded to recent criticism of his inaction on border security by focusing his priorities squarely upon his base. And by that, I mean his ego.

Anyone else getting the idea that no matter who they elect, all the goodies, gimmes and breaks go to the same leftist voting blocs?

The rich get their tax breaks and the criminal underclass gets its second (and third and fourth and fifth) chances with all their handouts, job training and other programs and the law-abiding people who are trying to live honorable lives get the middle finger... again.

Trillions taken in taxes and we're forced, in desperation, to self fund a border wall. Of course, that effort will be stiff armed as well, probably through the courts.

I'm proud that we upset the apple cart with this last presidential election, but it appears to be just one more failed attempt to work through the system.

Guys, I don't think we're going to vote our way out of any of this.

By the way, I found this today. It's not directly related, but a perfect example of how the government consistently throws its resources to ne'er-do-well special interests while screwing the nose-to-the grindstone dirt people so reviled by the Ruling Class.

Heart disease funding: $1.3 billion. Mortality rate: 1,202,319

Coronary heart disease funding: $431 million. Mortality rate: 536,339

AIDS/HIV funding: $2.9 billion. Mortality rate: 8,300

https://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx

Ain't that something? The federal government spends more on AIDS/HIV research, an almost completely preventable disease that kills relatively few people in a mostly select group each year than it does on heart disease, a condition that kills about 1.7 million a year.

Go have yourself some unprotected butt sex with multiple strangers, and the entirety of the government will be working feverishly to come up with a solution to your self inflicted health crisis.

Dad has a heart attack due to the stress of company layoffs and...meh. Whatever. Learn to code if you manage to recover. And clean up your eating, asshole.

Let's shift back to the border wall.

The chamber approved the measure to keep the government running into February by a 217-185 vote. But the path forward now is murky. The bill likely will not clear the Senate because it includes more than $5 billion for the border barrier, increasing the chances that funding for seven agencies lapses after the midnight Friday deadline.

$2.9 billion annually for AIDS funding = totally noncontroversial, not even worth mention, really.

$5 billion for border security = government shutdown.

Yeah, we're not voting our way out of this.

posted by Open Blogger at 08:34 PM

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