Like millions of Americans I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday, and my heart broke for the innocent victims. No words can fill the hole left by the death of an innocent, but we do mourn for the victims’ families as we express our sympathy.
I agree with the sentiments shared yesterday at the beautiful Catholic mass held in honor of the victims. The mass will hopefully help begin a healing process for the families touched by this tragedy and for our country.
Our exceptional nation, so vibrant with ideas and the passionate exchange and debate of ideas, is a light to the rest of the world. Congresswoman Giffords and her constituents were exercising their right to exchange ideas that day, to celebrate our Republic’s core values and peacefully assemble to petition our government. It’s inexcusable and incomprehensible why a single evil man took the lives of peaceful citizens that day.
There is a bittersweet irony that the strength of the American spirit shines brightest in times of tragedy. We saw that in Arizona. We saw the tenacity of those clinging to life, the compassion of those who kept the victims alive, and the heroism of those who overpowered a deranged gunman.
Like many, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event.
President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.
The last election was all about taking responsibility for our country’s future. President Obama and I may not agree on everything, but I know he would join me in affirming the health of our democratic process. Two years ago his party was victorious. Last November, the other party won. In both elections the will of the American people was heard, and the peaceful transition of power proved yet again the enduring strength of our Republic.
Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.
As I said while campaigning for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, “We know violence isn’t the answer. When we ‘take up our arms’, we’re talking about our vote.” Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political differences respectfully at the ballot box – as we did just two months ago, and as our Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the next. That’s who we are as Americans and how we were meant to be. Public discourse and debate isn’t a sign of crisis, but of our enduring strength. It is part of why America is exceptional.
No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinion and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults.
Just days before she was shot, Congresswoman Giffords read the First Amendment on the floor of the House. It was a beautiful moment and more than simply “symbolic,” as some claim, to have the Constitution read by our Congress. I am confident she knew that reading our sacred charter of liberty was more than just “symbolic.” But less than a week after Congresswoman Giffords reaffirmed our protected freedoms, another member of Congress announced that he would propose a law that would criminalize speech he found offensive.
It is in the hour when our values are challenged that we must remain resolved to protect those values. Recall how the events of 9-11 challenged our values and we had to fight the tendency to trade our freedoms for perceived security. And so it is today.
Let us honor those precious lives cut short in Tucson by praying for them and their families and by cherishing their memories. Let us pray for the full recovery of the wounded. And let us pray for our country. In times like this we need God’s guidance and the peace He provides. We need strength to not let the random acts of a criminal turn us against ourselves, or weaken our solid foundation, or provide a pretext to stifle debate.
America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united in our desire to peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to respectfully embrace our differences in a positive manner, and to unite in the knowledge that, though our ideas may be different, we must all strive for a better future for our country. May God bless America.
I think it is important to keep presenting to you whatever online or written documentation we can find to show that there is no political party affiliation or motivation for anything that the loonbat Jared Loughner did in Tucson:
That Erad3 and Loughner are one and the same is indicated by his cross-posting of some of the same material on both YouTube and ATS. In searching through Loughner’s posts as Erad3, several stand out.
On July 7, 2010, Loughner posted his assertion that the war(s) in Iraq and Afghanistan “is a war crime from the Geneva Convention articles of 1949”:
There was help with cleaning the uranium from the Iran and Iraq war in the 1980’s?
Article 33 of the Geneva Convention is the prohibit of pillage.
All military invasions with armed forces into a foreign country are war crimes in the Geneva Convention articles of 1949.
The Iraq and Afghanistan war of 2010 is a military invasion with armed forces into a foreign country.
Therefore, Iraq and Afghanistan war of 2010 is a war crime from the Geneva Convention articles of 1949.
Ouch! For the thoughts of war.
Update by SH: ATS is allowing all to read posts by Loughner & those he replied to. Normally, you would have to be a member to access them.
As is often typical, recent analysis in the media is rampant with all manner of conclusions, second-guesses, exaggerations, distortions, and missing information. The opinion of the staff and owners of AboveTopSecret.com is that it serves the public interest to provide an easy method to access every post made here by erad3 (normally, visitors must be logged-in to view such information)[...]
Some will noticed that his account has been terminated. This has been done to protect the integrity of a now widely known member account here: there is now such a great deal of information available which might provide clues to guess the password and either post as him, or obtain personal data.
If the crew of the NASA mission uses a green screen then they are able to fake the mission. The crew of the NASA mission uses a green screen. Therefore, they are able to fake the mission.
UPDATE: Ditto below…Tuesday the Arizona legislature took quick action and passed a (supposedly constitutional) bill to keep the Westboro Baptists at least 300 feet away from the funerals. What a shame they have to spend time on this.
As if things aren’t sad and stressful enough in Tucson, Arizona after the massacre this weekend, the reviled reverend of Westboro Baptist Church and his foaming-at-the-mouth followers are now on the way.
The so-called “church” members are infamous for picketing the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recentely showed up at services for Elizabeth Edwards, cancer victim and wife of former presidential candidate John Edwards. Now the Westboro hate cultists feel “called” to picket the funerals of the weekend victims of Tucson shooter Jared Loughner….
Christina Green had political aspirations after winning a student election and went to meet the congresswoman Saturday
In particular, the church says it will target the funeral of 9-year-old Christina Green who the WBC says “was killed for your rebellion when God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America.”
Fred Phelps, founding father-viper of Westboro Baptist Church, posted a YouTube thanking God for the “violent shooter, one of your heroes in Tucson.”
Romaine Patterson's "angels" with wings shield funerals from the Westboro Baptist Church protests
No doubt the Patriot Guard will also be in Tucson in big numbers to surround and overwhelm the braying asses of Westboro Baptist Church, to ensure that the grieving will (hopefully) not hear, and certainly not see anything from this band of losers.
When the free-speech haters try to shut down conservative political speech, will they continue to protect the upchuckings from this group?? The same way they protect the “artwork” featuring the crucifix in a cup of urine?
The family of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner handed out a written statement to reporters standing in front of their home late Tuesday afternoon.
A man, who appeared to be a representative of the family, walked out of the home and provided this statement, which reads:
This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don’t understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss.
Thank you, the Loughner Family
The man who passed out the statement did not answer any questions.
Well………Mr. and Mrs. L: if you are so sorry, why did you barricade your door and bar the FBI from entering to make its search??? hmmmmm?
For example, can Mr. and Mrs. Loughner explain why they supposedly did not know their son was batshit crazy when he was WORSHIPPING A SKULL AND DRIED UP ORANGES in the backyard??? Oh....that....? WTF
The London Daily Mail quotes a neighbor of the Loughners who says the parents are “devastated” and “didn’t know” the extent of their son’s mental illness?? There are now reports coming out that this kid was posting insane comments, scary YouTube videos, nonsensical ramblings on MySpace and other online message boards, he was threatening local talk show hosts, Congresswoman Giffords, people in his community college classes and that the local sheriff assured people who complained or inquired, that he was getting “adequate” support in the mental health community.
The Mail is the newspaper that carried the exclusive photo above of the makeshift “altar” featuring a skull, rotting fruit, burnt candles and some threatening notes about the Congresswoman. So…..Mr. and Mrs. Loughner, you never WENT IN YOUR BACK YARD? You never saw the skull? The Mail details even more weird and threatening things that Loughner has been involved in the past few years. His parents NEVER knew about ANY of these stalking incidents? Please.
SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPKIN NEEDS TO OPEN ANY AND ALL COMPLAINT FILES REGARDING THIS SUSPECT AND EXPLAIN WHAT HIS OFFICE’S RESPONSE WAS TO EACH AND EVERY COMPLAINT.
If Jared Loughner had been given restraining orders, or had been charged with felonies or misdemeanors for his threats, there would have been more on his record to prevent him from buying a handgun. If this sheriff was indeed pooh-poohing the extent of this kid’s problems to the complaining public because he was perhaps protecting the mother who was a Pima County employee, there is liability to the sheriff and to Pima County.
Sheriff Dupnik would do far better to spend his time figuring out how Jared Loughner managed to buy a gun last November to commit his crimes. He apparently passed a federal background check solely because he had no prison record. But Reuters reports that Sheriff Dupnik acknowledged that “there had been earlier contact between Loughner and law enforcement after he had made death threats, although they had not been against [Rep. Gabrielle] Giffords.” The sheriff’s department was aware that Loughner had been asked by police at a local community college to stop attending classes because of his odd behavior. Several of his fellow students expressed fear of him and said they believed he was unstable.
The real debate in the aftermath of the Arizona shootings should be why a troubled individual was able to compile such a record without attracting more attention from Sheriff Dupnik and his fellow law enforcement professionals. Perhaps if Loughner had been convicted of making death threats, he wouldn’t have been able to clear the federal background check he needed to purchase a firearm last November.
See posts showing Loughner’s videos and bizarre behaviors previously on UNCOVERAGE.net:
Have you seen and heard just about enough of the sickening political debacle that has turned a tragedy into political hammer-throwing contest?
Are you “Mad As Hell”?
If you answered ‘yes’ to all of the above, I don’t blame you. Ever since the events of that fateful day in Arizona I’ve been prayerful for the victims, disgusted with the entire aftermath, angry to watch a brother law enforcement officer totally overstep his bounds and literally hand a strong case for the defense by implicating someone other than the accused for committing a heinous crime, livid that supposedly neutral news organizations would immerse themselves in such partisan (and incredibly foolish), knee-jerk reactions, and personally upset to the point where writing about it was out of the question.
I simply refuse to lower myself to that level of unprofessional, one-sided reporting,
There are some things that must be published ‘for the record’, and starting today I’ll be publishing those items. Not to convince you of anything one way or the other, but to put the known facts in front of you and then let you decide what you agree with and what you don’t. This is a form of news reporting that we have all been used to from the mainstream media, but somewhere along the line their objectivity took a strange left turn and is now firmly on one side of the political spectrum. We need to at least balance their rhetoric with a bit of our own.
Media Reality Check.
“While Media Indict Conservative Speech, Left’s Lunacy Is Ignored”
Below is the text of a Media Reality Check, compiled by the MRC’s Rich Noyes, which was posted this afternoon.
To read it online, with two video clips and four audio clips from radio hosts, plus links to more examples of liberal hate speech:
“Three days after a mentally-deranged man — whose backyard in Arizona featured a bizarre shrine decorated with a human skull and rotted oranges — killed six people and severely wounded Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the liberal media continue to cynically link Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and mainstream conservatives with the crime.
Skull and weird stuff in Loughner's back yard
There is, of course, absolutely no evidence that “heated rhetoric” in any way motivated Jarred Loughner’s shooting spree, but the media’s repeated association of political speech with the attack suggests an attempt to exploit the tragedy to discredit mainstream conservatives by smearing them as somehow culpable.
“Giffords was one of 20 Democrats whose districts were lit up in cross-hairs on a Sarah Palin campaign Web site last spring,” CBS’s Nancy Cordes declared Saturday night in referring to a political map, adding that “Giffords and many others complained that someone unstable might act on that imagery.” Hours later on CNN, Jessica Yellin admitted “we don’t know the motive” before proceeding to raise how “on Twitter and Facebook, there is a lot of talk, in particular, about Sarah Palin.” On Sunday’s Today, leading into a clip about Palin, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell asserted: “Giffords, a conservative Democrat, was concerned about heated campaign rhetoric from the Tea Party.”
An editorial in Monday’s New York Times justified the focus on conservatives: “It is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge.” But while the liberal media indict Palin and other conservatives, there’s a long list of vicious rhetoric coming from media liberals.
MSNBC has been the most venomous, a fact NBC has glossed over in its coverage castigating conservatives. The network’s 8pm ET host Keith Olbermann in 2009 referred to columnist Michelle Malkin as “a big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it.” Hardball’s Chris Matthews fantasized about the death of Rush Limbaugh: “Somebody’s going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he’s going to explode like a giant blimp.”
The outrage evidenced this week was not to be found when a film festival showed “Death of a President,” a movie depicting the imagined assassination of President Bush. “Poor taste or, as some say, thought-provoking?” MSNBC daytime anchor Amy Robach mildly wondered on September 1, 2006.
On Monday’s The Ed Show, MSNBC’s 6pm ET host Ed Schultz pointed his finger at Fox News for supposedly inciting its audience to “think that doing something radical is the right thing to do,” but sidestepped his own history of shocking comments. “I get passionate, but not in a violent way,” Schultz insisted.
On his national radio show in 2009, however, Schultz wished for Dick Cheney’s death: “He is an enemy of the country, in my opinion, Dick Cheney is, he is an enemy of the country….Lord, take him to the Promised Land, will you?” In 2010, Schultz screamed that “Dick Cheney’s heart’s a political football. We ought to rip it out and kick it around and stuff it back in him!”
Other left-wing radio hosts have openly desired the death of leading conservatives without a peep from the liberal media elites. Radio host Mike Malloy (a onetime news writer for CNN) wished for Rush Limbaugh’s demise on January 4, 2010, a few days after the conservative host was hospitalized for chest pains: “I’m waiting for the day when I pick it up, pick up a newspaper or click on the Internet and find out he’s choked to death on his own throat fat or a great big wad of saliva or something, you know, whatever. Go away, Rush, you make me sick!”
In 2009, then-Air America radio host Montel Williams urged Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to kill herself: “Slit your wrist! Go ahead! I mean, you know, why not? I mean, if you want to — or, you know, do us all a better thing. Move that knife up about two feet. I mean, start right at the collarbone.”
If Bachmann had been the Congresswoman attacked this weekend instead of Giffords, would the media be as strong in their attacks of the overheated rhetoric lobbed against her over the past several years?
HBO’s Bill Maher, a favorite guest on CNN and other supposedly respectable news networks, wished for the deaths of both Limbaugh and Cheney. Talking about the then-Vice President in 2007, after al Qaeda exploded a truck bomb at a base in Afghanistan near where Cheney was visiting, Maher argued: “I’m just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact.”
Bill Maher
In 2008, Maher morbidly suggested Limbaugh would have been a better candidate to have died from a drug overdose: “Why couldn’t he have croaked from it instead of Heath Ledger?”
Among the claims this week is that anti-government rhetoric is putting public servants in peril. If such a dubious claim is true, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann was jeopardizing lives when he teed off against the government’s anti-terrorism policies in 2006: “We now face what our ancestors faced at other times of exaggerated crisis and melodramatic fear-mongering: A government more dangerous to our liberty than is the enemy it claims to protect us from.”
Keith Olbermann MSNBC
Media gadfly Arianna Huffington made her own plea for civility, telling the Washington Post via e-mail this weekend that “there are lots of ways to be lively and put forth a strong opinion without demonizing one’s opponent….It’s the demonization that is the problem.”
But her Huffington Post blog site has demonized conservatives for years, including an item posted in early 2007 mocking the cancer that would eventually take the life of White House press secretary Tony Snow. Sneered San Francisco radio host Charles Karel Bouley: “I hear about Tony Snow and say to myself, well, stand up every day, lie to the American people at the behest of your dictator-esque boss and well, how could a cancer NOT grow in you. Work for Fox News, spinning the truth in to a billion knots and how can your gut not rot?”
The Left has been trying for years to shut down conservative radio and otherwise criminalize conservative speech. Using this tragedy to further that agenda is beyond cynical, and probably counterproductive: a new CBS News poll finds that even after a weekend of anti-conservative propaganda, 57% don’t think “harsh political rhetoric” had anything to do with the shootings.
But if the media insist on having a debate about political speech, they need to focus on the Left’s vileness as well. Otherwise, they’re just partisan hypocrites joining in the exploitation of tragedy for political gain.”
Let me make one point perfectly clear. NONE of what you just read and watched contributed in any way to the events in Tucson. Not the rhetoric from the Right, nor the rhetoric from the Left.
Sadly, in Tucson a young man with what appears to be serious psychological issues shot and killed six people and wounded many others. Thus far, there hasn’t been one shred of evidence even remotely connecting this man (and I use that term loosely) with ANYTHING that would hold up under close scrutiny. Even the fact that he listed ‘The Communist Manifesto’ and ‘Mien Kampf’ as books he’s recently read is NOT strong enough evidence, by itself, to pigeon-hole him as some sort of subversive. I have read both myself and I doubt any of you would consider me as an addle-minded, anti-American. When combined with other exculpatory evidence these facts take on a totally different meaning, but of and by themselves they carry little or no evidentury weight.
The knee-jerk reactions we’ve witnessed — instantly written security laws for elected officials, gun control legislation, and an effort to sequester congress behind bulletproof glass — are nothing more than totally foolish people acting totally foolish! We have more than enough laws and regulations on the books to properly deal with anything and everything these fools wish to promote. The fact that we don’t insist on those laws being enforced is an entirely different matter.
And then we have the law enforcement community arbitrarily deciding which laws they will or will not enforce…..and a perfect example is Sheriff Stoopnagle, who decided that SB 1070 was unconstitutional and he simply wasn’t going to enforce it. For publicly taking such action, he has violated his oath and should be removed from office. It is simply NOT his job to decide such things; that responsibility lies with the judiciary.
And now we have President Obama involved — and I agree that he should be. Having said that, let me also say it depends greatly on what the President says as to how long we’ll have to put up with the idiocy we’ve barely tolerated over the past several days. Either he speaks realistically and rationally, or not, and his words will determine to a great degree how his minions in political and media circles conduct themselves henceforth.
I’ve had enough of the foolishness; let’s get down to business.
The two neighboring sheriffs in Arizona, Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, and Clarence Dupnik of Pima County, could hardly be more different. Yesterday, UNCOVERAGE.net called for the dismissal/removal/resignation of Clarence Dupnik due to his extremely political and baseless statements blaming the tea party, Sarah Palin and talk show host Rush Limbaugh for “vitriolic” political rhetoric which Dupnik claims caused Jared Loughner to murder six people in Tucson this weekend.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio tells Newsmax that, if his fellow Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik were an appointed chief of police instead of an elected official, he would be “fired tomorrow” for comments he’s made about the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others on Saturday.[…]
Arpaio also complains that people are using the tragedy “for their own political agenda,” and says officials such as Dupnik should “shut our mouth” about the case.
Asked about Dupnik’s efforts, Arpaio says: “I don’t like to criticize my colleagues, but he’s elected and I presume he says what he wants to say. I don’t agree with it.
“I’m a former top federal law enforcement official and understand you have to be very careful when you’re conducting an investigation to make sure there’s no pretrial publicity that may affect the case and give the perpetrator a chance to use comments made, especially by the chief investigator, which happens to be the sheriff.
“Sheriffs are elected, like I am, thank God. I’m sure if he was a police chief he’d probably be fired tomorrow. I’m not trying to defend him, but he’s the one that runs that sheriff’s office. I do not.
“I don’t want to keep talking about politics. I don’t think we should do so over this tragedy.
“But I think this has gone into politics now. People are using this for their own political agenda. I don’t think that’s right. I think we should let the criminal justice system do its job and not have too much pretrial publicity to help this guy and give him a chance to defend himself, and probably utilize statements that have been made to his benefit to try to get out of this.
“I think we have to very careful about what we say, especially law enforcement officials or government officials. I think right now I think we ought to shut our mouth and let the justice system take its course.”
Referring to assertions by some that Sarah Palin and others on the right are somehow to blame for Loughner’s actions, Arpaio tells Newsmax: “I don’t think it’s fair.
“I have to say that I have been threatened constantly, threatened by elected officials, calling me Nazi, Hitler, every name in the book. Yet I haven’t heard anybody speak out in the Democrat administration saying that’s not right.
"Hitler" picture of Sheriff Joe from a left-wing website
“Why are they blaming her? They put me in [cross hairs]. They put me in KKK uniforms. They call me Hitler and everything else. They say I should be dead. They’ve got rewards out for me. So why isn’t anybody talking about this sheriff? I’m talking about the Democrats. They’re investigating me, the Justice Department, but why aren’t they concerned about this sheriff?”
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has blathered in radio, television, and newspaper interviews non-stop since Saturday’s massacre in his county. He cannot possibly be doing his job to properly and thoroughly investigate the tragic loss of life on his watch in Pima County, Arizona. Cartoon by Antonio Branco, ComicallyIncorrect Monday , Dupnik even went so [...]
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has blathered in radio, television, and newspaper interviews non-stop since Saturday’s massacre in his county. He cannot possibly be doing his job to properly and thoroughly investigate the tragic loss of life on his watch in Pima County, Arizona.
Monday , Dupnik even went so far as to blame talk show host Rush Limbaugh PERSONALLY for the murders in Tucson. See report here on Real Clear Politics. On Sunday, Dupnik admitted in his interview with Megyn Kelly of Fox News, that there are no facts to substantiate his continual ranting that the tea party and conservatives are to blame for Loughner’s murders. In fact, Loughner has been shown in the past 48 hours to be a lone wolf with severe mental problems who has been stalking the Congresswoman since 2007, before there ever was a tea party. [ see links below]
A local Arizona blog reports today that Sheriff Dupnik has had complaints for YEARS about murder suspect Jared Loughner’s frightening behavior in community college, and online and has refused to take any action to protect the public, saying Loughner was getting ” appropriate medical attention.” This is inexcusable neglect. Victims of the shooter now have basis to sue the county.
Dupnik is a Democrat who brought attention to himself last year when he flatly refused to enforce Arizona’s new immigration law because he personally does not endorse it. It is not the sheriff’s prerogative to pick and choose which laws to enforce.
Dupnik’s agenda-driven electioneering since Saturday is a slap in the face to the families and victims of crazed killer Jared Loughner.
By his irresponsible and unprofessional behavior, Sheriff Dupnik’s statements will be the cause for a change of venue in the trial, which will be very expensive for Pima County taxpayers. The defense is asking for all the U.S. Attorney general’s office and local prosecutors to be dismissed from the case, another legal cluster-f++k caused by the sheriff.
Worst of all, Sheriff Dupnik’s public statements can and will be used to make the case for an insanity plea by Jared Loughner’s attorney. The sheriff is saying, without any proof at all, that the suspect was influenced by talk shows and conservative news media and the tea party.
This ridiculous side show must stop. This sheriff is a buffoon who must be silenced. Clarence Dupnik needs to step down NOW.
In addition to Sheriff Dupnik, call the Pima County Supervisors. These supervisors should be held responsible for the financial and legal mess being caused by this rogue law enforcement kook, and they will be held responsible later when all the bills come in due to the Sheriff’s mismanagment of his duties.
The FBI director, regionally and nationally, should be bringing pressure to bear to get this fossil off to the boneyard. Dupnik has just made this open-and-shut death penalty case a whole lot more expensive and complicated.
Melt the phone lines. Send postcards which are open and can be read by everyone as they reach their delivery point so that this it is visible to everyone that the public has had it with this demagoguery.
Here are contacts:
[click to biggify]
Pima County Board of Supervisors
130 West Congress Street, 11th Floor Tucson, Arizona 85701
Jared Loughlin SMIRKED in court. He has lawyered up with the Unabomber’s attorney and is seeking a change of venue to….where? Mars? The attorney is also seeking to disqualify the U.S. Attorney General’s office in Arizona. Whatever. Let the games begin. He is behind bars, finally, where he should have been for years, sadly. There is no hope for this miscreant.
One of my enduring questions as this tragedy unfolded all weekend is/was: Who in the hell are Jared Loughner’s parents and WHERE are they? If he has displayed such batshit-crazy tendencies for YEARS, why did they not have him hospitalized, medicated and in intense therapy? (read links below for the history from at least 2007 of aberrant behaviors at school and stalking Congresswoman Giffords)
BTW: Follow up on the “other man” which I neglected to update this weekend: The so-called “person of interest” who was being sought for questioning yesterday because he was seen driving the suspect to the Safeway show before the shooting, did drive Loughner there……because he is a cab driver. He dropped off Loughner and went into the grocery store for change. He is cleared.
Were it not for the bravery of, in particular, a 61-year-old woman and a 20 year old gay intern, many more people would have died in Tucson Saturday.Three men and a 61-year-old woman are credited as heroes for disarming and tackling Jared Lee Loughner. A 20 year old gay intern who had only worked for Congresswoman Giffords for five days, is credited running TOWARD the shooting scene (not AWAY from it like many members of the public were logically doing) with taking extraordinary measures at the scene which probably saved her life and the lives of other fallen victims.
Three men and a woman were instrumental in disarming and tackling the man suspected of killing six and injuring 14 in Tucson during a political event for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, according to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.
Dupnik identified the heroes as Patricia Maisch, Roger Salzgeber, Bill Badger and Joseph Zamudio.
According to Dupnik, Maisch was in the rear of a line of people waiting to take a photograph with Giffords, when the suspect began firing his semiautomatic weapon.
When the shooter tried load a fresh magazine into his Glock 9 mm gun, Maisch grabbed the bottom of it, preventing the magazine from being inserted, Dupnik said.
This pause in shooting allowed Salzgeber and Badger to tackle the suspect to the ground and hold him until deputies arrived, Dupnik said.
A fourth participant, Zamudio, restrained the suspect’s legs, Dupnik said.
Initial information saying Maisch was injured was inaccurate, said Dupnik. She did not report having any injuries.
I cannot imagine how Ms. Maisch was able to stay near enough the gunman without getting shot herself. And then to reach toward the gun and grab the magazine??! Amazing.
[Note to readers: I don’t bring up Daniel Hernandez’ gay status for any other reason other than it has been mentioned on gay websites as a matter of pride, and rightly so. That community can be proud of this young man, and we all can thank him. I hope he continues in his career of service to the public because he has shown character and strength well beyond his years.]
Hernandez held the congresswoman's hand on the ambulance ride to the hospital. He squeezed her hand, he says. And she was squeezing back.
According to the Dallas Voice, twenty-year-old University of Arizona student Daniel Hernandez is being credited with saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was critically injured during a shooting in Tucson on Saturday.
According to the Arizona Republic, Hernandez was standing near Giffords during the “Congress on Your Corner” event when the gunfire began. After running toward the sound of the shots, Hernandez assisted the injured by checking for pulses, and when he reached Giffords, he applied pressure to the gunshot wound on her forehead, then pulled her into his lap so she was upright and wouldn’t choke on her blood.
Hernandez then rode with with Giffords to the hospital.
Hernandez, who confirmed he is gay to Instant Tea, is also a member of the City of Tucson Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues. Of Giffords, Hernandez says, “She’s been a great ally to the LGBT community.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office says 9-year-old Christina Greene died in the attack that wounded Giffords and 12 others.
Christina was born on 9/11 and featured in the book “9/11: Faces of Hope.” She reportedly attended Mesa Verde Elementary School.
The father of a classmate says she studied ballet and played baseball and was just elected to her third grade student council.
“Outgoing, intelligent girl. She’s on student council, usually kids on the student council have some good things going for them,” said Jason Matsuzawa.
She had apparently gone to the event with her uncle to meet Congresswoman Giffords..
“She was a good speaker,” John Green told the Arizona Star. “I could have easily seen her as a politician.”
She was the granddaughter of Dallas Green, who managed the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1980 World Series championship.
She was a second baseman on her Little League team — the only girl on the team, according to the Star. She also enjoyed dance and gymnastics and loved animals.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt issued the following statement on Saturday night:
“We lost a member of the Dodgers family today. The entire Dodgers organization is mourning the death of John’s daughter Christina and will do everything we can to support John, his wife Roxana and their son Dallas in the aftermath of this senseless tragedy. I spoke with John earlier today and expressed condolences on behalf of the entire Dodgers organization.”
Federal Judge John Roll had shown up at the event to see his friend, the Congresswoman
Here are notes from the Fox News Special report Saturday night with Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly: ( scroll down for links to my previous coverage )
He is not being called a suspect, but a “person of interest” in the Saturday shooting of 19 in Tucson Safeway mall. Did he drive the suspect to the location? Where did he go later?
Miscellaneous reports:
Very important fact: Suspect Jared Lee Loughner, age 22, was reported very early on in the news cycle to be an “Afghanistan” war veteran. This is FALSE. The Army says Loughner did APPLY for enlistment in 2008 but was REJECTED. The reason was not given on the air per policy.
Loughner used a Glock for the shooting with an extended magazine. The weapon was purchased legally. He lived at home with his parents.
Jared Lee Loughner -- high school photo
A mental health specialist (didn’t catch name) said that Loughner is clearly mentally ill and not politically motivated. His ravings on YouTube and Myspace about mind control, this doctor says, border on schizophrenia. He said the issue in this story is not about the tea party or government reforms, this story of Jared Loughner is about the total breakdown of the nation’s mental health support system. ( I have been reporting this since the first few hours of this story. To smear the tea party or Sarah Palin is wrong-headed and meant to polarize.)
The sheriff’s comments that Loughner had “made threats” before are troubling, say this doctor. Why wasn’t Loughner committed or incarcerated to keep from harming others? His arrest for drug paraphernalia in 2007 indicates drug use.
Legal Analysis
There is a death penalty for killing federal employees, such as Judge Role and Matthew Zimmerman, Congresswoman Giffords’ aide who was killed. Arizona also has the death penalty and concomitant jurisdiction with the Federal government, according to Fox News.
There is a conference call Sunday for all House members. Vote to repeal ObamaCare, scheduled for Monday, is being postponed, according to House Speaker John Boehner’s website.
The dead are identified as John Roll (63), Dorothy Murray (76), Dorwin Stoddard (76), Christina Greene (9), Phyllis Schneck (79) and Gabriel Zimmerman (30).
Jared Loughner will make his initial appearance in court Sunday morning via tele-link from the jail.
Dr. Marc Siegel segment on injury and surgery:
Because the bullet entered the brain at close range it did not explode and make a much larger exit hole.
Because the bullet entered her “temple,” and went out her forehead, it was lucky. It only went through one of her temporal lobes. It may have passed exactly through an area of the brain that may not have a huge impacet
High incidence of seizures, steroids, keep swelling down, might have to open skull flap to alleviate swelling. If she has been talking and responding, that is a good sign. You might forget speech that people say to you, might not be able to repeat things people say to you. There is rehab for this.
Her long-term effects are likely to be: risk of seizure, loss of mobility in a big or small way, reduced range of emotions due to the area of brain affected.
The bullet hole is larger than you think it is, larger than the bullet. The surgery sounds like it has been very successful. This is a great hospital in Arizona, if they say the surgery is successful, then that is a very good sign. She is lucky. God has truly intervened in her behalf.
Interview with Congresswoman Giffords on Fox News:
Bill Hemmer from Fox News had just interviewed Congresswoman Giffords Friday about national debt, calling it our greatest national security threat. Giffords is a former Republican and describes herself as a “bluedog” moderate Democrat. In the interview, she sounds like a Republican. She represents a district which was won by John McCain for president in 2008 and George Bush before that. She is married to a NASA astronaut. She was very upbeat, willing to take questions from Hemmer on any topic and seemed very knowledgeable.
More proof the young gun was simply mentally unstable, not politically motivated Liberal media ( such as Daily Kos) and Democrat sheriff smear tea party, Palin and conservatives A 22 year old man is in custody in Tucson, Arizona after shooting as many as 19 people at a Safeway store meeting Saturday morning. [...]
Breaking news… Scroll DOWN for the latest updates on Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect and more. Despite what you are hearing from the leftwing websites, this guy appears to be a loony tune lone wolf LEFTIST. Read below.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) has been shot in the head, along with approximately 11 other people, at a Tucson, Arizona Safeway store where she was conducting a constituent meeting. Giffords’ is believed to be in surgery. There have been conflicting reports of her condition. 3 or 4 fatalities were reported at 12:04 p.m PST. A suspect is in custody. It is shocking how the local media, without saying so specifically, are calling this a “politically” motivated crime…..we will wait to see who the suspect is and what the motivation is/was, but once again, liberal media are making a “leap” here to conservatives (since Giffords is a Democrat) there has already been discussion about the need for gun control….
This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tucson, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded.
We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers.
My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona.
On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.
- Sarah Palin
Update: Statement from Speaker of the House John Boehner:
Speaker John Boehner issued the following statement condemning the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and members of her staff today in Tuscon, AZ:
“I am horrified by the senseless attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and members of her staff. An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, all who were injured, and their families. This is a sad day for our country.”
A gunman indiscriminately fired into a crowd at a gathering for Democratic representative Gabrielle Giffords outside a Safeway in Tucson, Arizona this morning. Giffords and at least five others were shot, according to NPR. The gunman was tackled and arrested.
Update: We spoke to an eyewitness, Steven Rayle who was on the scene at the time of the shooting and helped to hold the suspect down while waiting for police. Here’s what he said:
The event was very informal: Gifford had set up a table outside the Safeway and about 20-30 people were gathered to talk to her. The gunman, who may have come from inside the Safeway, walked up and shot Gifford in the head first. According to Rayle, who is a former ER doctor, Gifford was able to move her hands after being shot.
After shooting Gifford, the gunman opened fire indiscriminately for a few seconds, hitting a number of people, including a kid no older than 10 years old. Rayle hid behind a concrete pole and pretended to be dead. When the gunman apparently ran out of ammunition he attempted to flee, but a member of Gifford’s staff tackled him. The Rayle helped hold him down while waiting for the sheriff to arrive, about 15-or 20 minutes later. 30 minutes later the EMS came. Rayle said he was “stunned” by how long it took medical help to arrive.
The man was young, mid-to-late 20s, white clean-shaven with short hair and wearing dark clothing and said nothing during the shooting or while being held down. He didn’t look like a businessman, but more of a “fringe character,” our source said.
She is the only member of the U.S. Congress whose spouse, astronaut Mark E. Kelly, is an active duty member of the U.S. military.[1]
Giffords is known as a strong proponent of solar energy as well as for her work to secure the border with Mexico.[2][3]
Giffords was first sworn in as a congresswoman on January 3, 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona’s history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress. In her inaugural speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Giffords said a comprehensive immigration reform package needs to include modern technology to secure the border, more border patrol agents, tough employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program. In her first month in office, Congresswoman Giffords voted to support increased federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, raising the minimum wage, endorsing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and supporting new rules for the House of Representatives targeting ethical issues. Giffords also voted to repeal subsidies to big oil companies and invest the savings in renewable energy. “We put our national security at risk by relying on oil from unstable regimes in the Middle East and Latin America,” Giffords told her colleagues in a speech on the House floor during debate on the Clean Energy Act. The act repeals $14 billion in subsidies given to oil companies and establishes a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve to increase research in clean renewable energy, to develop greater energy efficiency, and to improve energy conservation.
During the 2007 session of Congress, Giffords introduced a bill (H.R. 1441)[4] that forbids the sale of F-14 aircraft parts on the open market.[5] She also voted for the contentious May 2007 Iraq Emergency Supplemental Spending bill, saying, “I cannot, in good conscience, allow the military to run out of money while American servicemen and women are being attacked every day”.[6]
Doctor tells the news conference that surgery is complete on the Congresswoman and they are as optimistic as they can be right now.
Update: 1:07 p.m.
Disgusting politicking on this coming from the left. Do we forget how NY Mayor Bloomberg blamed the Times Square bombing on someone who was “upset about Obamacare” when it was actually a Muslim terrorist????
Here’s one liberal blogger’s comment:
Breaking news reports that a liberal blogger blames Sarah Palin for Gabrielle Giffords assasination attempt.
“F*** it. I’m going there” One liberal blogger wrote on Saturday after news of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot dead in point blank range at a Tuscon rally. The blogger TBogg blamed former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin for the congresswoman’s death after Palin named Giffords as one of her ‘targets’ during the 2010 mid-term elections. Palin was caught in controversy when she published on her Facebook page a graphic that showed several ‘target’ districts, including Giffords 8th district in Arizona.
Update: 1:10 p.m. PST
Per the AP, the gunman in Arizona lawmaker’s shooting identified as Jared Laughner, and the weapon used was a pistol with an extended magazine. According to Jay Bookman, Laughner is “ex-military and fought in Afghanistan.”
Update: 1: 13 pm. PST
Here is a video posted by Jared Lee Loughner on YouTube.
Update:
Suspect Jared Lee Loughner at the Tucson Festival of Books
Via Facebook and a SAVED Screen shot from the Daily Kos liberal website is a posting from a constituent who was very upset with the Congresswoman for not being liberal enough in her voting record. This screen shot has been REMOVED by the KOS now.
Click on image to enlarge image and read. This was posted January 6, two days ago.
Name: Jared Lee Loughner Channel Views: 271 Joined: October 25, 2010 Website: http://Myspace.com/fallenasleep About Me: My name is Jared Lee Loughner!
Hometown: Tucson Country: United States Schools: I attended school: Thornydale elementary,Tortolita Middle School, Mountain View Highschool, Northwest Aztec Middle College, and Pima Community College. Interests: My favorite interest was reading, and I studied grammar. Conscience dreams were a great study in college! Movies: (*My idiom: I could coin the moment!*) Music: Pass me the strings! Books: I had favorite books: Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Pulp,Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver’s Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno.
Update: Another video from Jared Lee Loughner’s Youtube page….this guy sounds like a lone nut job……..
PHOENIX — Favoring the constitutional right to bear arms over others’ concerns about gun safety, Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill making Arizona the third state allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without requiring a permit.
The measure takes effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends, which likely puts the effective date in July or August.
“I believe this legislation not only protects the Second Amendment rights of Arizona citizens, but restores those rights as well,” Brewer, a Republican, said in a statement….
By eliminating the permit requirement, the Arizona legislation will allow people 21 or older to forego background checks and classes that are now required.
Update: This story is from April, so yes, the new law is in effect now. But we don’t know if the weapon used was permitted or not. so not at direct issue in the Giffords shooting. But hopefully it will make Brewer and the state legislature reconsider this new law.
Update:The law was signed in April 2010, abd went into effect in July 2010.
This suspect, reported to be about 21, was able to carry a concealed weapon to this event BECAUSE of that law, and shoot a Congresswoman point blank in the head. ( END DAILY KOS POST)
UPDATE via Tyler Durden:
And below is a screengrab of his MySpace page before it was taken down, via @jhlaing
Update: Loughner’s YouTube account:
And from his personal details per his YouTube page:
Name:
Jared Lee Loughner
Channel Views:
271
Joined:
October 25, 2010
Website:
http://Myspace.com/fallenasleep
About Me:
My name is Jared Lee Loughner!
≈
Hometown:
Tucson
Country:
United States
Schools:
I attended school: Thornydale elementary,Tortolita Middle School, Mountain View Highschool, Northwest Aztec Middle College, and Pima Community College.
Interests:
My favorite interest was reading, and I studied grammar. Conscience dreams were a great study in college!
Movies:
(*My idiom: I could coin the moment!*)
Music:
Pass me the strings!
Books:
I had favorite books: Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Pulp,Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver’s Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno.
There is a fake Facebook profile being circulated which misspells the suspect’s name as “Laughner” and has a bunch of leftist stuff on there. If you check the time on it, it was just set up TODAY. My opinion is that some leftwing nutjob has done this so that we will pass it around. It is fake. Ignore it.
Update:
Aaron Klein of World Net Daily has found a high school/college friend of the suspect on Twitter who says he is “very left wing”
One user on Twitter, Caitie Parker, wrote she went to high school, college and was in a band with the gunman. She said she hadn’t seen him since 2007.
Parker wrote of Loughner, “As I knew him he was left wing, quite liberal and oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy.”
She also described him as “more left.”
Loughner also left a trail of bold political statements.
On his now deleted MySpace page, Loughner wrote a series of disjointed rants, including:
“If there’s no flag in the Constitution, then the flag in the film is unknown. There’s no flag in the Constitution. Therefore, the flag in the film is unknown. Burn every new and old flag that you see. Burn your flag!”
“I bet you can imagine this in your mind with a faster speed. Watch this protest in reverse! Ask the local police, ‘What’s your illegal activity on duty?’”
“If you protest the government, then there’s a new government from protesting. There’s not a new government from protesting. Thus, you aren’t protesting the government.”
Three months ago, Lougher made a YouTube video in which he proclaimed, “I know you’re illiterate! This is the greatest protest for exposure into a wrongful act. The school is breaking the Constitution. If you watch the video then you’ll understand. The teachers are taking advantage of you in the First and Fifth Amendment. The United States Constitution, which is the law, can be broken at this school.”
(end WND report)
Update:
More Tweets from Caitie Parker, a friend of the suspect. She says in her tweets that Jared Loughner met the Congresswoman in the past and thought she was “stupid.”
caitieparker Caitie Parker @ @antderosa he had a lot of friends until he got alcohol poisoning in ’06, & dropped out of school. Mainly loner very philosophical.1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
»
caitieparker Caitie Parker @ @antderosa As I knew him he was left wing, quite liberal. & oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy.1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
»
caitieparker Caitie Parker @ @antderosa he was a pot head & into rock like Hendrix,The Doors, Anti-Flag. I haven’t seen him in person since ’07 in a sign language class1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
»
caitieparker Caitie Parker @ @antderosa He was a political radical & met Giffords once before in ’07, asked her a question & he told me she was “stupid & unintelligent”1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
»
caitieparker Caitie Parker @ @antderosa I can. That is him.1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
@antderosa I went to high school, college, & was in a band with the gunman. This tragedy has just turned to horrific.1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
»
caitieparker Caitie Parker Official I went to high school & college, & was in a band w/ the gunman. I can’t even fathom this right now.1 hour ago FavoriteRetweetReply
»
caitieparker Caitie Parker Saying Jared Laughner was the gunman. Really hoping that’s not the same guy I went to HS with, really good friend. Freaking out right now!!!2 hours ago FavoriteRetweetReply
Note from Jane Jamison about the events today in Tucson.
With all due respect to all the victims, I think for the President and the other elected officials to elevate the Congresswoman into some kind of political martyr is premature and will proven to be incorrect. We have a loony tune lone wolf…. He is not the first, he will not be the last. My sympathies are for our families and troops who are serving this country. They are definitely fighting TRUE EVIL. If you scroll down to to what I posted earlier this morning, President obama was too damn busy to call the family of a fallen soldier, Sgt. Sean Collins, in December. TOO BUSY, but he had time to call and thank the Eagles for hiring a dog torturer like Michael Vick.
Today everyone has time to comment on the shooting of Giffords and smear conservatives while ignoring the facts that this was a LEFTWING lunatic.
I am sorry for the victims today, but this was a fluke. It certainly isn’t anything to blame Sarah Palin or the tea party for and shame on anyone who makes this political.
The definition of stupidity: repeating the same mistake over and over again in hopes of getting a different result.
In 2007, the state of Arizona was faced with a $600 million budget shortfall. So, they decided to raise taxes – on cigarettes. The taxes went up 12%. Since average tax revenue on cigarettes was $34 million a month, the tax was expected to bring in an extra $48 million a year. But what happened? Sales plummeted with smokers either cutting back on buying cigarettes or else buying them from Indian reservations (which are exempt from taxes). As a result, Arizona lost $48 million.
Do you think Maryland learned from Arizona’s mistake? Not a chance.
In 2008, Maryland couldn’t balance its budget, so it raised the taxes on millionaires.
Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O’Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were “willing and able to pay their fair share.” The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would “grin and bear it.”
By the next year, however, no one was ‘grinning’ as the state discovered that one-third of the millionaires had fled Maryland. Instead of an extra $106 million in revenue, the state lost $100 million.
So, did the state of Oregon learn from Maryland’s mistake? Again, not a chance.
In 2009, Oregon faced a massive budget shortfall – so they came up with what they figured was a brilliant solution.
Politicians determined a targeted tax against those top 2% of income earners in the state would prove beneficial in effectively raising needed revenue. Those politicians have been proven wrong – very wrong.
After passage of the new tax law in 2009, Oregon has seen its income tax revenues fall by nearly one-third. Leading up to its passage, Democratic Party lawmakers indicated the higher income tax rates on the wealthy would greatly assist the state in not having to make critical cuts to various government programs. Oregon’s liberal voters agreed. Now the state is facing even greater budget shortfalls as tax revenue has plunged.
It would appear that after the new tax law was enacted, big money fled Oregon for more income friendly locations such as Texas. And with businesses moving out, so too did present and future tax payers leave with those businesses. The end result is now a state government incapable of funding even its most basic services.
You have to ask yourself – when will liberals finally stop defining ‘stupidity’?
