Monthly Archives: December, 2021

(The Center Square) – More police officers in the U.S. died in 2021 than any other year officer fatalities have been recorded, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 28, 2021, 358 active duty officers died. That's compared to 296 over the same time period last year, the Memorial Fund reports. Fire-arms related deaths were up 31%; traffic-related deaths were up 30%.

Last year’s numbers were significant because officer deaths in 2020 were the second-highest the Memorial Fund recorded since 1930, when 312 officers died.

Deaths the Memorial Fund recorded in 2021 topped those figures.

As of November 30, 2021, 314 officers were shot in the line of duty, of which 58 were killed, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) reports. Ambush style attacks were also up 126%, a worrying trend, it notes.

The most officers shot in the line of duty this year were in Texas, with 42 officers shot, followed by 25 shot in Illinois and 21 shot in California, according to FOP data.

The number of officer shootings and deaths varies by the agency or group reporting the data and the criteria being used.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 479 officers died in 2021. The majority, 322, died from or with COVID-19. The next highest cause of death was gun-related, with 61 dying from gunfire and inadvertent gunfire, the group reports.

The FOP reports that 836 officers died this year from or with COVID-19, based on a compilation of news reports, which it states haven’t all been verified. The state that lost the most officers reportedly to the coronavirus was in Texas, losing 194 officers. Florida had the next highest loss of 74, followed by California’s 64.

According to FBI data, 70 law enforcement officers were fatally wounded in 2021, with 25 being victims of unprovoked attacks. Another 56 died from accidents, with 31 dying in a motor vehicle crash.

Felonious deaths accounted for a 55.8% increase in the first 11 months of 2021, the FBI reports, with southern states reporting the most of these deaths.

In 2021, unprovoked attacks continued to outpace all other circumstances of felonious officer deaths, the FBI found.

“Every felonious attack on a law enforcement officer, especially by gunfire, is disturbing regardless of the circumstances,” the FOP says. “Officers are always susceptible to life-threatening attacks and therefore must always be vigilant and maintain the highest level of situational awareness. In most cases, officers are able to quickly assess situations, recognize threats, and take adequate defensive actions. Tragically, not every threat can be seen or mitigated.”

Ambush-style and other calculated attacks on law enforcement officers are carried out with an element of surprise intended to prevent the officers from being able to defend themselves, the FOP said.

“Premeditated attacks contribute to a worrisome desensitization to evil acts that were once largely considered taboo except by the most depraved,” the FOP added.

In 2020, 49% of shooting incidents involved a discernible element of premeditation, a 7% increase from 2019, the FOP reports.

(The Center Square) – It’s now the Wisconsin Assembly’s turn to consider what to do with the staggering 55,000 regulations for hunting and trapping in the state.

The Assembly’s Committee on Sporting Heritage on Wednesday held a hearing on AB 676, which would require the state’s Department of Natural Resources toss three regulations for every new rule it puts into place.

“For decades, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been putting-up burdensome and unnecessary regulations that get in the way of enjoying the great outdoors,” Rep. Calvin Callahan, R-Tomahawk, told lawmakers. “As Wisconsinites we understand the need to conserve our resources, however over-regulation is not the way to do it.”

Callahan wrote the proposal. He says the DNR should be making it easier for people to get outside and hunt, fish, or trap.

“The DNR has more than 55,000 regulations, which is more than any other state agency,” Callahan explained. “By comparison, of the next three state agencies with the most regulatory restrictions, the Department of Health Services has 17,000. The Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection has 15,000 and the Department of Safety and Professional Services also has 15,000.”

But Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, pressed Callahan on whether requiring DNR to remove three rules for every new rule will stop other reforms that lawmakers agree to.

“Doesn’t this just lead to more red tape?” Spreitzer asked.

A Wisconsin Senate committee has already approved the plan.

Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, said he wants a few more answers before he’s ready to send the plan for a vote in the full Assembly.

“If the DNR is continuing to place burden upon burden on the hunters of Wisconsin, then I think your bill has more merit,” Sortwell said Wednesday. “If the DNR has stagnated at [55,000 regulations] and that’s what it appears that we need in order to manage everything properly for hunters and sportsmen in Wisconsin, then maybe the bill has less merit.”

The U.S. murder rate is at its highest level in nearly two and half decades. A total of 21,570 murders were committed nationwide in 2020, up nearly 30% from the previous year -- the largest annual increase on record.

The rash of deadly violence came during a tumultuous year in American history. The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures and left millions of Americans out of work. The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer rattled confidence in American law enforcement and sparked nationwide protests. Firearms sales soared, resulting in the proliferation of tens of millions of new guns. Here is a look at the states where gun sales are surging.

Some experts speculate that each of these factors likely played a role in the rising homicide rate. While it may be years before the precise causal factors are identified, the effects are being felt in communities across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists homicide as a contributing factor in the historic 1.5 year decline in life expectancy in the U.S. last year -- trailing only COVID-19 and accidental deaths, like drug overdoses, in significance.

There were a total of 308 murders in Wisconsin in 2020, or 5.3 for every 100,000 people -- the 23rd lowest murder rate among states. For comparison, the national homicide rate stands at 6.5 per 100,000.

Along with rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, murder is one component of the broader violent crime category. Just as Wisconsin has a lower than average murder rate, its overall violent crime rate is also lower than average. There were a total of 323 violent crimes reported for every 100,000 people in the state in 2020, compared to 399 per 100,000 nationwide.

All data used in this story, including population figures used to calculate population-adjusted crime rates, is from the FBI's 2020 Uniform Crime Report.

RankGeoMurders per 100,000 people, 2020Total murders, 2020Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 20201Louisiana15.87346392Missouri11.87235433Arkansas10.63216723Mississippi10.63152915South Carolina10.55495316Alabama9.64714546Tennessee9.66636738Illinois9.11,1514268Maryland9.155340010Georgia8.894340011North Carolina8.085241912Pennsylvania7.91,00939013New Mexico7.816477814Michigan7.675447815Indiana7.550535816Delaware7.47343216Oklahoma7.429645918Kentucky7.232325919Ohio7.082030920Arizona6.951348521Alaska6.74983822Texas6.61,93144722West Virginia6.611735624Virginia6.152420925Florida5.91,29038426Nevada5.718046027California5.62,20344228Wisconsin5.330832329Colorado5.129442330Montana5.05447031South Dakota4.54050132New York4.280836432North Dakota4.23232934Connecticut3.914018234Washington3.930129436New Jersey3.732919537Nebraska3.66933438Iowa3.511130439Kansas3.410042539Minnesota3.419027841Utah3.110226141Wyoming3.11823443Rhode Island3.03223144Hawaii2.94125444Oregon2.912529246Massachusetts2.316030947Idaho2.24124347Vermont2.21417349Maine1.62210950New Hampshire0.912146

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin’s Elections Commission has determined the so-called Zuckerbucks are not technically illegal.

Elections commissioners on Wednesday sided with a staff attorney who wrote "the Commission finds that the complaint does not raise probable cause to believe that a violation of law or abuse of discretion has occurred.”

Attorney Eric Kaardal, special counsel with the Thomas More Society representing the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, is challenging the $8.8 million the Mark Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life sent to local election managers in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Racine, and Kenosha last year.

“I don’t think the Wisconsin Elections Commission clarified anything,” Kaardal told The Center Square Thursday.

But, Kaardal said the decision is needed in order to move the legal challenge to the Zuckerbucks into a courtroom.

“We just need to go to the circuit court judges and get them to agree that we can’t have election officials in Wisconsin taking $8.8 million for increasing votes in their respective jurisdictions without legislative approval,” Kaardal explained.

Kaardal plans to file his appeal to WEC’s decision in the next four to eight weeks, and hopes to have the case before a judge not long after that.

In addition to challenging WEC’s decision in court, Kaardal and the Voter Alliance plan to go back before the Elections Commission to challenge the Zuckerbucks funding under Wisconsin’s election bribery law.

“The 800 pound gorilla is the Wisconsin election bribery statute,” Kaardal said. “Wisconsin statute 12.11 really shows the commitment of Wisconsin lawmakers that they really don’t want people accepting money to induce voters to go to the polls.”

Kaardal said WEC “punted” on that question in its ruling on Wednesday.

“Why is this election bribery? Why in Wisconsin do we have a law that says a person can’t take money to induce people to go to the polls,” Kaardal asked. “I think the reason is that Wisconsin thinks it’s wrong, morally wrong and legally wrong, for public officials to go to the polls.”

Kaardall expects to file his election bribery challenge with the Elections Commission soon.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate Wednesday night sent the Biden administration a message: Congress' upper chamber does not support the president's vaccine mandate on private businesses.

With two Democratic senators joining all 50 Republicans, the Senate voted 52-48 to repeal President Joe Biden's executive mandate requiring that private-sector employers with 100 or more workers ensure their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or face weekly testing. Businesses that didn't follow the directive were to face stiff fines.

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Jon Tester, D-Montana, joined Republicans in rebuking the mandate.

While the measure, introduced by Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled U.S. House, federal courts already have halted Biden's private-sector and other vaccine mandates, saying they amount to executive overreach.

"We've seen two consistent patterns in the past few months: the Biden Administration announcing extraordinarily aggressive new mandates intruding into the private decisions of businesses and citizens, and courts striking them down as illegal,” Daniel Suhr, managing attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, which has represented clients challenging Biden's vaccine mandates, told The Center Square before the Senate vote.

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans shot down the private mandate last month, citing "grave" constitutional concerns.

“The Mandate threatens to substantially burden the liberty interests of reluctant individual recipients put to a choice between their job(s) and their jab(s)," the court wrote.

Other federal courts also have halted Biden's vaccine mandates on federal contractors and most U.S. health care workers.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said the White House would appeal the courts' decisions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Psaki said on Tuesday that the president would veto any repeal if it landed on his desk.

"We certainly hope the Senate, Congress, will stand up to the anti-vaccine and testing crowd," she said. "We're going to continue to work to implement these. If it comes to the president's desk, he will veto it."

(The Center Square) – Democrats have argued that the tax reforms implemented through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) only benefited the rich, and that the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) will help middle-and working-class Americans the most.

But several nonpartisan groups found that the TCJA reduced the tax burden for the middle- and working-class by up to 87% and, they argue, the $2.4 trillion BBBA – before the U.S. Senate this week – would increase taxes on the middle- and working-class by up to 40%.

A new analysis published by the Heartland Institute found that the TCJA reduced the average effective income tax rates for taxpayers in every income tax bracket – but the lower- and middle-class saw the greatest benefits – with the lowest-income filers receiving the largest tax cuts.

The poorest Americans, with adjusted gross income of between $5,000 and $10,000, paid 87.65% less in taxes as a result of the Republican-passed TCJA. Whereas their wealthier counterparts, reporting an adjusted gross income of between $5 million and $10 million, paid 3.5% less in taxes.

IRS data also show that middle- and working-class Americans received tax cuts of between 11% and 88% in 2018, at least double that of wealthier taxpayers, with those making between $500,000 and $1 million receiving single-digit cuts.

Filers with an adjusted gross income of between $30,000 and $40,000 paid roughly 18.41% less; those with incomes between $40,000 to $50,000 paid 18.2% less; and those with $50,000 to $75,000 in income paid roughly 17% less, according to 2018 IRS data analyzed.

“Based on tax data from 2017 and 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced taxes for the vast majority of filers, led to substantial improvements in upward economic mobility, and disproportionately benefited working- and middle-class households, many of which experienced tax cuts topping 18 percent to 20 percent,” the Heartland Institute reports.

Paying less in taxes also improved lower- and middle-income Americans’ standard of living and upward mobility, the institute found, meaning more moved out of poverty, according to IRS data.

The number of those in the lowest income bracket with an adjusted gross income of $1,000 to $25,000 decreased by more than 2 million filers in one year. Households that reported incomes greater than $25,000 increased in every single income bracket over the same year.

The greatest increase in the number of filers was in the $100,000 to $200,000 income bracket, with more than 1 million additional filers in 2018 than in 2017.

While Democrats continue to claim that the TCJA gave tax breaks to the rich, IRS data show that higher-income earners paid more in taxes in 2018 than they did in 2017.

For example, those who reported income of $500,000 or more in 2017 paid 38.9% of all personal income tax revenues; in 2018, their share of taxes accounted for 41.5%.

The Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit Tax Foundation explains among other things that the TCJA reformed the individual income tax code by lowering tax rates on wages, investment and business income, broadened the tax base, and simplified the tax code. It also significantly lowered the corporate income tax rate to 21% and “moved the United States from a worldwide to a territorial system of taxation.”

The financial gains seen by lower-earning Americans resulting from the TCJA could be erased if the Democrats’ BBB Act were passed, several analyses show.

The Tax Policy Center found that “taking into account all major tax provisions, roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of middle-income households would pay more in taxes in 2022” as a result of the BBBA tax changes.

President Joe Biden pledged during his campaign to not increase taxes on those earning less than $400,000 a year. But the Tax Policy Center notes that this wouldn’t be the case and many households would again pay higher taxes in 2023 than in 2022.

Likewise, the BBBA would also “shrink the average 2023 tax cuts for low-income households, raise taxes slightly for moderate-income households, and increase taxes significantly for the highest-income households,” the center notes.

The Tax Foundation estimates that the House version of the BBB Act “would reduce long-run economic output by nearly 0.5 percent and eliminate about 125,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the United States. It would also reduce average after-tax incomes for taxpayers across every income quintile over the long run.”

Democratic changes to SALT (state and local tax0 deductions would also “provide little or no benefit for low and middle-income households but [would] generate a substantial tax windfall for those with much higher incomes,” the Tax Policy Center calculates.

And the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues the Democrats’ SALT deduction changes don’t qualify as “middle-class tax relief.”

“There’s no way to justify these tax cuts as ‘middle-class’ tax relief,” it said. “They are particularly egregious given that BBB aims to provide the most help for low- and middle-income households while reducing tax advantages for wealthy households.”