Monthly Archives: January, 2023

(The Center Square) – Voters will now have their say on whether the bail system in Wisconsin should change.

The State Assembly on Thursday approved the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow judges to consider a suspect’s criminal history and level of danger when setting bail.

Republicans looked back to the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack that killed six and injured 60 others. It was that attack that gave some urgency to the plan, but Waukesha state Rep. Scott Allen said the massacre at the parade is, sadly, not the only time when a suspect was out on low or no bail and killed someone.

“Perhaps we could think of it as a one-off problem, but the reality is that the Brooks case is not an isolated incident,” Allen said during Thursday’s debate. “There are too many crimes occurring by individuals awaiting trial, with a lengthy record already attached to their name.”

The Wisconsin Constitution currently only allows judges to consider whether a suspect will return to court when setting bail. The proposed amendment would expand the options for judges, and allow them more latitude when deciding who to keep behind bars.

Democrats at the State Capitol argued the proposed amendment criminalizes poverty.

“When you use monetary funds as a way to determine if dangerous people should be held in custody or not, you are opening the door to creating a two-tied system,” Rep. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, said. “One that is focused on those who are poor, and one that is focused on those who have financial resources.

Allen said the changes won’t guarantee any more people will be held on any higher bails.

He said the amendment simply allows judges to keep some dangerous people behind bars for some dangerous crimes.

“We need to take away the shield from these soft-on-crime judges who are harming our communities,” Allen added. “And we need to give a better tool to judges who actually care about public safety.”

Rep Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, said, ultimately, the people of Wisconsin who now decide if they want to see the bail system changed in the state.

“We’re allowing it to go to a vote amongst the people, to see if it’s something that they agree with,” Neylon explained. “This is a very positive step. And I don’t want to lose sight of that when we start to poke holes in the original system.”

The Wisconsin Senate approved the same amendment earlier this week. Voters will have their say on the question in April.

Sales of existing homes fell 17.8% in 2022, marking the weakest sales performance since 2014 as interest rates climbed.

Interest rates rose quickly last year, a factor that weighed on the residential real estate market. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.15% as of Jan. 19, down from 6.33% last week, but up from 3.56% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.

Sales of previously owned homes declined 17.8% last year from 2021 to 5.03 million, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Previously owned homes account for most home sales.

Existing-home sales dropped for the 11th consecutive month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million. Sales fell 1.5% from November and 34.0% from one year ago.

"December was another difficult month for buyers, who continue to face limited inventory and high mortgage rates," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "However, expect sales to pick up again soon since mortgage rates have markedly declined after peaking late last year."

The median existing-home sales price climbed 2.3% from the previous year to $366,900. It marked 130 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, the longest-running streak on record.

"Home prices nationwide are still positive, though mildly," Yun said. "Markets in roughly half of the country are likely to offer potential buyers discounted prices compared to last year."

The annual share of first-time home buyers was 26%, the lowest since the association began tracking the data.

(The Center Square) – A group of Republican U.S. senators and House members want the Biden administration to explain what they called a reckless decision to expand immigration parole programs.

The letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday morning says the Biden administration continues to worsen the border crisis. The also called the decision to expand the programs radical.

“Since the day they took office, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have purposefully and maliciously eroded our nation’s border security. They have presided over the worst border crisis we’ve seen in decades and more illegal immigration than any administration in recent history. Now, they aim to sidestep Congress and the law by granting parole to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants,” said Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, said Mayorkas testified immigrant parole is judged on a case-by-case basis, but the congressman said he has seen evidence to support that testimony.

“Instead, his department is abusing the parole authority to mass-release hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens into the country. The department’s latest announcement reveals that it will continue to proceed and even accelerate this abuse as parole grants will increase by 33% from just last month. It’s unclear where the department derives legal authority to parole groups of this size and how this policy change enhances border security. As usual, the department has some explaining to do and I’m grateful for Senator Vance’s partnership in this effort,” Biggs said.

The letter said the Biden administration created the worst border crisis in U.S. history in the first year of Mayorkas’ leadership and became worse in the administration’s second year. It says 30,000 monthly increases in paroles under the policy would be a 33% increase over the parole totals from December.

“In the wake of its own failures to effectively address the border crisis, the Biden Administration has also prohibited states from implementing policies to deal with illegal immigration themselves and limited the tools available to border patrol agents,” the letter reads. “This administration cannot continue its erosion of the southern border and its mass-parole of migrants into our country. A secure country demands secure borders.”

The letter asked for Mayorkas to respond by Jan. 27.

The letter was also signed by Republican Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana; Ted Budd of North Carolina; Bill Cassidy of Louisiana; Ted Cruz of Texas; Josh Hawley of Missouri; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming; Eric Schmitt of Missouri; and Rick Scott of Florida.

It was also signed by Republican U.S. Reps. Brian Babin, Beth Van Duyne, Michael Cloud, Lance Gooden, Ronny Jackson and Randy Weber of Texas; Jim Banks of Indiana; Dan Bishop of North Carolina; Lauren Boebert and Ken Buck of Colorado; Eric Burlison of Missouri; Eli Crane, Debbie Lesko and Paul Gosar of Arizona; Warren Davidson of Ohio; Matt Gaetz of Florida; Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia; Diana Harshbarger and Andy Ogles of Tennessee; Tom McClintock of California; Ralph Norman of South Carolina; Matt Rosendale of Montana; and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin.

Children under age 14 are dying from fentanyl poisoning at a faster rate than any other age group in the U.S., according to a new analysis from Families Against Fentanyl.

In the past two years, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among children surged.

Fentanyl-related deaths among infants (children under age one) quadrupled from 2019 to 2021; more than tripled among children between the ages of 1 and 4 and nearly quadrupled among children between the ages of 5 and 14.

Since 2015, fentanyl-related deaths among infants increased nearly 10-fold; among children ages 1 to 14, deaths increased 15-fold, an increase of over 1,400%, FAF said.

Nationally, fentanyl deaths also doubled over the same time period.

The majority of deaths were poisonings, meaning they resulted from fentanyl being ingested without the person’s knowledge. In 2021, less than 1% of fentanyl-related fatalities were suicides.

FAF reported its findings in a newly published brief, “The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths,” which evaluated Center for Disease Control data of fentanyl poisoning fatalities.

“These disturbing new findings should serve as a wake-up call to our nation's leaders,’” Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl, said. He again called on President Joe Biden to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction “and immediately establish a White House task force dedicated to the fentanyl crisis.”

“Americans deserve to know what is being done to save lives, and what is being done to uncover and stop the international manufacturers and traffickers of illicit fentanyl,” Rauh added. “This is the number one killer of our nation’s young adults. It is killing more and more children each year. It’s time to treat this threat with the urgency it deserves.”

It announced its findings after the DEA issued several public safety alerts last year about fentanyl and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody warned of Mexican cartels targeting young Americans with rainbow fentanyl pills, fake prescription pills that look like candy but are laced with fentanyl.

The DEA last month announced that in 2022, it seized enough fentanyl to kill more than everyone in the U.S. Texas law enforcement officers, as of Jan. 13 and since March 2021, have seized over 356 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill more than everyone in the United States. Last year, in a few months’ time, Florida law enforcement officers seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in Florida.

Two milligrams of fentanyl, the size of a mosquito, is lethal enough to kill a grown adult and is 100 times more potent than morphine.

In early January, Moody called on Biden to demand that Mexico take action to prevent fentanyl from pouring across the border. She said she was “deeply concerned” because in his meetings with the Mexican president they didn’t appear “to discuss the deluge of illicit fentanyl flooding across our border from Mexico or the record number of Americans dying because of your failure to take action and stop the unmitigated flow of this deadly poison.”

Biden has also “failed to demand accountability and cooperation during previous meetings with both Obrador and Chinese President Xi Jinping,” Moody said.

Both countries have been identified by U.S. federal and state law enforcement agencies for creating the illicit fentanyl crisis. Chinese mafia and gangs ship fentanyl precursors to Mexican ports, where cartels and their operatives manufacture fake prescription pills and lace other drugs with fentanyl, fueling the fentanyl crisis, the DEA and other agencies say.

Traffickers then bring deadly drugs across the border using migrant warfare as a way to distract and avoid law enforcement, experts say.

The DEA has published several public safety alerts about the dangers of fentanyl. Florida has also published resources through its Dose of Reality, One Pill Can Kill website. It’s Fast Facts on Fentanyl toolkit includes a DEA Emoji Drug Code to educate parents about how dealers are selling illicit drugs targeting minors through social media apps.

FAF points out that synthetic opioid (fentanyl) poisoning is still the leading cause of death among Americans between ages 18 and 45.

Americans are encouraged to have Naloxone on hand, a drug that’s proven to reverse opioid overdoses and fentanyl poisoning if administered quickly enough. It’s available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It’s accessible for free and low cost online, through a range of community organizations, and through pharmacies with and without a prescription and with or without insurance.

Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

King’s powerful plea for equal rights has resonated with Americans ever since, in no small part because his message was wrapped in an enlightened patriotism. He understood that the best way to fight bigotry was by returning to the vision of universal human dignity the American Founders articulated in our nation’s founding documents.

In 1963, African Americans faced intense oppression. Segregation laws and widespread racial prejudice denied them equal opportunity. America clearly wasn’t living up to the Founders’ ideal of human equality, so it’s easy to understand why many Black Americans felt alienated from their country and wanted revolutionary change.

King, however, did not repudiate his American heritage. If anything, he clung more closely to it.

At the Lincoln Memorial, he said:

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men – yes, Black men as well as white men – would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (emphasis added).

In King’s mind, the solution to the injustices of American life could be discovered right in the very documents that birthed our country. King wanted to extend the same benefits of citizenship to African Americans who had been excluded from them for so long. He “refuse[d] to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

King fought so that all Americans would be treated fairly and given equal opportunities for success. His faith was that we could fight racial injustice in our role as patriotic citizens. Rather than the extremes of revolutionary violence or defeatist retreat, he argued that “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”

King believed that by respecting one another as equals in citizenship, both white and Black Americans could work together to fulfill the promises of the founding.

There is a lot that divides Americans today. But there is so much more that unites us. By laying claim to our nation’s founding principles, King showed Americans today how we can reinvigorate citizenship by living up to the promises at the heart of the American Founding.

Afghan nationals housed at U.S. bases overseas and in six states cost military branches more than $535 million in damages and consumables according to findings released by the Department of Defense inspector general. A Texas congressman is now demanding answers.

Those housed at eight military bases in the six states cost the bases $362.63 million in depleted resources and damages to facilities. This included $257.48 million in damages to base facilities, making some buildings and infrastructure unusable for U.S. troops, and over $105 million in equipment and replaceable consumable items used, and weakening military readiness.

Afghan-related damages totaled more than $150 million at U.S. bases in Germany, more than $3 million in bases in Spain and Germany and over $20 million at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

The inspector general findings reveal the U.S. Army reported the greatest domestic base losses of $188.81 million, followed by the Air Force’s $150.14 million.

In August 2021, President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan, turning it over to the Taliban, the Islamic terrorist organization U.S. troops fought for 20 years.

Leaving thousands of Americans stranded, and over $7 billion worth of weapons, ammunition and equipment, the Department of Defense “executed the largest airlift in U.S. history, evacuating more than 120,000 people from Afghanistan in just 17 days,” the report states. Thirteen service members were killed during the withdrawal.

Afghans were housed in U.S. military bases through February 2022; as their visas were processed they were released into the U.S.

In the U.S., they were housed at Fort Bliss in Texas; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey; Fort McCoy in Wisconsin; Camp Atterbury in Indiana; Fort Pickett, Fort Lee and Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia; and Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, with the majority being housed at Fort McCoy, Fort Bliss and Fort Pickett.

But at least 44,000 weren’t housed in military bases whose whereabouts were unknown within months of entering the U.S., prompting U.S. senators to demand answers from Department of Homeland Security.

According to the report, damages caused by “guests” were described by Air Force officials as “unrepairable.”

“Air Force officials described tables, chairs, and cots broken by guests and tents and cots ruined by spray paint, human biological matter, and holes,” the report states; materials were “completely depleted, such that no materials remain available for other real-world missions.”

Holloman AFB said Afghans depleted $18 million worth of their medical equipment.

“There were at least $2.5 million in damages to Navy installations that did not have permits to house refugees,” the report states.

Only $259.5 million in restoration and repair funding requests for the eight bases resulting from OAW was approved, due to technicalities. The report notes that the Deputy Secretary of Defense authorized funds to be limited to specific repairs and restoration activities three months after assessment of damages was presented.

Due to several factors, the DOD was holding bases responsible to pay at least $103.1 million worth of damages from their own budgets. Costs include replenishing depleted stocks of medical equipment, repairing infrastructure, refilling supplies of consumable goods, and restoring basic facility items.

Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez, whose district includes Fort Bliss, expressed “alarm” about the findings of the report in a letter to Defense Department officials.

“I am alarmed by how these bases will be required to cover the costs of these damages because of their efforts to support Afghan evacuees,” he wrote.

“I am equally troubled by the report’s negative assessment of OAW’s impact on military readiness, which details ongoing disruptions to training exercises,” he said, adding that the DOD denying reimbursement requests for repair costs due to a technicality and the DOD’s “procrastination in issuing restoration directives” was unacceptable.

“While our military continues to feel the strains caused by the withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is essential that all affected entities are returned to their full operational capacity as soon as possible,” he said. “As the United States faces a global environment steeped in rising instability, it is critical that our military forces have the resources necessary to maintain a constant state of readiness.”

Gonzalez also requested the DOD explain when base repairs would be completed and “how the costs to repair the damages to these facilities will shortchange the activities for other military readiness priorities.”

The DOD also didn’t approve all requests made by the bases overseas or by the Marine Corps.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday he has appointed Robert Hur as special counsel to lead the investigation into President Joe Biden after classified documents were found at Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center and at his home in Delaware.

Garland said the investigation will determine “whether any person or entity violated the law in this matter.”

“I will ensure that Mr. Hur receives all the resources he needs to conduct his work,” Garland said. “This appointment underscores for the public the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”

Garland said that in November of last year, the National Archives Office of Inspector General reached out to the Department of Justice. The IG told the DOJ that they had been informed by the White House that classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C.

“That office was not authorized for storage of classified documents,” Garland said. “The [DOJ] prosecutor was also advised that those documents had also been secured at an archives facility. On November 9, the FIB commenced an assessment, consistent with standard protocols, to understand whether classified information had been mishandled in violation of federal law.”

Garland said that on Dec. 20, Biden’s personal counsel told the DOJ that more documents with classified markings were found in Biden’s private garage in Wilmington, Delaware. Those also came from during Biden’s time as vice president.

“The FBI went to the location and secured those documents,” Garland said.

Biden admitted during a news conference Thursday that he did have classified documents in his garage, next to his corvette.

"By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, OK?" Biden said. "So, it’s not like they’re sitting out in the street."

Biden said his lawyers "discovered a small number of documents with classified markings in storage areas and in file cabinets in my home and my ... in my personal library. This was done in the case of the Biden Penn – this was done in the case of the Biden Penn Center. The Department of Justice was immediately – as was done, the Department of Justice was immediately ... notified, and the lawyers arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of the document."

"So you’re going to see," he added. "We’re going to see all this unfold. I'm confident."

Garland said that Biden’s personal counsel reached out to the DOJ yet again Thursday, having found another document with classified markings.

U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has also launched an investigation into the classified documents

As The Center Square previously reported, Comer sent a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration and the White House Counsel’s Office demanding answers.

“The Committee is concerned that President Biden has compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents,” the letter to Biden’s White House Counsel said. “Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice and NARA have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority.”

(The Center Square) – TikTok is now banned from state government in Wisconsin.

Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday signed an executive order that forbids people from installing or using the app on state phones, tablets and computers.

“Defending our state's technology and cybersecurity infrastructure and protecting digital privacy will continue to be a top priority,” Evers said in a statement.

His order comes after a flood of calls from Republicans to ban TikTok because of the company’s Chinese ownership.

Republicans say TikTik’s owners could track Americans, access their data, and censor the news that American users see.

The governor said he decided on the ban after speaking with the FBI and Wisconsin’s emergency preparedness managers.

“I trust professionals who work in cybersecurity, and it was important for me to consult with and get advice from experts in law enforcement, cybersecurity and counterintelligence to make the best decision to protect state technologies, and ultimately, the people of Wisconsin,” the governor added. “We've had regular conversations with our partners, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and other counterintelligence specialists in making this decision. This order ensures we remain vigilant in monitoring new technologies and evolving cybersecurity issues.”

Evers’ order, among other things:

● Directs state agencies to bar certain foreign technologies, including TikTok, as well as other certain vendors and software, from being utilized, connected to, or installed on state-issued devices, which includes but is not limited to desktop computers, laptops, tablets, cellular phones, and other mobile devices.

● Reiterates that the state should continually reevaluate and identify applications and vendors that could present a potential risk to state information or state information systems, as they currently do, as well as monitor and update the directives of the order based on new and emerging information.

● Directs the Department of Administration’s Division of Enterprise Technology to use its authority to identify foreign vendors that might pose security risks to the state and to implement safeguards to protect state interests.

(The Center Square) – One of the authors of Wisconsin’s proposed constitutional amendments on bail reform doesn’t understand why opponents don’t want judges to have the full picture of people in their courtrooms.

Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield, told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber Thursday that it doesn’t make sense to limit a judge to only considering whether someone is a flight risk when setting bail.

“This is common sense,” Duchow said. “Why wouldn’t we want a judge to look at your past criminal convictions and your danger to society when setting bail? Why wouldn’t we want the judge to have the full picture of the criminal when making these decisions? I don’t know why giving them all of the information is a bad idea.”

Duchow started working on the bail reform proposal back in 2017, but it gained momentum after Darrell Brooks Jr. killed six people and injured 60 others in his attack on the Waukesha Christmas Parade.

Duchow said a Milwaukee County judge released Brooks on $1,000 bail just days before the attack, despite his long criminal history.

“This will help us hold those Milwaukee judges’ feet to the fire,” Duchow added. “I am hoping that the elected officials in Milwaukee will step up and say to these judges ‘It’s time to be reasonable. We can’t let someone with 20 past convictions for beating-up someone back on the street.’”

Duchow’s amendment passed both the state Assembly and Senate last year, with support from both Republicans and Democrats. The amendment had a hearing this week in both an Assembly and Senate committee.

The hope is to vote again on the amendment in time to get it on the April ballot.

Duchow hopes to have Democratic support this time around as well.

“I know that, for sure, I’ve got a couple that are going to sign-on and vote with us next week,” Duchow said of Democrats. “They’re the ones who have the biggest problems. They’re the ones who should be asking for this.”