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Fox Hosts Reject Reality On Crime, Inflation, Energy And Migration

Fox Hosts Reject Reality On Crime, Inflation, Energy And Migration

In recent weeks, multiple Fox personalities have been in denial of objective reality that under the Biden-Harris administration, especially in recent months, violent crime has declined, inflation is steadily declining, oil and natural gas production are at record highs, and unauthorized border crossings have plummeted.

Statistics show violent crime dropped since 2021, but Fox is claiming the opposite

On September 23, the FBI released its annual crime statistics estimates, which showed a three percent decline in violent crime nationwide, including an 11.6 percent drop in “murder and non-negligent manslaughter.” These statistics were widely reported, and The New York Times noted that this continues a pattern of declining murder rates under the Biden-Harris administration, with the decline in murders showing “the largest year-to-year decline since national record-keeping began in 1960.”

Yet Fox, which spent more than half the year running nearly 1,000 weekday segments on the bogus “migrant crime” narrative, has denied these statistics showing a drop in violent crime.

  • Fox News anchor Dana Perino: “So much for crime being down.” Perino, reacting to a chaotic video from Philadelphia, suggested it was evidence that statistics showing a drop in crime were not reflective of reality. Fox host Greg Gutfeld claimed, “The statistics that the FBI uses aren't taken seriously because they’re limited. They don't pass the smell test.” [Fox News, The Five, 9/24/24]
  • Fox host Harris Faulkner confusingly suggested that statistics may not show a decrease in violent crime — immediately after acknowledging that they do. On her program, Faulkner said: “So crime down — what about violent crime? Because that’s the part that is changing people’s lives.” Moments prior to this, Faulkner said: “The White House is praising new FBI statistics which indicate violent crime is down across the nation. However, the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics have some numbers that tell a very different story.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 9/24/24]
  • Fox host Jeanine Pirro falsely claimed there has been an “increase in crime” and that Vice President Kamala Harris is responsible for it. [Fox News, The Five, 9/24/24]

Inflation has plummeted from its peak in 2022, yet Fox claims it's at “record highs”

Multiple measures of inflation have plummeted since their mid-2022 peak. Both the consumer price index and the personal consumption expenditures price index measures show 2.5 percent inflation — near the Federal Reserve’s two percent PCE target — and the producer price index measure shows a lower 1.7 percent. The improving inflation picture has at last galvanized the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, much to Fox’s displeasure. Yet Fox continues to cover inflation in a misleading manner, falsely claiming that it is currently at “record highs.”

  • Fox host Jesse Watters falsely claimed “inflation [is] at record highs.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 9/24/24]
  • Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt: “The truth is, inflation is high. That’s why prices are up.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/20/24]
  • Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo: Harris lacks a “plan to take inflation down because she doesn’t have an understanding of what took us to 40-year highs.” Prior to Bartiromo saying this, her program aired a graphic showing the annual CPI inflation measurement declining significantly from its peak of 9.1 percent more than two years ago to its current level of 2.5 percent. [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 9/20/24]

Data shows record oil and natural gas production over past two years, but Fox denies it

American energy production is experiencing record highs under the Biden-Harris administration. In addition, the U.S. is on track to be the world’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas for the second year in a row and is the largest supplier of LNG to Europe. In 2023, U.S. crude oil production, at an average of 12.9 million barrels per day, surpassed the record set in 2019, and the Energy Information Administration has forecasted a new record of 13.25 million barrels per day this year.

  • Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade: “We’re not” leading in natural gas and oil production. Kilmeade continued: “Don't let anybody tell you our oil and gas production is high.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/25/24]
  • Kilmeade falsely claimed there was double the daily production of oil under Trump compared to the Biden-Harris administration. Kilmeade said: “When she talked about there’s more oil production under us than under you, she’s wrong. It was 4 million barrels a day under Trump. It was 2 million barrels under Biden-Harris. So, that's totally inaccurate.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/13/24]

Far fewer unauthorized border crossings, yet Fox uses legal immigration data to disprove it

Report after report has shown that unauthorized border crossings in the Southwest have plummeted in recent months compared to previous years in the Biden-Harris administration. Even Fox News reported a huge drop in apprehensions at the border.

Yet Fox continues to challenge the data showing a huge drop in unauthorized border crossings by insisting that the number of people using the administration’s programs to entice immigrants to enter legally should be added to border crossing numbers. This denial of reality and goalpost shifting bears similarities to the rhetoric of Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, who has been purposefully referring to authorized migrants as “illegal aliens” after stirring up hate against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, with false smears.

  • Fox correspondent Bill Melugin: Data showing “illegal crossings … have been down significantly” is “not a true reflection of the amount of people who are being allowed into the country.” Melugin suggested that data showing unauthorized border crossings plummeting in 2024 isn’t genuine, citing programs from the Biden-Harris administration to increase legal immigration. [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 9/17/24]
  • Fox host Laura Ingraham: Harris can only claim “our numbers are down” for unauthorized border crossings because immigrants are “coming through the ports of entry” legally and “bringing in people under ‘legal’ cover … from four countries.” Melugin added: “We’re talking, like, 70,000 to 80,000 people per month between these two programs that come into the U.S. quote-unquote ‘lawfully,’ and they never get counted in the border numbers now. They’re not illegal crossings, so they don't show up in Border Patrol numbers. So yeah, those numbers have fallen off a cliff, but if you look at the port-of-entry numbers, those numbers are skyrocketing. They’re bringing tens of thousands of people in every single month via these lawful programs, and it’s been effective at pushing those illegal crossings down.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 9/9/24]
  • Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy decried legal immigration programs: The administration “can artificially keep their numbers low and pretend that they're actually doing something on the border when, in fact, they're doing the opposite. They’re increasing them.” Campos-Duffy cited Fox contributor and former Trump administration Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan to claim that legal immigration programs enacted by the Biden-Harris administration are “in place to change the numbers so those people … are not counted in the illegal crossings.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 8/31/24]

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Jewish Voters

Why Jewish Voters Should Reject Donald Trump

Dear Fellow Jewish American,

I beg you to consider the consequences of a Trump victory.

In the aftermath of October 7, we've seen an ugly new chapter in left-wing antisemitism. Left-wing activists on campuses and elsewhere adorned their posters with images of hang gliders, delighting, one must assume, in the acts committed when those gliders touched down. Some ripped down posters of hostages and refused for months to acknowledge the brutal rapes of Israeli women and girls (so much for "believe all women").

While the plight of the Palestinians has been a progressive cause for decades, leftists had never before gleefully embraced Hamas slogans and even Hamas flags.

It horrified some Democrats right into Trump's arms. And yet, even if your principal concern this election year is the welfare of the Jewish people, Trump is the wrong choice.

Trump recently warned that if he loses in November, "the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss." As a sheer matter of math, it's absurd. Jews represent about one percent of the population. In a close contest, as this promises to be, any group could be said to "have a lot to do" with a win or loss. He said it about the group that has more than 2,000 years of scapegoating behind it. Was he preparing the ground for a "stabbed-in-the-back" narrative post-election? Perhaps, but it was probably simpler. He was attempting to frighten Jewish voters — to instill fear that if they failed to support him, he might encourage his disappointed and enraged followers to direct their fury at the nearest Jew. It's an old story, and even a historical ignoramus like Trump knows that it retains the power to intimidate.

Because Trump himself is so indecent, his primacy made it impossible for the Republican party to enforce standards. To insist upon honesty, integrity, or even basic competence in any Republican would no longer be tolerated. Hadn't Trump's example proved that all ethical objections were merely disguised partisanship? And if the party reproved Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, how could it justify its resolute defense of Trump? Thus, all standards were obliterated. An institution that cannot enforce standards is helpless in the face of bigots.

Also, Trump trafficked in conspiracy theories — about vaccines, immigrants, Obama's birthplace, the death of Antonin Scalia, the "deep state," etc. He normalized disordered, paranoid thinking. Here's an iron law: Conspiracy thinking everywhere and always devolves into antisemitism. It's the oldest and most durable of conspiracies.

Trump winked at fascists. While he didn't campaign on antisemitism, he didn't stiff-arm it either. Asked whether he condemned the KKK, he declined. When his opponents and critics were flooded with antisemitic hate online, Melania justified it. When the tiki-toting neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, he equivocated. That's all they needed. A signal. A nod.

When it comes to hatred, particularly hatred of vulnerable minorities, the appetite of a portion of the electorate is so strong that it can only be suppressed by continuous, conscientious effort across years and generations. Trump failed that most crucial of leadership tasks. He knew what he was unleashing, and he thought he could use it.

With Trump leading the party, the right blossomed with corpse flowers like Candace Owens, who spouts antisemitic tropes including Holocaust denial; Nick Fuentes, the neo-Nazi who dined at Mar-a-Lago and dreams of a "total Aryan victory"; Elon Musk, who has opened X to the fever swamps and retweets "Great Replacement" posts; and Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, who said that "Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them."

But the most ominous voice is that of Tucker Carlson, the fascist with the knitted brow and millions of followers. He's just asking questions, like why he shouldn't be mad at a group whom he accuses of teaching "white genocide" at Harvard. He then played host to Holocaust denier Darryl Cooper, whom he introduced as "the most important popular historian working in the United States today." Cooper explained that the real villain of World War II wasn't Hitler but Churchill, and that the Holocaust didn't happen the way you've been taught; it's just that Germany couldn't handle so many prisoners of war, you see.

Carlson is not a fringe figure. He was a main speaker at the Republican convention and a prime mover in getting JD Vance on the GOP ticket. He's a close confidante of the man who could be vice president and a possible future contender for president himself.

As for Israel, the GOP's support is robust ... for now. But it's foolish to imagine that it will last. With hostility to alliances and America First as the dominant mode of thinking on foreign policy, Israel cannot remain the asterisk for long.

The descent into open antisemitism among progessives since October 7 is grievously disturbing. But most Democrats are not progressives, and even most progressives don't endorse the kind of extremism on display at American campuses. They remain the left-most fringe. They are not allies of Vice President Kamala Harris or Tim Walz. They don't bid fair to become leaders of the Democratic Party in the foreseeable future.

On the right, by contrast, the haters have been mainstreamed. As our grandparents would have warned, "That's not good for the Jews."

Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the "Beg to Differ" podcast. Her new book, Hard Right: The GOP's Drift Toward Extremism, is available now.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

California Design Of Driver’s License For Immigrants Is Rejected

California Design Of Driver’s License For Immigrants Is Rejected

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Federal authorities have rejected California’s proposed design for a driver’s license for immigrants in the U.S. illegally, saying it is not distinguishable enough for security purposes from permits given to citizens.

The Washington officials want the license to state clearly on its face “that it is not acceptable for official federal purposes” and to have a design or color that differentiates it at a glance from other licenses.

The current design does not differ from other California licenses except for a subtle mark on the front and a disclaimer on the back in small print: “This card is not acceptable for official federal purposes.”

Officials said Tuesday that the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could delay distribution of the first licenses because immigrant-rights activists have vowed to fight proposals that would make them look significantly different from other licenses.

The activists consider conspicuous markings to be a kind of scarlet letter. They and others say such marks could lead to mistreatment.

“Covering the fronts of licenses with this information that Homeland Security is demanding would subject the holders to unnecessary discrimination and possible harassment,” said state Sen. Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles.

Leaders of the Latino Legislative Caucus called on California’s congressional delegation Tuesday to demand that Homeland Security officials reconsider.

The decision “is disappointing and troubling,” said a statement by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the caucus.

“We strongly believe that the design submitted by California satisfies the intent of the law, by including a distinctive mark on the front, and the required statement on the surface of the license,” they said.

They wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, asking him to allow the California design.

“As you know, immigrants are statistically more likely to be the victims of crime and are often primary targets for scams, discrimination, retaliation and extortion in encounters with a diverse set of unscrupulous actors,” the lawmakers wrote.

For that reason, the California design is meant to provide “adequate protections for vulnerable community members from discrimination,” they said. Approval of the California design, they argued, would be “confirming that DHS will not exploit the program for immigration enforcement purposes.”

State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, also sent an appeal to Johnson.

Meanwhile, the California Department of Motor Vehicles will go back to the drawing board, said Armando Botello, a spokesman for the agency.

“The DMV will continue to work vigorously with lawmakers, affected communities and federal officials to design a license that complies with federal law and allows over a million undocumented California residents to drive legally and safely on state roads,” Botello said in a statement.

He refused to release a copy of the new license design.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a measure last year allowing the DMV to provide driver’s licenses by Jan. 1, 2015, to those in the country illegally. The governor said it would help people get to their jobs and schools and guarantee that they take a test to show that they are safe drivers.

In addition to the disclaimer on the back, the proposed license has the letters DP (“driving privilege”) on the front instead of DL (“driver’s license”).

The Real ID Act approved by Congress in 2005 requires markings “to allow Federal officials to quickly determine whether a license or identification card may be acceptable for official purposes” including “accessing Federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft or entering nuclear power plants,” according to the rejection letter.

The letter is dated May 1 and was released by the DMV on Tuesday.

State Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, said the state should take Washington’s warning seriously.

“Clearly national security demands our state not assist in hiding people who reside here illegally,” Anderson said.

(Photo from Flickr Commons/cool revolution)

U.S. Judge Rejects BP Bid For Extra Proof In Oil Spill Claims

New York (AFP) – A U.S. federal judge has rejected a bid from BP to require companies prove their losses are directly linked to the 2010 massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill before getting a payout.

The British energy giant last year reached a $7.8 billion settlement with thousands of people and businesses hit by the worst environmental disaster in US history.

But it has been challenging the way Patrick Juneau, a court-appointed administrator of claims, calculates companies’ compensation for lost profits.

BP has said Juneau’s methods led to payouts that were too large or improper and that because of this, it could no longer estimate how much it would have to pay out.

In the appeal, BP argued that some companies asking for payouts should have to show additional proof that their losses were directly linked to the oil spill.

Payments were frozen in October by an appeals court in New Orleans, pending a review by District Court Judge Carl Barbier.

But in his decision dated Tuesday, Barbier said the settlement negotiated with U.S. authorities and accepted by BP presumed an oil spill link for any losses to businesses within certain geographical zones and in certain sectors.

Supplemental proof would not just be “clearly inconsistent with its previous position, it directly contradicts what it has told this Court regarding causation,” he wrote.

He also emphasized that “the delays that would result from having to engage in a claim-by-claim analysis of whether each claim is ‘fairly traceable’ to the oil spill … are the very delays that the settlement, indeed all class settlements, are intended to avoid.”

But the judge did ask the claims administrator to review in part his methodology and to define a protocol for when “the claimant’s financial records do not match revenue with corresponding variable expenses.”

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from New Orleans killed 11 workers and spilled oil for 87 days until it was plugged.

The disaster blackened beaches in five states and crippled the region’s tourism and fishing industries in a tragedy that riveted the United States.

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