90 Miles From Tyranny

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

EXIT POLL: DeSantis, Scott nearly doubles Trump support among Florida blacks

If the Florida exit polls are accurate, Ron DeSantis may win by a larger margin than Donald Trump in 2016 due to the support of blacks.

This is interesting. In Florida in 2016, Trump won just 8% of the African American vote. Today's Trafalgar exit poll shows DeSantis and Scott winning around 14-15% of the African American vote. pic.twitter.com/fAa3g7Z66x
— Federalist Musket🇺🇸 (@Patriot_Musket) November 6, 2018

Today, according the the Trafalgar Group, Desantis and U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott are each earning “14-15% of the African American vote.”

Trump won Florida in 2016, 48.6 percent to 47.4 percent, according to...

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270K Criminal Aliens Booked into Texas Jails in 7 Years, Says State

Law enforcement officers in Texas placed more than 270,000 criminal aliens in local jails since June 1, 2011, according to state data. The mostly illegal aliens allegedly committed more than 284,000 criminal offenses including homicides, assaults, burglary, drug offenses, theft, robbery, sexual assault, and other sexual offenses.

A report recently released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) states that between June 1, 2011, and October 31, 2018, law enforcement officers arrested more than 270,000 criminal aliens — more than 182,000 of which were identified as illegal aliens by U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The report states they allegedly committed more than 284,000 crimes. Those include:

530 homicide charges;
31,658 assault charges;
5,575 burglary charges;
35,956 drug charges;
386 kidnapping charges;
15,528 theft charges;
23,037 obstructing police charges;
1,621 robbery charges;
3,339 sexual assault charges;
2,108 sexual offense charges;
2,865 weapon charges.

DPS officials stated that those charges resulted in more than 117,000 convictions. The convictions included:

235 homicide convictions;
13,168 assault convictions; 3,083 burglary convictions;
17,413 drug convictions;
165 kidnapping convictions;
6,946 theft convictions;
11,081 obstructing police convictions;
987 robbery convictions;
1,641 sexual assault convictions;
1,124 sexual offense convictions;
1,245 weapon convictions.

Many of the alleged offenses remain under prosecution at this time.

The numbers above apply to the more than 182,000 migrants identified as illegal aliens at the time of their arrest. An additional 10,229 were identified as illegal aliens while incarcerated in Texas prisons. Those later identified as illegal aliens were charged with more than 6,000 additional crimes including:

85 homicide charges;
768 assault charges;
484 burglary charges;
1,266 drug charges;
19 kidnapping charges;
311 theft charges;
636 obstructing police charges;
261 robbery charges;
514 sexual assault charges;
221 sexual offense charges;
154 weapon charges.

These charges resulted in an additional 3,000 convictions for offenses that include:

63 homicide convictions;
462 assault convictions;
329 burglary convictions;
738 drug convictions;
8 kidnapping convictions;
178 theft convictions;
283 obstructing police convictions;
202 robbery convictions;
360 sexual assault convictions;
161 sexual offense convictions;
69 weapon convictions.

DPS officials stated the statistics reflect only arrests and convictions in Texas alleged during the June 2011 to October 2018 timeframe. They do not include criminal records from other states. The figures above only count charges and convictions for those determined to be illegally present in the U.S. Crimes by legal immigrants are not included.

State officials looked further into the criminal histories of these 270,000 criminal aliens. When looking at the migrants’ entire criminal history, the numbers reveal an even larger impact on Texas crime victims.

During their entire Texas criminal career, DPS officials said these 182,000 illegal aliens were charged with more than 452,000 criminal offenses. Those charges include:

1,000 homicide charges;
51,134 assault charges;
14,621 burglary charges;
58,333 drug charges;
678 kidnapping charges;
28,130 theft charges;
40,192 obstructing police charges;
3,432 robbery charges;
5,449 sexual assault charges;
3,335 sexual offense charges;
6,554 weapon charges.

Those charges resulted in more than 209,000 criminal convictions for charges including:

460 homicide convictions;
22,082 assault convictions;
7,572 burglary convictions;
30,288 drug convictions;
274 kidnapping convictions;
13,307 theft convictions;
20,316 obstructing police convictions;
1,892 robbery convictions;
2,873 sexual assault convictions;
1,801 sexual offense convictions;
2,931 weapon convictions.

The numbers above apply to the more than 182,000 migrants identified as illegal aliens at the time of their arrest. an additional 10,229 were identified as illegal aliens while incarcerated in Texas prisons. Those later identified as illegal aliens were charged over their lifetime criminal history with more than 47,000 additional crimes including:

1,929 homicide charges;
5,525 assault charges;
3,653 burglary charges;
6,686 drug charges;
332 kidnapping charges;
2,688 theft charges;
3,721 obstructing police charges;
2,443 robbery charges;
2,937 sexual assault charges;
1,050 sexual offense charges;
1,578 weapon charges.

These charges resulted in an additional 25,000 convictions for offenses that include:

1,136 homicide convictions;
2,777 assault convictions;
1,988 burglary convictions;
3,920 drug convictions;
141 kidnapping convictions;
1,268 theft convictions;
1,682 obstructing police convictions;
1,639 robbery convictions;
1,870 sexual assault convictions;
632 sexual offense convictions;
620 weapon convictions.

“For the purposes of this report, the term ‘criminal alien’ refers to an individual who has...

It wasn’t the blockbuster night Democrats were hoping for.

The blue wave fell far short of some of the major wave elections of the past decade.

In Tuesday’s midterms, Democrats claimed a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years—but their electoral gains were muted by significant Republican gains in the Senate.

“This is not a blue wave,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said while watching early election results come in. What transpired looked more like a blue ripple.

In the Senate, Republicans solidified their thin majority, with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas defending his seat in a high-profile race against Beyoncé-endorsed Rep. Beto O’Rourke. Florida Gov. Rick Scott defeated Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in one of the most important swing states in the nation, and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley ousted two-term Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, thanks to what many consider the “Kavanaugh effect.”

Historic voting trends suggested Republicans would lose the House. According to Gallup, the president’s party “almost always suffers a net loss” in the House during an off-year election.

While those lost seats will be consequential—producing gridlock and new oversight investigations—historically speaking, the night could have been far worse for the incumbent party in power.

For instance, the first midterm election under President Barack Obama in 2010 was a major electoral defeat for Democrats. Republicans gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate while making significant gains in state houses and gubernatorial elections.

The balance of power shifted Tuesday night, but not as drastically as Democrats had hoped.

1. Historic Campaign Cash Couldn’t Turn Texas Blue

There are some things money can’t buy. The Senate, it appears, is still one of them. Republican Ted Cruz held onto his Senate seat in his hotly contested race against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who raised a historic amount of campaign cash.

The Center for Responsive Politics estimated the 2018 midterm elections in sum cost a record-breaking $5 billion. Leading in the bank was O’Rourke, who raised an astonishing $70 million. Of that, $53 million came from ActBlue, a nonprofit that enables Democrats to raise money via crowdsourcing.

Overall, the Senate race in Texas cost over $100 million, with Cruz raising another $40 million. Cruz successfully defended his seat, but the race was a nail-biter. With 92 percent of precincts reporting, Cruz had just over 51 percent of the vote, while O’Rourke had 48 percent. That is unusually close for Texas.

While both sides would likely agree that money still matters in midterm elections, it was not the decisive factor in Texas.

2. The Kavanaugh Effect

It was a rough night for red state Senate Democrats who voted against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was the only Senate Democrat who voted to confirm Kavanaugh. He narrowly defeated his opponent, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, in a state that President Donald Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.

But a significant number of Senate Democrats up for election from states that Trump won in 2016 went down in defeat.

Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; and Bill Nelson, D-Fla., all lost to Republican challengers.

According to the Associated Press, the Kavanaugh issue had a particularly big impact in North Dakota.

“[I]n North Dakota, where Republicans picked up a seat that helped them hold onto control of the Senate, voters concerned about Kavanaugh broke toward the GOP by about 2 to 1,” according to AP VoteCast, which is a national survey of the electorate.

3. A Bad Night for Prominent Progressive Candidates

President Donald Trump went bold last month when he directed Cabinet members to cut spending by 5 percent for their upcoming annual budgets.

This comes nine months after Congress passed its latest budget-busting deal, which sent deficit spending soaring by nearly $300 billion above the Budget Control Act caps.

Asking agencies to cut 5 percent next year is a step in the right direction toward fiscal health and smaller government. The president’s proposal would cut spending by $62 billion beneath the 2020 spending limits.

Notably, the plan would not infringe upon Congress’ Article I power of the purse. So long as 5 percent of funding is cut, lawmakers would be able to prioritize funding as they see fit, ensuring that key national priorities are not neglected.

While encouraging, this 5 percent cut is just a first step. The president and Congress will have to pursue bolder reforms in order to stabilize our growing national debt and avert the looming economic crisis.

One question that should be asked is, why wait until next year to implement these cuts? While roughly 75 percent of appropriations for fiscal year 2019 have already been signed into law, there is still over $300 billion outstanding. Congress could cut more than $15 billion from the remaining bills.

What’s more, the president could put forth another rescissions package, clawing back unnecessary spending after it’s been appropriated, saving billions more.

Since Congress passed the Budget Control Act in 2011, the law has been amended three times to raise the spending caps. Each successive change to the law increased spending and eroded the intent of the law, which was to control the growth of discretionary spending.

The nearly $300 billion debt limit increase passed earlier this year sets up a large cliff at the start of fiscal year 2020, meaning that Congress is likely to push for another deal to lift the cap in the coming months.

Without a commitment to cutting the budget, Congress is paving the way for another massive budget deal for the next two years. Congress would have to raise the caps by $125 billion above the 2019 Budget Control Act cap just to maintain level funding in 2020.

Judging by past budget deals though, the number could be...