Washington (CNN)The FBI says crime rates, including murder, were down last year. The report is in contrast to headlines this year about a surge in killings in some major cities.
The annual Uniform Crime Report statistics released Monday come amid lingering tension over police shootings and the relationship between officers and minority communities. To that end, FBI Director James Comey said in a memo released with the report that the FBI plans to collect more data about shootings of civilians by law enforcement in order to address concerns about appropriate use of force. He called on more law enforcement agencies to submit data to the FBI on so-called justifiable homicides. The FBI report shows a 0.2% decline nationwide in violent crimes in 2014, with more than 11 million arrests made by police for almost a half-million violent crimes. The report says that in 2014 the U.S. recorded the fewest murders since 2009. Most other violent crimes, such as robbery, burglary, theft and arson have declined, while aggravated assaults and rapes, which now includes a broader definition, were on the rise in 2014. On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 2:05:33 PM UTC-6, KeithInTampa wrote: > > You know, the writer was begining to sway me. I can understand Cruz's > frustration, in that talking to liberals is like talking to a wall, they > hear nothing and consider nothing other than their usual misguided > perception, and as usual; their perception is usually uninformed or > misinformed. > > Then, the writer wrote this: > > > *"The fact is this apocalyptic diagnosis is ridiculous. The Obama > administration has done things people like me strongly disagree with. But > America is in better economic shape than any other major nation on earth. > Crime is down. Abortion rates are down. Fourteen million new jobs have been > created in five years."* > > > The writer lost all credibility; and clearly doesn't know what he or she > is talking about. > > America has an 18 trillion dollar debt, the largest ever in our history, > and a governmental debt created that is larger than all previous 43 > Presidents. > > Crime is not down, it is now growing (within the last two years) > exponentially. > > Abortion is at record levels. > > The myth that 14 million new jobs have been created, or that our > unemployment rate is something like 5 percent is also Democratic/Moonbat > prevaricate lies. There are more Americans out of work than ever before, > including the Great Depression. > > It's clear who this writer will be voting for..... > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 2:04 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> In 1997, Michael Wayne Haley was arrested after stealing a calculator >> from Walmart. This was a crime that merited a maximum two-year prison term. >> But prosecutors incorrectly applied a habitual offender law. Neither the >> judge nor the defense lawyer caught the error and Haley was sentenced to 16 >> years. >> >> Eventually, the mistake came to light and Haley tried to fix it. Ted Cruz >> was solicitor general of Texas at the time. Instead of just letting Haley >> go for time served, Cruz took the case to the Supreme Court >> <http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/11/lazarus.dretke/> to keep Haley in >> prison for the full 16 years. >> >> Some justices were skeptical. “Is there some rule that you can’t confess >> error in your state?” Justice Anthony Kennedy asked >> <http://www.texastribune.org/2012/07/23/cruz-supreme-court-work-heart-campaign/>. >> >> The court system did finally let Haley out of prison, after six years. >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=2#story-continues-3>RELATED >> >> IN OPINION <http://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/campaign-stops> >> >> - >> Contributing Op-Ed Writer: Willie Horton’s Heirs >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/campaign-stops/ads-from-donald-trump-and-ted-cruz-play-to-racist-fears.html> >> >> The case reveals something interesting about Cruz’s character. Ted Cruz >> is now running strongly among evangelical voters, especially in Iowa. But >> in his career and public presentation Cruz is a stranger to most of what >> would generally be considered the Christian virtues: humility, mercy, >> compassion and grace. Cruz’s behavior in the Haley case is almost the >> dictionary definition of pharisaism: an overzealous application of the >> letter of the law in a way that violates the spirit of the law, as well as >> fairness and mercy. >> >> Traditionally, candidates who have attracted strong evangelical support >> have in part emphasized the need to lend a helping hand to the economically >> stressed and the least fortunate among us. Such candidates include George >> W. Bush, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum. >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=2#story-continues-4>RELATED >> >> COVERAGE >> >> - [image: Senator Ted Cruz of Texas spoke in Storm Lake, Iowa, on >> Wednesday.] >> One Town at a Time in Iowa, With Ted Cruz >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/09/us/politics/ted-cruz-iowa-bus-tour.html> >> - [image: Senator Ted Cruz of Texas with Bob Vander Plaats, one of >> the most influential leaders of Iowa’s politically activist >> evangelicals, in Rock Rapids last week.] >> Ted Cruz’s Diligent Courting of Evangelicals Pays Off in Iowa >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/11/us/politics/ted-cruz-rises-in-iowa-on-tide-of-evangelical-support.html> >> - [image: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, far right, highlighted his >> background — the son of a bartender and a maid — during the Kemp Forum in >> Columbia, S.C., on Saturday. Mr. Rubio also noted that Gov. John Kasich >> of >> Ohio, sitting next to him, understood the challenges of struggling >> Americans, with a father who delivered mail.] >> Republican Candidates, Minus Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, Play Nice at >> Poverty Forum >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/us/politics/republican-candidates-minus-donald-trump-and-ted-cruz-play-nice-at-poverty-forum.html> >> >> But Cruz’s speeches are marked by what you might call pagan brutalism. >> There is not a hint of compassion, gentleness and mercy. Instead, his >> speeches are marked by a long list of enemies, and vows to crush, shred, >> destroy, bomb them. When he is speaking in a church the contrast between >> the setting and the emotional tone he sets is jarring. >> >> Cruz lays down an atmosphere of apocalyptic fear. America is heading off >> “the >> cliff to oblivion >> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/10/11/ted-cruz-faces-hecklers/>.” >> >> After one Democratic debate he said >> <https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/10/15/cruz-hits-lowpoint-republican-rhetoric/tKHqXCpiWg65Yf64LmHohP/story.html>, >> >> “We’re seeing our freedoms taken away every day, and last night was an >> audition for who would wear the jackboot most vigorously.” >> David Brooks <http://www.nytimes.com/column/david-brooks>Politics, >> culture and the social sciences. >> >> - The Self-Reliant Generation >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/opinion/the-self-reliant-generation.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FDavid%20Brooks> >> - The Age of Small Terror >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/opinion/the-age-of-small-terror.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FDavid%20Brooks> >> - The 2015 Sidney Awards, Part 2 >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/opinion/the-2015-sidney-awards-part-2.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FDavid%20Brooks> >> - The 2015 Sidney Awards >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/opinion/the-2015-sidney-awards.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FDavid%20Brooks> >> - The Year of Unearthed Memories >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/opinion/the-year-of-unearthed-memories.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FDavid%20Brooks> >> >> See More » <http://www.nytimes.com/column/david-brooks> >> >> As the Republican strategist Curt Anderson observed >> <http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/12/ted-cruz-2016-ego-213460> in >> Politico, there’s no variation in Cruz’s rhetorical tone. As is the wont of >> inauthentic speakers, everything is described as a maximum existential >> threat. >> >> The fact is this apocalyptic diagnosis is ridiculous. The Obama >> administration has done things people like me strongly disagree with. But >> America is in better economic shape than any other major nation on earth. >> Crime is down. Abortion rates are down. Fourteen million new jobs have been >> created in five years. >> >> Obama has championed a liberal agenda, but he hasn’t made the country >> unrecognizable. In 2008, federal spending accounted for about 20.3 percent >> of gross domestic product. In 2015, it accounted for about 20.9 percent. >> >> But Cruz manufactures an atmosphere of menace in which there is no room >> for compassion, for moderation, for anything but dismantling and >> counterattack. And that is what he offers. Cruz’s programmatic agenda, to >> the extent that it exists in his speeches, is to destroy things: destroy >> the I.R.S., crush the “jackals” of the E.P.A., end funding for Planned >> Parenthood, reverse Obama’s executive orders, make the desert glow in >> Syria, destroy the Iran nuclear accord. >> >> Advertisement >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=2#story-continues-7> >> >> Advertisement >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=2#story-continues-7> >> >> Some of these positions I agree with, but the lack of any positive >> emphasis, any hint of reform conservatism, any aid for the working class, >> or even any humane gesture toward cooperation is striking. >> >> Ted Cruz didn’t come up with this hard, combative and gladiatorial >> campaign approach in isolation. He’s always demonstrated a tendency to bend >> his position — whether immigration or trade — to what suits him >> politically. This approach works because in the wake of the Obergefell v. >> Hodges court decision on same-sex marriage, many evangelicals feel they are >> being turned into pariahs in their own nation. >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=2#story-continues-9> >> Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter >> >> Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, >> The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world. >> >> Cruz exploits and exaggerates that fear. But he reacts to Obergefell in >> exactly the alienating and combative manner that is destined to further >> marginalize evangelicals, that is guaranteed to bring out fear-driven >> reactions and not the movement’s highest ideals. >> >> The best conservatism balances support for free markets with a >> Judeo-Christian spirit of charity, compassion and solidarity. Cruz replaces >> this spirit with Spartan belligerence. He sows bitterness, influences his >> followers to lose all sense of proportion and teaches them to answer hate >> with hate. This Trump-Cruz conservatism looks more like tribal, blood and >> soil European conservatism than the pluralistic American kind. >> >> Evangelicals and other conservatives have had their best influence on >> American politics when they have proceeded in a spirit of personalism — >> when they have answered hostility with service and emphasized the infinite >> dignity of each person. They have won elections as happy and hopeful >> warriors. Ted Cruz’s brutal, fear-driven, apocalypse-based approach is the >> antithesis of that. >> >> >> *Follow The New York Times Opinion section onFacebook >> <https://www.facebook.com/nytopinion> and Twitter >> <http://twitter.com/NYTOpinion>, and sign up for the Opinion Today >> newsletter <http://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/opiniontoday/>. * >> >> A version of this op-ed appears in print on January 12, 2016, on page A27 >> of the New York edition with the headline: The Brutalism of Ted Cruz. >> Today's >> Paper <http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html>|Subscribe >> <http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp839RF.html?campaignId=48JQY> >> >> -- >> -- >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >> >> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. >> * Read the latest breaking news, and more. >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "PoliticalForum" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
