20 Examples of Government Hypocrisy to Make You Angry

Agreement is anathema in Washington except for one thing: the acceptance of government hypocrisy. Bills, policies, programs, and agencies conflict with competing and often pointless goals that cost us money and ensure our taxes go to waste.

Here are 20 examples of government hypocrisy that will help you hate the way Washington does business. Of course, if you are reading this you probably already do.

Government hypocrisy 20 ways:

#1: Both parties agree we are still recovering from one of the worst recessions in decades, our debt is soaring, and we continue to spend billions on people and countries that hate us.

#2: Government spending on the recovery didn’t fix the economy, so Democrats want to spend more.

#3: Obamacare is stalled, but Democrats insist on pushing it forward as written and Republicans want to repeal it without an alternative bill.

#4: Congress throws equality and fairness in our faces at every opportunity while its members anticipate a new Office of Personnel Management rule to give them a pass on participating in Obamacare.

#5: We are about to face a new debt ceiling crisis and the White House will ask for more spending money to fix it.

#6: Our government is supposed to be more transparent than ever (see: The Hoax Behind Our Big, Accountable Government). Transparency shows us just how wasteful and scandal-ridden Washington is.

#7: Homeland Security claims the border is safer than ever, but the focus of bipartisan support for an immigration bill is making the border safe.

#8:  There is bipartisan support for nation-building in the Middle East despite all evidence that Islamic democracy and the Arab spring are Washington pipe dreams.

#9: White House policymakers and the Department of Education are wringing their hands over education costs while they empower unions and argue for raising teacher salaries that make public education costs go up.

#10: Prosperity is a good thing, but Democrats keep promising handouts and government-sponsored financial security that help make Americans lazy and dependent on the government.

#11: America’s credit was downgraded in 2011 not because of the debt, but because our two political parties couldn’t agree on how to spend lots of money and reduce the debt at the same time.

#12: We have bipartisan support for Democrats and Republicans working together. To accomplish that goal both parties indulge in finger-pointing and blame that makes bipartisanship impossible.

#13: Republicans, Democrats, and the White House publicly agreed on the importance of helping the middle class, then raised their taxes in January 2013.

#14: We ascribe characteristics to Muslims in America that we don’t see anywhere else, but we keep calling Islam a great world religion.

#15: Both parties agree that unemployment is a bad thing and the recession makes it difficult to find a job, but every time an extension of unemployment benefits comes up they find excuses to block it (see: Why Do Republicans Want to Be America’s Enemies?).

#16: Democrats and the president blame the wealthy for stealing opportunity from the middle class but most are wealthy in their own right, enjoy excessive perks at taxpayer expense, and helped craft the tax code that they are so eager to blame.

#17: Washington helped taxpayers bail out the banks. The banks are doing better. Taxpayers aren’t doing so well.

#18: The White House admits the jobs numbers could be better, so we pass policies like DACA to create more competition for jobs.

#19: Congress creates problems with no intention of fixing them because members know there is little PR juice to be had from crises that go away.

#20: Big government hypocrisy, conflict, and gridlock keep Washington running. Just think how little government we would need if politicians focused more on getting the job done and less on keeping themselves in the spotlight.

Keep reading: here is a lot more government hypocrisy to make you even angrier

UPDATE April 14, 2017: let’s make it 21

#21: The ultimate hypocrisy: demanding federal money for a problem you created and refuse to fix.

33 House members sent a letter to President Trump asking that funding be restored to programs including the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). They claimed that:

Communities rely on these funding streams to enhance public safety, fund crime victim and witness initiatives, support drug treatment and enforcement, promote economic development and more.¹

They also asked that the president not pull funding from sanctuary cities, which wouldn’t need programs like SCAAP if they didn’t harbor so many illegals.

UPDATE August 18, 2017: why stop now? #22 and counting …

After years of telling us that millionaires and billionaires are the cause of all America’s woes and slamming Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner because of his wealth, Democrats in ruined, violent Cook County chose uber-wealthy J.B. Pritzker as their man for next year’s gubernatorial election. He’s male, white, and rich, traits despised by contemporary Democratic Party values.

UPATE April 30, 2018: #23 asylum seekers take the cake

We have an immigration problem. Year after year we spend too many tax dollars trying to control the consequences, but when a large enough group comes to the border demanding entrance we take their requests for asylum seriously instead of simply telling them to go home.

Am I the only one who thinks this sets a bad precedent?

#24: women only support women with the same political beliefs

Sarah Sanders sat at the Correspondent’s Dinner last Saturday night and took it. I give her credit for that. As the smile froze on her face was she thinking about the hypocrisy of a woman stabbing another successful woman in the back and calling her a liar in a very public forum while the Me Too movement preaches unity and support?

UPDATE November 11, 2018

#25: don’t control illegals, control Americans with guns

Whose crimes are more serious?
ICE Photo

Thanks to a new Democratic House gun control will be in when Democrats take over in January 2019. Illegal immigrant control will be out. Murders committed by illegals let loose because of sanctuary policies and lax enforcement will keep happening while Congress ties itself up in knots over a fool’s errand: how do we keep guns out of the hands of U.S. citizens who have the right to own them?

I’ve never owned a gun. Never had a reason or desire to. That doesn’t mean I can’t spot hypocrisy over gun control.

Declined detainer and three more murders

Last week ICE reported three more murders committed in Missouri by an illegal immigrant released in New Jersey because local authorities refused to honor an ICE detainer. This is a completely avoidable crime. The man was in custody. We let him go. Three more people are dead.

When Democrats take over in January gun control will undoubtedly be a priority. Controlling criminal illegal immigrants will not. We should expect the opposite to be true as the left assures us that illegals don’t commit crimes.

This raises a question: are murders committed by Americans with guns a more serious offense than those committed by illegal immigrants?

UPDATE June 11, 2019

#26: Illinois’ special new Green Deal

Sometimes even Democrats realize when their tax and spend obsessions go too far. That’s what happened in Illinois when the rumored new $1,000 registration charge for green, electric vehicles suddenly dropped by $752.00.

That’s a pretty big concession for this state. If we had time to work the numbers it might even be historic.

Green-obsessed drivers can take some comfort in the nearly 50% jump in the registration fee for gas vehicles and the punishing doubling of the gas tax to $0.38/gallon. Still, if I shelled out for a fancy new electric ride because the end of the world is at hand I’d be mighty pissed off at being punished for trying to save the earth.

Don’t Democrats want us to Go Green? Yes they do, but there are limits and they are all about money. It might have been more palatable to environmentally-savvy drivers to slap an “electric responsibility tax” or something equally nonsensical on charging stations so the state gets its cut of what it’s losing on the gasoline levy. They could also take a cue from Governor Pritzker and slap a mileage tax on everyone, but that would be regressive and punish green drivers and polluters alike.

Of course, regressive also has a different meaning for Democrats in Illinois. That’s another hypocrisy this working-class and tax and fee friendly liberal state seems completely oblivious too. At least the electric vehicle hike only whacks those with incomes high enough to make saving the world affordable.

UPDATE July 6, 2019:

#27: gerrymandering is wrong but we should use illegals for redistricting

The hypocrisy behind Democratic opposition to the SCOTUS gerrymandering decision is astounding.

Bombastic Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen set us straight on what it means for our democracy:

The Supreme Court today ruled there was nothing it could do to stop partisan gerrymandering. This practice, politicians picking their voters and drawing lines to reinforce their own power, is anti-democratic and despicable.²

At the same time Democrats vehemently oppose the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census because it impacts representation and the flow of federal dollars.

Presidential candidate and Minnesota Rep. Amy Klobuchar took a decidedly anti-democratic position on the issue:

The census is part of our country’s constitutional obligation to count everyone and serves as a guide for critical decisions like the distribution of community resources and the apportionment of congressional districts.³

Rep. Klobuchar is exactly right about what the Census headcount accomplishes and that’s why illegals must be excluded. They can’t vote. The only reason they haven’t been deported is that there are too many and Democrats obstruct every effort to enforce our immigration laws.

Why on earth would we include individuals on the Census who could be back in their home country before the final tally is even counted? Because Democrats in states like California will benefit while taxpayers who foot the tab will lose.

UPDATE August 31, 2019:

#28: a good economy can’t be bad

What’s the biggest tragedy Democrats could face in 2020? A Republican resurgence? A no-nukes deal with North Korea? More Hillaryesque revelations about whatever lefty hack they nominate to ruin this country?

Nope. None of the above.

The biggest catastrophe for 2020 will be not having a recession. The media has been pushing. Politicians have been warning. The public is nervous. Another Great Recession is just a hair’s breath away.

Articles on how to recession-proof your portfolio are already popping up. Everyone with an opinion who is not a conservative tells us the bottom is about to fall out. If it doesn’t, the media will get behind the Democratic Party per protocol and create a recession.

Will we be dumb enough to believe it and do all the stupid things that go along with a real downturn to help seal the deal, like selling our portfolios?

Probably, or at least those of us who are also dumb enough to vote for Democrats begging for economic destruction.

UPDATE October 6, 2019:

#29: confusing impeachment and democracy

This kind of misleading nonsense from Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) is what House Democrats expect the people to believe while they try to circumvent the outcome of our last presidential election:

President Trump’s actions represent the highest type of crimes that threaten the very fabric of our democracy. While the House Committees have been relentlessly conducting oversight hearings and investigations into this Administration’s corruption, it is clear that an official impeachment investigation is the only avenue we have left to hold this President accountable.⁴

At least the last comment is true. Impeachment is the only avenue Democrats have left. They will do anything, including lying to the people in the name of democracy, to make it happen.

Trump has not been formally accused of a crime. Even Democrats admit they are only holding an inquiry. Unfortunately for our democracy, politicians can say anything they want with absolutely no accountability knowing that those they represent will believe what they want to hear.

Democracy is about democratic processes, including an election which the Democratic Party refuses to honor. They know they aren’t going to get rid of the Electoral College and even if they do, it won’t change the fact that Trump is president.

The only option left is the most un-democratic process we have: discard the people’s decision with a trumped-up case for impeachment based on “the highest type of crimes” they are still trying to make a case for.

Our democratic system allows Democrats to do this, but don’t tell us impeachment is in the name of protecting democracy. It’s in the name of putting Democrats back in power by telling the American people their vote doesn’t count.

UPDATE October 10, 2019:

#30: Corporate profits vs. rising congressional pay

Senators and Representatives make $174,000 per year. That’s not a lot of money, but America’s median household income of $61,937 pales in comparison to what we pay these politicians.

For those who believe in free enterprise there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this. In our country being a politician is a business, too. Elected representatives have a lot of responsibility. Some have tremendous power, even freshman reps with large mouths who manage to keep themselves in the spotlight with absolutely no track record.

Hypocrisy enters the picture when these individuals blast private industry for profit taking at the expense of working Americans. Elizabeth Warren, who like most of her colleagues is doing much, much better than most of her supporters would dare to dream, felt compelled to announce that she will reintroduce her Accountable Capitalism Act because of a disturbing thirty-year trend:

Senator Warren first introduced the Accountable Capitalism Act in August 2018 to reverse the harmful corporate trend over the last thirty years that have produced record corporate profits for American companies but stagnant wages for American workers.⁵

While Warren singles out “the wealthiest top 10% of Americans households”⁶ and her fact that “50% of American households own no stock at all,”⁷ senators and representatives boast an impressive jump in pay over the same period of time.

According to a Congressional Research Service Report, thirty years ago senators were making $98,400 annually and representatives $96,600 per year.⁸

That number has nearly doubled over the same period that Senator Warren uses to lament the plight of the American worker.

At least corporations contribute to building wealth for some Americans. Congress, at the moment, contributes absolutely nothing because Warren’s party is too obsessed with removing a sitting president to do anything else.

Meanwhile we pay her salary and those of her fellow senators. Impeachment-happy Democrats in the House get their cut of our paychecks, too.

Next year is an election year. Don’t expect any progress in 2020, either. Our highly paid senators and representatives will be too busy getting reelected.

UPDATE November 1, 2019:

#31: Democrats help unions cut our throat

Help me out with this. Democrats insist that unions are the future of the American worker even though experience warns us what unions do when they decide they want more money. We just saw a prima facie example in Chicago, where kids lost out for 11 days because the teacher’s union decided to flex its muscle for the sake of larger paychecks and a bigger headcount.

This Democratic Party – Big Labor synergy seems like the ultimate government hypocrisy, but in the end it makes perfect sense. Why? Because government doesn’t generate revenue. Taxpayers do. In the end Democratic public officials risk nothing by backing unions. They just pass the cost along and stick to their age-old leftist lies about collective bargaining and what makes the American worker so great.

UPDATE November 17, 2019:

#32: Ending voter suppression by suppressing the people’s vote

In nonsensical statements made during a November 13, 2019 press conference House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) claimed:

We didn’t come to Congress to impeach this president or any president. We came to Congress to get things done on behalf of everyday Americans.⁹

That remark was made as the impeachment circus became very real. Jeffries and Democratic Vice Chair Katherine Clark (D-MA) also talked about Trump’s “relentless attacks on Dreamers and sabotage of our nation’s health care.”¹⁰

Jeffries claimed that Democratic attacks were really just “our effort to defend our democracy For The People”¹¹ and to end “the era of voter suppression once and for all.¹²

There is so much hypocrisy in these remarks it’s difficult to know where to begin, so let’s keep it simple:

1. The only thing on the Democratic Party’s agenda for the foreseeable future is impeaching Trump or defaming him so completely that he can’t win in 2020. Nothing else matters and this gives party members something to talk about during the campaign season other than their party’s failure to accomplish anything else.

2. Democracy is all about the people choosing their leaders. Democrats began their effort to deny Republicans their democratic right to choose even before Trump took office.

I don’t know what Rep. Jeffries sees when he envisions “The People,” but trust me. If you voted for Trump you are not included.

UPDATE December 8, 2019:

#33: Obama’s palace is Democratic Party hypocrisy at its finest

I don’t fault Barack and Michelle Obama for trying to enjoy themselves after eight years of hell. A $400,000 salary is not a lot of money for what a president goes through. The $200,000+ pension that follows isn’t a lot either, though most Americans would be overjoyed to receive a fraction of this sum when they retire.

Fortunately this isn’t usually all our ex-Commanders in Chief have to live on. A life as a public service celebrity tends to start and end well, as we saw with the announcement last week of the Obama’s purchase of a veritable palace on Martha’s Vineyard.

To put things in perspective, the average U.S. home price in September 2019 was $362,700.¹³

Had Donald Trump bought a house like this last week it would be part of next week’s impeachment proceedings. His persecutors would go after every scrap of paper no matter how remotely connected and irrelevant. Subpoenas for real estate records would fly. The documents would be put on display so every American can see the evil the fruits of wealth.

Barack and Michelle are liberal superstars but they are also exempt from scrutiny as they should be. They have left public service and a legacy of attacking the wealthy behind.

The Trumps don’t enjoy the same privacy. Even the president’s son Baron is fair game for liberal haters who believe a child should be ridiculed as part of the Democratic Party’s impeachment charade.

While we look forward to a new presidential campaign season during which Democrats will demand that we strip the evil wealthy of every dime possible, Jimmy Carter is living an entirely different ex-presidential life. The Library of Congress offers pictures of his very humble residence.¹⁴

Despite a less than stellar presidency President Carter chose a different path that shows what a life of service means. We may not agree with his politics or some of his remarks directed at our current president, but we can’t call him a hypocrite. By all appearances he lives his values.

UPDATE December 19, 2019:

#34: Rule of law means many things to Democrats

After admitting he’s served the House for nearly four decades Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) engaged in the same lengthy, hubris-laden remarks Democrats subjected us to for hours on end before doing what they told us they would do long before they had a reason to do it:

The votes we are about to take concern the rule of law and our democracy itself. Let us not forget the words of the philosopher John Locke, so influential to the Founders of our republic. He warned: ‘Wherever law ends, tyranny begins.¹⁵

Good for Hoyer for having the courage to try to slip the Locke reference past us to justify his impeachment vote. Bad for the American people who listened to his nonsense and were credited many times over yesterday with the reason the House achieved this historic milestone that isn’t going anywhere except the history books.

Hoyer’s party likes the idea of the rule of law but it has a very flexible, self-interested interpretation of what it means. When it suits Democrats to honor it the rule of law prevails. When it runs counter to their goals like lax immigration policies, flexible drug policies, and the growing fascination with “de-incarceration” as part of the radical left’s social justice agenda, the rule of law is set aside.

When it comes to a Republican president the rule of law is a maxim we can’t ignore:

The rule of law is what makes this country great, and today, the House of Representatives held President Trump accountable for breaking the law,” Rep. [Norma] Torres continued. “The only question now, is will the Senate follow suit, or let him get away with it?”¹⁶

When it comes to other issues like immigration and a border fence the rule of law is a very bad thing indeed. In fact, in Torres’ view it contradicts the values our country stands for:

The Trump administration’s executive actions on immigration are an attempt to appease the far right at the expense of our values, security, and economic well-being.¹⁷

That was from January 2017. Talk of removing Trump was heating up. The conversation with Ukraine that led to yesterday’s political travesty would not happen for another 18 months. The rule of law is a complex thing for Democrats, so let’s assume it took each and every one of those 18 months to figure out how it should best be used to suit their objectives.

UPDATE February 1, 2020:

#35: Looking for hypocrisy? It’s historic and you’ll find it along party lines.

Get ready. The weeping and moaning is about to begin. It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be nonstop. It’s going to continue for years, so sit back and train yourself to ignore it.

Years of buildup. Months of talk. Weeks of hearings. A few days of nonsense in the Senate. Now we’re waiting for the final, perfunctory vote to acquit.

What do they say about it not being over until the lady sings?

That’s where we’re at.

Impartial means what, precisely?

Where is the historic hypocrisy in this ridiculous liberal pageant? It’s hiding behind two words: party lines. It’s acceptable, even mandatory to remove a president because you have a partisan majority, but it’s absolutely, positively not OK to acquit him along party lines.

This won’t make any sense to you if you are a Republican. That’s a good sign. This is the kind of partisan hypocrisy that only makes sense to Democrats.

As of yesterday Nancy Pelosi is still trying to salvage a victory from the ashes of the same kind of partisan defeat she subjected House Republicans to:

The President was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He is impeached forever. There can be no acquittal without a trial. And there is no trial without witnesses, documents and evidence.¹⁸

So Trump is impeached for time immemorial but he was never impeached because Democrats lost their gambit on the same terms they used to declare a victory.

That doesn’t make any sense, either.

Steny Hoyer tossed in his two cents in an even more hypocritical statement:

Senators cannot be faithful to their oaths of impartiality if they conspire with the President to prevent the testimony of witnesses with damning information against his case.¹⁹

Damning information is the only kind that matters to Pelosi, Hoyer, and company. Being impartial was the very least of their worries long ago when they declared Trump’s overwhelming guilt for something they had a very difficult time identifying until the Ukraine call opened a door.

Now they will discover how not being impartial works when the shoe is on someone else’s foot. I suggest you go out today and purchase some earplugs. It’s going to be a very long, very loud year.

UPDATE February 19, 2020:

#36: white collar criminals vs. drugs and guns

Rod Blagojevich was released to the media last night. It was a surreal moment, as if the clocks had been turned back eight years and he was still making the rounds pleading his case to the public.

This morning Trump is being praised by some, damned by others for yesterday’s commutations and pardons. A list of the lucky offenders is on WhiteHouse.gov.²⁰ The eleven grants of clemency were primarily for white collar crimes. Three were for drug offenses.

Cohen weighs in

It didn’t take long for long-time Trump hater Steve Cohen (D-TN) to get started:

President Trump has it completely wrong. The presidential pardon power was designed to right inequities in the justice system, as all should be equal before the law. Instead, Trump has used the pardon power to benefit the wealthy, famous and politically connected.²¹

Skin color is the defining factor for Cohen:

While 37.5 percent of the federal prison population is African American, Trump has offered only one commutation to a living African American, and that at the urging of Kim Kardashian.²²

I don’t recall the same vitriol we’re hearing over the Trump list when Barack Obama chose hypocrisy and pardoned those whose crimes included guns.
Obama prided himself on commutations in bulk:

Underscoring his commitment to reforming our criminal justice system, the President has commuted the sentences of more individuals than the past 7 presidents combined.²³

Drug crimes ranked high on Obama’s list, especially those involving cocaine and cocaine base, despite the fact that these drugs tear apart the communities Democrats pride themselves on standing behind.

Gun crimes were another popular item. “…possession of a firearm in furtherance” is a phrase that turns up routinely in a list of 64 pardons and 209 commutations announced by Obama on January 17, 2017. In fact, the list of offenses includes the word “firearm” 59 times.²⁴

Imagine the liberal outcry if that word was on Trump’s list even once and then ask yourself which subset of criminals you would fear less if they moved into your neighborhood?

UPDATE March 4, 2020:

#37: Which is it? Democrats defend ACA they want to destroy.

Democrats still can’t make up their minds about Obamacare. Do they want to keep their hero’s greatest accomplishment or do they want to kill it?

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is unhappy with the Supreme Court’s decision to hear Texas v. U.S., the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Schumer blames Republicans and the president instead of the party that created this very expensive disaster:

Make no mistake: a big reason that the fate of these vital health care protections is in the hands of the Supreme Court is because Congressional Republicans and President Trump support the lawsuit to take health care away and haven’t lifted a finger to stop it.²⁵

Schumer called the GOP lawsuit a “healthcare sabotage.”²⁶ Nancy Pelosi followed up by announcing that the ACA is essential during the epidemic “coronavirus crisis:”²⁷

The Affordable Care Act is an essential pillar of health and financial security for American families, and its protections are even more critical during a dangerous epidemic.²⁸

As much as Pelosi’s party wants to frighten Americans, we don’t have an epidemic quite yet. The virus is still a useful political tool for divisive Democrats. Still, it would be helpful for their base if the party would keep its story straight about the fate of the ACA.

Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Bill will dismantle Obama’s legacy:

Health insurance exchanges and specified federal health programs terminate upon program implementation.²⁹

Private insurers can’t sell coverage that Medicare for All provides. That means a death blow to the health insurance industry and all the jobs it finances as an integral part of providing coverage through Obamacare.

132 Dems sign on to dump Obamacare

14 Senate and 118 House Democrats signed on as cosponsors of the House and Senate Medicare for All bills (Schumer did not cosponsor the Senate bill). It might be easier for Sanders, Warren, and other radical progressives if POTUS did say no to Obamacare. At least they’d have a better excuse why we need to replace what the party still vigorously defends with something designed to destroy it.

UPDATE March 18, 2020:

#39: do we still hate the pharmaceutical industry?

In a “Seniors Update 2019” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders talked about:

the harm the pharmaceutical industry inflicts on our communities.³⁰

He accuses the industry of corporate murder:

The pharmaceutical industry is killing Americans.³¹

Now a virus is killing Americans. We need drug companies to stop it.

Considering the House and Senate willingness to spend hundreds of billions that will likely turn into two or more trillion, the price tag for a cure first and then a vaccine for this doomsday bug should be whatever it costs.

My first guess was that we’ll be happy to pay it.

I wasn’t entirely right.

New York Congressman Max Rose and a long list of Democratic colleagues sent a letter to President Trump that disagrees:

The American taxpayer has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars into developing urgently needed Coronavirus vaccines and treatments,” Rose said. “We cannot then turn around and allow big drug manufactures to exploit this public health emergency to price gouge and rip off consumers.”³²

That was from Rose’s February 21, 2020 press release announcing the letter. Perhaps his attitude has changed by now?

One thing is certain. If and when we come out of this, members of Congress will fight over taking credit even if they provide no real value.

Pharmaceutical companies will be damned even if they come up with a miracle cure tomorrow.

It’s the height of government hypocrisy, but that’s how this works.

UPDATE March 29, 2020:

#40: illegal immigrants wanted, Americans keep out or else

So what, exactly, makes a person a refugee?

Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline stood up for “some of the most hardworking and accomplished people I’ve met”³³ when he backed the House American Dream and Promise Act:

Cicilline has spoken out repeatedly about the importance of standing up for the Dreamers, individuals who were brought to the United States as children, and TPS holders, who came here after leaving behind violence, natural disasters, or desperate humanitarian conditions in their native countries.³⁴

According to FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Rep. Cicilline’s state claimed sanctuary status in 2014. A May 7, 2017 press release from six state attorney generals, including Rhode Island AG Peter Kilmartin, defended these sanctuary policies and RI’s policy on ICE detainers.³⁵

COVID-19 appears to have changed how Rhode Island defines sanctuary. By any measure New Yorkers are caught in a desperate humanitarian condition, or at least they are if news reports are accurate. In response refugee citizens seeking a safe haven are faced with Rhode Island’s Executive Order 20-12. The document seems harmless enough at first glance and requires only a 14-day self-quarantine until you stumble across the warning that New Yorkers “may be heading for refuge.”³⁶ To that end, NY refugees will be profiled, targeted, rooted out by law enforcement, and subject to fines and jail time.

That’s a pretty big slice of Democratic hypocrisy the liberal left should choke on when this crisis is past, but no doubt the spin will make this a Trump problem and not a failure to stand by extremist immigration values that put citizens at risk.

UPDATE April 13, 2020:

#41: letting prisoners out and keeping law-abiding citizens in

Criminal justice reform and decarceration are issues popular with the left. Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced H.Res. 702, the People’s Justice Guarantee, to deal with her party’s mass incarceration crisis:

Ultimately, the resolution calls to substantially reduce the number of people incarcerated and transform the purpose and experience of the criminal legal system.³⁷

That one never went anywhere. Now it doesn’t have to.

In a March 30, 2020 letter Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) appealed to Attorney General William Barr to release federal prisoners:

We call on you, in the most urgent of terms, to do the right thing and exercise this authority and immediately move to release medically-compromised, elderly, and pregnant prisoners in the custody of the BOP.

In addition, we urge that you use every tool at your disposal to release as many prisoners as possible, to protect them from COVID-19.³⁸

The Justice Department listened. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports it has increased home confinement by “over 40%” since March and continues to screen to find acceptable candidates. State and local facilities have taken similar measures to avoid outbreaks in their prisons and jails.

Meanwhile, millions and millions of Americans are also assigned to home confinement. We didn’t break any laws. No crimes were committed. We don’t have a choice.

If we are safe confined to our homes, why aren’t prison inmates safe if they are confined to their cells?

UPDATE April 25, 2020:

#42: trusting Americans to be stupid

Are Democrats worried that cleaning product consumption might cut into their voter base?

I suspect that all you disinfectant drinkers out there are the same people who will vote for Joe Biden. My preference is usually bourbon over commercial disinfectants, but I’m a Republican. The left wing media seems fearful that its liberal viewership doesn’t have the smarts to not guzzle a bleach and seltzer cocktail before dinner.

Granted, we’ve seen no shortage of stupidity lately. Much of it comes from Capitol Hill. By way of example, Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett posts a “Trump’s Coronavirus Timeline” on his congressional website that takes allegedly damning remarks out of context, including Trump’s disinfectant comment, apparently in hopes that liberal readers are dumb enough to take them literally.

What’s so hypocritical here is that Democrats stroke the intelligence of the American people when it suits them and worse, trust their base to select one of their own for president.

Or maybe this isn’t really so contradictory after all. The party is ready to tap Joe Biden for November and plenty of Americans will vote for him just like they cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton. Maybe I’m giving the American people too much credit.

Perhaps we should require liberal shoppers to sign a waiver when they purchase cleaning products to make sure our most vulnerable are safe.

UPDATE May 1, 2020:

#43: it was never about women, stupid

We all know how House and Senate Democrats feel about sexual misconduct. Justice Brett Kavanaugh was excoriated by Congress and members of Nancy Pelosi’s House who, among other pejoratives, referred to him as a sexual predator.⁴⁰ Trump was an even bigger target. Lawmakers who didn’t want to issue their own statements relied on the press for damning media articles about Trump’s alleged misconduct. They threatened to put victims of assault on display at the 2018 State of the Union. ⁴¹ This kind of behavior was never, ever to be tolerated. In fact, it was deemed best to convict first and worry about the details and evidence later.

While Democrats circle their wagons and look the other way as the Biden scandal escalates, we should give Speaker Pelosi credit for one thing. She is living up to the remarks she made in 2018:

Survivors should be supported when they come forward without the fear of threats or further trauma.⁴²

Ms. Reade can rest assured that Pelosi & Company will make sure that won’t happen. There won’t be further trauma because we won’t hear anything from Democrats. Joe Biden doesn’t have to worry about facing the same fate as Brett Kavanaugh because this is not an issue his party will risk discussing. Women are one thing, but seriously. More important than getting rid of Trump? Not on your life. Women can matter again when the election is over. For now Democrats have better things to worry about.

UPDATE May 28, 2020:

#44: Democrats have your back but one-third of Our Agenda isn’t about Americans

We can give Democrats credit for honesty in their support for illegal immigration. That much of their agenda is out front for all the world to see, especially the world being lured to the U.S. from south of our border.

In the unlikely event that there is some tiny bit of confusion remaining as to where the party stands on the issue, the House Democratic Caucus included immigration as part of Our Agenda⁴³ which, among other things, is meant to assure us that they have the backs of working people.

So what happened to the American people?

We aren’t included in part three of What We Stand For.⁴⁴ If you select “Immigration” it leads to a Know Your Rights page that explains how to evade ICE agents.

At least we know what kind of immigration matters. That’s honesty for you, even if we lose out on 33% of their efforts.

As to hypocrisy, America entitled most, if not all of these politicians far beyond what most Americans would consider an upper middle class lifestyle. At least give our nation a nod. Illegal immigration is an ugly Democratic Party truism better left in the shadows where it belongs.

UPDATE June 1, 2020:

#45: locking down law-abiding citizens and standing by while rioters loot and destroy

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was angry when city residents violated her COVID-19 lockdown order.She closed the lakefront, so city dwellers did not receive the benefit of the outdoor parks and beaches their tax payments support. She threatened churches determined to reopen. Governor Pritzker’s order had already closed businesses so at least that was off the mayor’s plate. Restaurants and bars were already locked down hard in the wake of people caught congregating on St. Patrick’s Day.

Over the weekend COVID-19 was the least of our worries, though that concern will no doubt resurface in 2-14 days thanks to hordes of protesters not wearing masks.

The city racked up 82 shootings⁴⁵ while violence skyrocketed, businesses were destroyed, suburbs locked down, and we all wondered when it would end and why more wasn’t being done to stop the destruction.

If there was a way to stop the looting and violence we didn’t see it. We heard a vulgar retort from the mayor on Friday after the president’s prescient tweets about what was happening in Minneapolis. Predictably, the same thing happened in Chicago.

Now the Metra public transit system is shut down, not that it matters for people going into the city. Who would take the chance? We can forget about damaged, looted businesses reopening on the second business day of Illinois Phase 3. We’re living in fear again, though for an entirely different reason than the pandemic that has hung over our heads for months.

Like COVID-19, this is another failure of government to protect taxpaying citizens and their businesses. We can only wonder what this Monday morning would look like if protesters bent on violence were pursued with the same zeal applied to honest people who only wanted to go to church or catch a breath of fresh air.

UPDATE June 11, 2020:

#46: enforcing the Rule of Law against Trump and defunding the police

A little over a year ago Democrats were preparing their impeachment case. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) vented his worries about Donald Trump’s impact on the rule of law:

Over the last several years, President Trump has evaded accountability for his near-daily attacks on our basic legal, ethical, and constitutional rules and norms,” said Chairman Jerrold Nadler. “Investigating these threats to the rule of law is an obligation of Congress and a core function of the House Judiciary Committee.⁴⁶

Holding Trump accountable to the law was a big deal for Democrats. So is being faithful to the rule of law as it applies to investigating and prosecuting crimes against Americans. Senator Kamala Harris weighed in after Ahmaud Arbery was killed in Georgia:

If justice and the rule of law are to mean anything to the American people—including black people—the Justice Department must intervene immediately. ⁴⁷

Our basic rules and norms don’t include destroying cities and employers’ places of business, but that’s what happened when we discarded the rule of law and destructive protesters ran rampant. The far left seized this as an excuse to defund police departments, though most don’t seem to have the slightest idea just what that means or how it works in practice.

Who will investigate crimes and arrest criminals, especially violent, gun-toting criminals, if we defund the police? The liability in Nancy Pelosi’s police accountability bill makes being a police officer a foolish career choice.

According to The Hill, Senator Kamala Harris hasn’t taken a definitive stance. In the increasingly likely event she gets a spot on Joe Biden’s ticket she’ll only be able to dodge this issue for so long. Like Pelosi, at some point she’s going to have to decide whether to appease the far-left elements of her party or stick with more level-headed, centrist voters and Republicans who understand that, as Maxine Waters (D-CA) pointed out before the George Floyd riots, the vast majority of police don’t present a problem.

UPDATE June 17, 2020:

#47: defending First Amendment rights while ignoring protesters’ violent behavior

In a June 3, 2020 letter to AG William Barr prominent Democrats Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Adam Smith (D-WA), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) demanded answers to a June 1, 2020 crackdown on protesters who assembled near the White House. The lawmakers issued the tiresome “threat to our democracy” warning and waved the flag:

As America grapples with police brutality, systemic oppression, and racism, we must each do our part to defend the rights guaranteed to us under the Constitution. The First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly are core to what it means to be an American.⁴⁸

The letter points out that this occurred 29 minutes before the start of the 7:00 p.m. Washington D.C. curfew.

Politics and hatred for our president make it easy to ignore riots, looting, burning, and murder that were taking place across the country the day before Democrats penned their letter. Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO) points out that:

Here in Missouri, rioters took innocent lives. David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired St. Louis police captain who served 38 years on the force, was checking on his friend’s shop when he was shot and killed by looters. He was found dead on the sidewalk in front of the ransacked store. Even more disturbing, his murder was streamed in real-time on Facebook Live. Tragically, his death was not an isolated incident.⁴⁹

Democrats may relish the idea of Donald Trump being in harm’s way at the hands of liberal protesters, but there was every reason to suspect the gathering could turn violent without warning.

If Barack Obama was president and the protesters were ultra-right wingers, do you think Nadler and company would give them the First Amendment thumbs up if the circumstances were the same?

Sources

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7. Ibid.

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10. Ibid.

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12. Ibid.

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22. Ibid.

23. “President Obama Has Now Commuted the Sentences of 348 Individuals.” ObamaWhiteHouseArchives.gov. June 3, 2016. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/03/30/president-obama-has-now-commuted-sentences-348-individuals, retrieved February 19, 2020.

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26. Ibid.

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28. Ibid.

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31. Ibid.

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34. Ibid.

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45. Sun-Times wire. “82 shot, 19 fatally, over Chicago’s most violent weekend of 2020.” Chicago Sun-times. June 1, 2020. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/6/1/21275944/chicago-weekend-shootings-most-violent-weekend-2020-may-29-june-1, retrieved June 1, 2020.

⁴⁶House Judiciary Committee Unveils Investigation into Threats Against the Rule of Law.” House Committee on the Judiciary. March 4, 2019. https://judiciary.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1502, retrieved June 11, 2020.

⁴⁷“Harris Demands Independent DOJ Investigation Into Ahmaud Arbery Case.” Kamala D. Harris. May 11, 2020. https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-demands-independent-doj-investigation-into-ahmaud-arbery-case, retrieved June 11, 2020.

⁴⁸“Nadler, Grijalva, Smith and Thompson Call for Answers on Trump Administration’s Use of Force Against Peaceful DC Protestors.” House Committee on the Judiciary. June 3, 2020. https://judiciary.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2983, retrieved June 16, 2020.

⁴⁹“Weekly Capitol Report. A Painful Week.” Jason Smith. June 5, 2020. https://jasonsmith.house.gov/newsroom/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2942, retrieved June 17, 2020.