Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has endorsed the draconian Arizona immigration law on the grounds that immigration has caused the state’s crime to skyrocket—a claim that founders on the fact that crime in the state has actually gone down (FAIR Action Alert, 5/17/10). Of late, he hasn’t talked much about the immigration/crime angle, leading us to wonder whether he had figured out that he was all wet on the subject (FAIR Activism Update, 6/4/10).
But last Thursday (6/17/10), interviewing pro-immigration schoolteacher Jose Lara, O’Reilly returned to the topic with a fresh set of nonsense:
LARA: The fact is, Bill, and you can’t deny this, that in cities that have large amounts of immigrants, crime is actually lower.
O’REILLY: It’s lower because it’s compared to before the recession. And that’s why it’s lower, because there aren’t as many illegals here now—
LARA: No, it’s not.
O’REILLY: —as there were because the economy’s terrible. If you go back 10 years, every city is up big. And the intrusion on Arizona and California, as you know, is enormous in dollars and blood.
Once again, O’Reilly is just making things up. It’s not true that crime in “every city is up big” compared to 10 years ago; looking at the FBI’s violent crime reports for 2000 and 2009 in the 10 largest cities, the figures are down substantially in New York (down 44 percent), Los Angeles (57 percent), Phoenix (28 percent), Philadelphia (21 percent), San Antonio (14 percent), Dallas (45 percent) and San Diego (21 percent). Chicago doesn’t release figures on rapes, so it doesn’t have a comparable violent crime rate, but its murder rate declined 27 percent from 2000 to 2009. Violent crime in Houston rose 0.5 percent over the same time period; Las Vegas had a 52 percent jump, making it the one major city where crime actually was “up big.”
What about Arizona and California—was the “intrusion…enormous in dollars and blood” in those states? Not so much blood, it turns out—violent crime in those states was down 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively, from 2000 to 2008 (the most recent year available).
It’s worth saying again that the entire premise of O’Reilly’s argument is wrong—there is no connection between immigration and crime, so it’s unsurprising that the rise in unauthorized immigration to the United States has coincided with a dramatic fall in violent crime rates.
UPDATE: O’Reilly seems to be desperately seeking some way that he’s somehow right on this stuff. Here he is last night (6/22/10):
Crime has gone down in all the border states. In El Paso, we did a big extensive study, the Factor did, of this. You can’t break out illegal alien crime. You can’t break it out because they don’t keep stats that way. It’s down. And a lot of people think it’s because of the economy that fewer people are coming here to the United States because of jobs are harder to get.
Who thinks that, exactly? The people who did the big extensive study at the Factor? If they had done such a study, they would have noticed that the fall in crime in El Paso is not a short-term phenomenon; violent crime in that heavily immigrant city is down 34 percent since 2000.
And that is consistent with national trends. As the Immigration Policy Center pointed out in a report, “Immigrants and Crime: Are They Connected?“:
Although the undocumented immigrant population doubled to about 12 million from 1994 to 2005, the violent crime rate in the United States declined by 34.2 percent and the property crime rate fell by 26.4 percent. This decline in crime rates was not just national, it also occurred in border cities and other cities with large immigrant populations–such as San Diego, El Paso, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami.
Research assistance: Alyssa Figueroa
It is interesting that he essentially said in passing, “Hey, the recession has lowered crime in some regions in America!“ This is probably true, but not being reported? Maybe in a few months when the stat analyses come out, maybe unless some kind of FOIA action is taken!
The Tea Bag Party are just â┚¬Ã…“haters not debatersâ┚¬Ã‚ or as others have dubbed them â┚¬Ã…“screamers not dreamersâ┚¬Ã‚Â, with their failed attempts at stopping Healthcare reform, they say they respect the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence but they do not mind passing laws, through weak Governors (no one voted for this crazy) who only cares about getting elected Governor, on the backs of undocumented workers, that will not pass Constitution muster.
Brewer signed into law;
1. S.B. 1070,
2. No permit conceal weapons law,
3. The famous Birthers law,
4. Banning Ethnic studies law,
5. Could she be behind the Mural in Prescott, Arizona, ordered to be whiten,
6. On deck to pass, no citizenship to babies born to undocumented workers,
7. If she can read she should look up Arizona’s House Bill 2779 from two years ago (which was un-constitution and failed when legally challenged),
8. The boycotted Martin Luther King Day, what idiots don’t want another holiday? Yes, you guessed it Arizona.
Well Arizona, you can boycott new holidays and keep passing crazy laws and the rest of us will continue to challenged them in a court of law and continue to add cities to our Boycott of your state.
I real cannot believe anything that comes out of Brewer’s mouth, in an interview she first said her father had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (war ended 1945) but of course we find out the truth that father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955. But we are suppose to believe everything else she says, right! No one voted for you for Governor, yet you keep listening to the tiny brains of the crazies and signing into law everything that comes into their feeble minds, it only make you look dumb, stupid or racist, or maybe all three.
As for the Tea Bag Party, their phony patriotism is sickening; they are just racists going by another name. We all know you are just itching to put a sheet on their head? Let’s face it the Republicans had eight years to deal with health care, immigration, energy (remember Cheney’s secret meetings with oil companies where loosening regulation and oversight were sealed), climate change and financial oversight and governance and they failed. It appears that the Republican Party is only good at starting wars (two in eight years, with fat contracts to friends of Cheney/Bush) but not at winning wars as seen by the continuing line of body bags that keep coming home. The Republicans party will continue turned inward to their old fashion obstructionist party (and their Confederacy appreciation roots) because they continue to allow a small portions (but very loud portion) of their party of â┚¬Ã…“birthers, baggers and blowhardsâ┚¬Ã‚ to rule their party. I will admit that this fringe is very good at playing â┚¬Ã…“Follow the Leaderâ┚¬Ã‚ by listening to their dullard leaders, Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush, Savage, Sarah Bailin, Orly Taitz, Victoria Jackson, Michele Bachmann and the rest of the Blowhards and acting as ill programmed robots (they have already acted against doctors that perform abortions).
The Birthers and the Tea Bag party crowd think they can scare, intimidate and force others to go along with them by comments like â┚¬Ã…“This time we came unarmedâ┚¬Ã‚Â, let me tell you something not all ex-military join the fringe militia crazies who don’t pay taxes and run around with face paint in the parks playing commando, the majority are mature and understand that the world is more complicated and grey than the black and white that these simpleton make it out to be and that my friend is the point. The world is complicated and people like Hamilton, Lincoln, and Roosevelt believed that we should use government a little to increase social mobility, now it’s about dancing around the claim of government is the problem. The sainted Reagan passed the biggest tax increase in American history and as a result federal employment increased, but facts are lost when mired in mysticism and superstition. For a party that gave us Abraham Lincoln, it is tragic that the ranks are filled with too many empty suits and the crazy Birthers who have not learned that the way our courts work is that you get a competent lawyer, verifiable facts and present them to a judge, if the facts are real and not half baked internet lies, then, and only then, do you proceed to trial. The Birthers seem to be having a problem with their so called â┚¬Ã…“Internet factsâ┚¬Ã‚Â. Let’s face it no one will take the Birthers seriously until they win a case, but until then, you will continue to appear dumb, crazy or racist, or maybe all three. I heard that Orly Taitz now wants to investigate the â┚¬Ã…“Republican 2009 Summer of Loveâ┚¬Ã‚ list: Assemblyman, Michael D. Duvall (CA), Senator John Ensign (NV), Senator Paul Stanley (TN), Governor Mark Stanford (SC), Board of Ed Chair, and Kristin Maguire AKA Bridget Keeney (SC), she wants to re-establish a family values party, that is like saying that the Catholic Church cares about the welling being of children in their care, too late for that. Yee Haw!
Montana:
>The Tea Bag Party are just â┚¬Ã…“haters not debatersâ┚¬Ã‚Â
Sounds like you are one by this comment.
>through weak Governors (no one voted for this crazy)
Then how did she get elected?
>It appears that the Republican Party is only good at starting wars (two in eight years,
Who started a war against Germany? They didn’t attack us. FDR – a Democrat Viet Nam? – JFK
WW1 – Wilson
>I real cannot believe anything that comes out of Brewer’s mouth, in an interview she first said her father had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (war ended 1945) but of course we find out the truth that father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955. But we are suppose to believe everything else she says, right!
John Kerry and swift boats come to mind.
>Hamilton, Lincoln, and Roosevelt believed that we should use government a little to increase social mobility
Use Government a litte, Big Government – Yup same thing.
It is odd that there has been this big spike in right wing idiocy coming out of Arizona though. Texas has a higher background level of crazy and right now Arizona is like a supernova taking the attention. I wonder how long it will last.
Actually it isn’t that strange. Arizona has been moving gradually towards the middle over the last twenty years. The population has doubled in that time and a big part of that spike wasn’t old retirees who tended to be conservative, but a lot of younger families moving from blue states, etc. In 2008 McCain only received 53.4% of the vote here in Arizona, his sixth lowest vote total among the states he won. Now think about that, his home state was one of his least supportive states. Had McCain been from Texas, Florida, etc., he likely would have lost Arizona.
This state has a long history of very conservative, often racist politics and the supporters of those policies aren’t happy that they are consistently losing ground to moderates and liberals (simply termed as liberals in their tirades). Because of how the state legislature is set up conservatives still have a major majority in both houses but, when Napolitano was governor, she vetoed a lot of their stupidity. In fact she set the record for vetoes in the history of the state. You take her away, bring in Brewer who is a wing-nut’s wing-nut, and you see incredibly stupid legislation that was shut down by a reasonable governor make it out of the state house. At the same time you see an increase in non-conservative population as well as an increase in non-white population and the far white err, right is freaking out.
Choose your poison. A bipartisan Congress voted for NAFTA and WTO, stripped away Glass-Steagall protections that had been in place to stop the banks from doing what they wound up doing, passed the Bankruptcy Act, approved Bush’s tax cuts for the rich, gave its blessings to an illegal war, and voted for sham health care reform. It wasn’t Republicans vs. Democrats. It was Republicans and Democrats. And it’s been going on for thirty years! The rhetoric and actions of the GOP/Tea Party crowd are, however, decidedly mean-spirited.
Poor ill-informed John and Jane Q. Public. They allow themselves to be divided by racist, anti-worker, pro-corporate hucksters who have never put in an honest day of labor in their lives. Those right-wingers have nothing to teach those of us who actually work for a living (or those of us who want to work but can’t find a job).
Wait and see. After this current economic crisis recedes they will find out that the wealthy entered it wealthy and emerged wealthy. They will discover that only working class people suffered.
Wise up! Forget the right-wing loonies. Choose a less deadly poison. Vote Democrat. Then get ready to march in the streets. At least the Democrats won’t sick the militia on you. In fact, they can actually be forced to do the right thing. That won’t happen unless those of us who produce wealth for others are true to our class. Isn’t it about time for the 90% to start running the show? The richest 10% and their lackeys in Congress have screwed us long enough!
Hey JUSTMUSIN,
Brewer got to be governor without being elected because she was next in line for the job through succession when the previous governor Janet Napolitano was selected to be the head of The Department Homeland Security. That’s how she got there without being elected.
Who started WWI, WWII, and Vietnam? None of the Presidents you named. But this was a trick question right? Or didn’t you know your history. Both the world wars had been going on for years before the US decided to join (that’s the keyword, join, not your word:start)the Allies in defeating Germany.
The war in Vietnam had been in progress for more than a decade before Kennedy chose to commit troops to that country. Once again the US president didn’t start it.
John Kerry and Swiftboats was a political hack job, designed by a highly paid Republican operative, which, under scrutiny, fell apart when it was shown by records that the doctor who said he treated Kerry’s wounds was not listed on the official report. The other person who stated he was there was called a liar by the two crewmen who actually accompanied Kerry on the night in question. But don’t let the facts stand in the way of your own mental abusings.
You should not confuse your own mental masturbating with actual intelligent musings. Because while the latter may actually bear some intellectual fruit, the former merely provides personal gratification.
Reading through these blogs I see lots of anger and hatred thrown at conservatives/tea bag party types.I see folks jumping on O’reilly trying to parse his words.Yet not one word to the seminal point.With the acknowledged flood crossing our southern boarder illegally……….WE HAVE THE RIGHT AND DUTY TO STOP IT!It would not matter one wit if not one Mexican carried drugs.Or if crime disappeared everywhere they traveled on gilded wings..Or if the security issues spawned by 911 vanished in a blizzard of fairy dust. This open boarder must be contained,curtailed,and closed until we gain control.It is the right of any free country.
As far as the Arizona law.Read it!Then read the Federal law now in place.Then…….tell me what is the difference.I see one thing.If police stop you for a legal reason they are urged to check your information for legal citizen status.OOOOO Say it aint so Joe.Sounds like storm troopers to me.Really grow up.Police are armed, and are charged to deal everyday with life or death situations.This is all being blown out of all proportion for political reasons.
I notice this penchant for the Liberal left(certainly in these blogs) to try to paint all conservatives,constitutionalists,and tea party types as ……Raciest, heartless religious fanatics who hate the poor.Militarists and lets face it…..Nazis.I always like to say of libs that they are very open minded to different ideas…..As long as they agree with it!Past that they hurl invictive ,and slander, and move to shut down the free speech of the other side.Truth is the best thing for open debate on these issues is to have opposing views.People like Hannity,Rush,Bill and Beck and FOX are simply espousing a different viewpoint.Look at the polls and the ratings.America is getting it.The oh so unfree bought and paid for lib press has been able to paint with a wide brush as they saw fit for a long while now.Times change.The alternative now has a voice.Sorry if that and a hard belief in that rag called the constitution has so many folks riled up.We will keep talking though if it is Ok with you all.And Your all welcome to stay in the realm of the open exchange of free ideas- so we’ll leave a light on for you.As the old saying goes…..”it’ll all shake out in the end”.
Jesus creeping shit! Michael e, I knew you’d be in here defending that lying dumb fuck O’Reilly, and I was right . . . . “. . . (N)ot one word on the seminal point.” (?!) He lied, repeatedly and continually; it’s pointed out clearly and with evidence (the dumb racist greedy asshole’s own words), and yet you blather on imbecilically about the “seminal” point? Of course you don’t see any difference between Arizona’s bogus, extra-constitutional “law” and the Federal government’s prerogatives. How could you? You’re the same schmuck who thinks that lies and ignorant bullshit (Hannity, Rush, Bill and Beck and FOX) designed to gull fools like you is just “espousing a different viewpoint.” Good God son, if Rush or Beck told you that they’re layin’ it all on the line for the little guy (i.e., you), you’d believe them in a heartbeat, wouldn’t ya? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Greed and Stupidity you named above make more money in the first minute of the year than you do in as lifetime, son. That money is their only concern, except maybe for Beck, who really is as stupid and ignorant as he comes across. (He’s afraid Obama the “socialist” is going to take more of his utterly unearned money in Federal taxes. Unlikely, but we can dream.) Go now, michael e, and reconsider your wretched “beliefs” and “thoughts” in light of the cold hard facts I’ve laid out for you here. Watch the Beck and Hannity for hidden meaning in their scribblings and gestures-it’s there! And it will change your life! Hopefully there’s time. SemperFi!
SemperFi
Im gonna prescribe a valium for you my friend.Breathe deep.Lets take it for granted you and i and all those you just spoke of are probably good people.Lets start there.Obama too.We can disagree can we not?It is the best thing about us.Americans
“WE HAVE THE RIGHT AND DUTY TO STOP IT”
Yes, we do, but making up facts is insulting to the intellect.
I am sure you are a firm believer in the free markets. Free markets work in the short term because of the free flow of information which allows millions of people to aggregate their decisions to pick a winner.
Now if you truly believe in the free markets you must truly believe in the power of information and the ability of a group of people to decide how they want to orient their society given good information. (It works the same way when fighting a war, good information is one of the keys.) And, of course Fox News like any other media outlet is their to fuel the ego with their messiahs of the ego.
O’Rielly does not believe in any of this. He is about his own ego. (In fact much of this “new” conservative media is about fueling the ego.)
Look at the words a person uses day in and day out and you can see the over inflated egos at Fox. Hannity calls the president the “annoited” one, his press secretary the “propagandist in chief”. As ex-military I find this childish and demeaning just as those on the left were to President Bush. This tells you a lot about Fox News as an organization which is why I get my news elsewhere. Look a the words of Glenny boy. They all use the same techniques as Osama Bin Laden and radical clerics to attract the egos with bright, shiny, sparkly things.
If you were to watch a radical Islamic cleric on the corner of a street and then watch the pundits of Fox you would see the exact same techniques. These people are not concerned about “truth”, only about their own egos. It is more important for these people to win.
There is a saying in the gaming world that says, “Monkeys like bright shiny things.”
Mbaird
I would not advocate watching only FOX.But I would urge people to watch FOX.
Yesterday there were riots at the world economic summit.CNN actually left the impression that it was those crazy tea baggers again.Fox announced the rioters were actually environmentalists who were against business and its effect on the environment..They carry Obama posters at their head.Check it out.FOX was right.This is why We need both CNN and FOX.I personally think FOX is much better at getting at the truth.You may not.Then we need engaged people willing to fact check.In this last election there is simply no doubt that the majority of the press carried Obamas water.Horrible job vetting him.They became advocates not reporters.
I use 2 or 3 non part. fact check orgs to run down things i am working on.As hated as he is by the left- Rush Limbaugh routinely scores in the high 90s for fact accuracy.Kieth Oberman on the other hand seldom makes 50%!This is important.I could care less how inflated are their egos or how much they earn,or even how they spin it.Dont lie to me on the facts.
I think the left is realizing that they could have their own Hannity’s.Rush ,Oreilly,Beck,Ann Caulter’s,ect.Yet it just does not fly.Because in the arena of ideas they cant sell what they are now shoving down Americas throat.And as annoying as some on the right are………they are very good at removing the scales from peoples eyes and showing the king has no clothes.
Europe yesterday announced the death of Keynesian economics in Europe.New austerity measures and spending cuts up to 50% so that they may survive.Our president (who is much worse off)refused this road.He will go it alone.Pushing the spending pedal to the metal he has lost all sense of reality.Look at how FOX/BBC/CNN/CSNBC reports this.The differences are not subtle.FOX/BBC are in shock.CNN/CSNBC goes merrily along running interference for this madness.
There is another saying in the gaming world that should be taken to heart by these media Obama mania types who will not retreat in their support for this man no matter what.”Ya gotta know when to quit”.