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Rand Paul| Opinion Contributor

Editor's note: this story details historic violence thatsome may find upsetting.

Marie Thompson was sentenced to death in 1904 for the crime of resisting the tyranny of Jim Crow. She was not afforded an opportunity to defend herself in a court of law, nor was her constitutional right to due process recognized. Her sentence was not imposed by an impartial judge, but rather by a bloodthirsty mob.

When a white farmer, John Irving, verbally and physically assaulted Marie Thompsons son, who Irving accused of stealing a pair of pliers, she came to her childs defense. Irving attacked Marie with a knife while her back was turned to him. The fight ended when Marie Thompson slit John Irvings throat.

But the ordeal wasnt over. Marie Thompson was arrested and, if she had lived in a different time, she would have been found to have justifiably acted in self-defense. But this was 1904, a time when even a prison could not hold back the lynch mob.

When dozens of armed men dragged Marie Thompson from her cell and tied a rope around her neck, she still did not lose the will to fight. Ignoring her cries for mercy, the men threw the rope over the branch of a tree and Thompsons feet were lifted several inches off the ground. But Marie Thompson managed to steal a knife from a member of the mob, cut herself down, and began running for her life. Over 100 bullets flew at her and, when she fell, the mob cheered.

More: Sen. Rand Paul backs new Emmett Till Antilynching Act, after holding up the old one

This was how a dispute over a pair of pliers was resolved in the Jim Crow south.

Marie Thompson was a human being, but she was not afforded the dignity that each individual deserves. She was a Black American woman, who lost her life resisting injustice. And, throughout my engagement with my colleagues in the Senate to make lynching a federal crime, Marie Thompson has been an inspiration to me.

When Congress passes the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, the heinous act of lynching will finally be recognized as a federal hate crime. I am a proud co-sponsor of that legislation, and all Americans should celebrate its imminent passage. But, we should also celebrate the process by which this legislation was crafted because I believe it will inspire renewed faith in our experiment in Republican government.

Officially designating lynching a federal crime is a powerful statement. But, when Congress creates new federal crimes, it has a responsibility to ensure that the law is just.

That is exactly what I attempted to do when, over a year ago, I offered an amendment to strengthen an earlier version of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. That version of the bill would have labeled a conspiracy to commit a vast array of different hate crimes, including those unrelated to physical harm to a personsuch as defacing a churcha lynching.

More: House passes Emmett Till Antilynching Act, making lynching a federal hate crime

At the same time, protests across the United States were erupting to protest the killing of George Floyd. That summer, protestors calling for racial justice defaced St. Johns Church in Washington, DC. Ironically, had that version of the antilynching bill become law, those protestors could have been the first to have been federally prosecuted for committing a lynching.

That real-life example demonstrates why Congress must carefully craft legislation that creates new federal crimes. My amendment, which I named in honor of Marie Thompson, would have ensured that the crime of lynching would be severely punished, while those accused of lesser crimes are punished in a proportionate manner.

Taking the time to get the bill right was, for some, an unpopular decision. Consideration of my amendment would inevitably slow the process of enacting the law, and some people, who were not inclined to give me the benefit of the doubt, hurled vile accusations at me on social media.

Sen.Cory Booker recognized my sincerity and agreed to work with me to make the bill stronger. Sen.Booker and I have collaborated to fight other injustices, such as mass incarceration. Our partnership worked because of a profound mutual respect for one another and a shared goal to right historic wrongs without inadvertently creating new victims.

All too often, news coverage portrays our nation as hopelessly divided and our government as broken. The intense debates, the contentious votes, and the partisan signing ceremonies may get the most attention from news organizations. But what the cameras cannot capture is the careful deliberation and cooperation that is required of public servants to faithfully fulfill their charge.

And so, a Republican and a Democrat from different backgrounds, different parts of the country, and different perspectives, sat down and did the hard work entrusted to us by our constituents. Our exchange of ideas was at times passionate, but always respectful and with our common goal sharply in mind. In short, we came up with a compromise. That compromise took over a year to finalize. But the result of that compromise will be a historic law that finally recognizes lynching as a federal hate crime.

We owed it to Marie Thompson, to Emmett Till, and to the over 4,700 other victims of lynching in this country to get the law that honors them right.

Rand Paul is a Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky.

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Rand Paul: The Emmett Till Antilynching act was worth taking the time to get it right - Courier Journal

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/-- Just over 40 years ago, President Ronald Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, saying, "These bills that I'm about to signrepresent a turnaround of almost a half a century of a course this country's been on and mark an end to the excessive growth in government bureaucracy, government spending, government taxing."

As our nation faces the highest rates of inflation since the early 1980s, it is clear that it is essential to understand how leaders in the past have responded to these sorts of challenges. To ensure that the youth of today continue to be taught the important economic lessons President Reagan fought so hard to instill in our nation, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is launching "Reaganomics 101," a brand-new set of primary source based materials for classrooms across our nation.

"It's critical that we emphasize the value of free markets and capitalism in our nation's schools. Our 'Reaganomics 101' course is meant to do just that." said John Heubusch, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute. "Just this month, the U.S. inflation rate hit a 40-year high of 7.5%[1]. It is absolutely essential that young people understand how Ronald Reagan's economic policies helped combat inflation and set the U.S. on a course for decades long prosperity."

Through the use of primary source material gathered from the Reagan Library archives, contemporary interviews with leading economists and free market proponents, animated videos and more, the Reagan Foundation & Institute aims to reintroduce the teaching of economic principles that allowed President Reagan to successfully revive the worst economic mess since the Great Depression.

"When President Reagan took office in1981, the country was experiencing some of the bleakest economic times on record," said Heubusch "By the end of his presidency, Ronald Reagan and his administration helped millions of people get good jobs and to keep more of the money for which they worked so hard, the federal government was on a much-needed diet, and businesses were no longer hassled or paralyzed by the government. In a phrase the American dream had been restored."

The curriculum, which will be available in the months to come on http://www.ReaganFoundation.org/education, aims to tell the story of how Ronald Reagan's embrace of "supply side" economic policies led to historic tax rate reductions which, in turn, unleashed at the time the longest peace time economic recovery in our nation's history.

In addition to the primary source materials from the Reagan Archives which focuses on the four pillars President Reagan introduced during his economic policy plan reducing corporate and individual taxes, reducing government spending, reducing regulation, and tightening the money supply to reduce inflation - the curriculum includes recent interviews with economist Dr. Art Laffer, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senator Rand Paul, and others.

"Young people are succumbing to the notion that socialism is a good idea, and I think Ronald Reagan, if he were alive, would shudder at the thought," said Senator Rand Paul. "I wonder what the people running as socialists today missed in history classWe really want to make sure that the word gets out that the reason why America is so great is because of capitalism."

"What Ronald Reagan did," said former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, "was unleash the creativity of the American people, the workers, the small businessesthat really showed the power of freedom economics, which is free enterprise."

This curriculum launch is part of the milestone events the Reagan Foundation will be celebrating during this unprecedented 40th anniversary milestone year of Ronald Reagan becoming the 40th president of the United States. It's a year to re-examine his legacy, re-tell one of America's greatest stories, re-live a remarkable presidency, and introduce this American icon to a new generation. This is 40 at 40; the 40th anniversary of our 40th president's inaugural year. Learn more at http://www.reaganfoundation.org/40at40 and follow #40at40 on Twitter where the Reagan Foundation is posting once a day to relive what President Reagan did 40 years ago that day.

The Reaganomics 101 Education Curriculum program is funded by The Copses Family Foundation, a private foundation established by Peter P. Copses and Judith V. Mueller to promote, among other causes,economic liberty and freemarketcapitalism. Additional support for the program was also provided by Gary Simons and Andy Puzder.

"The CopsesFamilyFoundation is proud to have sponsored the creation of Reaganomics 101," said Peter P. Copses. "President Reagan was the foremost promoter of free market capitalism in my lifetime, and his policies unleashed decades of prosperity for America. Unfortunately, we are now turning away from these successful policies, and younger generations of Americans are being taught a very negative view of capitalism and markets that is historically inaccurate.We hope that Reaganomics 101 will help to correct this perception andcontributeto preserving prosperity for our children's generation."

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is the nonprofit organization created by President Reagan himself and specifically charged by him with continuing his legacy and sharing his principles - individual liberty, economic opportunity, global democracy and national pride. The Foundation is a non-partisan organization which sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Presidential Learning Center, The Air Force One Pavilion and the award-winning Discovery Center, as well as the Reagan Institute, which carries out the Foundation's work in Washington, D.C.

The Reagan Library houses over 60 million pages of Gubernatorial, Presidential and personal papers, over 1.6 million photographs, a half million feet of motion picture film, 25,000 audio recordings, 22,000 video recordings, and over 83,000 objects chronicling the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. It also serves as the final resting place of America's 40th President and his First Lady. http://www.reaganfoundation.org

Contact: Melissa Giller

mgiller@reaganfoundation.org

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SOURCE The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute

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REAGAN FOUNDATION LAUNCHES "REAGANOMICS" CURRICULUM BASED ON PRESIDENT REAGAN'S SIGNING OF THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY TAX ACT OF 1981 - 69News...

SACRAMENTO

A little-seen attack ad roasting state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta as an anticop politician may be just a blip in the social media universe, but it serves as a flashing neon sign warning Democrats what to expect in Californias election season.

How can someone who cares more about criminals rights than victims rights, and is routinely at odds with law enforcement, serve as our states top cop? the ad says. Its time for a change.

The criticism comes from an independent political committee backing attorney general candidate Anne Marie Schubert, the Republican-turned-independent district attorney of Sacramento County. The ad also takes a swipe at Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faces a similar barrage from the right in his run for reelection for promising to close two prisons, imposing a moratorium on the death penalty and appointing Bonta as the states top cop.

After more than a decade hovering near the back burner of voter concerns in California, fear over crime has risen to the fore as Republicans seize on the issue to skewer Democrats from the state Capitol to the White House. Republicans are demanding an end to liberal policies that replaced some of the tough-on-crime laws of the 1980s and 1990s enacted under GOP Govs. George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson.

The political calculus is clear. Two-thirds of registered voters in California believe crime has risen in their neighborhoods, according to a recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. Just over half of voters surveyed said Newsom is doing a poor job on crime and public safety, up 16 percentage points from 2020.

Those perceptions have largely been driven by television news coverage of a series of coordinated smash and grab thefts. Auto burglaries and stolen cars are also driving increases in crime in major cities, according to a January study by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Republican political consultant David Gilliard said crime is an issue that California Democrats own after convincing voters to expand options for the early release of tens of thousands of incarcerated people and reduce the punishment for many convicted of theft and other nonviolent offenses.

Proposition 47, the 2014 voter-approved ballot measure that Newsom supported, reclassified some felony drug and theft offenses as misdemeanors and raised from $400 to $950 the amount for which theft can be prosecuted as a felony. Two years later, California voters approved Proposition 57, a parole overhaul measure that increased good-behavior credits, allowing prisoners to be released earlier.

When you have fewer people who are criminals in prison, that means theres more of them on the street. That means crime goes up. Its a pretty easy equation for voters to understand, Gilliard said.

Recall efforts are underway against progressive district attorneys in two of Californias most liberal counties. An effort to oust San Francisco Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin one San Francisco Mayor London Breed hinted she might support will be on the June ballot. Another recall effort, targeting L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascn, is becoming a pivotal dividing line in the L.A. mayors race.

Republicans in Sacramento are leaning on the impact of Proposition 47 to crystalize their political message.

Assembly member Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), who is running for Congress in a solidly Republican district, called Proposition 47 a failed policy that has inflicted disastrous consequences on Californians. He and more than a dozen other Republican legislators have introduced Assembly Bill 1599 to repeal the law a mostly symbolic gesture in a Legislature controlled by Democrats.

I believe Californians are fed up with this sort of lawlessness, Kiley said. They are ready to have a rational public safety policy again.

Some prominent Republican leaders conveyed a different message just seven years ago, when tough-on-crime rhetoric began melting away in some parts of the country.

In 2014, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich urged California voters to pass Proposition 47. In an Orange County Register opinion article, Paul argued that America needed to change its criminal justice system because it drains tax dollars, destabilizes families and, worse, isnt making us any safer.

That same year, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry bragged about shutting down a correctional facility following the states use of drug courts to divert addicts into treatment.

You want to talk about real conservative governance. Shut prisons down. Save that money, Perry told the audience at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference.

But Paul and Perrys comments came at a time when crime rates were near record lows in many parts of the country, and voter concerns were focused elsewhere.

Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta said todays voters are angry about a multitude of issues affecting their day-to-day lives crime among them and candidates from his party would be wise to take that seriously.

Housing, crime those are the issues. Then you sprinkle in the inflation piece, Acosta said. What does this all look like in November? I dont know, but right now, it could be a bit of a toxic brew.

Assembly member Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates), a former prosecutor with the state Department of Justice, is supporting legislation this year to roll back provisions of Proposition 47, including a bill to return the threshold for felony theft to $400.

The Legislature needs to be responsive to the will of the people, Muratsuchi said. The Berkeley poll clearly shows that more and more Californians are increasingly concerned about the direction that weve been heading [in], and now maybe is the time for us to take, if not a course correction, at the very least some course modification.

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), chair of the Committee on Public Safety, said he favors taking a more measured approach rather than bending to the politics of the moment. Any effort to roll back Proposition 47 must be accompanied by data to demonstrate why the changes are needed and to show that theyre not fear-based, he said.

Jones-Sawyer said there is widespread misunderstanding of Proposition 47, which makes it vulnerable to criticism. He said there has to be greater collaboration between criminal justice advocates and law enforcement, likening the two sides to arguing parents in a divorce.

When we are arguing, it becomes a battlefield. And the only people who suffer are the people we are supposed to be taking care of, he said.

Jones-Sawyer introduced a bill this year to give law enforcement more power to arrest people involved in organized retail and smash-and-grab theft.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said the rise in violent crime, and increasing concerns among voters, was predictable. Property crimes have become so rampant that more businesses and residents see no reason to report thefts, she said.

Were being overwhelmed, because criminals seem to be more emboldened, Mims said. I think thats because of the messages being sent from Sacramento, unfortunately, and with Prop. 47.

Defenders of Proposition 47 note that, according to the California Department of Justice, property crime has been on a steady decline statewide since the law was enacted at least through 2020, the most current figures available.

Roughly 30 states have increased the threshold for felony theft offenses since 2005, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. More than half of all states have a felony theft threshold of $1,000 or more.

For years, law enforcement in California has been telling people that Proposition 47 is contributing to an increase in crime, said Anne Irwin, founder and director of Smart Justice California, which advocates for criminal justice reform. Law enforcement was spreading this misinformation even when crime in California was across the board at all-time historic lows.

UC Irvine criminology professor Elliott Currie says property crime statistics are notoriously unreliable even before the passage of Proposition 47 because many incidents are not reported. He noted that during the pandemic, violent crime particularly murder has been on the rise across the nation.

Its taking place in all different kinds of places: red states, blue states and such. You try to attribute that to California criminal justice reforms, youre clearly barking up the wrong tree, Currie said. Its just a Republican talking point at the moment.

The sharp increase in homicides during the pandemic is more clear-cut, Currie said. Nationwide, the murder rate surged by nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020, with California seeing a slightly higher increase, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the state Department of Justice. Montana, South Dakota and Kentucky saw some of the largest increases, as did New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Candidates in some of Californias divisive political races are making the increase in homicides a centerpiece of their pitch to voters this year.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Dahle, a state senator from Northern California, blamed the rise in murders on the policies of elites liberals. Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, said the states progressive policies on crime have cost us lives and created many more victims when he announced his organizations endorsement of Schubert for attorney general on Tuesday.

But Newsom and Bonta have signaled their intent to use fear of gun violence in a new line of attack on the firearms industry. The Democrats argue that gun rights advocates and gun makers have seeded the increase in violent crime through the proliferation of weapons across the country. The two appeared together at a February press conference in Del Mar to throw their support behind legislation to enable Californians to sue gun manufacturers and distributors.

Throughout his first three years in office, Newsom has defended the progressive policies on crime that have been adopted over the past decade, including bans on assault weapons and measures aimed at reducing recidivism through educational opportunities and mental health programs.

Were not walking back on our commitment in the state to advance comprehensive reforms. Were not walking back in this state to right the wrongs of the past, Newsom said in December.

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Why crime is at the center of California elections this year - Los Angeles Times

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Tuesday said that investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading expert on infectious disease, will be one of his top priorities if the GOP retakes the House in this year's midterm elections.

The probe, Jordan told Just the News, will aim to untangle "all the lies [and] the misinformation, the disinformation" that he claims Fauci has spread about the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

"That is because they knew from the get-go [coronavirus] came from the lab, likely came from a lab, gain-of-function likely done, and our tax dollars were used," the lawmaker added.

Jordan, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, has been one of the leading Republican proponents of the "lab leak" theory, the unproven and dubious notion that the coronavirus was leaked, accidentally or otherwise, from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

RELATED: Great work, useful idiots of the media: Most Americans buy the unsubstantiated "lab leak" theory

At the center of this theory is the allegation that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at one point provided a grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for "gain-of-function" research, a process in which a virus is genetically altered in order to anticipate ways it may mutate in the future. Supporters of the lab leak theory contend, by that logic, that the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 is a man-made "supervirus," generated in a lab, whose origins have been covered up by leading health officials, including Fauci.

According to the Washington Post, there is no clear evidence that the NIH funded any such research. Furthermore, most scientists have concluded that the lab leak theory is unlikely, although it cannot entirely be ruled out. The dearth of evidence for the claim hasn't stopped conservatives from repeatedly accusing Fauci of masterminding the pandemic.

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During a Senate hearing just last month, Fauci and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., got into a heated exchange over the matter, with Fauci accusing Paul of promoting the theory for political reasons.

"You are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain," Fauci told the senator at the time. "What happens when [Paul] gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there, and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children, with obscene phone calls because people are lying about me."

RELATED: The media is being duped by Republicans on the "lab leak" theory

On Sunday, the New York Times cited two extensive new studies backing the idea that COVID-19 originated from a live animal market in Wuhan, China. This was largely the consensus earlier into the pandemic.

Jordan appeared unconvinced, writing of the report this week: "These aren't new facts or new studies. This 'new' info is from the same crew that told Fauci it came from a lab but suspiciously changed their tune and were rewarded with a 9 million dollar grant."

According to the Times, the two novel studies have been verified by multiple independent experts, which renders the lab leak increasingly unlikely.

"When you look at all of the evidence together, it's an extraordinarily clear picture that the pandemic started at the Huanan market," said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona.

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Jim Jordan promises to "investigate" Dr. Fauci if GOP retakes the House this year - Salon

Michael Riojas is a senior studying journalism and an opinion writer for The New Political.

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.

In recent years, misinformation has run rampant in the United States. As a result, belief in conspiracy theories reached an all-time high, trust in our nations democratic process has waned and hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from a preventable disease. To understand the role of misinformation, we first need to understand two things about it: how it spreads and where it originates.

The spread of false knowledge is the bulk of the problem. Disinformation, information that is intended to deceive, is the catalyst for misinformation. Most disinformation is created by a minority of people on social media, often in regard to social and political issues such as vaccine conspiracies or election lies.

Politicians, especially Republicans, have been using disinformation to their advantage for years. Clips of Senator Rand Paul and Donald Trumps CIA Director Mike Pompeo show how blas lying is for many conservative politicians. Even more egregious, Trump has told over 30,000 lies during his time as president and is perhaps the most responsible for the dystopian rise in COVID-19 and election conspiracy theories.

The 2020 election, by every account, was one of the most secure elections in U.S. history. Still, nearly 70% of Republican voters believe the election was stolen from Donald Trump. According to Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, none of his Republican colleagues actually believes the 2020 election was stolen, but many GOP elites continue to disinform. The decrease in trust in American democracy has been the result of one mans fractured ego and the willingness of his sycophants to play along despite knowing better.

However, elected Republicans are not the only ones spreading disinformation. Conservative TV media have perpetuated election lies about voting machines and mail-in ballots. They have also played a large part in their viewers willingness, or lack thereof, to get vaccinated. Based on a 2020 Pew Research study, Republican voters received their news mainly from one source: Fox News. Like other right-leaning sources, they provide their viewers with mixed messages regarding vaccine information and have likely contributed to preventable American deaths, especially in red counties. A small handful of conservative hosts pander to the Republican establishment, and their pandering hurts their viewers. As a result, these voters are not only ill-informed regarding some of the significant issues our country faces but tend to elect leaders that continue to perpetuate similar lies, thus creating a cycle.

This isnt to say that networks who cater liberal politics are free from error. Corporate Democrats, along with networks such as CNN and MSNBC, have been accused of perpetuating pro-military-industrial-complex and pro-status quo propaganda, but currently it seems the most dangerous disinformation comes from right-wing sources.

As misinformation continues to spread rapidly, trust in our government will likely continue to diminish and the U.S. will pay the price of these lies. With midterm elections coming up and 2024 not far off, the threat could become much, much worse.

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OPINION: US faces deadly threat of misinformation fueled by conservative leaders The New Political - The New Political