America Faces No Greater Threat Than Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. Their Assault to Our Borders Is As Great As Their Assault to Free Speech and Free Elections
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED SANCTUARY CITY OF LOS ANGELES - MEXICO'S SECOND LARGEST CITY - Fentanyl's scourge plainly visible on streets of Los Angeles
THE FENTANYL COMES OVER THE OPEN BORDER FROM JOE BIDEN'S CRONIES IN RED CHINA THEN THROUGH NARCOMEX
Ryan Smith, a 36-year-old homeless addict, falls asleep after smoking fentanyl in Los Angeles, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in the city from April 2020 to March 2021, a 56% increase from the previous year, according to a report released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Overdose was the leading cause of death, killing more than 700. Jae C. Hong / AP
Rep. James Comer: Republicans' Crime Priority Will Be Fentanyl
Family and friends of people who died after being poisoned by pills containing fentanyl hold a protest march on June 4, 2021 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) - Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says fentanyl, not guns, will be a priority for the next Republican-led Congress.
"I mean, we already have many gun laws on the books," Comer told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"If passing a bill would simply end gun violence, then I think you would have overwhelming support in Congress for that. That's like saying Congress could pass a bill that reduces inflation. That didn't reduce inflation. So, you know, passing bills doesn't solve the problems.
"We have, as Governor Youngkin said, a mental health crisis in America. And I think there's overwhelming bipartisan support to fund better mental health programs and try to increase communication between law enforcement agencies and social services groups to try to better identify these troubled people before they commit crimes."
Comer said gun control has been discussed for all six years he's been in Congress. "It's very difficult," he said.
"You know, the number one priority with respect to crime in America for Republicans is going to be the fentanyl crisis. We talk about terrible gun crimes in America, but we've had over 100,000 deaths because of Fentanyl pouring across our border, which is unsecured right now. That's going to be the top priority for Republicans come January."
Host Chuck Todd continued pressing Comer on recent "massacres" and whether stricter gun laws -- longer waiting periods and red flag laws -- might be part of the answer.
"Well, Chuck, you talk about this a lot on "Meet the Press," but when you look at cities that have the most strict gun laws, like Washington, D.C., Chicago, these are the cities with the highest rate of crimes committed with guns.
“So, you know, just simply passing more bills isn't going to solve the problem. I think we need to get serious about law enforcement. We need to invest in more law enforcement. And again, we need to invest in mental health and try to improve communication between our social agencies as well as our law enforcement."
Comer noted that in rural America, where many people have guns, "there aren't a lot of crimes in these areas. And I think one reason is because potential criminals know that these people are exercising their Second Amendment rights," he said.
"So this is something that's indoctrinated in our Constitution. This is something that Republicans hold, you know, close. And we're going to continue to protect our Second Amendment rights, but while, at the same time, we want to get serious about crime in America, the fentanyl crisis, as well as the looting that's taking place in cities.
"We believe that we need more law enforcement, and we need to respect the -- the law enforcement. We need to have prosecutors that are serious about prosecuting and not letting people off in the name of criminal justice.
"So these are issues that are going to be debated early on in a new Republican majority."
A NATION IN MELTDOWN AS DEMOCRATS FLOOD THE COUNTRY FROM BORDER TO OPEN BORDER WITH ILLEGALS
THIS IS WHAT THE GLOBALIST NAFTA DEMOCRAT PARTY HAS DONE TO ONE SANCTUARY CITY
I Went To Every Single Homeless Camp In Los Angeles
In a filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Ryan Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high — lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day.
When Brandice Josey, another homeless addict, bent down and blew a puff of fentanyl smoke his way in an act of charity, Smith sat up and slowly opened his lip to inhale the vapor as if it was the cure to his problems.
Smith, wearing a grimy yellow T-shirt that said "Good Vibes Only," reclined on his backpack and dozed the rest of the afternoon on the asphalt, unperturbed by the stench of rotting food and human waste that permeated the air.
For too many people strung out on the drug, the sleep that follows a fentanyl hit is permanent. The highly addictive and potentially lethal drug has become a scourge across America and is taking a toll on the growing number of people living on the streets of Los Angeles.
Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in the city from April 2020 to March 2021, a 56% increase from the previous year, according to a report released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Overdose was the leading cause of death, killing more than 700.
Fentanyl was developed to treat intense pain from ailments like cancer. Use of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced in other drugs, has exploded. Because it's 50 times more potent than heroin, even a small dose can be fatal.
It has quickly become the deadliest drug in the nation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Two-thirds of the 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021 were attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The drug's toll spreads far beyond the streets.
Jennifer Catano, 27, has the names of two children tattooed on her wrists, but she hasn't seen them for several years. They live with her mother.
"My mom doesn't think it's a good idea because she thinks it's gonna hurt the kids because I'm not ready to get rehabilitated," Catano said.
Related video: Addressing the rise of fentanyl overdose
breathing in the mid city area early Monday morning. Then, just about
She has overdosed three times and been through rehab seven or eight times.
"It's scary to get off of it," she said. "The withdrawals are really bad."
Catano wandered around a subway station near MacArthur Park desperate to sell a bottle of Downy fabric softener and a Coleman camping chair she stole from a nearby store.
Drug abuse can be a cause or symptom of homelessness. Both can also intersect with mental illness.
A 2019 report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found about a quarter of all homeless adults in Los Angeles County had mental illnesses and 14% had a substance use disorder. That analysis only counted people who had a permanent or long-term severe condition. Taking a broader interpretation of the same data, the Los Angeles Times found about 51% had mental illnesses and 46% had substance use disorders.
Billions of dollars are being spent to alleviate homelessness in California but treatment is not always funded.
A controversial bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom could improve that by forcing people suffering from severe mental illness into treatment. But they need to be diagnosed with a certain disorder such as schizophrenia and addiction alone doesn't qualify.
Help is available but it is outpaced by the magnitude of misery on the streets.
Rita Richardson, a field supervisor with LA Door, a city addiction-prevention program that works with people convicted of misdemeanors, hands out socks, water, condoms, snacks, clean needles and flyers at the same hotspots Monday through Friday. She hopes the consistency of her visits will encourage people to get help.
"Then hopefully the light bulb comes on. It might not happen this year. It might not happen next year. It might take several years," said Richardson, a former homeless addict. "My goal is to take them from the dark to the light."
Parts of Los Angeles have become scenes of desperation with men and women sprawled on sidewalks, curled up on benches and collapsed in squalid alleys. Some huddle up smoking the drug, others inject it.
Armando Rivera, 33, blew out white puffs to attract addicts in the alley where Smith was sleeping. He needed to sell some dope to buy more. Those without enough money to support their habit, hovered around him, hoping for a free hit. Rivera showed no mercy.
Catano couldn't sell the chair, but eventually she sold the fabric softener to a street vendor for $5.
It was enough money for another high.
Try the reality that illegal immigrants are routinely given free public housing by the U.S., based on the fact that they are uneducated, unskilled, and largely unemployable. Those are the criteria, and now importing poverty has never been easier. Shockingly, this comes as millions of poor Americans are out in the cold awaiting that housing that the original law was intended to help.
Thus, the tent cities, and by coincidence, the worst of these emerging shantytowns are in blue sanctuary cities loaded with illegal immigrants - Orange County, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, New York...Is there a connection? At a minimum, it's worth looking at.
MONICA SHOWALTER
Gavin Newsom, Local Lawmakers Argue over Responsibility of Homelessness in California
California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and local lawmakers argue over who should be responsible for the homelessness plaguing the state, as the governor threatened to withhold funds from those who dispute liability, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The Democrat governor and local government officials, including many from his own political party, are arguing over the responsibility for the lack of progress in battling the ongoing homelessness problem across America’s most populated state.
The report explained that Newsom recently placed a temporary hold on $1 billion of state grants that were meant for city and county homelessness programs as he rejected the proposals from the officials that outlined how they would spend the money. He said the proposal was inadequate, even though it would have reportedly reduced homelessness statewide by two percent from 2020 to 2024.
People who work in state politics say Mr. Newsom’s policy moves and comments echo many Californians’ rising frustration over housing costs and homelessness, and indicate a willingness by the governor, who recently won re-election, to pick fights with local leaders to try to get results in his second term.
Mayors and county officials, meanwhile, have said they need the Newsom administration to provide reliable, recurring revenue streams and a cohesive statewide framework to address the issue. Instead, they said, most state money comes in one-time allocations with little guidance.
Many mayors were also rankled when Mr. Newsom told the Los Angeles Times he froze the homelessness funds because local leaders needed to “deliver damn results,” adding that he would be willing to play “mayor of California” if they didn’t.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, talks to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti during a news conference at a joint state and federal COVID-19 vaccination site set up on the campus of California State University of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, on Feb. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
However, WSJ explained that local officials had said that withholding the money they were already expecting is making the problem worse. On the matter, Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “Lives are on the line, and we can’t afford for this work to get mired in more politics.”
The WSJ said that according to advocates, “Problems including bureaucratic slowdowns and community resistance have made it difficult to deliver services.” At the same time, researchers also said that “even as some people are successfully sheltered, others will keep falling into homelessness until housing becomes more affordable.”
Newsom recently met with over 100 local leaders and agreed at the time to release the funds he put a hold on if each jurisdiction agreed to submit a better proposal by the end of November. According to a spokesman for the governor, 21 jurisdictions had agreed and were expected to receive the frozen funds sometime this week.
For years in California, there have been disagreements over who should be in charge of the homelessness problem, as the state reportedly has over 116,000 residents sleeping on the streets — the most in the United States — in addition to being one of the most expensive housing markets across the county.
The WSJ also noted that under Newsom, the state saw a roughly 15 percent increase in the homeless population since 2019, despite having the most significant funding increase to fight the problem. In fact, since the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, the state has committed around $15 billion towards homelessness, according to reports. Additionally, some majority cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco also raised taxes to help combat the problem as well.
The state’s homelessness problem also comes as Newson again reaffirmed his promise to Politico that he will not try to challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, despite his efforts of building a massive digital operation before the 2022 midterms.
In this Sept. 13, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden, center, smiles to the crowd as he is flanked by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom at a rally ahead of the California gubernatorial recall election in Long Beach, CA. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Additionally, while the Democrat governor has been facing problems in his own state, he spent time during his reelection bid, which he largely ignored, attacking Republican governors who were running for reelection and are potential 2024 presidential candidates, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He even spent money running negative ads in Florida.
Over the last five years, Newsom has won three elections in America’s most populated state. He won his gubernatorial race in 2018 and 2022 and had to go through a recall election in 2021.
KERO 23 Bakersfield, CA
KTLA-TV Los Angeles
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