Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The current Republican House hearing are doing a great deal of finger pointing without any fact checking to corroborate their assertions. That is of no surprise to House Democrats who continue to let Republicans step on their own dicks.

Some of the “facts” that the cons reference are counter to the narrative that they are trying to promote. Margorie T Green has referred to increased fentanyl deaths using family and lost acquaintances as refence placing the blame on the Biden boarder policy although these recorded deaths happened in 2019 and 2020. Curious how the current policy caused deaths prior to its implementation.

The republicans want the current Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, removed because of the increased amount of seized fentanyl at the border. They also continue to place the blame on undocumented persons coming across the border as the prime movers of illegal narcotics.

 Here are facts according to the CATO Institute:

• Fentanyl smuggling is ultimately funded by U.S. consumers who pay for illicit opioids: nearly 99 percent of whom are U.S. citizens.
• In 2021, U.S. citizens were 86.3 percent of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers—ten times greater than convictions of illegal immigrants for the same offense.
• Over 90 percent of fentanyl seizures occur at legal crossing points or interior vehicle checkpoints, not on illegal migration routes, so U.S. citizens (who are subject to less scrutiny) when crossing legally are the best smugglers.
• The location of smuggling makes sense because hard drugs at ports of entry are about 97 percent less likely to be stopped than are people crossing illegally between them.
• Just 0.02 percent of the people arrested by Border Patrol for crossing illegally possessed any fentanyl whatsoever.
• The government exacerbated the problem by banning most legal cross border traffic in 2020 and 2021, accelerating a switch to fentanyl (the easiest‐​to‐​conceal drug).
• During the travel restrictions, fentanyl seizures at ports quadrupled from fiscal year 2019 to 2021. Fentanyl went from a third of combined heroin and fentanyl seizures to over 90 percent.
• Annual deaths from fentanyl nearly doubled from 2019 to 2021 after the government banned most travel (and asylum).

We need to start addressing the problem at is source and stop pointing fingers to make some political point. The House under Nancy Pelosi did not spend its time endless placing blame. I know there are some out there that will cry that under Pelosi dear Donald was impeached twice and there was a House committee to investigate 1/6 “How is that not finger pointing?” I would argue that because those were based in fact and evidence to corroborate their validity was presented. Everything that the current house is attempting to justify has been roundly slapped down by quoting their own record back to them.

I go back to the point that Republican persist on the flatform that Government does not work and based on their current performance they are actively proving their point. The point that when Republicans are handed the wheel they will do their very best to run the car into the ditch and then blame someone/anyone else for the problem.