Tag: national-guard

I Call “Waste, Fraud and Abuse.”

~ Bruce Ray ~ 1 Comment

By design, we have been inundated with executive orders, tweets, Truth Social posts, and off-the-rails rants to the point of exhaustion. It is too much for my limited bandwidth. Though my tongue is on fire and I want to write a response, I don’t know where to begin. I now realize that I have fallen for the strategy: Overwhelm everyone with daily manufactured crises and overload the newsfeed until everyone just gives up and shuts down.

I was close to shutting down myself…until Friday (yesterday.). In an Oval Office news conference, the President announced that he was going to send National Guard troops to other cities to make them very, very safe–like he had done in Washington, DC. The city to be targeted next got my full attention. “Chicago is a mess” with an “incompetent mayor–grossly incompetent,” . And then he turned to JD Vance and said, “And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice-President, are screaming for us to come.”

Trump is correct. WE ARE SCREAMING, but it’s not for the deployment of the National Guard. We’re screaming because the President’s ongoing narrative about Chicago is a fabrication, a distortion, a lie–just like his racist narrative about other cities with African-American mayors (like LA, NYC, DC). AARGH!!! Chicago’s crime rate is at a 10-year low. Homicides have been falling since 2021 and are down 30% from 2024. Shootings are down 40% and robberies are down 35%. Through August 22, 2025, there have been 275 homicides–compared to 553 in August 2021. If the trend continues, Chicago may see its lowest homicide rate in over 35 years!

What really gets my tongue on fire though is the duplicity of Trump’s narratives. He is constantly talking about eliminating the massive amounts of “waste, fraud, and abuse” in government programs and initiatives. To that end, the Department of Justice announced in April that it was cancelling $820 million in grants for “community violence prevention strategies” which address root causes of violence–strategies that have proven to be effective and financially efficient. (Source: Brennan Center for Justice)

At the same time, the president sends the National Guard to “make our cities safe.” Deployment isn’t free. The government paid $134 million–using our tax dollars–for the deployment of 4,700 National Guardsmen, Marines, and other military personnel in Los Angeles for 60 days. The cost for deployment of 800 National Guardsmen in Washington D.C. is approximately $300,000 per day. This does not include costs for equipment, transport, or command overhead. If the deployment lasts 30 days, the total cost is estimated to be over $2.5 million! (Source: The Pricer)

So I ask the question: Which taxpayer funding is more wasteful, fraudulent and abusive? #1. The cost of programs and strategies that work to prevent violence and address root causes of crime? Or #2. The cost of unnecessary (wasteful) deployment of the National Guard and the military founded upon the fabricated (fraudulent) narrative of rampant crime and violence in cities led by Democratic men and women of color (abusive)?

If you still selected #1, all I can say is, “AARGH!”

Coming Soon to a City Near You

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

The images of armed National Guard troops and armored military vehicles entering McArthur Park in Los Angeles on Monday morning sent chills down my spine. There had been no riot. There had been no armed uprising. But according to the Department of Defense, the troops were present at the park to “ensure the safety of federal agents.” The Department of Homeland Security called the takeover of McArthur Park part of “ongoing enforcement operations.” Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass, called the show of military force “absolutely outrageous” and “un-American”, designed to “strike fear into the heart of the city.” It worked. It was scary.

Then, in Chicago on Tuesday afternoon, Homeland Security agents attempted to gain access to the National Puerto Rican Museum in Humboldt Park. The agents were denied access after they did not show any identification, present warrants or answer questions on why they were on the private property. There was speculation that they were making plans for upcoming festivals in Humboldt Park that highlight and celebrate Latinx culture including Barrio Arts Fest, The Great Columbian Festival and Fiesta Boricua. No one knows for certain what those plans might include.

Today, in response to the incident at the museum, local, state and national elected officials representing the Northwest Side of Chicago issued a strongly worded statement condemning any efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to intimidate, surveil, and terrorize the Latinx community and stating, “ICE is not welcome in Humboldt Park or anywhere in Chicago or Illinois.” At a press conference, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL-03), who has repeatedly called for the resignation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, accused the federal administration of violating the constitution by detaining and deporting people without due process, and she denounced the tactics of ICE. “If you have to cover yourself up to [take] people, then you’re a terrorist yourself,” she said.

Back in Los Angeles, Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino was interviewed by Fox 11 Los Angeles. He made it clear that operations like the one on Monday would happen again. He promised, “The Federal government is not leaving LA… We’re going to be here until that mission is accomplished.”

He then added, “Better get used to us now, because this is gonna be normal very soon.”

Your city could be next.