Democrats trying to unseat each other IV

[bilby]

One big problem with NY's bail deform is that judges are not allowed to escalate and jail repeat shoplifters for example.

NYC’s No. 1 recidivist just can’t stop stealing — even after mind-boggling 134 arrests

That's not a problem, unless you assume that everyone must agree with your simplistic opinion that jailing people with mental illness is the best way to deal with them.

Those who consider mental illness to require a more humane and effective response than mere incarceration may see the refusal of the system to jail kleptomaniacs and addicts as a feature, rather than a bug.

Of course, it still leaves a problem that needs to be addressed - but then, so does your preferred approach. The only difference with regards to solving societal problems is that your preferred option sweeps those problems under the rug.

 

[Jarhyn]

Kat Abughazaleh Thinks Campaign Funds Should Feed People - December 26 2025, 6:00 a.m - The Illinois congressional candidate turned her campaign office into a mutual aid hub.

Nearly $7 billion couldn’t keep President Donald Trump from returning to the White House and Republicans from controlling the House and Senate.

“It made me physically nauseous,” said Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, reflecting on the massive sums Democrats raised and spent on the 2024 presidential election, “thinking about how many people could be fed, or how many clinics could be funded, or how much student debt could be paid off.”

...
Situated at the front of her 9th Congressional District campaign office are rows of basics like diapers and winter clothes to medical supplies like Narcan. “We’ve also had people bring in stuff like nail polish,” said Abughazaleh, adding, “everyone deserves good things.” Anyone is welcome to come off the street, she explained, without checking for income or immigration status.

In addition to offering supplies while the office is open, the campaign also helps stock a community fridge available any time of day and hosts drives to collect specific supplies. A request for tampons for Chicago’s Period Collective, for example, resulted in a massive outpouring of support. “We ended up getting over 5,600, and my campaign manager’s car was just filled with tampons,” said Abughazaleh through laughter. “I wanted him to get pulled over so bad.”

The point here is to “show” the campaign’s values through providing for the community, rather than simply telling people why they should vote for her, said Abughazaleh.

“I grew up Republican,” she said, “and I can’t think of anything that would have made me be a Democrat faster — especially if it were today, when people have lost all faith in the political system — than people showing their values rather than just saying them.”

...
“I can’t think of anything more convincing for voters, but also just the right thing to do during that period, and during all of this, than the Democratic Party using its immense resources to — with no strings attached — stock food banks, fund clinics, and make sure people have what they need,” she said.

“We don’t need to spend $20 million to make lefty Joe Rogan in a lab,” Abughazaleh added, in a nod to a strategic pitch Democratic operatives offered earlier this year. “We can spend $20 million on making sure kids have enough to eat, or making sure that parents have baby formula, or making sure that older folks are having meals actually delivered.”

The article has a picture that shows lots of donated clothing.

Some people have claimed that she is trying to buy votes, like in this xweet claiming that she ought to remove all references to her campaign from her charitable operations.

Accusations of “vote buying” are a serious risk for candidates implementing strategies like Abughazaleh’s, said Jessica Byrd, a political strategist who served as chief of staff for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. “One accusation of buying votes, and your entire campaign is under a microscope. It slows you down, it makes you less effective, and then you have to spend money to defend yourself,” explained Byrd. “So it really is a risk.”

Fuck it, if politicians have to actually buy those votes through regular and meaningful actions to help people, that WAY beats them wasting a bunch of money on bribing rich people to get a 30 second chance to just SAY you might help them abstractly in the future.

 

[Derec]

That's not a problem, unless you assume that everyone must agree with your simplistic opinion that jailing people with mental illness is the best way to deal with them.

The article says nothing about any mental illness; it's about a career thief who discovered that he can steal all the time, and every time he is caught, they have to release him with a desk appearance ticket. I think your position that such people should not be jailed is the simplistic one.

Those who consider mental illness to require a more humane and effective response than mere incarceration may see the refusal of the system to jail kleptomaniacs and addicts as a feature, rather than a bug.

Who said anything about "mere incarceration"? I think there should be psychiatric services for treatment of mental illness and/or addiction. But whether this guy is just a wily criminal who figured out the perverse incentive structure NY imposed with their misguided laws or an actual kleptomaniac, the worst thing to do is keep releasing him into the wild.

Of course, it still leaves a problem that needs to be addressed - but then, so does your preferred approach. The only difference with regards to solving societal problems is that your preferred option sweeps those problems under the rug.

No, the bail deform is what sweeps the problem under the rug by ignoring that there is a problem with repeat offenders.
And I never said that my preferred approach does not involve treatment for those who need it. And at the very least it keeps people like this away from society at large.

 

[Derec]

Fuck it, if politicians have to actually buy those votes through regular and meaningful actions to help people, that WAY beats them wasting a bunch of money on bribing rich people to get a 30 second chance to just SAY you might help them abstractly in the future.

Wait, are you actually in favor of vote-buying schemes? Are we going back to Tammany Hall, but instead of Boss Tweed we now have Sexy Pokemon in charge?

 

[bilby]

The article says nothing about any mental illness; it's about a career thief who discovered that he can steal all the time,

It says he is a drug addict. Nobody steals the petty junk he steals unless they are mentally ill, or addicted to drugs.

Neither issue can be usefully addressed by jail time.

 

[Derec]

It says he is a drug addict. Nobody steals the petty junk he steals unless they are mentally ill, or addicted to drugs.

And being addicted to drugs should not give one a carte blanche to keep stealing over and over again.

Neither issue can be usefully addressed by jail time.

Cooling his heels at Rikers would prevent him from stealing while there.

The current approach to keep letting him loose is obviously not working.

 

[bilby]

Cooling his heels at Rikers would prevent him from stealing while there.

Sure. And cost the state more than the stuff he steals is worth. And do nothing to stop him reoffending once released.

Are you planning to have life without parole as the penalty for petty larceny?

 

[Derec]

Sure. And cost the state more than the stuff he steals is worth. And do nothing to stop him reoffending once released.

There is the disincentive of actually facing consequences for one's behavior. Being able to steal over and over again, and be released into the society every time does not provide any sort of disincentive.
And again, I never said anything about "mere incarceration" of that addiction or mental health services should not be provided for those who need them.

Are you planning to have life without parole as the penalty for petty larceny?

Of course not. But what is your solution? Because the current approach is clearly not working. NYPD is doing its job, but the second act of "Law and Order", the prosecutors and the courts, is derelict in their duties.

 

[bilby]

There is the disincentive of actually facing consequences for one's behavior. Being able to steal over and over again, and be released into the society every time does not provide any sort of disincentive.

Newsflash: Nor, we observe, does jail time.

What makes you think it does?

 

[Derec]

Newsflash: Nor, we observe, does jail time.
What makes you think it does?

Because, unlike doing nothing, it creates a disincentive to career thieves like the one in the article. Or, to cite another example, Jordan Neely's uncle.
Jordan Neely’s uncle arrested again just before hearing in credit card theft case

Again, what is your solution here? Just let them wantonly steal with no consequences?

 

[bilby]

Newsflash: Nor, we observe, does jail time.
What makes you think it does?

Because, unlike doing nothing, it creates a disincentive to career thieves like the one in the article.

That's just a repetition of your assertion.

We observe that many people reoffend after jail time.

I am asking what evidence you have for your claim that jail time provides a "disincentive of actually facing consequences" to petty theives.

Or, to cite another example, Jordan Neely's uncle.
Jordan Neely’s uncle arrested again just before hearing in credit card theft case

You seem to think that further evidence that a problem exists constitutes support for your proposed solution. That would be true ONLY if you have reason to believe that your proposed solution will be effective. What I am asking for is for you to support that, with something less unconvincing than the assumption that it is obvious, and that everyone agrees that it is obvious.

Again, what is your solution here? Just let them wantonly steal with no consequences?

I am not sure that there is a solution; Insofar as there is, it is systemic - raise the general standard of living and level of education for everybody, and petty crime rates will fall.

Your "solution" seems to be of the form:

Something must be done​

This is something​

Therefore this must be done​

It's a belief-based response. The fact that it observably doesn't work seems irrelevant to you.

The idea that incarceration is an effective solution to crime is clearly false; The US has a huge proportion of her population in jail, and yet crime is (as you constantly bemoan) rampant.

If you want to reduce crime, you need to look at places with low levels of crime, and emulate them.

 

[Elixir]

Are we going back to Tammany Hall

Truthfully that penny ante grift would be a vast improvement over the vast kakistocratic kleptocracy that is currently in operation.

 

[Derec]

That's just a repetition of your assertion.
We observe that many people reoffend after jail time.

Yes, recidivism rate is not zero. Duh.
But do you expect repeat offense rate to be higher if there are consequences for crimes like repeated theft or if thieves are let go?

I am asking what evidence you have for your claim that jail time provides a "disincentive of actually facing consequences" to petty theives.

Some of these, like Jordan Neely's uncle, are not even petty thieves, as they are stealing stuff well above the "petty theft" limit.
That said, it is pretty obvious that facing consequences will deter theft more than letting thieves go. Do I have a study on that? No. Do you have a study stating that letting thieves go does not encourage more theft?

You seem to think that further evidence that a problem exists constitutes support for your proposed solution. That would be true ONLY if you have reason to believe that your proposed solution will be effective.

I do not see any reason why punishing thieves would not be more effective than letting them go.

What I am asking for is for you to support that, with something less unconvincing than the assumption that it is obvious, and that everyone agrees that it is obvious.

It should be pretty obvious. Do you have any reason to doubt it?

I am not sure that there is a solution; Insofar as there is, it is systemic - raise the general standard of living and level of education for everybody, and petty crime rates will fall.

That will not work, as there will always be people who want to meet their wants by stealing.
And you can't force people to get educated. Not everybody takes advantage of the opportunities that are already provided to them. Even though K-12 education is free, a lot of people already quit before graduating high school for example.

Note that Australia, for example, is #4 in theft rates, well above US.

It's a belief-based response. The fact that it observably doesn't work seems irrelevant to you.

Do you have any evidence that criminal penalties for theft do not work? And is your position that theft should not be a criminal offense subject to criminal penalties, including incarceration if needed?

The idea that incarceration is an effective solution to crime is clearly false; The US has a huge proportion of her population in jail, and yet crime is (as you constantly bemoan) rampant.

That is not evidence, as you are not comparing it to your utopia where crime is not punished. What we see is that when NY implemented the bail deform, repeat offenders started taking advantage of this. That was wholly predictable to anybody but you and the braindead morons in Albany.

If you want to reduce crime, you need to look at places with low levels of crime, and emulate them.

So, not Australia then.

 

[lpetrich]

I'm reluctant to report on elections with incomplete vote counts, but IMO this is very significant. New Jersey House Primary Remains Too Close to Call - The New York Times in the special election or NJ-11 in the northern half of the state. Rep. Mikie Sherrill resigned from that seat to run for governor of that state, and she won.

With about 91 percent of the vote tallied, Analilia Mejia, a left-leaning political organizer, was leading her main opponent, Tom Malinowski, a former two-term House member, by a slim, 486-vote margin four hours after polls closed.

Ms. Mejia led the state’s Working Families alliance until 2019, when she left to help run Senator Bernie Sanders’s second presidential campaign. She was endorsed by an array of left-leaning luminaries, including Mr. Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

...
On Thursday, Mr. Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont, urged voters to the polls in a social media message: “You have an opportunity to send a powerful message to the billionaire class.”

Mr. Malinowski, a former State Department official who represented a neighboring district in Congress until 2023, was considered an early front-runner, but he was inundated by a barrage of negative advertising in the closing stretch of the combative, 11-candidate primary.

Much of the advertising was funded by the United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent at least $2.3 million trying to defeat him.

 

[lpetrich]

AIPAC?
Progressive Analilia Mejia Declares 'People-Powered Victory' in New Jersey as AIPAC Spending Backfires | Common Dreams

Progressive organizer Analilia Mejia emerged late Thursday as the leader of a crowded Democratic primary race for a vacant US House seat representing New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, potentially notching a stunning upset in a contest that saw outside groups—including one linked to AIPAC—spend millions.

The bulk of that money came from the United Democracy Project (UDP), a billionaire-funded pro-Israel group that spent big to defeat former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) in favor of its preferred candidate, Tahesha Way. The investment appears to have backfired in embarrassing fashion: Way is currently sitting in a distant third place, while UDP’s attacks on Malinowski—regarded as a pro-Israel Democrat during his time in Congress—appear to have harmed him enough to propel Mejia, who has called Israel’s assault on Gaza a genocide.

...
Progressives who backed Mejia’s campaign attributed her late surge to persistent organizing and a last-ditch advertising push. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) noted that while Mejia “was outspent by millions,” strategic spending by progressive PACs helped boost her campaign in the final days of the primary.

“When there’s a real organizer running, we don’t need to match $ for $—we just need to be in the ring,” Jayapal wrote on social media late Thursday.

...
Observers also marveled at AIPAC’s blundering intervention in the race. UDP’s ads against Malinowski did not mention Israel; rather, one of the spots condemned the former congressman for voting in 2019 to fund President Donald Trump’s “deportation force,” possibly pushing voters toward the candidate who has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“ICE is not reformable nor fixable, and New Jerseyans know this,” Mejia said last month. “We need members of Congress who are willing to stand up to authoritarianism and terror. The same old blue just won’t cut it.”

 

[lpetrich]

New Jersey 11th Congressional District Special Primary Election Results 2026 - The New York Times - the NYT usually has good coverage of vote counts.

"The winner of Thursday’s primary will compete April 16 against the Republican nominee, Joe Hathaway, to serve the remaining months of Ms. Sherrill’s term."

New Jersey will have an ordinary primary on June 2, for the general election on November 3. From New Jersey's 11th Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primary) - Ballotpedia no candidates are officially entered. Will AIPAC try again?

 

[lpetrich]

AIPAC Is Back, Just Under A New Name | Kat Abughazaleh For Illinois - YouTube

A brand new Super PAC — Elect Chicago Women — just dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars into this race. Why?
Because it’s actually a front for AIPAC dark money. And they’re doing everything they can to buy my race.

Evanston forum: Fine's campaign funding under scrutiny - Evanston RoundTable

At a Wednesday evening candidate forum held by the Central Street Neighbors Association of Evanston, State Sen. Laura Fine (9th District) came under fire from some other candidates regarding her campaign donation sources, including donations from previous donors to current president Donald Trump and reportedly from a fundraiser held by the head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

“It should be very troubling that the overwhelming majority of Laura Fine’s donations come from AIPAC supporters,” Mayor Daniel Biss said at the forum, held at Northminster Presbyterian Church. “She supports a blank check of military aid for Israel.”

AIPAC-aligned super PAC spent six digits on Fine ads, filings show

New super PAC Elect Chicago Women spent $400,000 on television advertisements and more than $50,000 on mailers this week in support of State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview)’s campaign to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The group spent at least $285,000 on Feb. 3, one week after its creation, to air its first TV commercials in support of Fine.

9th Congressional District candidates raised about $11 million

More than $11 million in funds has flooded the 19-candidate race to replace U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), who announced in May that she would not seek reelection.

Mayor Daniel Biss, progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh, State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) and former FBI hostage negotiator Phil Andrew have all raised more than $1 million, according to reports from the FEC.

Abughazaleh reported a yearly total of $2.7 million, Biss raised $1.98 million and Fine raised $1.92 million, while Andrew collected $1.21 million and Huynh’s haul totaled just over $1 million.

 

[Harry Bosch]

AIPAC Is Back, Just Under A New Name | Kat Abughazaleh For Illinois - YouTube

A brand new Super PAC — Elect Chicago Women — just dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars into this race. Why?
Because it’s actually a front for AIPAC dark money. And they’re doing everything they can to buy my race.

Evanston forum: Fine's campaign funding under scrutiny - Evanston RoundTable

At a Wednesday evening candidate forum held by the Central Street Neighbors Association of Evanston, State Sen. Laura Fine (9th District) came under fire from some other candidates regarding her campaign donation sources, including donations from previous donors to current president Donald Trump and reportedly from a fundraiser held by the head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

“It should be very troubling that the overwhelming majority of Laura Fine’s donations come from AIPAC supporters,” Mayor Daniel Biss said at the forum, held at Northminster Presbyterian Church. “She supports a blank check of military aid for Israel.”

AIPAC-aligned super PAC spent six digits on Fine ads, filings show

New super PAC Elect Chicago Women spent $400,000 on television advertisements and more than $50,000 on mailers this week in support of State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview)’s campaign to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The group spent at least $285,000 on Feb. 3, one week after its creation, to air its first TV commercials in support of Fine.

9th Congressional District candidates raised about $11 million

More than $11 million in funds has flooded the 19-candidate race to replace U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), who announced in May that she would not seek reelection.

Mayor Daniel Biss, progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh, State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) and former FBI hostage negotiator Phil Andrew have all raised more than $1 million, according to reports from the FEC.

Abughazaleh reported a yearly total of $2.7 million, Biss raised $1.98 million and Fine raised $1.92 million, while Andrew collected $1.21 million and Huynh’s haul totaled just over $1 million.

AIPAC very scary.

 

[bilby]

The bulk of that money came from the United Democracy Project (UDP)

UDP usually doesn't get any acknowledgement.

 

[Derec]

AIPAC very scary.