President Obama hasn’t expressed many complaints about his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose “carelessness” (his term) has her under FBI investigation for mishandling of classified material, and who has been proved to have been in on the lie that a YouTube video sparked the deadly Benghazi terrorist attack.
Reporters even noted a tear in the president’s eye at the farewell bash for former Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Fast and Furious gun-walking program had Justice Department staffers furiously trying to obstruct both congressional and Mexican investigations into the debacle that left a border patrol agent dead.
With that sort of tone at the top, it’s no surprise that in his weekly address, President Obama is again making criminal justice reform his No. 1 priority, and part of that reform is making it easier for those with a criminal history to find federal employment.
"We have criminal justice policies, including unfair sentencing laws, that need to be reformed." —President Obama https://t.co/ovSB7lu9Kl
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/shawnpoopsalot/status/723964325480665089
Is it even worth pointing out that presidents don’t write legislation?
@BarackObama can't you just executive order them on Monday, would help more than your stupid gun control. Thanks for screwing me over.
— mannymacfly (@mannymacfly) April 23, 2016
The president says he’s also urging private businesses to follow his lead and provide non-violent offenders a second chance — just one more way that citizens can help America live up to its ideals as a nation.
Why is it so important to release non-violent criminals? The president argues that incarceration is a significant and unnecessary expense, and that blacks and Latinos are overrepresented in the U.S. prison system. Whites make up the majority of the U.S. population but represent only 32 percent of the prison population.
Also in the president’s pitch: a 10 percent wage hike for those without college degrees, which an unnamed study claims would reduce crime by 20 percent. We’re not sure if its the same study the State Department used to claim a lack of job opportunity was a root cause in the growth of ISIS.
If you can’t bear to watch the president’s address, Investor’s Business Daily has a transcript.
Obama: Our criminal justice system imprisons too many criminals https://t.co/L88JGj9QLT @IBD_AMalcolm #tcot
— IBDeditorials (@IBDeditorials) April 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/BigHockeyPuck/status/723952875844546560
If they're convicted, that's not a problem. Law-abiding people then are safer. https://t.co/G5sgNCqaZN
— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) April 23, 2016
@AHMalcolm easy; no prison for those who commit no crimes; my my, I should run for office
— Red State Ambassador (@MosesStewart7) April 23, 2016
Related:
President commutes prison sentences of nearly 100 felons before taking off for vacation
President commutes sentences of 61 more prisoners, invites former inmates to free lunch
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