Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, the newly elected chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, spent years as a City Council member in Austin and led the charge to strip funding from local law enforcement — at one point bragging about it on social media.
“We did it!!” Casar wrote on X after legislation he drafted in the Austin City Council passed, resulting in a more than $100 million cut in local police funding and an end to three incoming cadet classes. The measure passed unanimously in 2020 after a stint of police shootings involving people of color.
Casar on Thursday was elevated to the highest-ranking leadership position for progressives in the House of Representatives, following a unanimous vote from his peers in the caucus. The move comes as Democrats continue to conduct a forensic analysis following the election, many of whom have called on the party to take a more centrist approach in the future.
Casar’s history as a public official, particularly at the local level, does not illustrate moderation, according to Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association.
“‘Far-left radical’ is a really good way to describe what he did in [Austin],” said Farris.
EVEN DEMOCRATIC VOTERS REJECTED LEFTIST POLICIES AND POLITICIANS IN THE MOST SURPRISING PLACES
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, speaks at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus event welcoming new Latino members to Congress at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2022.
In 2017, Casar led a charge to reject a mutually agreed upon contract between the City of Austin and the Austin Police Association, setting off a wave of retirements and hiring issues due to the uncertainty around job security and benefits for officers. Meanwhile, in 2020, Casar led the drafting of legislation to strip more than $100 million in funding to the police department, which included the elimination of funding from three planned police cadet classes. Instead, the reallocated funds went to programs related to abortion access, affordable housing and food security.
Shortly thereafter, the City of Austin began redirecting certain 911 calls to mental health professionals. Additionally, last year, a shortage of officers compelled police in Austin to ask residents to dial 311, instead of 911, if they got robbed near an ATM.
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During his time as a City Council member in Austin, Casar also authored two “Freedom City” resolutions, which eliminated the use of discretionary arrests for certain non-violent crimes and required police to inform people that they are legally allowed to deny requests for immigration papers. Other policies Casar supported in his position as City Council member included a ban on non-lethal police munitions and certain chokeholds.
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, speaks after a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol to call for the reversal of the Biden administration’s Title 42 expansion and asylum transit ban on Jan. 26, 2023.
Following last month’s elections, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was among a score of Democratic lawmakers who argued the party has lost its centrist, working-class base.
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“There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said following the election. “The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a rally at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The stop was one of several across TX-35, the congressional district represented by Rep. Greg Casar, who won re-election last month. Original News Source Link – Fox News
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