Americans are Dying
What to Know: The Biden administration’s failure at the border means massive amounts of the deadly drug fentanyl are coming in—and killing Americans.
The TPPF Take: Even children are dying from fentanyl overdoses.
“When large groups of people illegally cross the border at once, Border Patrol agents are forced to send all of their resources to one area, freeing up other areas for cartels to send through drugs, weapons, and criminal illegal immigrants,” says TPPF’s Selene Rodriguez. “Neither the fentanyl crisis nor the border crisis are new. But both are worsened under the disastrous policies of the Biden administration.”
For more on Biden’s border crisis, click here.
Math is Hard
What to Know: Some California officials are claiming that Texans pay more in taxes than Californians do. And Beto O’Rourke’s Democratic campaign for Texas governor is amplifying that false information.
The TPPF Take: No, Texans do not pay more in taxes than Californians.
“Californians pay $6,813, per capita in state and local taxes each year, according to the Tax Foundation. Texans pay $4,481 per year, per capita,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “That’s about two-thirds of what Californians pay. Where’s the misinformation coming from? It’s in a 2018 report from the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a left-leaning group funded by organized labor.”
For more on Texas vs. California, click here.
More Local Taxes
What to Know: The city of Corpus Christi raised taxes on its citizens—in the midst of a recession.
The TPPF Take: Corpus officials broke records with their tax hikes and spending this year.
“Raising taxes today is a bad idea—but it’s not a surprising turn of events,” says TPPF’s Melissa Ford. “The city has long struggled with fiscal restraint. Consider that from 2017 to 2021, the city of Corpus Christi’s property tax levy grew by 25.1%. In contrast, the combined increase in population and inflation totaled just 8.1%. This demonstrates a major difference between how fast taxes ought to be growing and how fast taxes are growing.”
For more on local taxes, click here.