Citizenship at the Ballot Box

Citizenship at the Ballot Box  

What to know: Los Angeles will let voters decide whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to vote in city elections.

The TPPF take: When did citizenship become optional at the ballot box?

“For most Americans, the answer is straightforward: Voting is a right reserved for citizens,” says TPPF’s Josh Findlay. “Yet the Los Angeles City Council is challenging a basic principle of American self-government: Participation in American elections should be reserved for American citizens. Citizenship is more than a legal status. It is the foundation of rights, responsibilities, and civic privileges that define membership in the American political community, including the right to vote.”

For more on noncitizen voting, click here.

Cut Spending  

What to know: San Antonio city staff want higher taxes over smaller government. At a recent meeting, the city’s budget director fearmongered, warning: “San Antonio will have to slash hundreds of employees and make cuts to local services if City Council doesn’t OK a property tax rate hike.”

The TPPF take: San Antonio doesn’t need more tax money. It needs better fiscal management.

“San Antonio does not have a revenue problem. In fact, from 2015 to 2024, the city’s property tax levy soared by 82%. Meanwhile, its population increased just 4% over the same period. What these data indicate is that the city has more than enough tax money coming in. What the city lacks is fiscal discipline,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Cut spending.”

For more on local spending, click here.

The Great Books   

What to know: Who are the Great Books written for? Everyone, Bulwark columnist Cathy Young says.

The TPPF take: What these Great Books offer is an opportunity for engagement and for struggle.

“It is a difficult task to become wise through reflection alone,” says TPPF’s Cameron Abrams. “Books, whether they are considered great or not, remain vital. So too is our experience with them. God knows there are more than enough people ignoring both.”

For more on the Great Books, click here.