Come Home!
What to know: Republican lawmakers are trying just about everything to get their Democratic counterparts to come back to the state to do their jobs. Speaker Dade Phelan sent a plane to bring them home. Others are trying more creative approaches.
The TPPF take: Are the Texas Democrats heroes like they keep telling us they are, or are they fighting for a bad cause?
“Democrats, both nationally and in Texas, want to radically remake our election laws, erasing state voter ID laws, making it impossible to verify citizenship for voter eligibility, degrading the quality of voter lists, and dramatically expanding mail-in voting with minimal safeguards against fraudulent ballots,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “But Texans want their elected lawmakers to work, not walk.”
For more on the walkout, click here.
Reliable Power Isn’t Political
What to know: Some in the media—perhaps attempting to cover for the left’s session-abandoning efforts—are wondering why the Texas electric grid isn’t on the Special Session agenda.
The TPPF take: Fixing the grid without politicizing it is the right thing to do.
“We’ve written before that Senate Bill 3, the omnibus blackout response bill that passed in the regular session, was just a start,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “It took decades for the electric market to get in this shape, and it’s going to take time to correct it. Gov. Abbott has taken the appropriate next step of clarifying how the PUC should implement the broad mandates in SB 3, and those reforms should be seen through.”
For more on fixing the grid, click here.
Markets Work
What to know: Walmart, seeing a niche, is now selling low-priced insulin.
The TPPF take: This is how to lower prices—by getting government out of the way.
“instead of giving the manufacturer’s deep discounts to insurers and their Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs), Walmart is passing along the discount to its customers,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “In other words, patients—not insurance companies—get the benefit.”
For more on insulin and markets, click here.