Fully Operational
What to know: A bill before the Texas Legislature would give last session’s “Death Star” bill, which limits how much blue cities can impose regulations on their citizens, more teeth.
The TPPF take: Senate Bill 2858 would protect the rights of Texans, no matter where they live.
“SB 2858 reinforces a simple but powerful principle: that the rule of law is the bedrock of society and a faithful observance requires all parties—even local governments—to observe its rules and requirements,” says TPPF’s Judge Shepard. “This bill reinforces that ideal by explicitly preventing local governments from enacting ordinances that conflict with the Texas Penal Code or Election Code—two areas that should not be subject to the whims of local political agendas in a select few cities.”
For more on Death Star 2.0, click here.
Shoo Fly
What to know: There’s a new threat at the southern U.S. border—an outbreak of screwworm, parasite that afflict cattle. To counter the threat, the USDA usually releases sterile male screwworm flies, which interrupt the life cycle.
The TPPF take: Mexico has not been a reliable ally in the fight against screwworms.
“Mexico has imposed restrictions, limiting USDA sterile fly dispersal flights and imposing customs duties on the tools needed for the job, such as plane parts, fly shipments, and dispersal equipment, delaying every aspect of the operation,” says TPPF’s Melissa Ford. “Let that sink in: As a deadly parasite inches toward our border, the Mexican government is nickel-and-diming the planes and tools we’re using to stop it. That’s not cooperation. That’s sabotage.”
For more on the screwworm, click here.
Antisemitism
What to know: The Trump administration is pulling another $60 million from Harvard University over its failure to address rampant antisemitism on its campus.
The TPPF take: In 1790, George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, and expressed his vision for an America free of antisemitism.
“Critics may claim such defunding risks overreach and/or stifles dissent. But Washington’s words clarify that liberty is not a license to harm,” says TPPF’s Tom Lindsay. “The government’s role is to protect rights, not fund spaces where they are violated. The 700 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents reported by Hillel International and the 3,000 percent surge in tips to StopAntiSemitism cry out for urgent action, for these are not isolated acts but a systemic failure requiring systemic remedies.”
For more on antisemitism, click here.