Living Large at Taxpayer Expense
What to know: The Austin American-Statesman recently investigated the city of Austin’s spending proclivities and discovered that: “Austin leaders used taxpayer funds for [fancy] solo lunches, steak dinners and upgraded flights,” among other things. The controversial findings come as Austin officials are debating whether to ask voters for a major tax increase in November.
The TPPF take: Austin bureaucrats are living large on the public dime. They don’t need any more tax money—they need fiscal discipline.
“Austinites are being overtaxed to pay for someone else’s steak dinners, business-class flights, and expensive retirement parties. This reckless disregard for the taxpaying public is pushing countless homeowners to the brink,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Of course, the city of Austin isn’t the only large local government wasting money hand over fist. The lack of fiscal discipline is rampant throughout.”
For more on local spending, click here.
An Ill Wind
What to know: Texas Public Policy Foundation attorneys are working to shut down the massive Vineyard Wind project by appealing to the Trump administration.
The TPPF take: This administrative petition follows TPPF’s lawsuit challenging the Vineyard Wind 1 project’s flawed approval process.
“The Biden Administration violated at least thirteen provisions of federal law when it approved the Vineyard 1 offshore wind project,” says TPPF’s Ted Hadzi-Antich. “In the process, they tacitly agreed to the destruction of a prime fishing area that has been used by commercial fishermen to feed Americans for generations.”
For more on Vineyard Wind, click here.
Good News
What to know: Wages are rising under President Donald Trump, especially for working-class Americans.
The TPPF take: Trump’s immigration reset is lifting wages and forcing real economic reform.
“The better labor market for Americans, combined with low inflation, has also been driving up real wages, meaning wages adjusted for price changes,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “For blue-collar workers who suffered so much from Bidenflation and were forced to go into debt to make ends meet, the real wage growth under Trump is a welcomed change.”
For more on Trump and the emergence from Bidenomics, click here.