Pledging to Protect Taxpayers
What to know: A Midlothian ISD trustee recently won re-election and while being sworn in for his new term, made a pledge during his oath of office to: “fight to lower the crushing burden of property taxes that are devastating to countless Midlothian ISD taxpayers.”
The TPPF take: More local elected officials should pledge to protect taxpayers.
“Runaway property taxes are crushing family budgets. The most obvious way to ease this burden is for voters to elect bold, outspoken local leaders that are willing to fight for lower taxes and smaller government,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “This trustee’s actions should inspire other local elected officials to take a stand for Texas taxpayers.”
For more on local taxes, click here.
The War Americans Refuse to Recognize
What to know: The Justice Department’s Al-Saadi indictment is not just another terrorism case. It shows Iranian-backed proxy networks adapting to exploit criminal corridors, front groups, and operational seams across the Western Hemisphere.
The TPPF take: America is still looking for conventional signs of war while its adversaries wage irregular warfare through proxies, finance, smuggling networks, and plausible deniability.
“Most Americans still think conflict with Iran is something happening ‘over there,’” says TPPF’s Ammon Blair. “In reality, Iran’s proxy infrastructure is already exploiting the seams of the West and our refusal to recognize the nature of the fight is itself a strategic vulnerability.”
For more on Iran and the cartels, click here.
Detransitioning
What to know: The largest children’s hospital in the U.S. will now open a detransition clinic, after settling with the Department of Justice for billing Medicaid for illegal gender modification treatments.
The TPPF take: Texas Children’s Health Hospital will also have to pay $10 million in civil penalties.
“The cruel outrage of telling children that they could (and perhaps should) change their gender through hormone-blocking drugs and mutilating surgery was bolstered by an even bigger outrage—the network of clinics and healthcare providers who made billions selling so-called gender-affirming care,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 14 in 2023 to outlaw the procedures in Texas but a whistleblower stepped forward to reveal that Texas Children’s Health Hospital in Houston was still doing sex change operations on children.”
For more on the detransition clinic, click here.