No, Preemption Isn’t Racist
What to Know: A progressive think tank analyst recently equated preemption (that’s when a one government’s laws are checked by a higher level of government) with racism, saying: “You have these predominantly white state legislators making decisions and setting ceilings that keep communities of color from putting into place policies.”
The TPPF Take: It is neither racist nor wrong for statehouses to protect the God-given rights of Texans from the predations of liberal local governments.
“Americans of every race, ethnicity, age, and gender deserve to have their constitutional rights protected from tiny tyrants,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Local governments are creatures of the state. As such, when a local government tramples on freedom and liberty, it is the responsibility of the respective state legislature to course correct. That is the duty of every statehouse.”
For more on local governance, click here.
Too Many Laws
What to know: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch warns that having too many laws makes criminals of even well-meaning citizens.
The TPPF take: Texas has over 1,700 criminal offenses.
“For example, in Texas it is a crime to thrash a pecan tree, and the state has an indeterminable number of felonies relating to harvesting oysters,” says TPPF’s Derek Cohen. “Texas lawmakers should review criminal penalties, especially those outside of the Penal Code, and eliminate those which are archaic or cumbersome.”
For more on overcriminalization, click here.
Border Crisis
What to know: The Biden administration has been warned it will soon need 20,000 additional beds for unaccompanied minors crossing the southern U.S. border.
The TPPF take: We predicted this crisis last fall.
“During the presidential campaign, Biden promised to reverse President Trump’s strict immigration and border policies, which together with emergency travel restrictions because of the pandemic helped drive illegal-immigration levels to historic lows after a surge last spring,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Numbers are once again increasing as conditions deteriorate in Central America.
For more on the border crisis, click here.