Stepping Up?
What to know: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is moving to strengthen the country’s federal police force.
The TPPF take: The Trump administration is giving Mexico an opportunity to step up in the fight against the criminal cartels.
“Sheinbaum, if she is a good-faith partner, need not risk her regime or her life with an immediate assault on her cartel-partner regime elements — but she can affirm the analysis, and the principles of action that come from it,” says TPPF’s Joshua Treviño. “She can recognize reality and say so. She is fond of proclaiming her dedication to Mexico’s soberanía — its sovereignty — and now she has the opportunity to declare that soberanía includes sovereignty from the cartels, its agents and its partners … no matter how high up in government they go.”
For more on Mexico, click here.
College Football
What to know: Oklahoma State University has fired longtime football coach Mike Gundy.
The TPPF take: Mike Gundy told the truth about college sports.
“When Gundy pointed out that Oregon had spent over $40 million on NIL, while Oklahoma State had less than $7 million to spend, his comments were widely denounced and drew a wave of national blowback,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “But Gundy just said the quiet part out loud. Without the comprehensive reforms to save college sports being called for by TPPF Board Member, Cody Campbell, schools that can wrangle billionaire benefactors will have the resources to compete, while others will be resigned to doing bake sales and selling raffle tickets.”
For more on college sports, click here.
Junkets
What to know: A Dallas City Council member spent more than $6,000 in ARPA funds to visit Dallas’ “sister city” in Japan.
The TPPF take: We need tighter controls over the spending of tax dollars.
“Dallas’ mishandling of COVID money further bolsters the case for a strict spending limit,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Presently, cities and counties are not required to limit expenditure growth in any meaningful way. In this environment, city and county budgets have grown excessively large. This situation calls for fiscal discipline to be imposed. This can be achieved through legislative action that imposes a local government spending limit based on population and inflation.”
For more on local spending, click here.