Wasn’t That the Point?
What to know: If used more extensively (and strategically), grants financed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had the potential to alter the state’s political landscape dramatically. They could even have flipped Texas for Democrats, a study says.
The TPPF take: Texas was right to ban the use of private funding for elections offices.
“The so-called donations were simply an attempt to use local governments as a cloak to cover partisan get-out-the-vote efforts,” says TPPF’s Chad Ennis. “The Legislature was rightly concerned about this practice and should be commended for its quick action in banning the scheme.”
For more on private funding for elections offices, click here.
Shocked, Shocked I Tell You
What to know: The main side effects of the Affordable Care Act are higher costs and fewer choices.
The TPPF take: Obamacare’s many broken promises are why Texas lawmakers took the initiative to improve health care in the Lone Star State without waiting on the feds.
“Rather than expanding a poorly performing program, the Legislature focused in a bipartisan manner by improving Medicaid, by making prescriptions more affordable for the uninsured, by driving down the cost of services, and providing new options for the uninsured rather than the one-size-fits-all Medicaid,” says TPPF’s David Balat.
For more on how Texas improved health care, click here.
Political Enforcers
What to know: The left is beginning to push for a national police force, answerable to whoever is in power in Washington.
The TPPF take: This is a terrible idea.
“A nationalized police force would take on the political characteristics of the administration in office,” says TPPF’s Randy Petersen. “The administration’s priorities would become the local policing priorities, whether they were in Juneau or Chicago. National political winds would shift enforcement practices, completely unbound from local priorities.”
For more on a national police force, click here.