Good morning,

As the guy who founded the state's largest fiscal watchdog group, it pains me to suggest that – perhaps – tax cuts aren't always enough... I'll explain more below in the reflection that closes out the week.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Friday, July 7, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Baby Among 4 Found Dead in the Rio Grande

• Over the course of last weekend, the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Tactical Marine Unit recovered four dead people – including a baby – from the Rio Grande river, which serves as the border between Texas and Mexico. Sydnie Henry has the story.

      
• Since none of the deceased had identifying documents on their person—likely in an attempt to claim asylum in the U.S.—DPS is unable to notify or return the bodies to their families.
       
• “After Title 42 went away, people think that the border crisis went away,” said border expert and former ICE Agent Victor Avila. “And it actually got worse.”

TikTok Hosts Advertisements for Human Smuggling Jobs in Texas

• Following controversy over the national security implications of the social media giant TikTok, Valerie Muñoz reports the company's app has been found to be hosting advertisements for human smuggling jobs. 
       
• Earlier this year, the Chinese-owned social media app was banned from state-issued devices and state networks in Texas to prevent China from accessing sensitive data. Now, the app has been exposed hosting videos that solicit drivers for human smuggling jobs.
       

• Videos show stacks of hundred-dollar bills and people crammed into the backseat of a car. Viewers are then shown lists of various Texas cities where smugglers are soliciting drivers for illegal transactions.

     
• TikTok seems to be aware of the account and has placed a disclaimer on one of the advertisements, reading, “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”

Illegal Alien Busted for Trafficking Guns and Drugs to Cartels

• A Mexican citizen and illegal alien in the U.S. has been sentenced to 175 months in federal prison after being found in possession of "a rocket launcher, two rocket-propelled grenades, 8.5 kilos of heroin, and lots, and lots, of cash." Micah Rice has the details.
    
• Alfredo Gonzalez-Diaz was residing illegally in Houston at the time of his arrest, and federal officials say he could be deported once released from prison.

Scandal-plagued ISD Challenges State Takeover

• La Joya Independent School District is fighting back against a takeover by the Texas Education Agency. Emily Medeiros reports that the district operates 38 schools with more than 24,000 students.
    
• In 2022, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath authorized a special investigation to be conducted by TEA to address alleged violations tied to the district’s staff and elected trustees. The investigation found multiple instances of LJISD officials committing crimes that included theft, bribery, money laundering, extortion, and wire fraud.
      
• Despite the investigation's findings, La Joya ISD trustees voted 4-3 this May to fight TEA’s plan to replace the elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers.
       
• Trustees in the low-income district hired Fort Worth attorney John Scott to oppose the TEA. Scott was recently appointed to serve as the interim attorney general while Ken Paxton awaits an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate, and his law firm is representing La Joya ISD. 

Poll: Texas GOP Voters Increasingly Favor Trump

• A new poll commissioned by the Defend Texas Liberty PAC reveals GOP voters in the Lone Star State have increased their support of former President Donald Trump in the 2024 primary. Soli Rice breaks down the results.
    

• Out of all the possible candidates—including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, and others—the only candidates to receive a double-digit percentage of support in the poll were Trump and DeSantis.
        

• DeSantis came in at 19 percent in the poll, and Trump received 51 percent.
      

• In a head-to-head matchup between Trump and DeSantis, the former president garnered 53 percent of the vote compared to the Florida governor's 32 percent (the remaining were undecided).

📺 WATCH: What's Next in the Paxton Impeachment?

• On today's edition of The Headline, Brandon Waltens visits with legal expert Tony McDonald to understand the next steps in the impeachment effort against Attorney General Ken Paxton. Plus, Erin Anderson explains how one lawmaker is delaying his own day in court. 
      
• You can watch The Headline on the Apple TV or Roku apps, on an iOS or Android phone, or on the Texas Scorecard YouTube channel.

Friday Reflection:
When Tax Cuts Aren't Enough

While Solomon in his prime might have been the wisest man in history, he made some bad choices in his later years—straying from God and ultimately undermining the kingdom his father had unified. He did so, in part, through reckless taxation.

But that recklessness extended to what he apparently taught—or failed to teach—his son and successor, Rehoboam.

Briefly, King Rehoboam was told by Jeroboam—who had been run out of the country by Solomon—that the people of the united Kingdom of Israel were suffering under a high tax burden.

King Rehoboam’s response? “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

As you might imagine, this upset a lot of people. So, Jeroboam led the northern tribes to secede from the kingdom. Before an all-out civil war could begin, God told Rehoboam not to fight. This left Rehoboam as the king of Judah, reigning over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in Jerusalem.

Jeroboam became the king of the Kingdom of Israel, including the rest of the tribes of the Israelites.

But Jeroboam had a problem. While the politics of taxation had divided the kingdom, the people were all still of the same religion—they worshiped God at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jeroboam was worried that the people would make their pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem and might decide to make nice with Rehoboam. He did not want to risk his newfound political power being undermined by religion.

So Jeroboam told his people they didn’t need to worry about the inconvenience of going to the temple in Jerusalem. He erected two places of worship in the cities of Bethel and Dan—specifically, to worship giant golden calves.

For the price of a tax cut, Jeroboam turned the people of God into idolatrous pagans. A short-term gain for eternal loss. He was more interested in preserving his newfound power than building up the righteousness of his population.

As citizens, we must diligently look beyond the public policies being offered and endeavor to understand the agendas of those presenting them. Just because someone tells us what we want to hear doesn’t mean they actually want what is best for us.

As a self-governing people, it is up to us to demand both tax cuts and righteousness! 

We must never allow ourselves to be conned into accepting politicians’ false choices any more than we should follow them in the worship of false gods.

Now Available: 'Reflections on Life & Liberty'

• The book comes in three formats: hardcover, paperback, and digital download. For now, "Reflections on Life & Liberty" is only available at Amazon.