A New Hope

What to Know: New polling by TPPF shows that Americans are starting to refocus their concerns—and their hopes—on the restarting the economy.

“Without question, COVID-19 has had a significant and immediate impact on people’s lives and we’re seeing that in the data,” says TPPF’s Brian Philips. “The challenge is for our public officials to weigh both the serious health concerns with the very real economic damage that is occurring around the state. We should be closely evaluating activity based on what is safe or unsafe, rather than implementing blanket shutdowns that will have long-lasting consequences for Texans.”

Election Fraud

What to Know: Even as the push continues to expand mail-in balloting for upcoming elections, more stories emerge of fraud, abuse and error.

The TPPF Take: An election conducted solely through mail-in ballots would be rife with fraud and error.

“As with much else during the ongoing pandemic, we must ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease,” says TPPF’s Quico Canseco. “Mail-in ballots can be lost, stolen, or even forged. It takes the actual casting of ballots out of the controlled and regulated polling place and shifts it to unmonitored environments where intimidation, confusion, and simple fraud can take place.”

A Legacy of Transparency

What to Know: The late Sen. Tom Coburn’s Oklahoma colleagues say they’ll honor and continue Coburn’s commitment to transparency in health care pricing.

The TPPF take: As Coburn (a longtime friend to TPPF) knew, transparency has the potential to bring down costs.

“The single biggest reform that Americans want for the health care industry is to have unfettered transparency of real pricing,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “Congress now has an opportunity to codify a policy that may decrease costs and is something most Americans want.”