Border Crisis Looms

What to Know: A new crisis at the border is building up, as more and more migrants (and advocacy groups) plan to test Vice President Joe Biden’s resolve on immigration.

The TPPF Take: Last week, TPPF brought together 24 experts to game out a renewed crisis on our southern border.

“The simulation suggested that a new border crisis will rapidly occur in the early months of a Biden Administration based largely on the expectation of a softening of the Trump Administration’s approach to border security,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Further, that the crisis will be exacerbated by the Biden team’s inability to quickly analyze the situation and develop and deploy an adequate response.”

For more on the border crisis simulation, click here.

Don’t Defund Our Police

What to Know: A group of Black ministers in South Dallas say they need the police—and not a defunded department. “With the uptick of murder and violence, that shows we need more police help,” they said.

The TPPF Take: As the ministers point out, defunding the police isn’t the answer. Developing better police officers is.

“The last thing we want to do is defund the police,” says TPPF’s Currie Myers, a retired sheriff. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do better. Everyone needs to work together to ensure that law enforcement is a positive part of government.”

To watch a recent livestream event with Currie, click here.

The $336 Band-Aid

What to Know: Recently, a San Francisco woman was treated for a cut finger—with a $336 Band-Aid. The facility called it “minor surgery” and billed the insurance company for that service. Notable: the writer supports Medicare-for-All, though government involvement in health care is the direct cause of this problem.

The TPPF Take: Remember, this incident happened under the Affordable Care Act—which greatly empowers.

“The ACA is a failure, and our health care system is still in need of reform,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “The ACA’s broken promises are legion. We never saved $2,500 per family. Too many of us didn’t get to keep our doctors or our insurance policies. Our premiums and deductibles have skyrocketed. A better approach would be to start with price transparency—and let patients know beforehand they’re about to be charged $336 for a Band-Aid.”

For more on the ACA and transparency, click here.