John-

Dan Crenshaw here. 

This week, I fact checked the many glaring stats and omissions in Biden’s State of the Union address and I called out the cartel leaders who are profiting off of the fentanyl crisis at America’s southern border. And I introduced legislation that would reimburse border states for doing the federal government’s job of enforcing American sovereignty.

As always, thank you for your support.

Now, here’s your brief:
FACT CHECKING BIDEN'S STATE OF THE UNION
Clearly Biden was confused when he gave his speech at the State of the Union on Tuesday night. So I fixed some of the stats for him:

CLAIM: “A record decrease in the deficit.”
FACT CHECK: Biden’s policies have put us on the path to spend over $10 trillion in the next decade – a record increase for a president’s first two years in office.

CLAIM: “Gas prices are down $1.50 a gallon since their peak.”
FACT CHECK: Gas prices are only down from the $5/gallon national average that Biden’s destructive energy policies caused. The average gas price was $2.39 when Biden took office, now it’s $3.47. That’s still over a dollar more.

CLAIM: “Inflation is coming down. Wages are going up.”
FACT CHECK: Inflation has risen over 13% since Biden took office. Inflation was 1.4% when he started and is 6.5% today. December was the 21st straight month that real wages have been negative, which means inflation is outpacing wage growth.

CLAIM: “Republicans want to cut Social Security.”
FACT CHECK: Republicans have repeatedly assured that we are not cutting Medicare & Social Security. Speaker McCarthy and other Republicans have echoed that we will not default on our debt – but it’s up to President Biden to come to the table and negotiate with Republicans.

CLAIM: “We have created a record 12 million new jobs.”
FACT CHECK: Biden is leaving out the workforce participation rate – 2.6 million fewer Americans are participating in the U.S. labor force compared to before COVID-19. All of the government-imposed lockdowns are still causing repercussions that the economy hasn’t recovered from.

What would you add to it? Share your thoughts in my survey here.
SAY THEIR NAMES
Biden did the absolute bare minimum at SOTU — only mentioning the border 4 times. Did he propose any policies to secure the border? No. Did he mention any plans to help understaffed CBP agents? No. Did he mention that the way we solve the fentanyl crisis is by stopping cartels dead in their tracks? You guessed it. No. 

Ismael Mario Zambada – leader of the Sinaloa Cartel – and Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes – leader of the Jalisco Cartel – are the two men primarily responsible for the fentanyl trafficking that’s killing nearly 80,000 Americans every year. Why won’t Biden say their names? These narcoterrorists should be household names, but Biden wouldn’t acknowledge their existence or even the word “cartel” in his address. 

Instead, he complained that Congress has refused to act on immigration, when that’s just not true. Maybe it’s just not in the way HE wants Congress to act (which, by the way, is pushing for amnesty for illegal immigrants). 

We have the bills to target these cartels, including the one I introduced with Rep. Mike Waltz to authorize the use of military force against cartels at our southern border.

Let’s get our common sense bills on the floor and do everything in our power to capture these thugs.

BORDER STATES SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR BIDEN'S INACTION
The federal government is responsible for securing America’s borders and controlling the flow of immigration. When it fails to do its job, border states will have no choice but to do it for them. Otherwise they will suffer serious repercussions to public safety and rule of law. 

Texas alone has spent more than $2.5 billion on securing the border. My new bill, the State Border Security Reimbursement Act, would require the federal government to reimburse states for the billions of dollars spent on security and immigration issues.

Border state citizens are essentially taxed twice for the same purpose. The federal government taxes them to meet border security obligations. And their own state taxes them (out of pure necessity) to cover all of the obligations which the Biden Administration refuses to fulfill. Taxpayers in Texas and other border states shouldn’t have to pay twice for Biden’s inaction, and my bill helps correct that.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas?” 

-Margaret Thatcher
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
That’s it for this week’s campaign brief. Thanks for reading.

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