Countdown to Policy Orientation 2020

What to Know: The vast majority of Texans believe our failed immigration policies have resulted in a crisis at the border.

The TPPF Take: Those describing immigration as a crisis include 64 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Independents.

“The crisis is a humanitarian one,” says TPPF’s John Hostettler. “The violence in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has created a demand for human traffickers whose empty promises and exorbitant fees drive and direct the flow of migrants to the border. These traffickers in turn victimize the migrants themselves, many of whom die or are assaulted in transit. That’s where our focus should be.”

The immigration crisis will be part of the discussion at PO 2020.

Homelessness Solutions?

What to Know: Austin and Travis County have received $10 million more in grant funds for homelessness.

The TPPF Take: If money could fix homelessness, it would have—long ago.

“We always think we can solve human problems from a transactional view; you can’t,” says Alan Graham, founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, an Austin ministry. “You have to solve them with relationships. We all desire to be fully and wholly loved. We all desire community.

No, They’re Not

What to Know: Conservative women are on the verge of extinction—according to the New York Times.

The TPPF Take: This NYT piece is a classic case of the bubble at work.

“Fully 170 Republican women have filed or are expected to run for the U.S. House of Representatives, more than 2 ½ times this point in the 2018 cycle,” points out TPPF’s Ellen Troxclair. “The real threat to conservative women’s political success has more to do with the left claiming to speak for all women, leaving right-of-center women feeling increasingly frustrated that their voices are diminished and that their views are left unrepresented.”