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Safety in our Cities

What to Know: President Trump says he doesn’t think “we’ll have to” send the military into cities experiencing riots.

The TPPF Take: Governors and mayors appeared to have had their fill of the destruction and seem to be allowing law enforcement and the National Guard to do their jobs to start to restore domestic tranquility.

“That said, a case might be made that Antifa, implicated in the destruction and looting of minority-owned businesses, might be considered today’s KKK,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “In that case, the Insurrection Act could be invoked in states where governors have been reluctant to move against the domestic terror group and also refuse to ask for federal help.”

Overreach

What to Know: In Tarrant County, a judge issued an executive order prohibiting and restricting travel, business activities, public gatherings, medical procedures, and authorizing the county to commandeer private property. This raised legal questions about whether the law allows for private property to be commandeered during a disaster.

The TPPF Take: The Legislature should clarify the powers that local governments can claim in an emergency.

“In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, broad authority has been granted and used to impose a variety of rules and restrictions on Texans,” says TPPF’s Shelby Sterling. “Most of these guidelines are grounded in reason; however, some have been less reasonable and, in some cases, unlawful. The most egregious instances of government overreach have occurred at the local level.”

Russia on the Rise

What to Know: Russia is seeking to become the world’s dominant oil producer.

The TPPF Take: That’s why Russia fears U.S. energy dominance.

“The last decade has seen a tectonic shift away from OPEC and Russian imports and toward North American production,” says Allen Gilmer. “We have gone from relying on tenuous trade relationships with authoritarian and usually unstable nations to being able to provide low-cost energy to parts of the developing world that desperately need it — empowering our brothers and sisters to recreate the ‘American Miracle’ in their own countries.”