AG Paxton has sued Biden 100 times. Here’s why that’s great for the Texas economy | Opinion
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently filed his 100th lawsuit against the Biden administration. You don’t have to be a trained economist or lawyer to understand why. Democrats habitually try to impose costly and unconstitutional policies on the states. Texas is leading the charge for a renewed federalism that wants to return power to the people.
The Lone Star State has become the national model for economic success. Low taxes and a light regulatory touch are crucial. Its economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.4% last year, more than twice as fast as the national average of 2.9%.
The Biden administration has been rightly blamed for hamstringing the national economy with rolls of red tape, destroying job, wage, and GDP growth all around. Fortunately, Texas has been able to respond with a robust pro-growth agenda that boosts employment, wealth, and wellbeing.
By continuing to challenge these counterproductive federal policies, Paxton is ensuring that Texas remains the nation’s sanctuary from anti-growth policies that are straining the budgets of families and businesses nationwide. It was the top state for people to move to in 2023, and it will likely keep the top spot this year thanks in part to freedom-friendly leadership.
In contrast, the Biden administration’s approach offers endless troves of federal regulations.
We’re talking about an administration that is issuing regulations to make it harder for Texas families to use gas stoves and ovens in the name of “protecting the environment.” This despite the fact that one in seven families are currently living in energy poverty.
As Paxton put it: “the Biden-Harris administration’s crusade against kitchen appliances hurts American families at a time when their policies have already made the cost of living skyrocket.”
Democrats bill themselves as the party of opportunity, so why are they gung-ho for regulations that burden the least well-off among us?
This administration is also trying to weaken Visa’s debit card business, which many companies in the country favor, simply because Biden officials thinks it’s become too big. Contrary to monopoly myths, there has been significant, continued debit card competition over the last decade, and federal law already requires that two debit networks service every debit card.
Why punish a company just because it’s customers’ favorite? What’s next, banning McDonald’s or Subway for being too popular?
Furthermore, Biden is proposing to compromise federal workers’ savings by allowing their retirement plan operators to consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance policies when making investment decisions. Instead of the tried-and-true fiduciary duty to maximize returns, they prefer the fashionable yet irrelevant whims of out-of-touch elites. Translation: the Biden administration wants to put politics before the hard-earned wealth of the people it represents.
All of this strains common sense and runs counter to what Texas has proved is the winning formula for keeping the economy healthy.
Thankfully, Paxton has taken note of a dangerous anti-growth trend and has boldly spoken out to protect the financial interests and upward economic trajectory of his state.
With the Trump administration poised to take over in January, Texas’s leaders should finally receive the backup they deserve to stop regulators from killing the golden goose.
Donald Trump’s nominees at the Justice Department will be crucial to rolling back some of Biden’s anti-business and anti-consumer agenda, and his nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Labor, and Environmental Protection Agency will help to clear plenty of other harmful regulations off the books as well. Hopefully, Elon Musk’s and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will also recommend sharp cuts.
For too long, the federal ship of state has barely been seaworthy. Free and prosperous states like Texas are the only thing keeping it afloat. Let’s hope the incoming captain and crew can steer things right before it’s too late.
