The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 24, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Wednesday, July 24th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released new illegal immigrant encounter numbers for the month of June, detailing that the southern border has seen a, quote, significant decline in recent months. In June, CBP recorded over 83,000 encounters between ports of entry along the southern border, which is 29% lower than in May and, quote, the lowest monthly total for the Border Patrol along the southwest border since January 2021. CBP official Troy A. Miller said, quote,

Starting point is 00:00:51 Recent border security measures have made a meaningful impact on our ability to impose consequences for those crossing unlawfully, leading to a decline of 29% in U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions from May to June, with a more than 50% drop in the seven-day average from the announcement to the end of the month, and doubling the rate at which we removed non-citizens from U.S. Border Patrol custody in June. President Joe Biden issued an executive order in June in an effort to quell the growing number of asylum seekers entering through ports of entry at the southern border. Next, one inmate of the Harris County Jail and two of his relatives have been charged in relation to a money laundering scheme involving the smuggling of drugs into the jail for sale to other inmates. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced on Tuesday that Joshua

Starting point is 00:01:42 Sinclair Owens, age 35, who is being held in the jail awaiting trial for murder and multiple other felony charges, has now been charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and possession of a prohibited substance. Ogg said the charges were the result of a months-long investigation, and that the case stood out because the criminal enterprise had been operated from within the jail. She said, In other news, Elon Musk said he was tricked into allowing his son to undergo experimental gender-altering procedures in an interview with commentator Jordan Peterson.

Starting point is 00:02:23 Musk stated, My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus. in an interview with commentator Jordan Peterson. Musk stated, quote, My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus. Peterson and Musk recorded the interview at the Tesla Gigafactory near Austin on Monday. Peterson initially asked Musk why he was engaged in this particular battle, regarding the tech mogul's decision to move both X and SpaceX's headquarters to Texas from California, after Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that would allow schools to let children identify as LGBTQ+, without notifying their parents. Musk clarified, quote,

Starting point is 00:02:57 It's not the one straw, it's the final straw. I had conversations with Gavin Newsom before, where I said, if you pass legislation like this, if you sign legislation like this, that in my view puts children in danger. I will move my companies out of California. Also, a Cypress massage establishment is closing its doors permanently and leaving the massage therapy industry due to suspected human trafficking activity. The massage center, Gen Spa, received an emergency closure order from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in early July after a TDLR inspector found, quote, numerous potential indicators of human trafficking

Starting point is 00:03:37 activity at the establishment. These indicators included unlicensed employees providing massages, bedding, and other items that pointed to employees living in the basement, an ATM machine in the lobby, high-heeled shoes and lingerie in the laundry facility, and advertisements highlighting the establishment's 24-7 operating hours. Last but not least, there's a massive lobbying fight unfolding behind the scenes both in Washington, D.C. and Austin over an obscure facet of the healthcare system, pharmacy benefit managers. PBMs are the middlemen of the pharmaceutical drug supply chain, negotiating prices between manufacturers, pharmacies, and insurance companies. Drug costs are generally on the rise, and that set off alarm bells for policymakers both federally and in the state of Texas. From 2022 to 2023, 4,264 of the 5,863 pharmaceutical drugs tracked by the Health and Human Services Department saw their prices rise, with an average increase of 15.2%. The average

Starting point is 00:04:42 price increase for a single-source drug, a brand-name product, was $958, amounting to a 7.4% increase. Multi-source drugs increased 26%, or $69 on average. It's an outlier, but the cost of one blood pressure medication increased by a factor of 35, from just over $4 to just over $158. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 24, 2024

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