The Political Insider

Texas governor Greg Abbott is pushing forward with a plan to freeze tax revenues for cities that decide to defund their police departments.

In an appearance with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Abbott denounced violence taking place in Democrat-controlled cities across the nation and pointed to Austin, Texas in particular.

“Austin, Texas, has defunded law enforcement [and] police … despite the fact that over the first six months of this year, the city ranked number one in the United States for the highest percentage increase in murders was Austin, Texas,” he explained.

Austin became the first major Texas city to curtail its police department’s budget last week, with the city council unanimously approving a $150 million budget cut.

This comes amidst a report in early August indicating a sharp 64 percent increase in murders in Austin during the pandemic, the highest increase in the nation.

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Back the Blue

Abbott responded to the budget cuts by explaining the lunacy in thinking depleted funds will result in better cops.

“If we have police brutality, we don’t need fewer police, we need less police brutality, and so we need to take action, whether it be as a Legislature or in police departments or whatever the case may be,” Abbott said.

He then drew a line in the sand.

“Any city in the state of Texas that defunds law enforcement will have their property tax revenue frozen as of that time,” he declared during a press conference.

Abbott told Hannity that cities defunding their police departments “will lose the lifeblood of the revenues they receive from property taxes.”

“We believe in law enforcement in Texas and we are not going to allow a replication of the types of policies we’ve seen destroying cities like Seattle and Portland and others,” he added.

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Democrat Hypocrites

It should be noted that several Democrat lawmakers calling for defunding their police departments are massive hypocrites.

The Hill, in July, reported that Minneapolis City Council members had been provided with a pricey private security detail after receiving threats in the aftermath of the George Floyd riots.

The irony is that the threats were allegedly coming because of their support to defund the Minneapolis police department.

In essence, they defund the police for the peasantry, then hire their own security using the peasantry’s tax dollars.

In a similar story, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot banned protesters on her own block, citing concern for her safety.

“I think that residents of this city, understanding the nature of the threats that we are receiving on a daily basis, on a daily basis, understand I have a right to make sure that my home is secure,” Lightfoot said.

And in Austin, one concerned citizen tweeted to Mayor Steve Adler, “Does this mean you’ll be giving up your APD security detail? Kinda hypocritical if you don’t.”

Safety and security for me, but not for thee.

“In Texas, we embrace law enforcement,” Abbott said. “We will not accept turning power over to these socialistic forces that seek to abandon the rule of law and abandon the law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe.”