Texas Standard for Sept. 14, 2022: Questions over Operation Lone Star funding as border security bill comes due

The budget for Texas’ border security initiative Operation Lone Star topped $4 billion this month. With about a year left in the state’s two-year budget cycle, it’s unclear whether Texas can afford to continue running the program in its current form. Also: A looming railroad strike could mean pain for people in the checkout line and Democrats at the polls. What’s the Biden administration doing to keep the trains running on time? And: Do people with low incomes get audited more than others? We’ll see how that claim holds up under scrutiny from PolitiFact.

All that and more today on the Texas Standard:

By Texas StandardSeptember 14, 2022 9:18 am,

Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022:

Questions over Operation Lone Star funding as border security bill comes due

The budget for Texas’ border security initiative Operation Lone Star topped $4 billion this month. With about a year left in the state’s two-year budget cycle, it’s unclear whether Texas can afford to continue running the program in its current form. Dallas Morning News reporter Bob Garrett joins us to shed some light on the funding.

How the White House hopes to head off a nationwide train strike

Thousands of railroad workers are prepared to walk off the job Friday, capping a years-long conflict over working conditions. Now the Biden administration is stepping in, hoping to avert a supply chain crisis just ahead of the midterm elections. Politico transportation reporter Tanya Snyder brings us the story. 

Greg Abbott among Republican governors who oppose Biden’s debt cancellation

Nearly two dozen Republican governors are asking President Joe Biden to cancel his student loan forgiveness plan. KUT’s Becky Fogel reports Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed onto the letter sent this week:

Inside El Salvador’s big Bitcoin bust

El Salvador made international headlines last year for becoming the world’s first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal currency. One year later, Barron’s reporter Sabrina Escobar traveled to El Salvador to see how things are going. She joins us to talk about what she found.

Why many Latinos are reclaiming their accent marks

What’s in a name? For many, it’s a connection to our ancestors. For decades, many in the Latino community have altered their names to assimilate or to avoid technology headaches. But now some are reclaiming the accent marks they’d left behind. Astrid Galván wrote about it as editor of Axios Latino.

A tour of San Antonio’s Labor Plaza

San Antonio’s new Labor Plaza officially opened to the public on Labor Day. The art installation on Market Street honors eight prominent San Antonio labor figures and includes an original poem from the former San Antonio Poet Laureate. Texas Public Radio’s Josh Peck toured the space:

Bacon! 🥓

A lot of people love bacon – maybe no one more-so than comedian Jim Gaffigan. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says Gaffigan’s bacon commitment might make him a good candidate for an honor this weekend in a Texas city you’ve likely never heard of.

A fact-check on IRS audits

U.S Sen. Ron Johnson said Americans earning less than $25,000 a year are being audited by the IRS a lot more than other income groups. Is that a fact? Joining us to go over this PolitiFact National fact-check is reporter Nusaiba Mizan of PolitiFact Texas, based at the Austin American-Statesman. 

All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.

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