Republicans sharpen fall election attack lines on economy, border crisis

In interviews from CPAC, Republican Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Brian Babin (R-Texas) slammed Biden administration economic and border policies, citing middle- and lower-income tax hikes hidden in the Democrats' new climate spending bill (dubbed the "Inflation Reduction Act") and the overwhelming of border state resources by unprecedented levels of illegal immigration.   

"Biden promised he would never raise taxes on anybody who made less than $400,000," Biggs said on the "Just the News, Not Noise" television show. "Well, he's breaking that promise today, and the burden is gonna go to middle and lower income families, and they're getting eaten alive already with the inflation. And many of them can't get jobs or can't keep jobs, or they're underemployed. That's what's going on with the Biden economy."

Babin said Texas Gov. Greg Abbot's controversial decision to send busloads of illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C. and New York City is giving those Democrat-run cities a small taste of how the historic surge in illegal border crossings is draining public resources in states on the frontlines of the crisis. 

"You know, Mayor Adams is so shortsighted," Babin told show cohosts John Solomon and Amanda Head. "They're getting a little taste of what Texas goes through. It was either the D.C. mayor or it was the New York Mayor talking about 2,500 illegal immigrants that came and are swamping and overwhelming their homeless shelters. And they're getting a taste of what we get every 30 minutes down here on the southern border of our great state of Texas. I have no sympathy for them whatsoever."

While President Biden recently authorized the closing of gaps in the border wall near Yuma, Ariz. in a decision widely viewed as a political concession to endangered Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, the administration blocked a similar effort to resume wall construction along the border in Texas, Babin explained. 

"I had an endeavor to try to build a wall," Babin told show cohosts John Solomon and Amanda Head. "I tried to have the state of Texas take the materials that were paid for, voted on by the United States Congress. And we were disallowed from getting getting our hands on these materials. And now he wants to start building and shutting up and closing some of these gaps in the wall in Arizona. Don't forget about Texas, the Rio Grande Valley of Texas is the worst spot on this border."