What does independence mean for my paycheck?
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The biggest hidden cut to a paycheck today is inflation, and it is made in Washington. The dollar has lost about 22 percent of its buying power since 2020, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.
How inflation reaches your pay
When Washington spends more than it collects, it prints the difference. New money reaches the banks and the government first. Ordinary Texans get it last, after their wages and savings have already lost value. TNM’s 2026 fiscal report, Can Texas Make It?, puts the loss on Texans’ bank deposits alone at no less than $130 billion in a single year, the twelve months ending March 2022.
Where the jobs are
Federal jobs are about 1 percent of Texas work, down from 1.25 percent a decade ago. Most Texans work for private employers, and those employers keep choosing Texas: more than 200 corporate headquarters moved here between 2018 and 2023.
What is known
TNM makes no promise that independence raises wages. What is known is that the taxes Texans already pay cover the full cost of governing Texas, and that a Texas running sound money would stop paying an inflation tax set in Washington.
The bottom line
Your paycheck is where Washington’s spending shows up first, and you have never had a vote on it. What Texas builds next is ours to decide.
Sources & further reading
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