Forbes — the 'Capitalist Tool' founded by B.C. Forbes in 1917 — centers free markets, entrepreneurship as moral good, tax reduction (the Steve Forbes flat-tax legacy), deregulation, pro-trade, property rights, and pro-immigrant-entrepreneurship. Cornyn matches Forbes substantially well: tax cuts, deregulation, pro-trade (USMCA), CHIPS-Act-as-pro-business-industrial-policy, anti-broadest-Trump-tariffs (Forbes has run extensive anti-tariff coverage), and the celebration-of-immigrant-entrepreneurship framework via skilled-immigration pathways. Paxton wins on tax cuts, deregulation, and anti-ESG litigation but loses substantially on tariffs, anti-immigration positioning (Forbes celebrates the immigrant-entrepreneur tradition), personal scandals (corporate-governance failures are disqualifying in Forbes's framework), and the litigation chaos that disrupts business planning.
Sources
- Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, official campaign issues page, accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Sen. John Cornyn, official Senate website and 2026 re-election campaign issues page, accessed May 2026 (cornyn.senate.gov; johncornyn.com). (full list)
- Cornyn vote on S. 744, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, June 27, 2013; RESULTS Act / Cornyn-Heller substitute amendment; 'border surge' Cornyn-Hoeven amendment incorporated into the bill. (full list)
- Cornyn votes on USMCA (January 2020); Senate Finance Committee record on free-trade agreements; Cornyn statements on Trump-era tariffs (2018-2026) including measured opposition to broad agricultural tariffs harming Texas exporters. (full list)
- Forbes magazine ('Capitalist Tool'), founded 1917 by B.C. Forbes; Steve Forbes flat-tax presidential campaigns (1996, 2000); Forbes editorial coverage of tariffs as anti-growth, immigrant-entrepreneur celebration (annual 'Forbes 400' and '30 Under 30'), and skepticism of ESG mandates. (full list)