Earlier this summer, two Texas law enforcement agencies announced investigations involving the alleged misuse of Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology. In Fort Bend County, a sheriff’s lieutenant admitted to conducting repeated searches unrelated to official law enforcement duties nearly 200 times. Shortly thereafter, Baytown Police opened internal affairs and criminal investigations into allegations that an...
I was 10 years old in 1979, the year my country disappeared. I don’t say that lightly, and I don’t say it for effect. I say it because it’s the most honest way I know to describe what happened to Iran — and to me — in the space of a single school year. One...
The debate over Texas’s 765-kV transmission lines is heating up, and your wallet is caught in the middle. Last Friday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas held a hearing on the 765-kV Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan (STEP), and this Friday, the Commission will decide whether to approve or deny the northernmost line of the three...
The University of Michigan has discovered that the best way to prepare students for adulthood is to protect them from anything that might make them uncomfortable. Beginning in fall 2027, the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts plans to shield first-year students from the consequences of their first-semester grades. Students’ letter grades will...
Recent trends of local government spending in Texas are worrisome for taxpayers. The city of Austin paid the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond more than $877,000 from 2017-2025 to provide workshops “undoing racism” (City of Austin, 2025). And from 2020 to 2026, Austin gave $4.8 million to the Workers Defense Fund, an organization that fights against securing the border and ensuring that immigration is legal...
The Root of the Problem What to know: The city of Oakland, California wants to fine landowners nearly $1 million for cutting trees — on their own property. The TPPF take: The landowners are being represented by TPPF attorneys. “To put this absurdity into perspective, consider California’s criminal justice system. Under the state’s penal code,...
That’s the Wrong Direction What to know: State lawmakers are holding hearings on proposed 765-kV transmission lines, which are facing significant pushback from landowners and ratepayers throughout the state. The TPPF take: You can’t solve a reliable generation problem with more transmission lines. “Texas needs more transmission to accommodate demand growth, both in the cities...
Hiding the Grades What to know: The University of Michigan is hiding the grades of incoming freshmen — for fear that bad grades might pose a threat to the student’s mental well-being. The TPPF take: The job of a teacher is to lift students up, not lower the bar. “A student does not possess all...
The EPA’s 2025 decision to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding is being called one of the largest deregulatory actions in US history. But what exactly is the Endangerment Finding, and why do supporters say this change matters for American families and businesses? In this Fast Facts breakdown, we explain the 16-year history of greenhouse gas...
Since it has been unable to pass new gun restrictions through the legislative process, President Biden’s Administration is intentionally ignoring and misinterpreting well-established law to shut down lawfully operating gun dealers. TPPF Senior Attorney Matt Miller breaks down how this backdoor scheme works and explains TPPF’s lawsuit to restore Americans’ legal right to purchase firearms.
Illegal activity that harms the U.S. is coming from Mexico in much the same way as it does from other corrupt individuals in other countries the U.S. currently sanctions. Texas should compile a list of corrupt Mexican elites and request the federal government to deny them entry to the U.S. or revoke their visas. Read...
Winners & Losers is calling an end to our summer break. The Almanac says the last 8 p.m. sunsets in the central region of Texas will occur next week, so the days are getting shorter, and we can no longer stand by and let so many winners and losers go by unacknowledged. Here’s who is...
It is more than a little ironic that in the middle of the Celebration of 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, one of the nation’s oldest historical organizations, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), voted down an effort to ban men who say they are women from membership. If men live in a...
On July 4, I stood at the site of the Boston Massacre, in front of the Old Massachusetts State House, and heard the Declaration of Independence read from the same balcony where it was first read 250 years ago. Standing on the streets where it all started, I pondered the miracle of those first patriots...
Even though I’ve taken off from my Winners & Losers newsletter this summer, I still join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin Friday mornings at 8:30 a.m. to announce the week’s list. You can listen live here every week or download the broadcast anytime by clicking here. This week I...