You’d think ERCOT would have learned its lesson. I warned last year that summer blackouts were coming to Texas; it is likely we would have had outages in August 2020 if not for lower electricity demand caused by the COVID-19 economic shutdowns. The winter outages that killed 111 Texans — and the close call on...
I spent many years in the classroom, with a roomful of students looking to me for knowledge, instruction and guidance. I can’t imagine looking back into their eyes and telling them that they’re irredeemably bad, that their nation is built on a lie, and that some of them are worth more than others—depending on the...
A recent Wall Street Journal article claimed “U.S. Debt Is at a Record High, but the Risk Calculus Is Changing.” But is that calculus really changing? According to some, the government can borrow and print all the money it wants without repercussions. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) advances the puerile notion that we have somehow moved...
The U.S. Census Bureau released its once-in-a-decade national census on April 26. Most of the discussion about the census has focused on states losing or gaining seats in the U.S. House, a process known as reapportionment. For the 2022 midterms, seven states will be down one member of the House: California, Illinois, Michigan, New York,...
Across the country over the past several years, racial antagonism has metastasized. In cities such as Portland and Seattle, normal life for everyday Americans has become a thing of the past, replaced by lawlessness, violence, and destruction of private property and small businesses. How can we prevent Texas cities from becoming Portland and Seattle? HB...
Backing the Blue What to know: National Police Week is an opportunity to recognize our courageous police officers. The TPPF take: Thank our police officers this week; they need to hear it. “It has been quite the year for our police officers,” says TPPF’s Randy Petersen. “And officers handled it all remarkably well. I believe...
We Have Reservations What to know: ERCOT, the state’s power grid manager, continues to exaggerate its reserve margins of electricity available to Texans, claiming there’s less than a 1% chance of more blackouts this summer. The TPPF take: ERCOT’s overconfidence is a slap in the face to the Texans it is supposed to serve. “The...
Suffer the Children What to know: Critical race theory is showing up more and more in public school curricula. The TPPF take: Critical race theory is nothing less than state-sponsored racism. “When we teach history, we’re teaching our children who they are and where they came from,” says TPPF’s Kevin Roberts. “When we teach them...
What’s going on with gas prices? Poor public policy is to blame. Chuck DeVore, Vice President of National Initiatives, joined Tucker Carlson to discuss the soaring cost of oil and gas and the connection to Joe Biden’s plans to undermine America’s energy independence. Higher energy costs are a feature, not a bug, of our Green...
As a surprise to the Austin City Council, voters overwhelmingly passed a proposition eliminating public camping. The bipartisan support for the camping ban has put wind in the sails of legislation modeled after Austin’s Prop B that would ban public camping in cities throughout the state. Save Austin Now co-founder Matt Mackowiak joins the discussion...
A major legislative priority of the Texas Public Policy Foundation has officially passed both the House and Senate and is awaiting Governor Abbott’s signature. With major legislative deadlines approaching, Andrew and James discuss the ever-changing environment at the capitol and what TPPF is keeping an eye on as sine die approaches.
Federal prosecutors filed charges against the recently terminated CEO of one of New York’s largest homeless shelter networks. They allege he pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from contractors hired by the nonprofit organization he led for two decades. These charges were in addition to the sexual abuse and financial impropriety charges that...
Three campfires in one evening sounds like an awful lot of fun, unless you are a firefighter like Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Thayer Smith. In the wee hours of April 2, his unit battled fires at three homeless encampments. What is happening in Austin is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis. It threatens the...
The city of Austin recently announced a new homelessness “czar,” a position that had been open for more than one year—the first “czar” lasted only a month. As a first course of action, we hope she will advocate for the reversal of a recent decision by ECHO (Ending Community Homelessness Coalition) to skip a full...
President Joe Biden appears to be looking to California for policy inspiration. This bodes ill for Americans. California, a beautiful land graced by mild weather, lost population last year for the first time in its 170-year history as a state. That 80,000 residents are fleeing annually to Texas, where summers are markedly less enjoyable, speaks volumes about California’s craptacular governance....