Over the river and through the woods – if you can afford it. The holiday season is nearing, and families are starting to think about travel. But visiting grandma could soon be cost-prohibitive, if the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has its way. The IPCC claims in its latest report that action must be taken...
When you have to begin an argument with “depending on how you look at it,” you’re not arguing from a strong position. Yet such has become the answer to the question of, “Is California a good role model?” posed recently in The New York Times. Even its defenders say California’s prosperity is relative. The good news...
Texans appreciate living in a state that values liberty, sensible business policy, and, perhaps most importantly, a strong dislike for taxes, which inevitably infringe on the first two values. But, in comparison with other states, Texas is beginning to lose its competitive edge in business climate as noted in the Tax Foundation’s recently released 2019...
Texas’ property tax system has turned property holders into renters, where government is their landlord and Texans who struggle to pay annual tax bills face confiscation of their properties. Additionally, the growth of government is harming taxpayers and the economy through higher taxes and more regulation. For example, Eddie Wilson owns the landmark Austin restaurant...
We previously discussed the problems with Texas’ skyrocketing property tax burden. Let’s now consider past failed property tax relief attempts signaling a need for options that will provide permanent relief. Since Texas’ modern property tax system took shape in 1979 with the passage of the “Peveto bill,” there have been three major attempts by the...
Despite the economic success of the Texas Model of relatively fiscally conservative governance, a skyrocketing local property tax burden remains one of the state’s most pressing policy challenges. While Texans have the luxury of not paying a state personal income tax, which should be constitutionally banned, they’re currently weighed down by more than 5,100 local...
Lower taxes and more freedom is a winning combination in Texas, and it will work for the rest of the country, too. Congress is finally taking note of the burgeoning prosperity in economically free states like Texas, which has far outpaced economic gains seen in less-free states, such as California. And D.C. is belatedly...
In today’s politically polarized environment, compromise is a rare commodity, especially in the energy debate. While progressives push for the use of zero-carbon energy, conservatives counter by advocating for a reliable electricity grid. Yet, nuclear energy could bridge the divide. Innovative technologies like molten salt reactors safely create power that is both carbon free...
You may often wonder how Texas’ business tax climate ranks with other states. Well, the Tax Foundation has an answer in their recently released 2018 State Business Tax Climate Index report rankings all fifty states based on the burdens of each state’s corporate income tax, individual income tax, sales tax, unemployment insurance, and property tax....
This commentary was originally featured in The Hill on August 24, 2017. The discussion of raising the debt ceiling before the federal government potentially defaults on September 29 is an excellent opportunity for Congress to demand tax cuts and restraining government spending for pro-growth budget neutrality. Budget neutrality would allow increased economic activity from restraining government while allocating more...
This commentary was originally featured in the Washington Examiner on August 18, 2017. Substantially higher costs of building nuclear power plants have recently forced Scana Corp. to terminate delayed building of two reactors in South Carolina and Southern Co. to potentially end their project in Georgia. Fewer active nuclear reactors is the current trend in the U.S., from 105 in 2012...
Freeing markets is the best path to prosperity, while meddling around with an arbitrary, costly minimum wage is a quick road to poverty.