Pilot basic income programs in the forms of UBI (Universal Basic Income) and guaranteed income are popping up all around the country, including Texas. It is generally assumed that these programs are used as tests to determine whether governments should implement permanent UBI programs. Advocates for UBI often use pilot programs to back their claim...
A controversial new video is making the rounds online, arousing anger from many Texas taxpayers who can’t seem to keep up with the cost of government. In the nearly 20-minute long clip, the now-suspended city manager for Bozeman, Montana discusses “a potential job opportunity in Austin” as its next city manager. But he apparently didn’t...
No matter what the corporate media says, it’s a fact that many Americans are hanging on by a thread today. And it’s no wonder why. Under the Biden administration, the cost of gas, groceries, and rent has soared. Mass layoffs have become increasingly common. And high rates of inflation continue to erode savings, disposable income,...
The city of Austin once again made national news for all the wrong reasons. On Monday, Fox News reported that the city’s Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) “invited employees to racially segregated ‘anti-racist’ meetings where ‘white folks’ were asked not to attend a meeting that was only for ‘people of color.’” Soon after Austin’s race-based...
The environmental activists are at it again. On Monday, a group of anti-growth activists, known as Rethink I-35, filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the Texas Department of Transportation’s “planned expansion of Interstate 35 through central Austin,” which is intended to help alleviate massive traffic congestion. According to the Texas A&M’s Transportation Institute (TTI), “the...
During last year’s parental empowerment debate, many Texas ISDs got politically active and used government resources to rally the public against legislative proposals, going so far as to say: “We must let our legislators know that we stand behind them and expect them to vote NO on vouchers.” “…fund public schools fully before diverting dollars...
Earlier this month, Harris County—the most populous county in Texas—launched a guaranteed income pilot program, known as Uplift Harris. The purported purpose of the program is to: “provide no-strings-attached $500 monthly cash payments to 1,928 Harris County residents for 18 months in hopes of providing a financial cushion that can help close the wealth gap.”...
A new Axios-Harris poll bolsters the idea that Washingto,n D.C. policymakers and Bidenomics have utterly failed most Americans. Some topline findings: “Republicans, rural residents, renters, women and singles disproportionately feel like they’re in a big fat funk financially…” “Six in 10 surveyed say they’re now ‘triggered’ by trips to the grocery store.” “Grocery purchases are...
On Tuesday, former State Senator John Whitmire was sworn-in as the Bayou City’s next mayor and he made it clear that public safety will be front-and-center. He said: “My number one priority and the priority of Houstonians is public safety. If we do not address public safety, the other quality of life issues will not...
Famed free-market economist Thomas Sowell once remarked that “Although the big word on the left is ‘compassion,’ the big agenda on the left is dependency.” Sowell’s insight is not only correct, but it’s also a fitting lens through which to view Harris County’s new guaranteed income pilot program, Uplift Harris. To start, Uplift Harris is...
The city of Austin finally did something right. On Thursday, Dec. 7, a supermajority on the Austin city council approved the first phase of the Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment (HOME) initiative, which seeks to “allow up to three units on one single-family lot and would remove restrictions on how many nonrelated adults can live...
The most progressive city in the most progressive state in the nation is a feces-filled, crime-riddled ghost town that resembles something like “a failed state,” according to California expat Joe Rogan. All of which is to say, San Francisco is an utter disaster. Curious minds might look at the city’s ruinous condition and wonder its...