Chuck DeVore is the vice president of national initiatives at the Foundation. He writes about the economy and how energy, tax and regulatory policies influence general prosperity, and he frequently appears on Fox News. He also guides the Foundation’s growing national work in criminal justice reform. He authored the book The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America.
Where once there were active cases against 43 people accused of 510 counts of election fraud, today there appear to be no more than five cases being pursued statewide. The Texas legislature has several bills on its docket that would increase penalties for voter fraud and give the state more tools to enforce election laws. But as...
The U.S. is said, by the Biden administration Treasury Department, to be three weeks from an historic default on federal bond payments. This is due to the federal government spending $1.4 trillion more than it’s taking in this year in taxes, thus exceeding the statutory debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion. But Democratic President Joe Biden doesn’t...
Russian media reported last August that 3.4 million Ukrainians, of whom 555,000 were children, were in Russia as a result of the war. In Russia’s two-stage invasion of Ukraine — the first in 2014 in the Donbas regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and the Crimean Peninsula, and then in 2022 to today throughout the eastern...
The recent Discord leak reveals just how significantly overclassified government documents and intelligence have become. As a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer, I was struck by three things about the recent Discord leaks of classified information. First, that top secret information is far more widely distributed than it was 25 years ago, and second, that...
The electrical pricing scheme may work as income redistribution social policy, but it fails the test of reducing energy consumption. What’s behind California’s shift to paying for electricity based on income? In a few words, it’s the consequence of California’s futile fight against climate change. California’s quixotic pursuit to save the planet by reducing greenhouse...
In the fight for freedom, the Texas Public Policy Foundation develops workable ideas for elected officials to consider in their roles as representatives of the people.
Subsidies for wind and solar have long distorted Texas’s electricity market, threatening higher prices and greater likelihood of blackouts and ‘demand reduction’ events. The April 2 piece, “Texas Targets the Free Market,” by California Policy Center president Will Swaim, misses the mark. Mr. Swaim’s instincts are right; markets are generally superior to government fiat. But in making...
OPEC+ made a surprise announcement Sunday night, April 2, to cut oil production by more than 1.1 million barrels per day – about 1% of global production. Crude oil prices immediately shot up, presaging pain at the pump for Americans already struggling with inflation. The move by 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries...
In Austin, Texas, in a 24-hour period in March less than a mile apart, a woman was punched several times and sexually assaulted, suffering a split lower jaw and bruises over her body; then a building was burned down, damaging adjacent buildings, causing about $1.5 million in damage. The common thread: Homeless men living on the street...
The experts could hide behind international law as they advocate economy-crushing lockdowns and forced vaccinations. Elon Musk tweeted that “Countries should not cede authority to WHO,” and conservatives have joined him in sounding the alarm about proposed legal changes to the World Health Organization and its International Health Regulations (IHR). The basic question is whether America should...
When we follow it, our Constitution is well suited to achieve its Preamble’s enumerated ends, namely to: “…form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” That more people question the Constitution’s viability today...
Our nation’s monuments reflect the people who made it their home, the struggles they endured, and the values that made it possible. Every civilization erects monuments to the things its members wish to celebrate. It does us well to occasionally stop and reflect on the nature of these monuments and what they depict; they can...