From 2012 to 2020, mail-in ballot use in Texas grew from 204,000 to about 1 million, a quintupling of mailed votes. This suggests Texas is moving from an excuse-required to vote by mail state to a de facto vote-by-mail state, all without a change in the state’s election code. Why does this matter? Because voting...
The government response to COVID-19 has mostly been a failure. Theatric, yes—see New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Emmy. Symbolic, yes. But there is no evidence shutdowns did anything but deepen the economic suffering, increase suicides, and prevent lifesaving medical tests and treatments. With the exception of former President Trump’s effort to speed research, approval, and...
See the second page of ERCOT’s latest reliability assessment. Under the top table describing the reserve margins, they have a table labelled “Range of Potential Risks.” Something between the 4th and 5th columns is what happened this week. Add 2,000 MW of demand above ERCOT’s adjustment here (they assumed a record of 67,200 MW) and 10,000...
Editor’s note: TPPF’s Chuck DeVore breaks down for us exactly what went wrong with the Texas power grid—and why so many of us have been without power in this week’s epic winter storm. There were two problems, one short term and one long term—which exacerbated the short-term one. The short-term failure came at about 1...
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....
Are the ranks of the U.S. military riddled with white supremacists? CNN thinks so, and won’t let the facts get in the way of this compelling narrative. CNN makes its case in a story headlined, “Disproportionate number of current and former military personnel arrested in Capitol attack, CNN analysis shows.” This is both factually untrue...
President Joe Biden faces a 50-50 Senate and a narrowly divided House. Some observers assert that with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding the gavel and Vice President Kamala Harris able to preside as president of the Senate and vote to break ties, the Democrats control Congress. Looking at mathematic “control” of Congress betrays a simplistic...
A Los Angeles Times article entitled “Make America California Again? That’s Biden’s plan” asserts that the Biden-Harris administration is looking to California as its “de facto policy think tank” and an “incubator of innovation, premier laboratory of democracy (and) land of big ideas.” This is a very bad plan. How bad does it have to be in California,...
The presidential election was close. Only 84 Electoral College votes separated the contenders. Widespread allegations of ballot fraud were claimed by national party chairmen in 11 states, with court challenges lasting into the middle of the year following the election. Changing the results in just two states would flip the election. The fraud allegations were...
On New Year’s Day 2021 the 105th Annual Rose Bowl was supposed to be played in Pasadena, California. Instead, it will be played 270 miles north of Pasadena—Pasadena, Texas that is, in the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. California’s on a losing streak and the eventual loser might well be the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom. Just in the past...
President-elect Joe Biden is already backpedaling on a dangerous campaign promise that pleased advocates of open borders, but would create a humanitarian and national security crisis on our border with Mexico. While he pledged during the election campaign to roll back President Trump’s policies that have reduced illegal immigration on his first day in office on Jan. 20, Biden...
If the outbound migration from Silicon Valley to Texas continues at its current clip, we may soon see a sign on southbound Highway 101 “Will the Last One in Silicon Valley, Please Turn Out the Lights?” (although California’s frequent blackouts might render the sign redundant). Just 11 days after Hewlett Packard Enterprise, part of the firm that created Silicon...