Energy & Environment

How Refusing To Wisely Manage California’s Resources Led To Incessant Blackouts

Journalist H. L. Mencken described the unintended consequences of governance like this: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” In energy and environmental policy, California’s gotten it “good and hard” in recent years. Record wildfires. Rolling blackouts. Politicians like Democrat Gov. Gavin...

September 7, 2020

Energy & Environment

The Biden-Harris energy plan would inflict California-style blackouts, sky-high costs on our entire nation

California just saw electrical blackouts due to a lack of power, rather than due to wildfires, for the first time since 2001. The left’s systemic environmentalism that emphasizes green bling over the basics, like reliability and power lines, is to blame. California’s woes would have been far worse were it not for gas and coal-powered generation in other...

September 5, 2020

Economy

California Is Not A Tech State, It’s A Big Labor State, And The Two Are At War

We needed some groceries. Caring for my 95-year-old father-in-law at home, complicated by COVID-19 concerns, led us to do what we have increasingly done over the past few months: we ordered online for at-home delivery. At the appointed time, Billy, the driver, showed up with the groceries, driving his own car. From a respectful distance,...

August 28, 2020

Economy

Biden Majors in the Minors. Trump Focuses on Existential Threats

So far, 2020 isn’t turning out to be a defense and foreign policy election, with voters viewing overseas commitments and threats as merely the sixth-most-important issue, according to a Pew Research poll completed in August. Foreign policy ranks behind the economy, health care, Supreme Court appointments, the coronavirus, and violent crime and just ahead of gun policy...

August 28, 2020

Criminal Justice

On Defunding The Police, Austin Asks, “Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who’s The Wokest Of Them All?”

In America’s season of unrest, calls for police reform have too often been met with sloganeering rather than considered debate illuminated by fact and data. Unfortunately, one major city in Texas isn’t immune to this phenomenon: Austin. Of Texas’ six most-populous cities, five plan to increase their law enforcement budgets: Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth,...

August 14, 2020

Energy & Environment

Trump energy policy key to reviving economy — Biden plan would destroy jobs, raise energy costs

One of President Trump’s most important accomplishments in office has been the energy revolution that has led to sharply increased oil and natural gas production and job creation in the U.S. But our days of energy insecurity and dependence on other nations in unstable areas of the world to meet our energy needs will return...

August 2, 2020

Recovery Agenda

On COVID testing, Texas must improve reporting

As of Friday, Texas reported more than 3.2 million tests for the active COVID-19 virus had been completed. These tests are vital on several levels: for individuals, for those treating the sick, for first responders, for the health care system and for policymakers. But this unprecedented testing effort hasn’t been quickly reported and analyzed, leaving our state...

July 27, 2020

Economy

Joe Rogan leaving Los Angeles for ‘freedom’ in Texas signals coming exodus from liberal cities

The Hollywood scene used to be filled with Joe Rogans — free spirits who spoke their minds. Sure, liberals dominated the world of entertainment, but non-liberals, at least those who had already made it or who possessed a certain level of moral courage, could, and did, speak out. The era of free speech has come to a close in...

July 27, 2020

Economy

Where Have State And Local Government Taxes And Fees Increased The Most Over The Decade?

Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau publishes estimates on state and local revenue and spending. The most recent estimate is for 2017. The top five states in per capita state and local revenue collection, including federal transfer payments to state and local government (mostly Medicaid) are New York, Alaska, Wyoming, California, and Hawaii. In the case...

July 24, 2020

Economy

Here’s Why ‘Demography Is Destiny’ Fell Apart For Democrats After Obama

Universal theories can have a certain tidy attraction. In science, they can result in revolutionary breakthroughs — Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity comes to mind. In the messy realm of human affairs, however, universal theories have a tendency to fall apart. Ruy Teixeira, of the leftist Center for American Progress, provides a textbook example of...

July 23, 2020

Criminal Justice

Why Is Hillary Clinton Support In 2016 Correlated With Cities’ 2020 Riots?

In a soon-to-be-released book, Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says when President Obama called him during the 2015 riots in Baltimore, he expected the president to offer federal assistance. Instead, Obama urged Hogan to back off. Hogan ignored Obama’s advice about the violence following the death of Freddie Gray, and worked to restore order to the...

July 16, 2020

Economy

COVID-19 Is Spreading In Texas. Is It Time to Panic? No

Texas is in the news, and not in a good way, over an increase in COVID-19 cases over the past four weeks. There’s quite a bit of speculation over why the virus, which largely bypassed the Lone Star State until the end of May, suddenly seemed to become more pernicious. Some point to a lack...

June 26, 2020