Demographics is political destiny. Or, at least that’s what they want you to believe. The fact is that in politics, just as in events that are eventually chronicled as a nation’s history, nothing is certain; individuals have a role to play as do other, larger factors, such as the economy and international affairs. One reason...
A new cottage industry has sprung up among political punditry. In dozens of articles, analysis pieces and opinion columns, the new conventional wisdom is that urbanization, an influx of blue staters attracted to jobs and a low cost of living, along with international immigration are combining to inexorably turn Texas blue. The blue Texas theme...
Job growth in the 27 states with low state and local taxes continues to double the pace of employment gains compared to their high-tax peers. From December 2017, the month President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law, through August 2019, the 27 states with the lowest taxes on individuals generated 3.77%...
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its Consumer Price Index update for August, showing prices rose 0.1% in August with prices up 1.7% from a year earlier before seasonal adjustment. This was a slowing of the pace of inflation from July when prices climbed 0.3%. Of note, given the highly publicized fears that U.S. tariffs on...
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), California had about 130,000 people without a home in 2018. Oddly, Gavin Newsom, California’s governor and former San Francisco Mayor, laid the homeless problem squarely at the feet of… Texas. PolitiFact rated Gov. Newsom’s claim as “Pants on Fire” and “ridiculous.” So, what is the nature of...
The U.S. Census Bureau issued its annual reports on poverty in America on Sept. 10. Once again, California had the nation’s highest poverty rate, 18.2% over the last three years surveyed, using a measure of poverty that accounts for regional cost differences and a larger array of government welfare and expenses. California’s Supplemental Poverty rate was proportionately...
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Georgetown, Texas – population 75,000 – was to be the new poster child of the green movement. Environmental interest in Georgetown’s big push to generate all of its electricity from wind and solar power was amplified by three factors: the town and its mayor were nominally Republican; Georgetown is...
The four strongest large metropolitan areas for job seekers, with nonfarm employment up by at least 3% in the 12 months ending in July are Orlando, Florida; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Seattle, Washington, and; Houston, Texas. The top four large metropolitan areas with more than a million nonfarm workers are in states without an individual income...
According to newly published survey information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Americans born in the years 1957 to 1964 held an average of 12.3 jobs from age 18 to their 52. Lest you think that the latter part of the Baby Boom generation is composed of a bunch of job hoppers, BLS says that...
According to California Governor (and former San Francisco Mayor) Gavin Newsom, the “vast majority” of San Francisco’s homeless people “also come in from… Texas.” To him, that’s “just an interesting fact;” to PolitiFact, it’s “Pants on Fire” inaccurate. PolitiFact goes as far as calling it “ridiculous.” The tiniest factual nugget for Newsom’s fib was contained in data...
The federal government just released its latest state-level jobs report, showing private-sector job growth remains concentrated in low-tax states. That has remained true since the 2017 tax cut limited the deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT) to $10,000 per filing household. The 27 states, led by Texas, with average SALT deductions under $10,000 saw private-sector...
Where you live has a huge effect on how much purchasing power your dollar has—and how far your paycheck truly goes. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco was $4,690 in April. In Dallas, a similarly sized place would set a renter back $1,433 a month, less than one-third the cost in the City by the...