Once again, California has the highest poverty rate in the nation, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. A little more than 1 in 5 Californians—20.4 percent—live in poverty. The national average is 14.7 percent according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure which accounts for regional cost-of-living differences, out-of-pocket medical expenses and other items, unlike...
Liberal California and conservative Texas are different in many ways – including their poverty rates. California’s poverty rate is 20.4 percent and the Texas rate is only 14.7 percent, based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for the regional cost of living, out-of-pocket medical expenses and other items. Why the dramatic difference in poverty...
This commentary was originally featured in Forbes on August 24, 2017. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, rolled out in 2009 and updated in 2013, addresses the weaknesses of the Official Poverty Measure. Moreover, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) shows many interesting statistical connections to economic and public policy variables, unlike the Official Poverty...
This commentary was originally featured in Forbes on August 22, 2017. By the official definition of poverty in America, New Mexico has the nation’s highest poverty rate, 21.8 percent, while New Hampshire has the lowest, 6.6 percent. But a newer, more comprehensive measure of poverty by the U.S. Census Bureau tells a different story, with California having the highest poverty...
This commentary was originally featured in Forbes on August 8, 2017. States With the Highest Rate of Opioid Overdose Deaths in 2014 Earlier this year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report that suggested a significant number of opioid related deaths were incorrectly attributed to pneumonia and other infectious diseases...
Had Ms. Hubler looked beyond the ubiquitous Lone Stars, she would have seen something else: liberty – the kind that doesn’t require other people’s money.
This commentary originally appeared in Forbes on June 31, 2017. The public school district in Austin, Texas has seen declining student enrollments for years. Austin, America’s 11th-largest city is also one of the nation’s fastest growing, adding some 25,000 residents annually. Losing students in this environment is remarkable. Officials at the Austin Independent School District...
Austin ISD would be well-advised to drop its public-relations program and instead redouble its efforts to improve its educational offering to students.
This commentary originally appeared in The Federalist on April 28, 2017. The age of cell phone video ubiquity treats us with daily outrages over people in authority behaving badly towards the powerless. Unreasoned passion leads to a thirst for justice, or at least the appearance of justice. In 1991, there were no cell-phone cameras and...
Organizations with authority over others are vulnerable to any suggestion that they are abusing their power. Further, while corporations must correct bad behavior or risk going out of business, government often just continues with business as usual.
To continue to attract entrepreneurs and workers from all across America, Texas policymakers need to build on the Lone Star State’s competitive advantages in taxation—the Tax Foundation puts Texas’ state and local tax burden as the 46th-lowest in the nation—and light and predictable regulation.
For the fourth time in a row California’s cap-and-trade auction for greenhouse gas emissions fell flat, raising only $8.2 million out of a hoped for $600 million, leaving revenues $1.9 billion short over the past 12 months.