Local Government

Austin ISD’s Budget Narrative Contradicted by Administrative Excess

By its own account, “Austin ISD is navigating a difficult budget season,” with district officials recently approving a 2026-27 budget containing “nearly $186 million in spending reductions.” What led to this unfortunate occasion was almost entirely out of the district’s control, according to the sitting superintendent.   Last month, he publicly stated:  “Over the past seven years, Austin ISD has...

July 15, 2026
Election Integrity

Democrats’ Maine mess puts insiders back in charge

The Graham Platner debacle raises a larger election-integrity question: Do voters still decide, or do parties reclaim power when elections get messy? “Inclusive.” “Representative.” “Transparent.” That is how Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman describes the process for selecting a new Democratic nominee following Graham Platner’s withdrawal from the race. Those are worthy goals. However,...

July 14, 2026
Foreign Policy

Ukraine’s drone revolution shows Russia is dangerously unprepared. But, so is America

Kyiv has slashed Russian fuel processing capacity by a third, matching two years of Allied strategic bombing in weeks. Russian missiles and Iranian-supplied drones continue to slam into Ukrainian hospitals and apartment blocks with regularity. These are not precision strikes aimed at military targets; they are clumsy, often wildly inaccurate terror attacks designed to break the will...

July 10, 2026