Election Integrity

End of the Electoral College is in sight if Democrats keep getting their way

Pundits and politicians on the political left have been pushing to overturn the Electoral College—the way America chooses presidents—by enacting a national popular vote interstate compact. Now, with 15 reliably blue states and the District of Columbia in agreement, and action pending in an additional six states, including Florida and Texas, the national popular vote is on...

February 16, 2023

Local Government

Lone Star Housing Crunch

State preemption could ease the affordability crisis created by bad local policy. The local-government stranglehold on land-use policy in Texas is driving up the cost of housing across the state. Homes have begun to rise in price after decades of relatively low levels. A report last year found that Texas was among the six states with the least amount...

February 16, 2023

Criminal Justice

Is Crime Going Down, Or Have Democrat-Run Cities Just Given Up On Reporting It?

Competing narratives and poor information plague national discourse about public safety, making it difficult to reach a political consensus. Even while gangs increasingly mug, carjack, and gun people down on the streets of many major cities, fentanyl poisoning deaths take 100,000 American lives, and mass murder incidents happen with unsettling regularity, perceptions of crime are...

February 16, 2023

Higher Education

Texas Needs to Stand Up to Its Abusive and Politicized College Accreditor

College accreditors are quasi-private organizations that have been given enormous power over higher education. Without an accreditor’s approval, a college’s students cannot receive federal financial aid like Pell grants and federal student loans. Since few colleges can survive without access to these programs, accreditors essentially hold the fate of their colleges in their hands. One...

February 15, 2023

Health Care

A predictable—and uncaring—talking point for Medicaid expansion

Proponents of Medicaid expansion are predictable, though it’s not completely their fault. For more than a decade they’ve had to rely on a single talking point—one statistic—to make their case. Expanding eligibility for Medicaid would increase the number of Texans who have insurance. That’s it. That’s the whole argument. A million formerly uninsured Texans would...

February 14, 2023

Higher Education

Abbott Versus DEI: Not on Texas Campuses

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office just sent out a memo to Texas colleges, universities and state agencies reminding them that they must follow civil rights laws and ensure that all hiring decisions are based solely on merit. Abbott’s Chief of Staff, Gardner Pate, explains in the memo that “…the innocuous sounding notion of Diversity, Equity...

February 10, 2023

Energy & Environment

If California is our energy future, be afraid, be very afraid, America

Radical plans in California spike electricity, natural gas prices thanks to outlandish green energy goals. When Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special legislative session in December to tax California’s oil refiners out of their “excessive” profits, he was following a well-trod path of Golden State governors blaming the oil and gas industry for the...

February 10, 2023

Public Safety

By All Means, Let’s Have Some Common Sense On Pistol Braces

A newly published federal rule could soon make felons of hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Americans and violate the U.S. Constitution. The Biden administration claims adding a pistol brace to an otherwise legal pistol suddenly transforms it into an unlawful “short-barreled rifle.” A poorly argued DMN editorial claims the ATF’s pistol brace rule “is common sense.” But...

February 10, 2023

K-12 Education

It’s Time to Talk About—and Teach—Science

Last week, the Texas State Board of Education made significant improvements that allow for more objective teaching on science and the way the world is changing, including climate change. Unlike TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) standards, SBOE operating rules are revised every two years, and for instructional materials, they reinforce the selection process schools...

February 9, 2023

Higher Education

Don’t be a Luddite with ChatGPT

Historically, I’ve been a late adopter of technology. I was one of the last people I know to get a cell phone. And I continued to pay for gas inside the gas station for years after everyone else started paying at the pump with a credit card. But recognizing my own Luddite tendencies, I try to deliberately...

February 8, 2023

Energy & Environment

Democrats Keep Cranking Up The Heat On The Gas Stove Debate, But All Their Arguments Flame Out

In much of the U.S., natural gas is so inexpensive that gas ranges cost less than half as much to operate as an electric range. In the first few days of February, central Texas was hit with a severe ice storm. An inch of ice accumulated on the trees around my house. Massive oak branches,...

February 8, 2023

Local Government

It’s Time for Texas to Lead on Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

Texas experienced tremendous population growth in 2022, becoming “the only state other than California with a resident population above 30 million.” One key reason for Texas’ booming population is the state’s reputation for low taxes and limited government. People want small government and they’re willing to vote with their feet to prove it. And yet,...

February 8, 2023