The video is disturbing. A young man stands over a girl, his fists clenched, stomping on her as she screams for help that never comes. A caseworker with the Department of Family and Protective Services, which has custody of the children, stands nearby watching the abuse unfold, but never intervenes. As difficult as it is...
As the nation still processes the shock and horror of the tragedy at Oxford High School, the local Michigan prosecutor has wasted little time in bringing up the matter of accountability. Four young lives have been lost, and someone must be held responsible. But who? There is no real debate the alleged shooter must pay...
Last week, we revealed that local government debt had grown to $389.7 billion in fiscal year 2021, an incredible increase of $14 billion over the previous year’s total. This week, we dig a little deeper into the data to see which types of local government are most responsible for the borrowing binge. A few things...
“Don’t think twice about it. It’s worth it”—that’s the advice Jessica Pascua has for parents considering the Early Intervention program, a federally and state-mandated program now implementing telehealth services that focuses on meeting the health needs of young children. “It has really been a life support for our family,” she says. “If you can have that...
Direct Primary Care (DPC) is one type of Direct Patient Care medical practice, usually with a monthly membership fee for all primary care needs (broad range of general medical care), including contact with the doctor by text and email, and access outside of usual office hours. I am a dermatologist, and I do Direct Pay specialty practice,...
The November’s jobs report was below expectations, showing 210,000 nonfarm jobs added last month and earnings continued rising slower than inflation. The unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 4.2%, while the labor force participation rate increased slightly to 61.8%—still well below its 63.3% level in February 2020, the last month before the pandemic. The...
Austin’s regional public transportation agency is spending money like it’s going out of style. And at least some of it appears wholly unnecessary. Earlier this week, KUT revealed CapMetro’s unofficial logo redesign, which arrives just ahead of a “$7.1 billion expansion of public transit known as Project Connect.” The agency, working in partnership with an...
In recent years, there has been a well-documented rise in “climate anxiety” among young people, a phenomenon in which younger generations fear their futures will be doomed by catastrophic climate change. According to a study in Lancet Planetary Health by Elizabeth Marks and Caroline Hickman, nearly half of the respondents reported that “their feelings about...
In response to a Public Information Act request, the Bond Review Board (BRB) recently provided TPPF analysts with new local government debt data for fiscal year 2021—and the figures are simply stunning. According to the BRB, cities, counties, school districts, and special districts owed a grand total of $389.7 billion in FY 2021, up from...
With inflation hitting a 31-year high, commentators are now routinely giving their opinions on inflation. Unfortunately, most of them—on both the left and the right—are mistaken. The left initially claimed there was no inflation before switching to its oft-repeated line that inflation is transitory, meaning not long-lasting. But inflation has proved to be quite resilient....
Would you hire an accountant who has never even read the tax code? Probably not. That accountant wouldn’t know the rules of our tax system or how it should work. And without that knowledge, he or she could jeopardize your filing and leave you in serious legal trouble. Unfortunately, that is essentially the same mistake...
Over 100,000 deaths from drug overdoses occurred in the United States between April of 2020 and April of this year. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were responsible for nearly two-thirds of those deaths. Altogether, drug overdoses have now killed twice as many people as car accidents and gun violence combined. A crisis of this magnitude demands...