What’s the purpose of city government? Most people would probably say that cities exist to police the roads, to fill the potholes, and to put out house fires. But at least some Austin bureaucrats also believe that it’s the city’s role to also teach your kids about sex. Over the weekend, the Austin Public Library...
Earlier this month, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published a new report looking at the heavy burden of property taxes in Texas’ major urban areas. In the report, the authors compare the growth of property tax levies with population and inflation increases in the top 10 most populous cities, counties, and school districts. The facts...
Recently, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published a new report looking at property taxes in Texas’ major urban centers. In the report, the authors, Anthony Jones and James Quintero, compared property tax levy growth with population and inflation increases over a five-year period for select communities. The facts and figures are aimed at helping taxpayers...
A press release on the federal Health and Human Services (HHS) website boasts that Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace enrollment reached historic highs under the Biden administration. That is correct—14.5 million Americans signed up for government-sponsored healthcare. But such a hasty celebration—either deliberately or obliviously—overlooks the original goals that democratic lawmakers had in mind for...
United States’ decade-long homeless policy, a policy advocates continue to pursue at the peril of every American, is a colossal failure, according to a recently released white paper by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Human beings are perishing on our streets in skyrocketing numbers. Yet policymakers continue to squander those lives, and taxpayer funds, by doubling...
Turmoil in the Middle East, an invigorated Communist China, and an increasingly aggressive Russia—these are all very real concerns. But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has instead designated climate change as one of the greatest threats Americans face. Following the lead of President Joe Biden’s “Climate Day” executive order, DHS released its first ever...
Ever since the Johns Hopkins report came out the other week, I have been waiting for headlines across the country to appear saying “Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was Right.” Lockdowns had virtually no impact on COVID-19 deaths or infection rates. On March 23, 2020, Lt. Gov. Patrick told Tucker Carlson on Fox News that as a person in...
Are you interested in becoming an interior designer? There’s a license for that. Did you ever want to be an oyster salesman? There is a license for that, too. Are you thinking of pivoting into the auctioneer business? You’re going to need a license. Job ads that sound like caricatures of genuine employment opportunities for...
President Joe Biden’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as Fed Vice Chair for Supervision represents a danger to American jobs and American energy. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs should reject her nomination when it comes up for consideration next week. There are a few traditional reasons for turning Raskin...
The Senate confirmation of President Biden’s nominee to be the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chairwoman for supervision of banks, Sarah Bloom Raskin, ran into some rough waters recently. The Senate Banking Committee should reject Raskin’s nomination this month for four reasons: swampy corruption, a lack of trust, wrongheaded policies, and strategic cluelessness. If confirmed by the...
Outside of school, my childhood was filled with wonder and delight. In school, not so much. I have fond memories of camping trips, Girl Scout projects, soccer games, pretending to be fairies in the backyard, biking with my cousins, and many other ordinary experiences that come with early 2000s suburban life. But so many hours...
On February 15, 2021, Texans were shocked to wake up in the cold and dark during an unprecedented winter storm. The grid we all depend on for survival failed just when we needed it most and turned what should have been a few memorable but benign snow days into a deadly threat for hundreds of...