You’d think ERCOT would have learned its lesson. I warned last year that summer blackouts were coming to Texas; it is likely we would have had outages in August 2020 if not for lower electricity demand caused by the COVID-19 economic shutdowns. The winter outages that killed 111 Texans — and the close call on...
There is an astounding amount of disinformation surrounding Texas Legislature’s election integrity bills. Among the many mischaracterizations, two stand out: claims of racism buttressed by fabricated history, and the objections to letting poll watchers do their jobs. Let’s start with that fabricated history. Texas House Bill 6 wisely quoted the Texas Constitution for the Legislature’s...
By Vance Ginn, Ph.D. and Quinn Townsend Families in Alaska, whether in good or bad economic times, practice responsible, priority-based budgeting. They must make decisions, often difficult ones, on how best to spend their hard-earned dollars. The same is true for small business owners who must prioritize their spending to keep their doors open, meet...
The substantially weaker than expected U.S. jobs report was unfortunate for struggling Americans, but it should have been expected given the disastrous policy out of D.C. Fortunately, states can fix it. Milton Friedman said that if the federal government oversaw the Sahara Desert, within five years there would be a shortage of sand. So inefficient...
Oklahoma’s felony statutes have changed significantly in recent years, but many people are still dealing with the negative effects of those laws. Last month, we read about Caron McBride, of Texas, who discovered during a routine trip to adjust the name on her driver’s license that there was an outstanding felony warrant for her from Cleveland County...
I spent many years in the classroom, with a roomful of students looking to me for knowledge, instruction and guidance. I can’t imagine looking back into their eyes and telling them that they’re irredeemably bad, that their nation is built on a lie, and that some of them are worth more than others—depending on the...
In 2019, the Texas Legislature made a huge change when it passed HB 347, a bill eliminating forced annexation in Texas. While this was a big win for Texans, there remains more work to do. We must now turn our attention to extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs). ETJs are the buffer zone surrounding a city’s corporate boundaries...
A recent Wall Street Journal article claimed “U.S. Debt Is at a Record High, but the Risk Calculus Is Changing.” But is that calculus really changing? According to some, the government can borrow and print all the money it wants without repercussions. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) advances the puerile notion that we have somehow moved...
The U.S. Census Bureau released its once-in-a-decade national census on April 26. Most of the discussion about the census has focused on states losing or gaining seats in the U.S. House, a process known as reapportionment. For the 2022 midterms, seven states will be down one member of the House: California, Illinois, Michigan, New York,...
The death of George Floyd has prompted protests, riots, destruction, and a slew of bills aimed at “reforming” the police. Very little good has come from any of it, with murder and violent crime rates skyrocketing in major cities across America. Using this singular incident as the rallying cry for the passage of all sorts...
As members of the Legislature, we are committed to ensuring that every child in Texas can grow up in a safe, healthy, and loving home. We have grown increasingly concerned in recent years over the number of unnecessary removals of children by Child Protective Services and the excessive length of time children spend warehoused in...
Across the country over the past several years, racial antagonism has metastasized. In cities such as Portland and Seattle, normal life for everyday Americans has become a thing of the past, replaced by lawlessness, violence, and destruction of private property and small businesses. How can we prevent Texas cities from becoming Portland and Seattle? HB...