It has never been more important for conservatives to hold the line on protecting our communities. In the midst of civil unrest, homicide rates spiking nationwide and unprecedented rates of drug use, the time is now to get our criminal justice system right. That’s what Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is doing, as he emerges as...
Between the pandemic, divisive politics, and a media culture obsessed with rare but headline-grabbing shootings, it’s been a heavy year and a half for many Americans. This Earth Day, environmentalists will only perpetuate the doom-and-gloom zeitgeist by fixating on minuscule, insignificant changes in air pollution and overblown fears of apocalyptic climate change. But we can...
The face of voter fraud in Texas is not Crystal Mason who voted provisionally, but illegally. She had not completed her terms of supervised release stemming from a 2011 federal tax fraud conviction. She is the exception who made a mistake, though it is still considered “harvesting” under the current definition. The real problem we...
To lead off its editorial railing against Senate Bill 7 and efforts to reform—or at least regularize—the rules for voting in Texas, the Houston Chronicle evokes the White Man’s Primary Association of Dimmit County. But like the editorial itself, there’s far less here than meets the eye. It’s true that in tiny Dimmit County in...
I have rarely agreed with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) on anything—especially tax policy. Yet here we are, opposing unlimited SALT deductions together. State And Local Tax deductions are paid for by you and me, yet they go to the wealthiest people in the country. SALT deductions work like this: If choosing itemized deductions on...
Federal prosecutors filed charges against the recently terminated CEO of one of New York’s largest homeless shelter networks. They allege he pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from contractors hired by the nonprofit organization he led for two decades. These charges were in addition to the sexual abuse and financial impropriety charges that...
I don’t know how widespread voter fraud was in the last two presidential elections. But I do know that vulnerabilities exist in our election system that allow both sides to sow legitimate doubts about the results. For the sake of our democracy, this needs to stop. Thankfully, the vast majority of Texans agree. The key...
In Texas, we dream big. That’s what House Bill 59 does—it imagines a Texas that lightens the tax burden on Texans, upholds property rights and ensures that education is properly funded. Authored by Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, the bill would eliminate the school maintenance and operations portion of your property tax bill on Jan. 1,...
An important slate of health care reform bills has passed in the Texas House. It’s now up to the Senate to move the legislation forward, and if these bills are signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, the result will be a healthier, more prosperous Texas. The bills, bundled together as the “Healthy Families, Healthy...
Growing up in one of the most politically active communities in Houston, I was taught from an early age that voting was our most important civic duty. My father would always say “If you don’t vote, you don’t count.” In those days, people had a great deal of confidence in one another and our electoral...
As a first-generation American kid, the saying, “you only really appreciate something when it’s gone” was repeated to me ad nauseum and drilled into my brain by my parents, who were forced to flee their homeland of Cuba in 1960. I heard it at family gatherings as well, and when visitors came over. Hearing it...
If the February blackouts weren’t a wakeup call to the Texas Legislature, this week’s electricity conservation alerts — unheard of in mild April weather with demand nowhere close to peak levels — should make them bolt upright. It’s clear we desperately need market reform that prioritizes reliability, not just capacity. Unfortunately, “Texas-style blackouts” is already...