Foreign Policy

AMLO talks tough on crime—except when referring to narcos

Mexico’s president is pressuring the high court to declare automatic pre-trial detention constitutional, arguing public safety depends on it. Critics say the practice covers for sloppy investigations. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his functionaries have been jawboning the supreme court to uphold the practice of automatic pre-trial detention for a long list of crimes—resorting...

September 7, 2022

Local Government

Gov. Abbott Proposes the Largest Property Tax Cut Ever in Texas

On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pressed for property tax relief, telling a big crowd in Fairview that he wants to take half of the projected $27 billion state surplus and use it to reduce property taxes. If this happens, it’d make for the largest property tax cut in Texas history. The news is sure...

September 2, 2022

Local Government

It’s the Wrong Time for Tax Hikes

Former President Barack Obama once proclaimed that: “The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of the recession because that would just suck up and take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole.” Like a broken clock, he got that one right. Raising taxes...

September 2, 2022

Immigration

Biden Administration’s Shameful Treatment of Border Patrol Agents Will Make Us Less Safe

The president and vice president made up their minds as soon as they saw the photos of mounted Border Patrol agents riding behind fleeing Haitian illegal immigrants. With reins flying in the riders’ wake, there were immediate claims that Haitians had been “whipped.” “It’s horrible what you saw,” President Joe Biden said. “To see people...

September 2, 2022

Health Care

A Stethoscope for Spending: Transparency for PBMs

At its invention, the stethoscope was revolutionary—the first non-lethal way of exploring a patient’s internal anatomy. It opened a new world to physicians. That’s the goal of the bipartisan Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act—a measure that is completely non-invasive, but that opens up a world of information about how our health care system delivers prescription drugs and...

September 2, 2022

K-12 Education

Texas State Board of Education Should Give TEKS Draft a Failing Grade

UPDATE: From TheTexan.News: “State Board of Education Votes to Scrap Proposed Social Studies Standards Drafts Amid Allegations of CRT.” When we see statistics showing that almost half of younger Americans prefer socialism to capitalism, you have to wonder how they became so delusional and unaware of the opportunities and quality of life that the free enterprise system has brought to so many...

August 30, 2022

Election Integrity

FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago: 5 things the redacted affidavit reveals

As a former U.S. Attorney with a criminal justice career that spans decades, I find it remarkable that some in the legal profession are already willing to close the case on the FBI warrant to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home based on the heavily redacted affidavit. The unredacted portions of the affidavit attempt...

August 30, 2022

Family

Texas Foster Kids Deserve Better

I want to address an issue in our Texas foster care system. But it’s not completely about foster care. It’s about an agency that ignores the wishes of the Legislature and the governor (elected by Texans) to do its own thing—and gets caught doing it. This is unacceptable in Texas. This is why our interim...

August 29, 2022

Criminal Justice

The FBI’s Trump Raid Should Concern Every American, Including His Detractors

The long-awaited release of the “affidavit” of probable cause in support of the Trump raid is finally here. Oh, there are plenty of redactions; more than 20 out of 38 pages are full or partial redactions. Even the list of reasons for the redactions is completely redacted except for a couple of “Agent Safety” references....

August 29, 2022

Economy

Supply Side Economics is the Cure for the Current Inflation

“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” This statement by Milton Friedman is true today as it was when he first made it in 1963. It’s that simple. If the quantity of money grows faster than the quantity of goods and services the economy can produce, we will experience inflation. While the U.S. money...

August 26, 2022

Higher Education

The Left Forgets History, So We May Be Doomed to Repeat It

“History may not repeat itself, but it sure as hell rhymes.” I often think about this statement, which was my high school history teacher’s personal paraphrase of Mark Twain’s famous quote, when reading the news. Today’s news story that brought that quote to mind is, of course, the information of Biden’s recent announcement of limited...

August 25, 2022

Higher Education

Five Problems with Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan (And What To Do About Them)

The Biden administration just announced its long-anticipated student loan forgiveness plan. The plan would forgive $10,000 for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year ($250,000 if married) and $20,000 for Pell grant recipients. On the bright side, the Biden plan could have been worse, such as wiping out all debt with no income restrictions. But...

August 25, 2022