K-12 Education

Texas lawmakers passed laws to protect children, now we must implement them effectively.

Introduction: This spring, Rep. Patterson and Sen. Paxton authored and passed HB 900, the READER Act, which Gov. Abbott signed into law in June alongside HB 1605, another law that refocuses schools on core instruction while empowering parents. As detailed below, the READER Act empowers parents with transparency into library materials while removing explicit content...

December 11, 2023

Immigration

Open-Border Policies, Illegal Immigration, and the Dangerous Erosion of the American Dream

“Our government [is] just leaving us behind. American dream is gone. It’s not here no more. … That’s just a dream. That’s all that’s left. Just the dreams,” Jaroslav ‘Jerry’ Schuster told NPR. Schuster is an immigrant from Yugoslavia. His American Dream, NPR reports, was the ranch he bought 40 years ago in southern California. On...

December 11, 2023

Higher Education

3 Elite College Presidents Shocked America

During the legislative battle last spring to end the racially divisive and cynically named “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) programs in Texas academic institutions, faculty members called the effort racist and extremist. Hundreds of University of Texas at Austin students and professors flooded into the Capitol building to smirk and boo former HUD Secretary, Dr....

December 11, 2023

Election Integrity

Wisconsin’s Vote-By-Mail Reform Bill Tackles A Problem That’s Here To Stay

The bill aims to reduce the backlog of uncounted ballots, potentially speeding up the final count and enhancing transparency. The gold standard in voting is to vote in person on Election Day while showing a government-issued photo ID to prove eligibility. That said, eight states conduct elections entirely through the mail — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon,...

December 11, 2023

Economy

A funny thing happened when Kamala Harris visited Texas

The vice president came to Houston last week to tout the Biden administration’s record to Latinos. She had nothing to say about the border crisis or the economy. Voters noticed. Trumpeting the Biden administration’s record to Latinos in Houston last week, Vice President Kamala Harris ignored the two biggest issues Hispanics — and everyone else...

December 6, 2023

Energy & Environment

Bundle Up For Coal-Killer John Kerry’s Cold, Dark Winter

When your lights flicker and your heat fails this winter, remember to thank a climate czar. President Joe Biden’s climate czar, Obama’s former Secretary of State John Kerry, flew his jet into Dubai for the U.N.’s Climate Change Conference to demand that no coal-fired power plants be built anywhere in the world. In the meantime, China,...

December 6, 2023

Higher Education

Biden Administration Planned to Facilitate Fraud as Part of Loan Forgiveness Plan

It is no secret that the Biden administration wants to forgive student loans. One—of at least eight—of its forgiveness proposals has been definitively buried, which would have forgiven up to $20,000 per borrower, or $10,000 if not a Pell Grant recipient. There were many reasons why this plan was terribly designed, and it was ultimately ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. But...

December 6, 2023

Energy & Environment

Oil & Gas Industry Needs STEM Students: Texas Education Regulator Does Right by Texas Textbooks

Texas made headlines this weekend after the State Board of Education (SBOE) rejected efforts to villainize oil and gas in textbooks used by our public schools. In the Lone Star State, education and fossil fuels have a symbiotic relationship. Nearly all—99%—of the state’s oil and gas royalties are deposited in the Permanent School Fund and...

December 5, 2023

Family

As the last vanguards of the Greatest Generation pass, 7 things to know when caring for a parent

Not everyone can care for a loved one at home, but we were able to provide my father-in-law with a sense of love and security. My father-in-law passed away last month, days away from his 99th birthday. He lived with us for 13 years. He was a great man, a World War II veteran who loved his...

December 4, 2023

Local Government

Texas Local Debt Skyrockets to $461.3 Billion

New data from the Bond Review Board suggests that Texas’ local debt soared to a total of $461.3 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2023, up from $417 billion in the prior year. That one-year jump represents a $44 billion increase or roughly 11% growth. The most deeply indebted governmental entities were public school districts. In...

December 1, 2023

Local Government

Wokeness, Not Work Models, to Blame for Downtown Exodus

A recent write-up from the Texas Tribune highlights an interesting phenomenon taking root in many major downtown Texas cities: that is, a “glut of empty office space.” As the article explains further: The Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas have office vacancy rates that range from 21% to 25%, vacancies that could complicate the post-pandemic...

December 1, 2023

Election Integrity

Radical transparency: The election revolution no one is talking about

Bucks County, Pennsylvania, previously fraught with concerns over its elections, just proved it is responding to the pleas of voters nationwide to further secure its ballot procedures. Since the 2020 election, the county has received complaints about late election returns, meaningful poll-watcher observation, processing absentee ballot envelopes and provisional ballots, ballot shortages, issues with e-poll...

November 30, 2023