Higher Education

Administration’s First Budget Looks to Inject Market Discipline Into Student Loan Program

This commentary originally appeared in Forbes on May 30, 2017. President Trump’s first budget has been submitted to Congress. It would enact a number of changes in higher education policy: eliminating the taxpayer subsidy for low-income students’ loan interest payments while enrolled in school; raising the limit on borrowers’ payments under the Income-Driven Repayment program...

May 30, 2017

Health Care

Healthcare is not a federal responsibility — leave it to the states

Instead of mandating ObamaCare, RyanCare, TrumpCare, or some other Washington-centric approach, let’s have StatesCare. Release the states to choose whatever healthcare structure each wants.

May 29, 2017

Health Care

A Consensus To Repeal Obamacare’s Medicare Bureaucracy

Republicans and Democrats; right and left; conservative, progressive and everybody in between all oppose IPAB and for good reasons. It reduces care for seniors. IPAB raises costs and grants total control of healthcare to the federal government. IPAB replaces your doctor with a federal bureaucrat who decides your care.

May 29, 2017

Taxes & Spending

President Trump Should Encourage Growth By Cutting Government

To reduce the federal tax and regulatory burdens that hinder economic growth this time around, Congress should pursue a "budget neutral" approach of cutting both taxes and government spending

May 26, 2017

K-12 Education

DeVos articulates a slimmer, more effective role for the feds in education

If the administration follows the precepts of Secretary DeVos’ address—and can find a sufficient number of allies in Congress who put children ahead of the system—the Department of Education may finally have found its proper role.

May 25, 2017

Taxes & Spending

What Do Texans Want Most from the Legislature?

In poll after poll, voters across the Lone Star State all place a premium on finding a fix to Texas’ broken property tax system. Take the latest poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune for example. In February, the two organizations surveyed 1,200 registered voters statewide and asked the following: Which of...

May 24, 2017

Health Care

More coverage doesn’t necessarily translate into better patient care

Between Medicaid, Medicare, and other public programs, the federal government is by far the largest single U.S. insurer, covering 120 million Americans. The federal government has given them the expectation of care when and where they need it. But coverage does not lead to that happy result. In fact, as coverage has increased, care has gone down—the seesaw effect.  

May 23, 2017

Higher Education

Nicki Minaj’s Generosity Exposes Huge Scandal Of College Grading Standards

This commentary originally appeared on Forbes on May 19, 2017. Nicki Minaj just became a higher-education philanthropist. But her well-intentioned generosity could ensnarl her in significant debt of her own. Here’s how it happened. As reported by Avalon Zoppo on NBCNews.com, Grammy nominee Minaj announced on social media that she would pay the college tuition...

May 19, 2017

Criminal Justice

A better bail system for Texas

It’s long past time to breathe some innovation into a stale practice that isn’t adapting to modern realities. Furthermore, it’s better to fix these problems voluntarily than receive a judicial mandate. We can achieve better outcomes — for the public and defendants alike — and pre-trial risk assessments can help get us there.

May 19, 2017

Economy

HB 3287: More Trouble Is Brewing the Texas Beer Market

Certain breweries can currently sell their products to ultimate consumers on their premises––HB 3287 would tighten the restrictions on such sales, leading to lost opportunities for breweries.

May 18, 2017

Economy

HB 108: Texas Model of Limited Government is the Best Business Incentive

The Skills Development program funds specific training needs of certain businesses through public community or technical colleges or the Texas A&M Engineering Service (TEEX). In 2015, 87.4 percent of the businesses that benefited from the program were large businesses (500 or more employees). HB 108 would increase the focus of the fund on out-of-state applicants,...

May 18, 2017

Criminal Justice

Is it time to scale back on SWAT teams?

Police officers deal with in-progress calls all the time, it is the job. It can be dangerous. But, what is the justification for a military-style assault on home in a residential community? Surely our officers are not so risk averse as to feel they need a SWAT team to handle this type of call. 

May 18, 2017