In recent months, both Congress and the media have been fixated on tax reform. Congress just passed the first tax reform bill in thirty years. So, after the Christmas break, maybe they can return to the problem that is foremost in the minds of Americans, our failing healthcare system. While the tax bill did...
The Trump administration’s higher education budget would eliminate the loan-interest waiver given to college borrowers. Ending the subsidy, it is argued, would reduce tuition inflation: A Federal Reserve study finds that subsidized interest hikes tuition. Between 1985 and 2011, average tuition nationwide increased 498 percent—more than four times the rate of general inflation (114 percent) as measured...
An 1883 article in Scientific American noted that one of the main problems with wind power is “gathering it at the time we do not need it and preserving it till we do.” In other words, there was no way to economically and reliably store the electricity generated from windmills. Today, 134 years later, after having...
Filmmakers and government economic development types are bemoaning the fact that Texas doesn’t offer as much as other states when it comes to film subsidies. “Texas is losing jobs because we cannot compete,” said Janis Burklund, director of the Dallas Film Commission. It may, or may not, be the case that Texas is losing jobs in the film...
Corporate welfare, the use of government to enrich corporate executives and shareholders with profits they can't earn in the market, is rampant today. Title insurers, alcoholic beverage distributors, and renewable energy companies are just a few who rake in ill-gotten gains at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. Though corporate cronyism today may be...
Yesterday, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) published a startling new report on the deteriorating condition of U.S. public pension systems and warned that: “Absent significant reforms, unfunded liabilities of state-administered pension plans will continue to grow and threaten the financial security of state retirees and taxpayers alike. The fiscal calamity could be far deeper...
The Endangered Species Act is all over the news lately. The Washington Post breathlessly warned that Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) “wants to ‘invalidate’ the Endangered Species Act” and that he’s “getting close.” In that same newspaper, a George Washington University biologist wrote last week, “We don’t need to save endangered species” because “extinction is part of evolution.” Here’s what we do...
As with any human endeavor, there will always be some bad actor out there that can provide fodder for anecdotal reports. But we don’t base public policy on anecdotes, we base it on facts — particularly when constitutional rights are at stake. In a recent op-ed in TribTalk, Vivé Griffith wrote an impassioned defense of...
Last week, the Senate passed its version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, paving the way for a conference with the House. Congress is now preparing to iron out the details between the two bodies. That includes the late inclusion of an amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would expand 529 savings accounts to...
In today’s politically polarized environment, compromise is a rare commodity, especially in the energy debate. While progressives push for the use of zero-carbon energy, conservatives counter by advocating for a reliable electricity grid. Yet, nuclear energy could bridge the divide. Innovative technologies like molten salt reactors safely create power that is both carbon free...
Over the past 12 months, Texas’ public policy landscape has undergone some big changes, especially when it comes to local governance. Take the issue of local control, for example. For years, powerful special interest groups representing cities, counties, and school districts at the Capitol have advanced their interests by arguing that local control is...
Here is the big question we need to answer, with evidence not rhetoric. Why does the U.S. spend more on healthcare than any other nation on earth and yet Americans can’t get the care they need when they need it? In 2015, the U.S. spent $3.2 trillion on its health care system and health care...