Taxes & Spending

Moody’s calls out Dallas’ facade

It was only a matter of time before someone pointed out that the emperor had no clothes. For the City of Dallas, that moment came yesterday, when Moody’s Investor Service downgraded the City’s debt rating due, in part, to Dallas’ “very large and growing unfunded pension liabilities.” After years of providing defined benefit pensions — something a majority of the private sector moved away from long ago — the system has finally been exposed for what it is: unsustainable.

October 29, 2015

K-12 Education

Study: Texas and Florida lead education results among biggest 5 states, California last

California students lag 6.3 months behind their peers in learning.

October 29, 2015

Health Care

A new lawsuit from Texas sues the government over Obamacare

The complaint, which Kansas and Louisiana also joined, reveals how progressive regulatory schemes such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in order to accomplish their goals, eventually wind up coercing state governments and in some cases imbuing private entities with legislative powers.

October 29, 2015

Economy

Texas’ economic model helps generate economic activity

The Lone Star State does not have to stand alone in reforms. The federal government and other states should learn from these successes and follow the lead of the Texas model.

October 28, 2015

Economy

TPPF economist gives keynote presentation at the 52nd Annual Missouri Valley Economic Association Meetings

The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s mission “is to promote and defend liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise in Texas and the nation by educating and affecting policymakers and the Texas public policy debate with academically sound research and outreach.” In support of this mission, I had the honor of being invited to give a keynote speech during the “State of the Economy” roundtable discussion during last week’s 52nd Annual Missouri Valley Economic Association (MVEA) meetings in Kansas City, Missouri. 

October 28, 2015

K-12 Education

Texas Public Policy Foundation amicus brief for the school finance trials

The final oral arguments for the current school finance litigation were heard before the Texas Supreme Court on September 1st 2015. This amicus brief explains how our state can make education more productive for Texas children.

October 26, 2015

Criminal Justice

Conservative criminal justice reform is alive and well on Capitol Hill

At the state level, legislators have passed bills that assign a default level of mens rea in order to protect citizens from wrongful prosecutions.

October 26, 2015

Energy & Environment

Despite EPA, Texans can ‘whoop’ with joy at Whooping Crane return

Thanks to the Supreme Court and the 5th Circuit, Texans can enjoy the return of the Whooping Cranes this winter, and breathe a little easier knowing we kept the Environmental Protection Agency out of the State in at least one way.

October 26, 2015

Energy & Environment

EPA’s litigation merry-go-round

While the court mulls over the particulars of the challenges before it, Americans have an opportunity to rethink whether administrative agencies like the EPA should determine the boundaries of their own authority in the first place.

October 25, 2015

Higher Education

Disconnect: American higher education versus the American people

College is not a commodity. So understood, college is not for everybody.

October 25, 2015

Taxes & Spending

Kasich: Kill the federal gas tax, shift transportation power to states

The federal government taxes $0.184 on a gallon of gasoline and $0.244 for diesel with about 40 percent of the $50 billion spent annually going to programs earmarked by Congress, such as urban rail systems.

October 23, 2015

Economy

Renew the American Dream through the Texas Model

This spending included bailing out banks and an almost trillion-dollar stimulus package contributing to a 70 percent increase in the national debt to $18.2 trillion.

October 23, 2015