In its first century in existence, the city of Dallas—from 1856 until 1961—passed an estimated 2,000 city ordinances, in total. Since then, it has passed approximately 33,000. That doesn’t count regulations issued by various city agencies. Texans—like all Americans—are overwhelmed with countless federal and state laws and regulations. Harvard Professor Harvey Silverglate estimates in his...
A number of respected higher education reform leaders, led by the Manhattan Institute, recently issued a statement detailing everything that is wrong with colleges and universities today. Recounting the results of a couple of decades of institutional blight, the comprehensive list names identity politics, DEI, divisive racial quotas, and demonizing the values of Western civilization as the...
Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on 1370 Talk Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. As we enter the month of August and finish up the second week of the first called legislative session in Texas, some things are turning out to be more special than others....
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. … As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” —Abraham Lincoln, 1862 The storm is here. And today, the most radical threat to our Constitution doesn’t come from a foreign army or a global treaty, it comes from...
Texas cities are reaping a windfall of property tax revenue even though they haven’t grown much in the last decade. One might rightly question why they need all the new money if they are serving roughly the same number of people. My colleague James Quintero recently compiled an analysis of property tax levies, property valuations,...
It’s illuminating when politicians speak the truth accidentally, letting voters know what they only say in private to their colleagues or big donors. A video recently resurfaced of New York Democratic Rep. Yvette Clarke saying that her Brooklyn district could “absorb a significant number of these (Haitian) migrants,” because, she continued, “I need more people...
President Donald Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB) is packed full of policy changes—changes we’ll be feeling for years to come. To help break down what President Trump’s OBBB means for health care in Texas and the rest of America, I sat down with three health care experts and asked them what they thought the...
At 4:03 a.m. on July 4, the Guadalupe River breached its banks in Kerr County. The flood came fast and silent—crashing through windows, sweeping entire homes off their foundations, ripping families from their beds. At least 132 people are confirmed dead. Nearly 100 remain missing. The Hill Country has become a graveyard of wreckage and...
The City of Austin recently released its 2025-26 Proposed Budget, which contains a, “host of questionable projects and programs,” however, an overlooked issue within the budget is the increasing in fees relating to construction permits. Some permitting fees are increasing by over 200%, while others are astronomical raises. Most notably, a 9077.2% raise on utility...
The American Bar Association (ABA) has long held a stranglehold on accrediting U.S. law schools. In Texas, the ABA gets to decide which schools’ students can take the bar exam, a prerequisite to practicing law. Entrusting a private, out-of-state organization with control over Texas legal education is problematic for three reasons: the ABA pushes politically biased standards,...
Much of the policy discussion around President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill has focused on electricity subsidies, where the outcome admittedly falls short of what fiscal conservatives hoped for. Wind and solar projects can still claim subsidies through July 2030, extending billions in taxpayer support for the next five years and driving up ratepayer bills...
In 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proved that the College Board has a political agenda. Pointing to an AP course on Black history for high schoolers, Gov. DeSantis showed the course taught topics of queer theory and the abolition of prisons, two ideas that both contradict state law and the intention of a course on...