This sentiment has been growing for years. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows have all echoed it. But this is not some movement built purely on the will of Texas’ top politicians. Surely, the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker deserve significant credit for their leadership, but they are three...
Back when I served in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010, California ranked 7th or 8th in the nation for electricity costs. At the time, the Democratic majority in Sacramento was pushing bill after bill mandating greater reliance on renewable energy, assuring everyone that these policies would make us look like “geniuses” when the price...
An Associated Press(AP) reporter was blocked from an Oval Office event. The White House cited its refusal to use the new designation for the Gulf of America; the AP responded by claiming the White House is engaging in viewpoint discrimination and censorship. Oh, please. The AP may consider itself the gatekeeper of news in the...
Diversity, equity and inclusion are words that appeal to American values, but DEI programming departs from American tradition. Both President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott have pumped up their efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI, programs everywhere they find them — in public schools and universities, government agencies and the military. Trump’s Jan. 21 order...
It’s Day 38 of Trump 2.0 and I joined the Cardle & Woolley Show on 1370 Talk Radio in Austin to announce the Winners & Losers of the week. Here’s who made the list: Winner: Trump’s First Cabinet Meeting The transparency of the Trump administration is dazzling but the game-changer that was on display during...
Texas farm and ranch land is at risk. It’s not the Chinese, although lawmakers have introduced a suite of bills to fight against foreign adversaries gobbling up precious land. Something else is destroying the soil itself and livestock that graze on it. PFAs (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, colloquially called “forever chemicals”) are an imperishable poison that is...
We put this week’s edition of Winners & Losers in podcast format taped during TPPF’s annual Texas Policy Summit on the University of Texas campus in Austin. You can listen to the entire list — here’s couple of top lines: TPPF’s Family Success Agenda earns a top spot on the “Winners List” for taking steps to...
School choice hasn’t won yet but it’s in the lead. This morning, Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows announced the filing of House Bill 3 to create education savings accounts. It’s the companion bill to Senate Bill 2 which has already been voted out of the Senate. “House Bill 3 is historic and it provides...
The right to repair is centered on the fundamental tension between consumer’s property rights and manufacturer-imposed repair restrictions. As research demonstrates, manufacturers of electronics, agricultural equipment, and household appliances (among other industries) have increasingly leveraged intellectual property laws, digital locks, and restrictive service agreements to limit who can repair their products. These restrictions not only...
Designating Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations is the first honest step Washington has taken on this issue in decades. On President Donald J. Trump’s first day in office, he issued an executive order designating human and drug trafficking cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). This week, the other shoe is expected to drop, as the State...
Like other Texas school districts, Leander ISD (LISD) is in the process of rightsizing its workforce and budget after a decade-long period of unguarded growth. As reported in greater detail by the Austin American-Statesman: “The Leander school district announced plans to slash more than 200 campus-level staff positions—including nearly 150 teachers — and $3 million...
Live by the sword, die by the sword. Just ask Joe Biden, whose executive orders have quickly gone the way of all flesh during the first three weeks of Donald Trump’s second term. An executive order is, by its nature, a temporary fix. This is particularly true of Trump’s recent executive order to keep men out of...