‘Did you need to go to college to become a welder?” I asked. Jeff Jenkins answered with a chuckle. “No, no I didn’t.” Jenkins, owner of an HVAC company and a welding firm in Austin, educated me for the next 25 minutes on what it takes to get into — and succeed at — the...
The re-election of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who made protecting his state’s expanded Medicaid program a key campaign issue, has some pundits excited about the chances of expanding Texas’ own government-run healthcare system. What these pundits fail to realize, however, is that neither an election nor the elation surrounding it make Medicaid expansion a...
In the weeks since the Texas Department of Transportation began clearing homeless encampments that have become an unofficial and unwelcome symbol of life in Austin, the homelessness crisis has shown few signs of slowing down. A five-acre temporary campsite established by the state has seen little traffic while tents and makeshift shelters continue to pop up beneath overpasses almost...
The saga over systemic failures of the Texas foster care system continues with the state Department of Family and Protective Services paying a $150,000 fine levied by U.S. District Judge Janice Jack. Payment comes in the wake of a contentious hearing during which Judge Jack criticized the department for dragging its feet on implementing changes...
The Houston Chronicle editorial board missed the mark in its recent criticism of our outgoing Secretary of Energy, slamming Rick Perry for—get this—doing his job. “It’s clear that promoting fossil fuels, especially coal, took up far more time than it should have,” wrote the editorial board, “for someone whose job also includes developing energy alternatives.”...
Amidst a raging Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a “Proclamation of Thanksgiving” on October 3, 1863, 74 years to the day after President George Washington issued his first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation. Prior to Lincoln’s proclamation, states, mostly in the North, would mark their own Thanksgiving commemorations. The concept for a national Thanksgiving celebrated annually...
The current economic expansion is 10 years and five months old and showing little signs of ending. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Wednesday that the third quarter grew at a 2.1% annual rate vs. the previously estimated 1.9%. Preliminary data from the fourth quarter looks steady as well. The good economic news comes amid widely...
Thanksgiving can be a tough time of year for many Americans. “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank,” G.K. Chesterton pointed out many years ago. These days, the holiday has two stumbling blocks that I see. The first is America’s growing secularization. The second...
Thanksgiving can be a tough time of year for many Americans. “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank,” G.K. Chesterton pointed out many years ago. These days, the holiday has two stumbling blocks that I see. The first is America’s growing secularization. The...
California’s population is 38% larger than Texas’, but since 2008, Texas has added about 100,000 … [+] TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION, DATA FROM THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), the San Francisco-based financial services firm that pioneered low-cost stock trades, is moving to Texas. The announcement follows news yesterday that Charles Schwab will...
Two new solar farms are being proposed in Ector County. The two projects – Rockhound Solar A and Rockhound Solar B – are both seeking significant tax breaks in return for bringing their investment to the area. Both applications were posted in March of this year and are still up for consideration by the taxing entities listed...
Never letting a crisis go to waste, the left responded to the horrific deaths of American citizens —including children — in Mexico by calling for gun control here. Writing in the New York Times earlier this month, Ioan Grillo said the best way to disarm Mexican criminal cartels is by disarming Americans. “Last year, 70 percent of...