America’s republican form of government is only possible because of the one person, one vote election process. This means that we have all agreed on the mechanics of the system, and that our votes all counted equally in determining the outcome, at least in theory. This system has been the basis of popular sovereignty in...
Hamas’s rampage through Israel earlier this month was a shock to the world. The terrorists deliberately targeted civilians, including children, women, and the elderly. Babies had their heads cut off. Women were raped and then murdered. In all, 1,400 Israelis were killed, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The sadistic methods are tough to even read:...
Austin’s homelessness situation is getting worse. On the same day that an exposé showed the dangerous conditions of the Northbridge homeless shelter, Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer resigned. Within a week of this happening, a campfire started in an illegal homeless encampment and got out of control in a dry, drought-affected area on the northside of...
Explaining the mechanics of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is reminiscent of Lilliputian government in “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift. Gulliver observes that the process of selecting ministers consists of “five or six of those candidates petition[ing] the emperor to entertain his majesty and the court with a dance on the rope; and whoever jumps the...
Halloween tourists are making their annual descent on Salem, Massachusetts to visit the real-life site of the supernatural on trial—the 1692 execution of 19 people for witchcraft. Piles of books and movies tell the Salem witch trial story, replete with wild-eyed, sexually repressed Puritan zealots roving the dark, foggy countryside seeking out women to drag...
In 1910, my great grandfather and namesake, Rabbi A.D. Rosenblatt, arrived in Galveston. But he didn’t stay long; he and his family moved out of Texas in 1923 because A.D. felt that the available educational options did not meet the needs of his children. My grandfather repeated this cycle in the 1950’s, settling in Galveston...
A new poll from UT/Texas Politics Project shows significant support for school choice among Texans. A clear majority, 51%, say they support “establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other ‘school choice’ program in Texas,” while just 30% oppose and 19% had no opinion. The crosstabs reveal some other interesting data: 46% of rural...
It’s election season, which means Texas local governments are, once again, asking voters to approve huge quantities of new debt. In fact, according to the Bond Review Board’s bond election database, Texas cities, counties, school districts, and special districts are seeking voter-approval for 199 separate propositions in all, which are worth a combined $24.4 billion...
Every parent wants a better life for their children. It’s built into us, in our spirit, in our DNA, however you want to look at it—the drive to do better for our kids is part of us. However, many among us are not able to answer that God-given mission to provide a better life for...
The following commentary is published on Thursdays as part of TPPF’s subscriber-only newsletter The Post. If you would like to subscribe to The Post, click here. Several school districts have taken the ethically questionable step of using public resources to lobby against school choice. Plano ISD posted a one-sided piece on its website and the superintendent...
Several years ago, an Austin American-Statesman reporter, Lori Hawkins, covered a gathering of several hundred Austinites who’d met to vent their frustrations over surging property tax bills and to express concern that they’d “soon be priced out of their homes.” Rather fortuitously, Hawkins interviewed an Austin homeowner in attendance, Gretchen Gardner, who inadvertently revealed some...
Senate Bill 17, which will close down the so-called “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” offices on Texas campuses in January, was not passed to push an ideological agenda on Texas universities. Instead, the priority was to stop a sanctioned system of internal indoctrination that is making students stupid. Recent protests in Austin make it clear that for many...