The most predictable thing about the climate these days is the sensationalism we see in the headlines. “The weather of Washington’s future: Hellish heat and high water,” The Washington Post wrote after the National Climate Assessment was released. “New U.S. climate assessment forecasts dire effects on economy, health,” said NPR. And not to be outdone,...
When the 116th Congress is seated in January, political control will be divided, with Democrats holding a majority in the House and Republicans in the Senate. What does this mean for higher education? We asked a few NAS members to weigh in. Other articles in the series are, Focus on Reining in the American Bar Association, Time to...
“Few people ever have an abundance of choice of occupation. But what matters is that we have some choice, that we are not absolutely tied to a job which has been chosen for us, and that if one position becomes intolerable, or if we set our heart on another, there is always a way for...
President Trump has courageously thrown his weight behind a reform bill that will dramatically improve how we rehabilitate criminals and help keep them out of overcrowded prisons. Joining him are a majority in the Senate as well as numerous groups representing law enforcers and prosecutors, including former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. The...
There may be no more ironically named governmental body than the Austin Regional Affordability Committee. In its most recent meeting, the committee heard testimony about how awful it would be for the city of Austin if the Legislature were to limit its ability to raise taxes excessively — not lower them, mind you, but merely...
Property taxes are crushing small businesses, middle-class families and elderly Texans. In 2016, property taxes levied statewide grew to $56.1 billion. That’s a burden so large that the taxman effectively took $2,000 from every man, woman, and child in the Lone Star State or $8,000 from a family of four. Tax bills aren’t just gigantic...
The City of Lights, Paris, has been illuminated in recent days by cars set alight by thousands of protesting “Yellow Vests”—largely middle class people who earn their living by driving or who commute to get to work. The cause of their ire is a scheduled 25 cents-per-gallon increase in gas taxes, and about 10 cents...
In 1988, Texas shared the sentiment of William Shatner who once declared: “If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right!” It was that year that Texas created essentially a state savings account called the economic stabilization fund (ESF). The idea then for a state savings account wasn’t a hard sell to voters....
In Texas, we have our own holiday traditions, such as making a stop in our travels at a Buc-ee’s. If you’re among the unenlightened, Buc-ee’s is the chain of massive rest stops that combine the cleanest restrooms with some of the weirdest shopping experiences around. Bon Appetit magazine named it the “Best Rest Stop in...
At the end of October, several electricity generators and wind industry representatives teamed up to ask the Public Utility Commission of Texas to impose an electricity “tax” on Texas consumers of up to $4 billion a year in order to increase their revenues. Their reason for asking for this new tax? They don’t think they...
The warnings are dire; a new World Health Organization report says that more than one in four deaths of children under 5 is due to environmental risk – mostly air pollution. “The evidence is clear: air pollution has a devastating impact on children’s health,” the report says. “…Globally, 93 percent of all children live in...
There’s a chart making the rounds at the Capitol and in newsrooms. It purports to show that state funding for public schools is dropping (in constant dollars) and it’s being used to make the argument that Texas is underfunding its schools. But the chart, released by the Legislative Budget Board, leaves out a significant part...