Texans are generally eager for traffic congestion solutions. But a recent legal opinion on toll roads has left some feeling unenthused. At issue is whether the Texas Transportation Commission can use money that voters dedicated to the State Highway Fund for projects that have both tolled and nontolled elements. The act of comingling voter-approved funds...
In “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” Dr. Frankenstein justified his creation as for the good of humanity. Instead, arrogance drove him to make his destructive monster. Similarly, the modern progressive project sees itself as able to cure humankind’s ills, to set society’s wrongs right—so long as it has enough of other people’s money backing a...
There were some startling accusations about the Austin Police Academy in a recent article. The author points out that the allegations are unsubstantiated, and the article makes clear that the accusers failed to complete the program. A letter from an attorney representing the accusers is also linked in the article. Having served 21 years in...
Texans can teach Washington, D.C., a few lessons when it comes to barbecue, balanced budgets and criminal justice reform. If Congress can put aside the gridlock, it can unlock the benefits that Texas has achieved through a decade of changes to its prison policies. Fortunately, Texas’ own Sen. John Cornyn is joining with bipartisan congressional...
Last year Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned natural gas company, provided some 40 percent of Europe’s gas needs. Gazprom produced 16.6 trillion cubic feet of gas. By comparison, America produced almost 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2017 and, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, is on track to produce 43 trillion cubic feet of natural...
The lawsuit brought by the Texas Public Policy Foundation against the city of Austin challenging its new paid sick leave ordinance isn’t just a local matter. It’s a principled fight with broad implications for Texas and other states, because it’s about freedom — and the rule of law. In January, the Austin City Council introduced...
First Charlie Gard and now Alfie Evans. These are babies who, though verbally silent, still gave clarion warnings to proponents of single-payer health care: The government — not my parents — is in charge of my life. Charlie Gard was born in August 2015 with a rare genetic disorder that carried a poor long-term prognosis. In...
In 2016, the city of Austin passed one of the most aggressive sets of regulations for short-term rentals — also known as vacation rentals or furnished rentals — in the country. A constitutional challenge to those regulations is currently pending before the Third Court of Appeals in Austin. In a recent article in the Texas...
With President Trump’s signature, a massive tax overhaul and cut became law in late December. With the tax cut came the usual forecasts, with liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writing on March 1 declaring, “You’ve been scammed” referring to American taxpayers, while noting “Yet even before the tax cut, federal tax receipts were looking weak for an...
Most college graduates above the age of 55 remember that their best teachers refused to allow themselves to be pigeonholed as mere hawkers of one political agenda over another. They refused to do this not because they were politically indifferent, but because they knew that their job was to teach, not indoctrinate. And they knew...
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed a massive tax cut and reform bill crafted by Republicans without the help of one Democrat vote. One of the bill’s more controversial measures was the limitation of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction to $10,000 through 2026. According to the CPA Journal, taxpayers in California, New York,...
The electricity markets in the two most-populous states couldn’t be more different. California government heavily regulates electricity while Texas allows free market competition in most of the state. Yet, Texas produced about five times the amount of wind power as did California in 2017 while it generated about 29 percent more non-hydroelectric renewable power (California’s strict renewable...