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...
Here’s an interesting fact about the Doobie Brothers. When the band first formed in 1970, “the Doobie Brothers” was never supposed to be the permanent name – just something to go by until they thought of something better. But nothing better came along, so their name was made permanent with their 1971 self-titled album. They...
Proponents of a U.S. carbon tax have been coming out of the woodworks for years, but even more recently, shouting about the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions primarily from the use of fossil fuels to save the environment. But is it worth it? According to a recently published paper by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the...
Hypocrisy from progressives is nothing new. Liberals lament the unaffordability of our cities while raising taxes and driving up costs. They champion every form of libertine expression under the sun but recoil from religious expression. In the latest iteration, they are coming out against criminal-justice reform, a cause they claimed to care about for the...
From soup to nuts, Austin’s controversial new paid sick leave ordinance is bad public policy. To start, the citywide mandate — which requires all employers to provide their employees with paid sick time — was rammed through at lightning speed. In fact, it wasn’t until a few months ago, on Jan. 19, that a first...
As The Hill reported last week, two House Republicans have introduced a resolution condemning the idea of a carbon tax. Such a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, say Majority Whip Steve Scalise and West Virginia Rep. David McKinley, would “be detrimental to American families and businesses, and is not in the best interest of the United States.” They’re right, but...
If students continue to be deprived of the growth opportunities provided by encountering and debating ideas with which they disagree, they will come to lack the qualities essential to informed, effective citizenship. Key Points: There has recently been a plethora of news accounts exposing serious restrictions on free speech and debate on our country's campuses. ...
Lawmakers in California are at it again. A few months ago, after President Trump signed the Republican tax cut and reform bill into law, there was a flurry of tax hike legislation out of Sacramento, most of it aimed at businesses. While taxes levy a direct claim on a company’s bottom line, other laws and...
I write this report more in sorrow than anger, for I never thought I’d see the day when a law school dean would damn the First Amendment. This is the point we’ve come to on too many campuses today: Our academics teach suicide for the American experiment in democratic freedom. On March 29, South Texas College...