Higher Education

America The Distrustful: Bureaucratization, Cynicism, and Despotism

  History suggests that, when citizens come to deeply distrust their country’s institutions, the cancer of political degeneration may be taking hold. In America, cynicism appears to have metastasized to such an extent that it is now afflicting high schools. At least that’s the conclusion suggested by Jessica Contrera’s recent Washington Post piece. Contrera reports that, in...

September 20, 2017

Economy

Even conservative Texans agree, it’s time to tap the rainy day fund

  Hurricane Harvey recovery, especially for the families of the 70 Texans who lost their lives, will take years. The economic impact is also staggering. Early estimates show this storm could cost $190 billion in lost economic output, according to AccuWeather, roughly 14 percent of the state’s personal income and 1 percent of the nation’s total gross domestic product. In addition,...

September 15, 2017

Criminal Justice

Texas’ bail system is costing us all a fortune

  If you ask anyone, regardless of their political views, who they would rather have behind bars awaiting trial: Someone who poses a threat to society but can afford to pay their way out of jail, or someone who poses little to no threat to society but can’t afford to get out jail? It’d likely...

September 15, 2017

Health Care

Three waivers states can use to reduce the ObamaCare mess

  ObamaCare has created a mess in healthcare. Care is less available, insurance is unaffordable, and the country is heading toward bankruptcy. With Washington hopelessly gridlocked, how can Americans get in to a doctor’s office before they die waiting in line? There is a way to get relief from ObamaCare’s expensive mandates. States can apply for waivers, which temporarily and partially...

September 14, 2017

Health Care

Nine Narratives Explain Persistent Healthcare Failure

  So many narratives about healthcare abound, it is hard to understand why no one seems able to fix healthcare. Here are nine examples of commonly accepted wisdom: eight are false; one is true. Washington must stabilize insurance market The latest talk in Washington is a need to stabilize the insurance market with additional, cost-sharing subsidies. The market...

September 13, 2017

Health Care

It’s time to repeal the Cadillac tax on employer-sponsored health insurance

  Remember when President Barack Obama said that passage of the Affordable Care Act would save middle class families $2,500 a year on their health insurance premiums? Obama claimed much of that savings would come from taxing so-called “Cadillac Plans” that gave the rich “overly generous” benefits, and using that windfall to help fund Obamacare....

September 11, 2017

Energy & Environment

S.A. project shows free-market water program can work

  You’ve got to be tough to live in Texas. Twenty years ago this year, after a long history of persistent drought and damaging floods, the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 1, the first landmark water bill to create the regional and state water planning processes we know and use today. This 20th anniversary marks...

September 11, 2017

Energy & Environment

Eliminating renewable energy subsidies is key to increasing prosperity

  Residential electricity prices have steadily increased for years, up more than 15 percent in the United States (not including Texas) since 2004. A newly released U.S. Department of Energy report on electricity markets and reliability makes it clear that renewable energy subsidies are contributing significantly to the increasing cost—and the decreasing reliability—of the national electric grid. Yet the...

September 8, 2017

Local Government

The Texan view on Harvey relief

  As the long recovery from Hurricane Harvey’s devastation begins in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, the debate over when and how to provide disaster relief is just getting started in Congress. Sadly, the type of bravery and selflessness on display in Houston and East Texas — with Americans rushing to help those in...

September 7, 2017

Higher Education

Sagging Enrollments, Faculty Inertia, and GOP Backlash Yield Gloomy Financial Forecasts For Colleges

  For the past seven years, Gallup, commissioned by Inside Higher Ed, has polled the opinions of the country’s college and university business officers. This year’s results are out. They are not optimistic, nor should they be. According to the respondents, a growing number of their schools face not only financial decline but also an inability/unwillingness to deal...

September 7, 2017

Economy

Six missed opportunities in special session that could have aided economic prosperity

  The 85th Texas Legislature’s special session ended Aug. 16. While there were several topics in Gov. Greg Abbott’s call that improved economic freedom and opportunity, which are the basis of greater prosperity for Texans, there was much left desired to strengthen the Texas model. Texans already enjoy more freedom than most other states. For example, Texas...

September 7, 2017

Criminal Justice

Challenges of justice reform

  For many years, Louisiana has relied on local jails and detention centers to house large numbers of state prisoners. State prisoners are almost exclusively all felons who are intended to serve their time in state correction facilities. According to the Louisiana Department of Corrections, there are presently more than 36,000 offenders serving time for...

September 5, 2017