Reforming Texas’ Public Pension Systems

Fool Me Twice: Why the Texas Grid is Still Vulnerable to Winter Storms | Part 2: Projecting Winter Outage Risk Through 2030

Part 2: Projecting Winter Outage Risk Through 2030 As Texas approaches the five-year anniversary of Winter Storm Uri, the ERCOT grid faces growing vulnerability to winter power outages. This analysis projects that by 2030, the same type of storm that would cause approximately 12 hours of outages today could result in nearly 24 hours of...

Assessing Tax Trends in Hidalgo County

Does history suggest that property taxes are too high in Hidalgo County? And, if so, have local decision-makers actively helped or hurt the situation?   To help answer these questions, let’s review the county’s 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and gather four types of data—i.e., tax levies, local population, total tax rates, and taxable values—over a 10-year time horizon. Using...

Massive Downward Jobs Revision Reveals The Media Lied About Biden’s Economic Record

Media not only misled the public but may have delayed needed policy shifts, like Fed rate cuts. Americans deserve transparency, not gaslighting. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) delivered a body blow to the corporate media industrial complex’s narrative of a robust Biden economy. In its preliminary benchmark revision, the agency slashed its estimate...