The Best of Us What to know: The investigation continues into the political assassination of conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk. The TPPF take: Charlie Kirk was a brilliant thinker, inspired leader, husband, father, and man of faith who changed the political landscape in America. “Charlie went to college campuses across the country, talking to students about everything from...
A Martyr What to know: Conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk’s funeral will be held this week. President Donald Trump has pledged to attend. The TPPF take: Charlie Kirk is a martyr to his faith—and to common sense. “In this way, Charlie Kirk was perhaps the closest thing to Socrates in the American public square,” says TPPF’s Joshua Treviño. “The leftist intellectuals...
Dead Wrong on Crime What to know: The headlines keep coming: Career criminals, released by progressive district attorneys and liberal judges, continue to kill innocent Americans. The TPPF take: Democrats are dead wrong on crime. “Hugs for thugs hasn’t made blue cities safe,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “Letting murderers, rapists and other violent criminals roam the streets makes for...
We Remember What to know: We remember the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The TPPF take: First responders rushed up the stairs of the Twin Towers, even as everyone else rushed down. “The sacrifices made on 9/11 and beyond speak a truth about America that the current crop of revisionist history books can’t cancel,” says TPPF board...
Cash for Consultants What to know: The city of Beaumont is spending nearly $100,000 on Austin-based consultants “to educate voters ahead of the city’s November bond election.” Part of the proceeds will be used to pay for travel and lodging for the consultants as they go from Austin to Beaumont for meetings. The TPPF take: This is government waste...
A-bsurd What to know: The city of Austin—which is projecting a $33 million shortfall—spent $1.1 million on a bizarre new logo that some are calling “[c]ompletely unnecessary, ugly, and diverts money away from necessary projects.” The TPPF take: It’s absurd that officials spent more than a million dollars on a logo when people are losing their homes to tax...
China Spies What to know: Chinese spies are one of the greatest threats to university research, a new report says. The TPPF take: China and others are making inroads into our universities. “This is not just about stolen research,” says TPPF’s Kate Bierly. “Foreign money opens the door to propaganda and subtle shifts in curriculum that shape...
Money, Money, Money What to know: Austinites work all night, work all day to pay the bills, but still there never seems to be a single penny left. That’s because Austin governments tax-and-spend it all away on frivolous things, like paying musicians a “$200 hourly minimum” to play at city hall’s parties. The TPPF take: Austin governments—and more broadly,...
You Don’t Say What to know: The teachers unions have become hyperpoliticized, Byron York points out. The TPPF take: This is nothing new. “The National Education Association’s political agenda includes vows to stop President Trump’s fascism, eliminate ICE and resist the Supreme Court ruling that allows parents to opt their children out of ‘gender ideology’ classes,” says TPPF’s Sherry...
Adding Insult to Injury What to know: Many Kerrville homeowners haven’t fully recovered from the flooding, but already, another manmade disaster looms. Later this month, the Kerrville city council may set in motion an “8 percent tax rate increase…for three years or until the property values are restored to the base as they were before the disaster damage.”...
Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud What to know: When the Texas Legislature cuts property taxes, many local governments seize upon that relief as an excuse to raise their own taxes. Case-in-point: Judson ISD, where a 5-term trustee openly admitted that “now’s the ideal time for a tax rate election because most homeowners will likely still pay less...
Labor Day What to know: The Communist Party USA wants to reclaim Labor Day, noting that the “first campaigner for Labor Day, Peter J. McGuire, was a socialist carpenter and a founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.” The TPPF take: Let’s celebrate Labor Day, but dispense with its communist roots. “This Labor Day, I...