Walking Away What to know: New public school enrollment data reveals a significant year-over-year drop. From 2025 to 2026, the number of students attending Texas public schools decreased by more than 76,000 kids, “the largest non-COVID-19 related drop in more than 40 years.” The TPPF take: If public schools are teaching fewer students, then administrators should be...
It’s Not Easy Being a Mom What to know: On Mother’s Day, the Trump administration launched moms.gov, a new website filled with resources for mothers and families. The TPPF take: Motherhood isn’t an easy job. “Motherhood is a discipline—one that is rigorous, formative, and can be profoundly undervalued in our cultural conversation,” says TPPF’s Hannah Bruck. “That’s what it...
Red Diaper Tourism What to know: “Birthright tourism,” or traveling to the U.S. to have a baby, so that the baby can gain automatic U.S. citizenship, is big business, particularly in California. The TPPF take: “Birthright citizenship” is a misuse of the 14th Amendment. “The practice of birth tourism and the deliberate crossing of borders by pregnant women...
Adversity Ahead What to know: Houston’s longstanding budget challenges are getting worse, not better. One recent estimate suggests that: “Houston is staring down a projected $381 million budget gap in fiscal year 2029, growing to $446 million in the following year.” The TPPF take: Cut, cut, cut spending. “The city of Houston’s loose fiscal habits have put it on...
Sky-high Prescription Prices What to know: New Jersey is the latest of 43 states suing drug makers for price fixing. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/generic-drug-prices-rigged-pharmaceutical-165427028.html The TPPF take: Americans are deeply concerned about the cost of prescription drugs—and for good reason. “Most people believe high prices are simply the result of expensive research and development, which may hold for some cutting-edge...
Running on Empty What to know: Nissan has cancelled its plans to build electric vehicles for the U.S. market in Mississippi, and instead plans to produce more trucks. https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2026/05/04/nissan-abandons-american-ev-production-plans-shifts-focus-to-truck-manufacturing/ The TPPF take: Most Americans simply don’t want electric vehicles. “EVs make sense for small commuter vehicles, but for most Americans, EVs are still too expensive or impractical,”...
Not a Ringing Endorsement What to know: Even investor Warren Buffett now tells young Americans that a college degree no longer means much, and that he hires based on talent and character, rather than academic credentials. https://fortune.com/2025/08/22/warren-buffett-ceos-degree-hiring-what-counts/ The TPPF take: Degrees still matter, but they’re not enough. “College degrees clearly remain important and preferred,” says TPPF’s Maggie Horzempa....
Rigging Drug Prices What to know: Health care is getting more and more expensive, and Texas lawmakers want to know why. https://www.keranews.org/health-wellness/2026-05-01/texas-house-represenatives-select-committee-healthcare-affordability-costs-public-hearing-hospital-pharmacy-benefits-managers The TPPF take: Drug prices are one of the main culprits in rising drug prices. “Most people believe high prices are simply the result of expensive research and development, which may hold for some cutting-edge...
Yale Gets It Right What to know: Yale’s new report on the decline in the public’s trust in colleges and universities blames the colleges and universities themselves. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/us/yale-report-colleges-unversities-trust.html The TPPF take: For an elite institution, this represents unusual honesty. “The report documents what reformers have long predicted: the leftward skew of faculty (36-to-1 Democrat-to-Republican in key Yale...
Machine Gun Blues What to know: The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that “machine guns”—automatic weapons—aren’t protected by the Second Amendment. https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/eleventh-circuit-machine-guns-not-protected-second-amendment The TPPF take: TPPF is suing the federal government over the ban on machine guns—but it’s not about the Second Amendment. “Ever since the Supreme Court held that Congress could regulate homegrown wheat...
Political Violence What to know: Political violence is on the rise in the U.S. https://theconversation.com/latest-attack-threatening-president-trump-reflects-rising-political-violence-in-us-281513 The TPPF take: Enough is enough: The left must distance itself from political violence. “The political left, through both its mainstream institutions and online commentators, has continued to stoke a climate of hostility toward its political opponents,” says TPPF’s Cameron Abrams. “For years, the...
Stonewalled What to know: The city of Conroe is stonewalling residents interested in learning more about how and why officials are using Flock surveillance cameras. In response to a Public Information Act request about the matter, city officials want to charge “$1,200 to release the information.” https://abc13.com/post/conroe-residents-say-city-is-stonewalling-requests-information-flock-safety-cameras/18953584/ The TPPF take: Governments use many different tactics, including excessive...