A Taxing Christmas?
What to know: Californians had a more expensive Christmas than most of us, primarily because of bad policies. Topping the list of higher costs is electricity, which is often twice as high as the national average.
The TPPF take: California’s energy problems are entirely self-inflicted.
“Back when I served in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010, I warned that these laws, regulations and subsidies would instead drive up electricity costs for Californians, making the grid less reliable and California’s economy less competitive,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Now, two decades later, the results are in. In 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that California had the second-highest electricity prices in the nation for the second year running, behind only Hawaii.”
For more on California’s energy policies, click here.
Winter Warmth
What to know: Coal-fired power plants slated for closure are being kept open to heat Midwestern homes and businesses.
The TPPF take: American coal is making a comeback, after more than a decade of harmful federal policies.
“For more than a century, coal has been a reliable energy source making our modern way of life possible,” says Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, writing in The Cannon Online. “It wasn’t until radical environmentalists created the Net Zero fantasy that the United States and the rest of the developed world abandoned coal production and coal-fired electric generation. As a result, many coal plants – like the one in Hallsville, Texas – have been run out of business by their own government after decades by ‘woke’ energy policies and replaced with taxpayer-subsidized wind and solar powered projects — which are costly and unreliable.”
For more on coal, click here.
Monopolies are No Game
What to know: The Federal Trade Commission says the American Bar Association is operating as an improper “law school accreditation monopoly.”
The TPPF take: The ABA has long held a stranglehold on accrediting U.S. law schools, including by forcing a law school to discriminate on the basis of race.
“Even in Texas, the ABA gets to decide which schools’ students can take the bar exam, a prerequisite to practicing law,” says TPPF law clerk Noah Pederson. “Entrusting a private, out-of-state organization with control over Texas legal education is problematic for three reasons: the ABA pushes politically biased standards, and it’s an unconstitutional delegation of power, and it imposes burdensome requirements.”
For more on the ABA, click here.