Live Within Your Means
What to know: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced a slate of 2027 local government tax and spending reforms, aimed at helping taxpayers and improving affordability. The governor explained one reason for this effort is that: “Local governments must live within their own means—just like you have to live within your means.”
The TPPF take: Local governments lack spending discipline. As a result, tax bills are skyrocketing.
“Texas’ local governments do not observe any real spending constraints. In the absence of strict fiscal rules—like a balanced budget requirement, a spending limit, or a debt ceiling—local government budgets have grown well beyond what is reasonable, putting tremendous upward pressure on tax bills everywhere,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “The next Texas Legislature must get local spending under control.”
For more on local spending, click here.
Grade Inflation
What to know: A new report shows that Harvard University inflates its grades to the point that its GPAs are meaningless.
The TPPF take: College grade inflation is undermining workforce competitiveness.
“This isn’t a sign of smarter students or better teaching—it’s a collapse of standards,” says TPPF’s Tom Lindsay. “Grade point averages (GPAs) at public universities have climbed from 2.7 in the 1960s to 3.2 by 2023, according to a 2024 report, even as student effort has plummeted from 24 study hours per week in 1961 to 14 in 2022. This inflation poisons the academic ecosystem.”
For more on grade inflation, click here.
Who Won?
What to know: The New Yorker magazine is claiming that maybe Democrats “won” the federal government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history.
The TPPF take: The shutdown surrender was a gift from the Democrats to President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress.
“Shutdowns are Washington’s version of mutually assured destruction—nobody wins, but one side always loses more,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Democrats, egged on by their far-left wing, gambled that pain would force GOP capitulation on health care. They failed. And congressional Republicans, for once, played their cards right: letting Democrats go all in on bluff — and then calling the hand only to see a pair of deuces.”
For more on the shutdown, click here.