Tax Man
What to know: Many small and mid-sized cities and counties are right now considering tax rates that, if ultimately adopted, will result in homeowners paying higher taxes.
The TPPF take: It’s alarming that any Texan today can be threatened with a 36%, 48%, or even 92% tax bill hike.
“As is apparent, there is a level of tax increase being contemplated in certain cities and counties that is downright confiscatory and incredibly disheartening given the near-universal concern over (un)affordability,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “If these governments move forward with their proposed tax hikes, then residents in those areas could be in for a shock — especially since cities, counties, school districts, and special districts tend to layer tax increase upon tax increase.”
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SANCTUARY! SANCTUARY!
What to Know: A woman at the center of a surrogacy fight who fled to Texas after the biological parents requested she have an abortion has asked the US Supreme Court to intervene so that she can keep the baby.
The TPPF take: Transforming pregnancy into a service, and unborn children into products that can be bought or sold, inherently debases human dignity.
“On the surface, it’s just consenting adults signing a contract with stated terms for monetary compensation. In reality, in these contracts, mothers are treated as leased incubators, while children are treated as manufactured goods subject to quality control, return policies, and the changing preferences of commissioning buyers,” says TPPF’s Eric Oldfather. “To date, Louisiana is the only state that has put any meaningful restrictions on commercial surrogacy. The repugnant treatment of McKenna West by this couple, who deemed this child unworthy to live, should be a wakeup call for the rest of the country.”
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K, Bye
What to know: A greater percentage of Texas professors want to leave the state this year than last year, citing its political climate and concerns about censorship
The TPPF take: Colleges have failed students. Colleges have failed America.
“The old education regime is now recognized in all its naked, decrepit form,” says TPPF’s Cameron Abrams. “Their weakening grip on the American psyche has started to atrophy. Maybe, just maybe, they can finally be laid to rest. And in their place, a return to form can be marshaled.”