A lot of media outlets are crying over the increased deficit caused by the GOP’s tax bill. Here’s what the Texas Tribune says: The bill is expected to deliver a tax cut to most Americans. But the majority of economists also expect it to widen the national deficit by at least $1 trillion over the…
Category: Government
Whose Better for the Texas Economy: Hollywood Filmmakers or Texas Entrepreneurs?
Filmmakers and government economic development types are bemoaning the fact that Texas doesn’t offer as much as other states when it comes to film subsidies. “Texas is losing jobs because we cannot compete,” said Janis Burklund, director of the Dallas Film Commission. It may, or may not, be the case that Texas is losing jobs…
The Deep State at War with America
As Mark Steyn points out, Roy Moore didn’t lose because of the allegations against him, he lost because he had to run against both the Democrats and Republicans. Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, and their congressional friends aren’t alone in their opposition to anything that would help President Trump and flyover America from wresting control of…
Fake Research Leads to Fake News
I recently saw this headline claiming that abortion rates increased after Texas defunded the abortion provider Planned Parenthood in 2011. After claiming that the new policy resulted in the closure of some “women’s health clinics,” The Huffington Post article stated, “the abortion rate among teenagers in the state rose 3 percent over what it would…
Markets, Not the Governing Elite, Secure Life, Liberty, and Prosperity
A recent article by the Niskanen Center tries to make the case that regulations should be considered beneficial unless proven otherwise. The thing is is that we don’t need data to understand whether the effects caused by regulation are on balance good or bad. Liberty tells us that the cumulative effect of regulations will be…
Local Government Regulation Tramples Property Rights
“Property owners do not acquire a constitutionally protected vested right in property uses …” – Texas Supreme Court; City of University Park v. Benners, 485 SW 2d 773 (1972). To fully solve the problem of local regulations making Texas cities less and less affordable for the average Texan, delaying construction, and costing Texans jobs, the…
SwampCare 101 – Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
Few things in politics surprise me anymore; I expect to see the unexpected, the absurd, the mind blowing, etc. Still, the fact that the Republicans can’t see that with SwampCare (or RyanCare, or ObamaCare Light, etc.) they are doing the exact same thing that the Democrats did—“we have to pass the bill so that you…
What People Think about Texas Legislature’s Special Session
Look’s like some folks aren’t happy:
The Blessings of Inefficient Government
Below is a table that shows (on line 2) the numbers of bills and joint resolutions, i.e., bills that can become law, that were sent by the Texas Legislature to the governor for his signature by April 24 of the session in question. One thing that obviously stands out is that the Texas Legislature has…
Restoring Liberty through the States—and the People
Liberty has afforded all Americans the opportunity to live prosperous lives through hard work and civic cooperation. Unfortunately, the immense growth of the federal government has, in the words of Milton Friedman, made it more likely “that its actions will reflect special interests rather than the general interest.” Instead of government being the means for…