I don’t usually find a lot worth quoting in the mainstream media. But the Houston Chronicle as been on a bit of a rampage of late against corporate welfare in the form of Chapter 313 property tax abatements offered by Texas school districts to big businesses–especially renewable energy wind and solar farms: “As millions of Texans…
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Three Cheers for Cultural Christianity
by Timon Cline It is presently in vogue amongst evangelical cultural elites to decry “Cultural Christianity,” or alternatively, “Bible Belt Religion.” Ray Ortlund’s tweet from April 12th encapsulates this mood. “I rejoice at the decline of Bible Belt Religion,” he wrote. “It made bad people worse—in the name of Jesus. Now may we actually believe in Him,…
Shutdowns Were a Disaster
by John Hinderaker The Wall Street Journal notes that, as the coronavirus disappears in the rear-view mirror, two Americas are emerging: The unemployment rate in April nationwide was 6.1%, but this obscures giant variations in the states. With some exceptions, those run by Democrats such as California (8.3%) and New York (8.2%) continued to suffer significantly higher…
Being Conservative is No Longer Enough
We don’t need to spend time calling Americans back to conservatism; we need to call them to faith in Jesus. The modern conservative movement came to life in the 1950s around William F. Buckley, Jr. and National Review. Thirty years later Ronald Reagan and the Heritage Foundation brought it into the mainstream. When Newt Gingrich…
The Liberty Café 40: The Corrupting Power of Government-Texas Edition
Earthly power is corrupting. Unfortunately, most power exercised today by our elected officials–including those in Texas–is earthly, not biblical. Yes, their authority as rulers comes from God, but most of what that they do with their God-given authority defies God’s commands in Scripture. On Episode 40 of the Liberty Café, we examine what this means…
Will Texas Legislators Take on Renewable Energy?
Despite years of increasing reliance on intermittent generation sources like wind and solar, Texas policymakers seem to have been caught by surprise by the blackouts experienced by millions of Texans this winter. They should not have been. While temperatures dropped into the single digits for extended periods over much of Texas, solar and wind generators…
The Liberty Café 39: Top 10 Reasons for Christians & Conservatives to Oppose the Texas Budget
Next week the Texas Legislature will pass a budget that will ultimately account for at least $265 billion in spending–and perhaps as much as $280 billion; up from $209 billion only six years ago. This week on the Liberty Café we go over the Top Ten reasons conservatives and Christians should oppose this continued profligate…
The Liberty Café 38: Corporate Cronyism Run Amuck
Texas school districts use Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code to give large property tax breaks to businesses–especially renewable energy generators–that the rest of us don’t get. On Episode 38 of the Liberty Café, we take a look to see if the Texas Legislature is doing anything to rein in corporate cronyism through Chapter…
The PCA Has Fallen into Error, and Can’t Get Back Up: Part 3-David Frenchism
One of the most fascinating phenomena of our time is the number of evangelical Christians brought up in the wake of dispensationalism coming to grips with the problems of the church abandoning the culture. Now, I understand that dispensationalism, and its reformed cousin–Two Kingdoms (R2K) theology, don’t use the term, “abandon the culture.” And both…
Renewables Taking Over the Texas Grid
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the entity that operates the Texas electric grid, last week projected record-high demand this summer because of hot, dry weather and Texas’ continued economic growth. ERCOT projects that demand could reach as high as 77,144 megawatts (MW) this summer. But says with a projected 86,862 MW of generation…