by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 24, 2008 | State
State Sen. John Carona gets it right in a news story, where he is quoted as saying the state’s transportion agency “may well have crossed a legal threshold” when it enaged in a $9 million program to convince Texans to stop worrying and learn to love...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 24, 2008 | Local
Used to be selling your land to the government was a break-even proposition — you got what the government valued it at, or else. But the Austin City Council is much more progressive than that since, after all, it’s not their money. In looking to build a...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 23, 2008 | Local
Never has a better small-government campaign been mounted than the one in Kerr County for the position of treasurer. Republican Ed Hamilton says that if he’s elected, he won’t do a single thing — he won’t even take the $46,000-per-year...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 21, 2008 | State
Remember being told that the Lottery would solve our education finance woes? Yep, that was a good one. Now the same band that brought us the state monopoly on games-of-chance want us to feel guilty that the poor and uneducated play the Lottery, and especially the...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 18, 2008 | State
State Rep. John Otto of Dayton has it right: “Everything we do in Texas with regard to public policy starts and stops with the budget.” Too few people in or out of the Legislature understand that, which is why its good to know Otto has been tapped to find...
by Mlevin | Jan. 18, 2008 | State
Larry Appel, Dumas ISD superintendent, denounced voter approval for tax hikes, saying “It is much harder to convince them to vote for a tax increase” since most voters don’t “typically have kids in school.” But it’s their money....
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 18, 2008 | State
Starting in early December, our Empower Texans PAC began sending a 4-page questionnaire to candidates and incumbents, regardless of party. These were questions culled from the responses a great many of our friends and readers proposed in the fall. More than half of...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 16, 2008 | State
I don’t know who to root for in this race, but the Democratic Primary out in El Paso is looking to be fun. State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, is calling State Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, a ‘dinosaur.’ If so, then Moreno could probably be...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 16, 2008 | Federal, State
Ever heard of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission? Well, they want your money. This quasi-governmental body is suggesting that gasoline taxes be TRIPLED over the next five years. Big Government, not Big Oil, is already the biggest...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 15, 2008 | Local
Hysterical pronouncements by politicians can lead to both bad policy and higher costs. You don’t get much more hysterical than Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, who told an audience that simply breathing the air in some parts of Texas places people “as at [much]...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 15, 2008 | State
Yep, Mom was right: Just because the other kids are jumping off a bridge doesn’t make it right. Writ large, that commonsense is found in the national economy. If Texas were to follow the big-spending, high-taxing path of all the cool liberal kids, like...
by Mlevin | Jan. 15, 2008 | Local
The Dallas Morning News reports that only 7 percent of homeowners challenged their 2006 appraisals. Although 54 percent of protesters got some relief, Richard Whittle was denied when he challenged the increase of his one-story Garland house by 67 percent to $135,490...
by Admin | Jan. 11, 2008 | State
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 11, 2008 | State
Despite cries of poverty from university administrators seeking constant tuitions hikes — and more taxpayer subsidies — a new review finds major institutions are not only awash in cash, but that they are hoarding the cash contributed by alumni. For what?...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 8, 2008 | State
One of the most significant taxpayer lawsuits in Texas’ history is about to go to jury-trial in Austin, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has thus far refused to be deposed — despite being a defendant in the case. While the office of Lt. Governor is a taxing...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 7, 2008 | State
In a rare display of good sense, the Dallas Morning News almost gets it right in an editorial on the Legislature’s new business income tax. But in arguing against the creation of new loopholes and exmeptions, they write “this new tax needs time to...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 4, 2008 | Local
Abilene school district officials tell the local newspaper that their “New Year’s Resolution” is to increase taxpayers’ debt this May by $85.2 million, or $5,126 per student. This would include spending $2 million on a new press box for the...
by Mlevin | Jan. 4, 2008 | State
The Houston Chronicle reports on the severe impact of the new business tax, which is a $6.2 billion hike  over the franchise tax. Wanda Rohm, who owns Presto Printing in Houston with 12 employees, said her taxes will go up an astonishing 300 percent. We have...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 3, 2008 | State
You always get more of what you subsidize, especially risky behavior. That’s certainly the case along Texas’ hurricane-prone coastline. Our friends over at the Texas Public Policy Foundation recently published a sobering report looking at the...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Jan. 3, 2008 | Local
While Texas Transportation Commissioner Ric Williamson’s strong views on any number of issues earned him equal measures of love and scorn, he was an honorable man who truly sought to serve the best interests of Texans. He died earlier this week of a heart...
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