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Federal

MOST RECENT

National Republicans Look to … Joe Straus?

During his tenure, Straus lost 18 seats in the Texas House since the 2010 tea party wave and even managed to lose seats after redistricting, despite holding a Republican majority.

Commentary: COVID & Redistricting

If the March 31 deadline for the release of new census data is postponed to the summer of 2021, we will see a series of redistricting problems ignited in the states.

Commentary: Early Clues

The scope of booking this huge amount of television time this early for particular states provides insight into the progressive left’s targeting priorities.

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Got Freedom?

This week marked "cost of government day" — the date in which the average American has now paid the cost of taxes and regulations handed down from federal, state and local governments. The date, July 16, means Americans work more than half the year to pay for all the government we enjoy.

Leave Us Alone

The American Right and Left are each comprised of disparate groups, with a variety of priorities and objectives. What draws them together, into the Left and the Right? My friend Grover Norquist has developed a fairly convincing theory that’s at once obvious and obfuscated. In the title of his new book, “Leave Us Alone,” Grover provides what does, or should, unify the American center-right.

Big John

Hanging in Sen. John Cornyn’s office is a guitar signed by rockers ZZ Top. Pretty cool. More cool is the way Cornyn has been rocking the U.S. Senate. He forced the hand of the liberals on their global warming scam, and has become a consistent champion of free markets and budget reform in the gang of 100. It’s good to have Big John (video link) fighting in Washington.

New Pig Book Shows Congress is High on the Hog

Citizens Against Government Waste has just released their annual PIG Book cataloging Congress’ waste of tax dollars. It shows there were 11,610 pork projects approved this past year at a cost of $17.2 billion. Among them: $3 million for First Tee, a character-building golfing program, $1.9 million for the Charles Rangel Center for Public Service and $742,764 to fund olive fruit fly research.

March Lobbying Madness with Public Funds

The Center for Responsive Politics has a new bracket comparing the Sweet 16 universities by their federal lobbying expenditures. By this measure, UCLA ($560k) will play UNC ($31Ok) in the Finals – UT-Austin at $200k would be on the sidelines. The bracket is at: https://www.capitaleye.org/img/lobbying_16.gif.

Moore Conservative

One of the strongest voices for fiscal conservativism, and commonsense governance, is Steve Moore. He founded the Club for Growth, and now serves as senior economics writer at the Wall Street Journal, and a writer on the vaunted editorial page.

Giving Us More Gas (Taxes)

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 profit-taker on each gallon of gas we buy, but they have so far only managed to waste our money. So, of course, they want even more.

You Say You Want A Revolution

On the night of December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty boarded a ship in Boston Harbor and destroyed the tea – dumping it in the water – as a way to protest the British government’s tax policies.

Tax Equity

More than two dozen members of the Texas Legislature are calling on Congress to maintain the sales tax deduction for Texans on our federal income taxes. Unless Congress acts, we’ll again lose this important protection.

No Headline: Conservatives Press For Sanity

Seventeen members of the Texas House have sent a letter to Texas’ delegation to the U.S. Congress, urging them to sustain the President’s veto of the massive expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Don’t expect the letter to make the newspapers — they only write about socialists endorsing big government.