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Are Vaccine Mandates Coming for Texans?
Are Vaccine Mandates Coming for Texans?

“You’re saying you have to inject something into your body that itself carries potential health hazards, or you can’t participate in society. That’s a huge intrusion of government.”

No One Will Call It a Coup
No One Will Call It a Coup

Internal investigation finds criminal complaint against Attorney General Ken Paxton had no factual basis – and that the allegations were leveled by people who themselves broke the law.

MOST RECENT

Medical Marijuana: A Trojan Horse?

What exactly is “medical” marijuana, and could it open the door to the total legalization only 13 percent of Texas Republicans support?

Are Teachers at Peace With Their Job?

In a survey from July 2019 to July 2020, nonprofit organization Teachers for Texas asked, “What issues are keeping you from truly being at peace as a teacher?” 

ARCHIVE

State Rep. Tells Court: I Know Nothing

Fred Hill: Knows nothing about taxpayer protectionsIn what is either a rare act of political honesty or an unbelievable admission of dereliction of duty, or both, State Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson) swore under oath that he doesn’t know anything about the state’s existing spending limit.

Odd, considering he has served for years on the extremely powerful Legislative Budget Board – the 10 appointed members of which are specifically charged by the Legislature to “Adopt a constitutional spending limit.” In fact, that is the first responsibility listed on the LBB web site!

“I do not have any involvement in the development or calculation of the State spending limit,” swore Mr. Hill on August 7, 2007.  (Taxpayers and voters would be excused if they break into a little swearing of their own at this point.)

School Tax Scam

Here’s a nice little scam floating around school districts: claiming credit for cutting taxes when they haven’t.

Bad Tax Ideas Never Go Away

Whack A MoleFighting tax-and-spendoholics is like playing Wack-A-Mole at the arcade. You knock them down, only to find they pop right back up. The lesson? We have to move faster and hit harder.

Last legislative session, taxpayers were successful in stopping tax-and-spendoholics from increasing the taxes to fund further boondoggle spending on more light-rail and other mass transit pork (the only thing “mass” is the cost – mass transit fails to actually relieve congestion, dollar for dollar). But, hey, those trains are fun at Disney World…

Road Taxes Should Fund Roads? What A Crazy Idea…

Sen. John CaronaState Sen. John Carona says in today’s Dallas Morning News that Texas must “stop the diversion of gas tax funds for other uses.” That’s welcome news. While the state’s constitution currently requires transportation funds to be used for transportation expenses, “transportation” is a constantly-expending term.

According to the Morning News, almost a third of Texas’ gasoline tax revenues for transportation have been “diverted” away from true transportation projects.

Privatization Serves Taxpayers Even When Contractors Fail

Advocates of big government rarely let facts get in the way of their pursuit of growing budgets. Such is the case with Waco Tribune-Herald editor John Young, whose weekly column is very often devoted to the worship of government (of the activist variety) and the damnation of conservative, free market principles.

Property Tax Relief… For Government Employees

The headline in today's Houston Chronicle says it all: City union asks for property tax relief. My heart leapt for joy: Bureaucrats are now joining the call for tax relief!

But then I read the article… They don't want property tax relief for all taxpayers, only for government employees. Acting in true-to-bureaucratic form, the city employee union there is looking for a new taxpayer-funded program that would pay the property taxes of city employees. The audacity almost makes the head spin.

Ineffective Treatment?

The Houston Chronicle reported over the weekend that medical professionals are skeptical that the legislature's new $3 billion "cancer fund" will accomplish much more than spend $3 billion of the taxpayers' money.

But, don't worry, it was created with the best of intentions… State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), summed it up nicely in her quote to the Chronicle that "she'd ‘like to sit back and tell my grandchildren I had something to do with the cure.' "

Deadweight, and Dead Weight

An elected official (a Republican, no less) told me yesterday he doesn't mind paying taxes because it is "the price of freedom." His doe-eyed statement was wrong on a great many levels, practical and philosophical. First and foremost, freedom's price has been paid — again and again — by the blood of patriots on battlefields near and far, not collected by revenue agents.
 

Tainted Performance Measures at the Department of Agriculture

Today, the State Auditor released a report certifying that the Department of Agriculture met only 60 percent (3 of 5 with one of the three certified with qualification) of its performance measures. That's the same Department of Agriculture that, as noted in this post , earlier this month sponsored a swanky gourmet dinner in Austin.