by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 25, 2008 | State
Texas lost a good friend this week with the passing of Michael S. Stevens. A real estate developer from Houston, Stevens was a Vietnam Vet and a leader in the conservative movement. He always conducted himself with the greatest honor and integrity. He will be greatly...
by Mlevin | May. 25, 2008 | Local
The Dallas Morning News has a feature today on appraisal growth in the Metroplex. Here’s a shocker: “Denton County recorded a 14.5 percent jump in preliminary appraisals, though appraisers say the final numbers should drop below 10 percent and into what...
by Mlevin | May. 23, 2008 | Local, State
It is not surprising that Texas cities restrict strip clubs, but now the City of West Lake Hills near Austin has banned new banks and nearby Lakeway has required them to obtain a unique permit. Why? Because they do not generate sales tax revenue. Lakeway Mayor Steve...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 23, 2008 | Commentary
Thousands of patriots in countless battles willingly gave their lives for the cause of liberty and the defense of our Constitution. While our rights to life and liberty are endowed by God, securing them has fallen to men called into battle against forces intent on...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 22, 2008 | State
There’s a lot of hot air expended about “global warming” and “climate change.” What’s painfully obvious is that the “solutions” promoted bear a striking resemblance to the same, tired, disproven socialist ideas carted around by liberals for years. It’s also obvious...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 22, 2008 | State
As if education dollars weren’t stretched thin enough already with top-heavy bureaucracies and in-school daycares for kids’ kids, the Office of the Texas Attorney General has now prepared a mandatory high school curriculum that will delve into such...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 21, 2008 | State
With the state’s new business tax expected to bring in billions of extra dollars, some in Austin are salivating over the prospect of spending all that cash. Not so fast, writes the president of the Texas Association of Business this week. Former state...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 19, 2008 | State
The Texas Department of Transportation is a high-profile agency that has seemed intent on making a series of high-profile plunders in recent years. No one has much good to say for an agency that so often seems to spend frivolously while claiming poverty. To say TxDOT...
by Mlevin | May. 18, 2008 | Local
Even as local governments like the City of Dallas can barely keep the potholes filled and their jails running properly, they are none too eager to indulge in mission creep. On May 15, the Dallas City Council approved spending $42 million to purchase land to create a...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 15, 2008 | State
Our latest video offering at EmpowerTexans.tv presents the first honoree of our coveted “Real Tax Waster.” This will be an occasional feature and we are taking nominees! The first recipient: The Texas Department of Transportation. The lyric’s to this...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 14, 2008 | State
Left-wingers are a grim lot. Not only is the sky falling and the glass half empty, but it’s the lack of funding that makes the sky fall and drains water from the glass. Take the current Texas economy: unlike the rest of the nation, the state has job growth and the...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 14, 2008 | Local
Liberals love to micromanage other people’s business – as long as the rules don’t apply to them. The Texas House Democratic Caucus chair proved that this week with her whining “Monday Memo” decrying recent attention paid to predominately liberal officeholders who were...
by Mlevin | May. 13, 2008 | State
Kudos to Attorney General Greg Abbott for an outstanding AG’s opinion released yesterday that concludes the Legislature may not impose new property taxes without a constitutional amendment approved by the voters. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility had submitted a...
by Mlevin | May. 12, 2008 | Local
Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) told a local TV station, “The government doesn’t need to be taxing or collecting anymore money than is absolutely necessary. We can either find some place to spend that money or give it back to the tax payers and from my...
by Mlevin | May. 10, 2008 | State
At an interim hearing this week in McAllen, Texas school districts and colleges demanded yet more tax money. The tag team approach may have backfired though, as South Texas College justified their request on the grounds that two-thirds of their students need remedial...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 9, 2008 | State
Seriously, way to go TxDOT. Sure, you guys miscounted $1 billion. You’ve said you cannot build roads again because you’re broke. But, hey, you did just win 15 excellence in advertising awards! According to the Texas Government Insider, TxDOT received the...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 9, 2008 | Local
No sooner had our weekly e-mail newsletter left the servers than word arrived that Houston attorney Grant Harpold is making plans to run for Senate District 17. That seat will be open because of Dr. Kyle Janek’s expected resignation in the next several weeks....
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 8, 2008 | State
So the Democrats line with the state’s projected surplus is they support giving our money back “when we can afford to.” If that line sounds disturbingly familiar, it’s probably because our Republican Lt. Governor, David Dewhurst, was singing that song back...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 8, 2008 | State
Year after year, the State of Texas has produced budget surpluses – more money than government needs. Most egregiously, the state had a $14.3 billion surplus in 2007; a chunk of it was spent on bigger government, and chunk was put in an unsecured “tax relief” account...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | May. 7, 2008 | Local
Facing a $16 million budget deficit, Vallejo, California, is filing for bankruptcy. It seems for way too long the inmates have been running the asylum. Or, rather, the “public safety” unions have been draining the city coffers dry. Nearly 75 percent of the...
