by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 25, 2007 | Commentary
We hope you and yours have a happy holiday season!
by Mlevin | Dec. 24, 2007 | State
The Houston Chronicle reports that the state will collect $244 million more in cigarette tax revenues under the $1 per pack increase than predicted. While smoking is most assuredly a bad habit, more money for big government is also an addiction that must be broken....
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 23, 2007 | State
According to Wikipedia, catfish “feed on algae, fish scales, mucus, carrion, insects” — and now, thanks to the Texas Department of Agriculture, your tax dollars. Catfish farmers can get up to $80,000 in bail-out money from the TDA if they suffered...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 22, 2007 | Local
Houston ISD managed to get 51% of the voters to impose $850 billion in debt upon themselves a month ago — for the children, of course. But a lawsuit is stopping the district from the getting the cash, under allegations that not all the children are benefit from...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 20, 2007 | State
Cities across the state are rushing to install red-light cameras as a way to make money, er, catch offenders. An investigation is underway in Richland Hills, suggesting the “yellow†warning light has been shortened, so more people will get caught running the...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 20, 2007 | State
A report issued by the Texas Education Agency says the premier pre-Kindergarten program in Texas is a waste of money, has failed to accomplish its goals, and has too little oversight. So what is the TEA’s response to the Dallas Morning News? The program has met...
by Mlevin | Dec. 19, 2007 | State
Texas sales tax receipts increase of 9.5 percent in November over last year highlights the need for a mechanism whereby sales, property or other taxes would automatically be cut as money floods in. Think of it – how many of the foreclosures engulfing Texas...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 18, 2007 | Local
The Austin American Statesman’s editorial board is breathlessly writing that “Smarter teachers leave sooner.†Texas is facing a worsening shortage of qualified teachers in science, math and other highly-specialized fields. Could that be because we let crummy...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 17, 2007 | State
The media has had a field day with Gov. Rick Perry’s recent assertion that George W. Bush was never a fiscal conservative. His comments were captured — of course — on YouTube. The real problem, of course, is that he was speaking absolute truth....
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 14, 2007 | Federal
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. Supportive crowds stood on water’s edge. British sailors watched...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 13, 2007 | State
A few months ago we talked about the state spending a bucket-load of your money to buy a letter allegedly penned by Alamo defender David Crockett. Okay, allegedly is a stretch – most experts were sure it was a fake. After much deliberation, state officials have...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 12, 2007 | State
Proposals to eliminate property taxes using the sales tax are gaining steam, but even among supporters there is a common misconception. Some believe the proposal would cause the sales tax to rise to confiscatory levels. Sure, liberals like to make that claim, and...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 11, 2007 | Local
State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown of Irving is at it again. She’s worried taxpayers are being scammed by the mass transit authority in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. She must be crazy — taxpayers’ don’t really mind $900 million errors with their...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 10, 2007 | Local
The newspaper industry is suffering a rotten blow this week, with the announcement that columnist Roddy Stinson of the San Antonio Express-News is retiring, effective Dec. 30. Stinson has been an unabshed advocate for old-fashioned common sense, even when —...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 10, 2007 | State
Some things are just bad public policy, particularly when they deal with eliminating competition. Maybe even especialyl when competition is limited. This is especially true of efforts to make all states levy sales taxes the same way. While we’ve written about...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 10, 2007 | State
The Austin American-Statesman is reporting the obvious today: Texas voters want substantive reform to our tax system. Political consultant Todd Smith sums it up pretty well: “I never heard anybody say, ‘I just got the right amount of property tax...
by Mlevin | Dec. 9, 2007 | Local
The Chronicle story "Homeowners still waiting for tax relief from Perry" reports most of the $2,000 promised property tax relief is evaporating due to appraisal increases, and in some school districts, rate increases. But the obstacle last session to more...
by Admin | Dec. 7, 2007 | Local
Late Friday afternoon the Austin emergency response teams and federal agencies declared the substance mailed to TFR to be mostly harmless. The TFR staff and others in their section of the building were released, after being sequestered until the powder was identified....
by Admin | Dec. 7, 2007 | Local
The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Michael Quinn Sullivan, offered the following statement on the death threat and powdery substance he received in the mail today. In response, the building has been evacuated but the TFR staff has been asked to remain...
by Admin | Dec. 7, 2007 | State
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