NEWS
Roadway Sunlight
Missed by almost everyone in the media feeding frenzy of stories about the Texas Department of Transportation is a rather substantive effort underway that could prove beneficial to taxpayers in the near future. New TxDOT Commission Chairwoman Dierdre Delisi appointed a committee charged with literally opening the books on the agency and its activities to an extent no one’s ever seen.
And apparently the Earth isn’t flat…
Editors at the Fort Worth Star Telegram are shocked — shocked! — to find that what is driving the beginnings of good public policy in Birdville Independent School District is — horror of horrors — a need to improve efficiency and maximize their existing revenues. The leftist editors are beside themselves that good public policy is only coming about because of a tight fiscal situation.
Flying High… With Your Money
Ag Commissioner Todd Staples took advantage of the state’s airplane fleet twice as much as either the governor or the attorney general.
New Margins Tax Battering Texas Businesses
On June 15th, Texas business will have to fork over a big of chunk of change to fill state coffers. Some 84 percent of Texas small businesses will see their tax burdens increase by more than 100 percent over their previous franchise tax bill, with more than 40 percent seeing a spike of over 500 perccent.
Eiland’s Price Is Wrong For Taxpayers
In the case of Craig Eiland, a state representative from Galveston, he’s had the payroll a former Democratic legislator named Zeb Zbranek. For ol’ Zeb it’s a sweet deal – he’s “on call” to help Craig out with constituent services, for $300 per month. How much “on call” does that buy? Apparently enough for the incumbent to count his predecessor as a “full-time” employee.
Apple IPods for Texas Students Take a Bite Out of Taxpayers
It probably sounds too good to be a true to most Texas headbanging middle school students, but they may be getting an iPod on taxpayers’ dime. This past week New Summerfield ISD announced it had received a $17,000 grant from the state to give IPods to 85 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The money comes the Texas Education Agency’s Rural Technology grant program.
A Texas Star
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 missed, and our prayers go out for his wife and family.
Only an Appraisal District Bureaucrat Could Say a 10% Tax Increase is “Relatively Flat”
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 they’re labeling relatively flat growth.”
Big Government’s Raid on the Banks
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.
Memorial Day
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 destroying the glorious American experiment. We live today in the liberty their ultimate sacrifice yesterday made possible; we sleep easily under the protection of men and women willing to lay down their lives for liberty tomorrow. Let us endeavor to make the very most of their sacrifice.
EmpowerTexans.TV: On Global Warming
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 that those ideas will have dangerous consequences for Texans and our economy. One clear-thinking leader on energy policy is Michael Williams, chairman of the state’s commission that oversees energy policy.
Who’s Your Papa?
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 questions as the difference between “alleged father” and “presumed father.” So while 50 percent of Texas kids entering college need remediation in the core studies, they will at least know how to “secure child support.” The school course is called “PAPA” — Parenting and Paternity Awareness curriculum. Oh, please…