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The Latest
Illegal Immigration Remains a Top Issue for Voters
A recent hearing in the Texas House highlighted the need for action.
Houston Mayor Joins Picket Line for Longshoremen’s Strike
The National Association of Manufacturers estimates that $2.1 billion in trade is at risk every day the strike continues.
Tarrant County Public Health Director Advises Schools to Remove Smartphones from Classrooms
Brian Byrd says research shows the use of social media causes a rise in mental disorders like anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.
AG Paxton Sues Travis County Over Secretive Security Expenditures
The Office of the Attorney General claimed the Travis County Commissioners Court failed to provide proper notice or allow the public the opportunity to comment on the proposal.
The Archive
Sanity Check
"Are the Republicans crazy?," asks Houston's Steven Hotze in a commentary this week. Not a bad question to ask, considering the growing outcry from small-business owners around the state as they see the impact of Texas' new business tax taking effect. That this...
Ethically Challenged
An age-old practice in the Texas House is finally being exposed to sunlight, and the practitioners are scrambling to defend themselves. Like johns caught in a prostitution sting, legislators who've been putting political cronies on the payroll for lucrative public...
New Business Tax Too Taxing
Many business are bracing for the worst when they file their new gross margins tax report on June 15. Consider Mesquite-based Alco Glass, which reported a loss of $18,000 in 2007, but will owe $6,000 in margin taxes, which will require them to take out a loan. All...
TxDOT: Roads No, Parks Yes
Not too long ago the Texas Department of Transportation said it didn’t have enough money to build roads. Plum out of cash. But now comes word from Dallas that TxDOT is spending $20 million to build a 5-acre park. That’s better be one heck of park. And, by the way, the...
Big Gun, Little Bang
Unions are unions, whatever they call themselves and whatever their industry. While they might have once served a legitimate function, unions today are drains on our economy and every sector of endeavor. Government is no different. In the Fort Worth suburb of...
Who’ll Be A Leader?
Conservatives in Texas are fed up with out of control property taxes, spending that's going through the roof, and a new business tax created to satiate the demands of growing government. That's why 92 percent of Republican primary voters said on the March ballot that...
Austen in Austin?
If there's such a thing as a one-man think-tank, Austen Furse might qualify. He's a reliable conservative and excellent businessman with political credentials stretching from Matagorda County to the White House. He's also the only person to have now publically...
No Control For You
Republicans seeking to make substantive policy reforms face as their chief obstacle, all too often, Republican elected officials. These "Republicans" like to say they believe in fiscal restraint and local control – just not when it stands in the way of spending your...
Insurance Bad, Government Good
Breathlessly reported by the Austin American Statesman is a report showing that -- gasp -- health insurance premiums rates have risen 39.7 percent since 2001. Of course, state government has grown more than 30 percent since '01 but the Statesman doesn't seem bugged by...