State
State Sen. Bob Hall Emphasizes Electrical Grid Security
Sen. Hall continues to educate Texans on vulnerabilities in the state’s energy infrastructure.
Field for Texas GOP Chair Grows Ahead of Convention
Five candidates have announced their intention to run for the position.
Las Vegas Sands Renews Push for Casino Gambling in Texas
After setbacks in the primary, Sands is dusting off an old trade group and even older talking points to lobby for a blank check from Texans in 2025.
Texas DPS Charges Over 200 Illegal Aliens for El Paso Border Riot
An El Paso judge previously approved the temporary release of an unspecified number of aliens involved in the incident.
State Archive
Who Do You Trust?
Not government. A nationwide survey of 1,652 adults by the Association of Government Accountants. People reported being displeased with the openness and honesty of their state and local governments. Texas lawmakers passed landmark legislation putting all state...
PAC Attracts Grassroots Support
With less than a week remaining in the 2008 primary campaign season, the political action committee associated with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has raised more than $325,000. The organization works with activists from across the state on tax and spending issues....
Texas’ Supersized Superintendent Salaries Exposed
KEYE-TV has a revealing story tonight on excessive salaries paid to Texas superintendents, some of which are over $300,000. While the Texas Education Agency posts superintendents' base salary, one must look at the contracts to see the total compensation, which as the...
Are Republicans Wasting Their Votes?
I have had a couple of conversations since early voting began yesterday with long-time Republican voters who are chosing to vote in the Democrat Primary. These Republicans are attempting to chose the candidate that they perceive is easier for Republicans to defeat in...
Texas GOP Primary Ballot to Include Spending Limitation Resolution
Texas Republican primary voters will weigh in on a non-binding resolution that asks whether state and local governments should be required to limit annual budget increases to the sum of the population growth and inflation rate. The measure is likely to pass...
Illegal Costs
Yes, immigration is a federal issue. Yes, the appropriate policy solutions will be complex and precarious. But, often overlooked, is the simple fact that illegal immigration presents a tremendous cost on state and local taxpayers. The state’s biggest budget driver...
Young Conservatives of Texas Release Primary Endorsements
Along with staying busy here at TFR as "The Intern," I also moonlight as a State Vice Chairman for Young Conservatives of Texas. I'm very proud to announce that YCT has released our endorsements for the 2008 primary. The full page of...
Taxes Do Matter
People and jobs are fleeing high-tax states and states with income taxes. Where are they going? States with lower taxes and no income taxes. This is a trend that started in the 1990s, and is reflected yet again in 2007, as 20,000 per day shifted around the country....
Can’t Read? Then Teach
Time was when you could graduate from a Texas college and get a job teaching in El Paso, all without being able to read. That's the story John Corcoran is telling, and he should know. He was the illiterate teacher who sat in front of a high school classroom for 17...