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State Archive

State Flush With Cash; Still No Additional Tax Relief

Texas’ budget surplus has grown even more. State employees will get a pay raise, taxpayers? Still nothing. The Office of the Comptroller announced yesterday that the state is bringing in $1.5 billion in additional revenues – over and above the previously announced...

CHIPing Away At Taxpayers

What was Kay Bailey Hutchison thinking? As the only Texas Republican to support a massive expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, Hutchison's vote is contrary to the wisdom of Texas' fiscal conservatives on a program of questionable effectiveness. The...

Tax First, Spend More

Never has a newspaper gotten the story so right. The section heading said it all, “Taxing As A First Option.” That’s precisely the attitude of so many in government, and in this case the government apologists are admitting it. A Dallas Morning News article about...

Hey Kids, It’s Okay To Lie and Cheat

Texas school districts are showing kids that it is okay to lie and cheat so that you may get your way. This valuable life lesson comes courtesy of school districts efforts to convince voters to raise their taxes, as reported in today’s Dallas Morning News. At least...

Embracing Mediocrity

Public education in Texas is a mess. That's the nutshell version of a straightforward piece in the Dallas Morning News, in which the president of the Texas Association of Business presents sobering statistics to demonstrate that "state government has only compounded...

Your Money Headin’ Down The Road

Remember the Texas Department of Transportation plan to use $9 million of your money to convince you to quit worrying and love the TransTexas Corridor? Well, it's still going on, but now one of the Texas Taxpayer Heroes is stepping up to ask the Legislature to study...

Taxpayers Funding Anti-Taxpayer Lobbyists

Taxpayers had a good day in court this week, but it doesn't make up for the untold millions of dollars government entities have used in our money to lobby against the interests of the people paying for big government. Some time ago my friend Peggy Venable at Americans...

A Hero And A Gentleman

Not only is he one of the best members of the Texas Legislature on fiscal issues, but State Rep. Jim Jackson (R-Carrollton) is a gentleman in the finest sense of the word. I had the honor of presenting him the "Texas Taxpayer Hero" Award at an event in Dallas this...