Residential electricity prices have steadily increased for years, up more than 15 percent in the United States (not including Texas) since 2004. A newly released U.S. Department of Energy report on electricity markets and reliability makes it clear that renewable energy subsidies are contributing significantly to the increasing cost—and the decreasing reliability—of the national electric grid. Yet the report…
Category: Liberty
The Swamp Wins in Alabama
Mark Steyn is one of the two best political commentators in the English speaking world today. Here is an excerpt of his thoughts on the swamp’s victory in the Alabama Senate race yesterday: Roy Moore was the nominee only because the smart guys over-invested in Luther Strange (just as in 2015 they over-invested in Jeb…
Local Government Regulation Tramples Property Rights
“Property owners do not acquire a constitutionally protected vested right in property uses …” – Texas Supreme Court; City of University Park v. Benners, 485 SW 2d 773 (1972). To fully solve the problem of local regulations making Texas cities less and less affordable for the average Texan, delaying construction, and costing Texans jobs, the…
No Tolerance at Airbnb
As I attempted to log in to my Airbnb account yesterday, I was greeted with this message: Before you continue Whether it’s your first time using Airbnb or you’re one of our original travelers, please commit to respecting and including everyone in the Airbnb community. I agree to treat everyone in the Airbnb community—regardless of…
Truth through Simplicity
The opponents of freedom thrive in an environment of complexity. One of my favorite examples of this is when Politifact labeled as half true a statement by Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams “Gas prices have gone up $2 since Obama took office.” Politifact looked at the facts, determined that gas prices had in fact gone…
Why I am Not Voting for Trump
I am not going to vote for Donald Trump for president of the United States. This has caused consternation among some of my friends stuck in the binary choice paradigm that voting for anyone besides Mr. Trump or not voting at all is essentially a vote for Hillary Clinton. I am comfortable with the decision…
Mark Steyn on the GOP
“The reality is that the GOP establishment, after their appalling behavior in the Hastert years, were given a second chance by the base in 2010, and a third chance in 2014. Now they’re demanding a fourth chance – and people go, well, say what you like but a Republican president will at least get to…
Chattel Law Enforcement
A Texas state representative recently complained about being treated like a child during an encounter with police after he had been clocked driving 94 miles an hour. His statement was in the context of hearings over the sad case of Sandra Bland. There are a lot of problems we face today as we move toward…
The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
I enjoyed reading The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming to my son (age 12). It kept him thoroughly engaged. My wife enjoyed it when she read it too. It also provides a sad commentary on elitism, both on the blindness of the elite to the real world around them…
Real Reformers’ Real Advantage
“The real reformer has a real advantage, but one which he rarely recognizes himself as having. Living in the world that actually exists is an enormous advantage. There are times when it almost seems to me like cheating or something. In the long run, we need not worry. In the long run, blind stupidity never…