“Avarice,” states a recent editorial in the Houston Chronicle, “is just a politer way of describing greed, which seems to be the fuel behind President Trump’s idea to bypass Congress to give yet another tax break to wealthy investors like himself.” And taxation is just a politer way of describing legalized theft. The editorial goes…
A recent report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation suggests that property taxes for education could be cut in half in as little as eleven years. The proposal calls for a combination of reducing the growth in spending and increasing other taxes (such as the state sales tax). But increasing other taxes simply shifts the…
One of the rallying cries of the American Revolution was “taxation without representation.” While American colonialists took up arms against the world’s greatest military power in this cause, today’s Americans (and many others) often pay exorbitant taxes with nary a protest. If you stay in a hotel, you are subject to a hotel/hospitality tax that…
In most political debates, we hear lots of claims about the alleged benefits of a particular program or policy. Those benefits invariably address some current problem (whether real or imagined) with little consideration of the long-term consequences. However, today’s policy decisions have implications and applications that extend far beyond the short-term. The decisions that we…
To “celebrate” Tax Day 2018, I am offering a free download of “Government Without Taxation” from my book Individual Rights and Government Wrongs. In this chapter, I examine why it is both moral and practical to finance government through voluntary means. While many believe that government can only be financed through coercive taxation–by forcing individuals…
Each legislative session, government school financing is one of the most controversial issues on the agenda. And each legislative session, nearly every party involved—legislators, parents, teachers, and taxpayers—walks away unhappy. The controversy and dissatisfaction will continue unabated until fundamental reform of the educational system is enacted. About 90 percent of all children in Texas attend…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on August 14, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. I am simultaneously amused and disgusted with politicians who do verbal gymnastics to support a particular position while ignoring its implications. Tax holidays are one example. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia now offer tax holidays in the…
In February 2009, I announced my “virtual” candidacy for Mayor of Houston. It was a campaign conducted solely through my blog, Live Oaks, and was intended to demonstrate the positions that a freedom-loving candidate would take. Below is my platform. Over the past few months I have previewed some of the potential candidates for the…