Free Republic

No city in America runs on anything resembling a free-market model. But Texas' major cities are probably the closest thing, with vast improvements to their economies and living standards to show for it. Their looser land-use laws mean that housing supply grows quickly, stabilizing prices. Their lighter tax and regulatory structure helps businesses locate there and grow. And—shenanigans from the governor's office notwithstanding—their openness to immigrants means they have cheap and robust labor forces.But one market-oriented aspect little discussed is Texas' approach to transportation. The state has 25 toll roads, more than any other state. They are particularly common in Houston and Dallas,...

Is fighting sprawl still a goal for those who decide the fate of transportation funding at the federal, state and local levels?Transportation planning is deeply connected to economic development, but there in any agreement about transportation funding among government leaders often ends.Parag Khanna, a senior public policy analyst in Singapore and author of “Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization,” summarized the political divide over transportation planning like this: “America is increasingly divided not between red states and blue states, but between connected hubs and disconnected backwaters.”But division that stymies transportation planning goes further. Government leaders have always been divided...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday proposed a $9 billion plan to widen three of the state’s most congested highways — the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — in what he said would include the largest public-private partnership for highways in North America. The projects would add four toll lanes each to Maryland’s portion of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and to I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick. It would also widen the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) by four toll lanes after taking over ownership from the federal government. Because of private-sector involvement, Hogan said, the plan would...

Local entities involved in the proposed Interstate 15 Siphon Road interchange signed off this week on plans to start construction on a project expected to dramatically increase the Pocatello area’s population and greatly improve the local economy. Those behind the effort to build the interchange say that with its construction, the area north of Pocatello and Chubbuck will see massive development in the future, including a technology park employing thousands of people, shopping centers, dozens of new neighborhoods, parks, trails and even new concert venues. But before such unheralded growth can occur, the interchange needs to be built. While the...

Trump and the Republicans need to tout the jobs report better. Even ABC radio, which carries Rush Limbaugh and many other top conservative hosts was complaining that weak wage growth was dragging down the economy. NPR said wages were very weak, "this late into an economic recovery." This is shockingly untrue. In the first quarter of the year, real weekly earnings grew two 1982 inflation-adjusted dollars; that's about six real dollars. That's as much as real wages grew during the entire Obama administration. Wage growth then doubled THAT in the second quarter. And while we don't yet know the July...

<p>The U.S. economy revved up this spring after a weak start to the year, fueled by a surge in consumer spending. But the growth spurt still fell short of the optimistic goals President Donald Trump hopes to achieve through tax cuts and regulatory relief.</p>

LONDON — The rest of the planet bears a warning for President Trump’s plan to lean heavily on private business in conjuring a trillion dollars’ worth of American infrastructure: Handing profit-making companies responsibility for public works can produce trouble. In India, politically connected firms have captured contracts on the strength of relationships with officialdom, yielding defective engineering at bloated prices. When Britain handed control to private companies to upgrade London’s subway system more than a decade ago, the result was substandard, budget-busting work, prompting the government to step back in. Canada has suffered a string of excessive costs on public...

Throughout the 2016 campaign and into the early stages of his presidency, Donald Trump vowed to make infrastructure improvements around the country. The promise was all part of his brand of populism — spend more money domestically and less abroad. America first. “We need members of both parties to join hands and work with us to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure plan to build new roads and bridges and airports and tunnels and highways and railways all across our great nation,” Trump pledged at a campaign rally in Melbourne, Florida, earlier this year. Given Trump’s Russia investigation toxicity, it will...

Job gains in the private sector far outpaced expectations in May, payroll processor ADP said Thursday, adding to sentiment that the U.S. economy is seeing a rebound in the second quarter from a sluggish first three months of the year. The private sector added 253,000 jobs last month, far outpacing Wall Street expectations for a gain of 185,000 jobs. Business services, which includes technical services, management and administrative and support services positions, saw its strongest monthly increase since 2014, adding 88,000 jobs for the month, boosting the overall service-providing sector to 205,000 net new jobs. “Job growth is rip-roaring,” Mark...

APRIL 26 EVENING Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? The Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own Blood. Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman...

APRIL 26 MORNING His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me. Underneath are the Everlasting Arms. When [Peter] saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His Hand. The...

Our Lord Jesus Christ, ... though He was rich, yet for your sakes ... became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. The brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they. Who, being in the...

The Bible teaches that the Christian life is one of constant growth. When you were born again, you were born into God’s family. It is God’s purpose that you will grow into fill stature and become mature in Christ. It would be against the law of God and nature if you were to remain a baby and thus become a spiritual dwarf. In 2 Peter 3:18, the Bible says that we are to grow. It implies steady development, constant enlargement, increasing wisdom. For one to grow properly certain rules must be observed for good spiritual health. 1.Read your Bible daily....

In a matter of days, time will run out on a plan that could cut down on commuting times, pave the way for even less traffic congestion, and potentially give taxpayers a break. For reasons that remain unclear, the General Assembly has ignored the Illinois Department of Transportation's I-55 managed lanes project, and the cost of doing nothing has the potential to harm the state's ability to do business for years to come. The I-55 managed lanes proposal would add an express toll lane between the Veterans Memorial Tollway in the southwest suburbs and the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago....

Jonathon M. Trugman at the New York Post reported this week that the final numbers for the Obama Administration are in and they are abysmal: On Thursday we closed the book on the Obama economic “miracle” — and it’s a miracle we are not in a recession. Last week the Commerce Department released its third revision for fourth-quarter 2016 gross domestic product. The number came in at a paltry 2.1 percent, meaning that growth during President Obama’s final year in office — the end of an “Error of Hope” — landed with a big thud at just 1.6 percent. That...

The Federal Reserve gives us the freedom to buy things now that we would otherwise have to wait for.In looking at the Federal Reserve, it is important to note that this is a money system, not just a group of people sitting in a conference room controlling everything having to do with the US dollar. The Fed is a system just like the government of the US is a system. What that means is that no one controls it, and that it is much bigger than any one person or group of people could ever control. They can guide it,...

Using humorous movie clips and a President Donald Trump imitation, Baytown Mayor Stephen DonCarlos gave his annual State of the City address to members of the Baytown Chamber of Commerce and many community leader Tuesday. DonCarlos talked up the major ongoing and upcoming projects in Baytown. A big one is the hotel and conference center at Bayland Island. “We have been working on the conference center on Bayland Island, and hopefully we will be able to host this event there next year,” DonCarlos said. The city has been working with Dallas-based Gatehouse Capital on the project. Once completed, the conference...

More than a year after Texas voters approved routing billions in state sales taxes to roads and bridges, some lawmakers are questioning whether the first payment of $5 billion should move forward as planned. Texans voted in 2015 to boost funding for state’s public roadways and bridges, which have strained under the state’s growing population. Proposition 7 — loudly cheered by top Texas leaders and supported by 83 percent of voters — changed the state constitution to route some taxes collected on car sales to the State Highway Fund. But in an unusually tightfisted legislative session, some Texas lawmakers are...

For the umpteenth year in a row, mainstream economists and analysts are once again planting the seeds of hope for a return to stronger GDP growth. The White House has hoped for it for the last 8 years, and now President-elect Trump is all but promising a surge in economic growth. Unfortunately, while promises are great, we must analyze the reality of attaining such a lofty resurgence.Let’s start with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and their projections for the next decade. This is shown in the chart below.There are several very noteworthy observations which need to be made: Real potential...

NORTH TEXAS (CBS11) – It is nearly impossible these days in North Texas to avoid road construction projects. While billions of dollars are being pumped into the roadway system, TxDOT said it still can’t keep up with the growth. “There are a thousand people moving a day to Texas and we’ve (North Texas) got most of them,” said TxDOT Dallas spokesperson Donna Huerta. “We can’t keep up with that kind of demand, but what we can do is take what we have and make it better.” With a new approach allowing contractors to design and build a project simultaneously, TxDOT...