TPPF’s Guenthner honored with 2009 Texas Social Media Award

Austin American-Statesman selects Guenthner as one of the top 25 social media users in Texas

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation is pleased to announce that David Guenthner, its Director for Media and Government Relations, has been selected as one of the inaugural recipients of the Texas Social Media Awards.

"Communication technologies and techniques are changing rapidly," said Justin Keener, the Foundation’s Vice President of Policy and Communications. "David has done a great job of finding new tools and incorporating them into our outreach programs so that we can share our message with more people. We are thrilled that he has received this well-deserved recognition."

Guenthner is the host and producer of "Texas PolicyCast," the Foundation’s weekly podcast. Texas PolicyCast was downloaded more than 220,000 times last year. He manages the Foundation’s "Speaking Freely" blog and is a contributor at HoustonConservative.com.

During the last several months, Guenthner has developed new programs for online reputation management and blog outreach and overseen the development of the Foundation’s Facebook page. He has actively promoted the Foundation’s research through Twitter and provided tutorials for legislators, activists, and other opinion leaders on how to use the service.

"For 20 years, the free-market movement has looked to the Texas Public Policy Foundation for leadership on the key public policy issues affecting our state and nation," Keener said. "David has played a key role in delivering our message across Texas and the nation, predicting and responding to the evolution in how people gather and share information, and this award validates his contribution and effectiveness."

The Texas Social Media Awards are sponsored by the Austin American-Statesman. A panel at the American-Statesman selected the 25 winners from 125 nominees submitted by the readers of Statesman.com. Guenthner will receive his award at a March 15th award ceremony.

David Guenthner is Director of Media and Government Relations for the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan, free-market research institute based in Austin. More information can be found on the Foundation’s primary website, www.TexasPolicy.com, or its government spending transparency website, www.TexasBudgetSource.com.

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The Governor That Stole Christmas

It’s hard to tell which performance was more cringe-worthy—last week’s Saturday Night Live impersonation of New York Gov. David Paterson, or his real-life budget presentation on Tuesday.

Paterson laid out a plan to create and raise 137 different taxes and fees on the people of New York. Gov. Paterson’s holiday scroogery includes 4% taxes on: cable and satellite television services; clothing and shoes under $500—with a two-week tax holiday; music, videos, and pictures you download to your iPod; and tickets to movies, concerts, and sporting events. Non-diet sodas will come with a new 18% tax.

But drivers, in particular, will find themselves caught in Paterson’s tax trap:

* 5% tax on luxury vehicles;
* 4% tax on tax, limo, and bus rides;
* 25% increase in the motor vehicle registration and driver’s license fees;
* $10 increase (from $15 to $25) in the price of new “reflectorized” license plates; and
* Elimination of the 8-cent-per-gallon cap on the state’s gasoline tax.

For decades, states like New York and California acceded to the demands of the labor unions and professional agitators to create and expand government programs, paying for them through high income, capital gains, and dividend taxes on “the rich.” But now that Wall Street is shedding jobs by the tens of thousands, those pools of revenue have run dry. While Paterson was willing to cut next year’s growth rate to a little more than 1%, without the political will to take on the bureaucratic interests and roll back the runaway spending, he ends up diming and quartering his citizens to death.

At least, those who choose to stay. “You name it, he taxes it,” said state Sen. Martin Golden of the Paterson plan. “If anybody's contemplating leaving the state of New York, this should push them over the top.”

New York businesses seeking an alternative to Paterson’s panhandling might want to consider Texas. Because our elected leaders made the hard choices and exercised fiscal restraint during our 2003 budget shortfall, “Texas has created and maintained a business-friendly environment that continues to attract companies and support innovation and competitiveness,” as our governor, Rick Perry, reiterated earlier this week.

Let’s hope that the 81st Texas Legislature approaches its decisions with the mindset that New York and California need to be more like Texas, and not the other way around. The continuing headlines out of Albany and Sacramento should make that a no-brainer.

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Paul Weyrich, R.I.P.

Paul Weyrich passed away earlier this morning. That name may not ring a bell to the younger staff at TPPF or those who have not worked in DC, but to say he was one of the giants of our movement would be a major understatement. Consider his legacy:

* Co-founder and the first president of the Heritage Foundation, which inspired the development of the state policy infrastructure – notably TPPF.
* Founder, CEO, and chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, another influential think tank on economic, cultural, and international issues.
* Co-founder of the Moral Majority, which got evangelical Christians off the political sidelines and connected them to our movement.
* Co-founder of the Council for National Policy, a key networking and strategy development group for conservative leaders.
* Founder of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization for conservative state legislators.
* Co-publisher of Conservative Digest, a compendium of conservative commentary that I read during my college years and helped me to hone my philosophy.
* Founder of National Empowerment Television, a satellite TV channel that provided an outlet for conservative programming during the mid-1990s.
* President of the Krieble Institute, which trained activists for democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

I had the privilege to meet and interact with him on several occasions when I interned in DC, and volunteered in the NET studios on election night in 1994. He cared passionately about our principles, and about building and developing the infrastructure and the people to promote them.

One of my mentors and another conservative titan, Morton Blackwell, recently said that, “without Paul Weyrich, there would likely have been no conservative movement worthy of the name—and no Ronald Reagan presidency. If there were a Mount Rushmore for conservative leaders, Paul’s face would have to be on it.” I second Morton’s sentiment. We all owe Paul a debt of gratitude. Rest in peace.

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First Listen: Texas PolicyCast interview with Robert Novak

Nationally syndicated columnist Robert Novak is widely regarded as the dean of conservative journalists, having covered and commented on national politics for more than half a century. He was in Austin last weekend for the Americans for Prosperity/Right Online "Defending the American Dream Summit," and we caught up with him to get his thoughts on the state of the conservative movement and the current presidential campaign.

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Kelo Day

Today is the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s egregious Kelo vs. New London decision, in which a 5-4 majority expanded the ability of governments to use the power of eminent domain to include "economic development." The ruling dealt a tremendous blow to individual property rights and has drawn sharp rebuke from across the philosophical spectrum.

Over the last three years, the Texas Public Policy Foundation has extensively researched the question of how the state can preserve individual property rights in a post-Kelo world. Last month, Bill Peacock and Drew Thornley testified before a House committee on eminent domain and condemnation compensation, respectively. And last fall, Bill Peacock gave a presentation on how eminent domain harms those in need of affordable housing.

Texas has made some progress to protecting Texas landowners from eminent domain abuse, but much more needs to be done.

- David Guenthner

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How "inconvenient"

Last year, our friends at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research obtained the energy bills from Academy Award-winning documentarian Al Gore’s Nashville mansion. They found, among other things, that Gore’s electricity usage in August 2006 was more than twice what the average American household uses in an entire year.

Gore family spokesman Kalee Kreider responded that, “the bottom line is that every family has a different carbon footprint. And what Vice President Gore has asked is for families to calculate that footprint and take steps to reduce and offset it.”

So TCPR just took another look at Nobel laureate Al Gore’s energy bills to see how their “reducing and offsetting” was going. What they found: Even after a “green” retrofit in June 2007 that included new solar panels, a geothermal heating system, lighting upgrades, and an overhaul of the windows and ductwork, Gore’s home energy usage in the 12 months following the renovations was more than 10% higher than the 12 months before.

The average American household consumes 11,040 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. Gore’s Nashville mansion uses an average of 17,768 kWh per month.

And that doesn’t include the carbon footprint from Al Gore’s private jet and Lincoln Town Car transport, his Live Earth concerts, or his 2007 book and arena tours.

“Actions speak louder than words, and Al Gore’s actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity,” Johnson said. Al Gore is exploiting the public’s concern about the environment to line his pockets and enhance his profile.”

Even after all of his mansion renovations, Al Gore has quite a bit of work to do to get his proverbial carbon house in order.

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The real significance of the Texas/Ohio primary

Today, voters in Texas and Ohio will cast ballots in one of the most consequential presidential primaries in recent memory. While both are large states, an article last week on Politico.com and yesterday’s editorial in The Wall Street Journal reveal that their governing philosophies and future outlooks could not be further apart.

As the Journal put it, “the eyes of America will be on these two states moving in different directions. Ohio has an economy burdened by high taxes and work rules that impose heavy costs on employers. Texas embraces free trade, keeps taxes low, doesn’t impose unions on business and has tooled itself for 21st century global competition.”

What have those differences meant? While Texas has added 1.6 million jobs over the last decade, Ohio has lost jobs. Texas is the nation’s #1 export state – exporting four times as much as Ohio. Our income growth over the last decade is much higher, while our unemployment rate is much lower.

Regardless who wins today’s balloting, I’m going to be interested in hearing from the presidential candidates on their model for the national economy. Will they move America toward Texas, or back to Ohio?

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TPPF COMMENTARY: Schools Can't Break Addiction to Higher Taxes

Last year, the Texas Legislature approved a school finance reform package that sought to buy down local property tax rates using the new business margins tax and part of the state's $14 billion budget surplus. However, a week from tomorrow, dozens of school districts will seek voter approval of tax rates that would intercept most of the intended property tax relief.

In this week's commentary, David Guenthner, Director of Media and Government Relations for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, debunks the notion that these exorbitant rate increases are necessary and illustrates how some school districts are using these elections to contrive a new school finance "crisis" and re-open the school finance litigation several years earlier than should be necessary.

This column was originally published in the Oct. 27 San Antonio Express-News.

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Schools can’t break addiction to higher taxes

By David Guenthner

Remember the big school property tax cut you were supposed to get? Your local school district might be about to take it away.

Last year, the Legislature passed a plan that used the state’s new business tax and part of the state’s $14 billion budget surplus to buy down the property tax rates for day-to-day operations to $1.00.

But according to the San Antonio Express-News, at least 120 school districts have set elections that seek voter approval of much higher tax rates. Most of them, including five in the San Antonio area, seek authority to tax at $1.17, the maximum allowed under the new law. A Texas Education Agency spokesman predicted earlier this fall that “a large number” of school districts would tax at $1.17 within two years.

It would be one thing if the Texas economy was sinking and appraisal rolls were shrinking. But our economy remains red-hot, creating almost 800,000 new jobs in the last three years, and appraisals have skyrocketed.

And it wasn’t like the state didn’t give school districts access to additional money without a mammoth rate increase. The state gave all districts an additional $2,000 per teacher and $275 per high school student.

Additionally, as part of the new formula, the first four pennies of tax rate above $1.00 are “magic pennies.” For property rich districts, those pennies are not subject to Robin Hood. For property poor districts, the state gives them the highest guaranteed yield ever, making the revenue generated the same as if those districts were Austin ISD.

What would a $1.17 property tax rate mean for homeowners? In San Antonio’s Southside ISD, the average homeowner’s property tax cut would be whittled to a mere three dollars.

Many school districts are also using the tax cut as cover for massive school bond packages. Houston-area school districts have placed more than $3 billion in proposals on next month’s ballot. Another Southeast Texas school district proposes to increase its debt service tax rate by 17 cents.

The disingenuous part of these elections is that the school districts will try to convince you that they are cutting your taxes rather than increasing them.

In Prosper ISD, taxpayers are being told that approving the maximum tax rate would result in a tax rate 13 cents lower than last year’s. But the Legislature gave school districts enough money this year to cut property tax rates by 33 cents.

If your local school district’s proposed tax rate isn’t at least 33 cents lower than last year’s, your school district is pilfering your tax cut.

The education bureaucracy went to the Legislature in 2004 – and again in 2005 and 2006 – asking for close to $10 billion in new money with no strings attached and no increased expectations. When the Legislature finally passed a school finance reform plan last year that reduced property taxes, provided targeted funding increases, and resolved the state’s school finance lawsuits for at least the next several years, the bureaucracy suffered a rare loss.

Rather than finding operational and program improvements and working within the new law, the school bureaucracy intends to exploit its weaknesses, contrive a funding crisis, and pin the blame on the Legislature.

The faster that a large number of school districts can raise their tax rates to the new maximum, the sooner they can re-open the school finance lawsuits, force even more special sessions, and stake a claim to untold additional billions of your tax dollars.

The school bureaucracy’s disregard for the taxpayers underscores the need for the Legislature to enact a lower rollback threshold and automatic elections when school districts propose a tax rate that would increase spending above enrollment growth plus inflation.

In the meantime, the only silver lining is that taxpayers must approve all bond issues and any proposed operations rate above $1.04.

David Guenthner is Director of Media and Government Relations for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.

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