By: Texas Tribune Staff –  apps.texastribune.org – May 27, 2019 Texas’ top political leaders wrapped the 2019 session of the Texas Legislature on Memorial Day with an air of accomplishment. They passed two major pieces of legislation that they had been working toward for years — a finance boost and a bill aimed at slowing the growth of property taxes....

By: Kevin Daley – dailysignal.com – May 28, 2019 The Supreme Court reinstated an Indiana law Tuesday requiring abortion clinics to cremate or bury fetal remains. In an apparent compromise, however, the justices declined to review a second provision of the Indiana law that banned abortions on the basis of sex, race, or disability. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said...

By: Myron Magnet – wsj.com – May 22, 2019 Justice Stephen Breyer lamented last week that the Supreme Court had overturned “a well-reasoned decision that has caused no serious practical problems in the four decades since we decided it.” Dissenting from Justice Clarence Thomas’s majority decision in Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt, Justice Breyer added: “Today’s decision can only cause one to wonder...

By: Myron Magnet – wsj.com – May 22, 2019 Justice Stephen Breyer lamented last week that the Supreme Court had overturned “a well-reasoned decision that has caused no serious practical problems in the four decades since we decided it.” Dissenting from Justice Clarence Thomas’s majority decision in Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt, Justice Breyer added: “Today’s decision can only cause one to wonder...

By: Raymond J. March – blog.independent.org – May 15, 2019 When he first took office, President Trump pledged to eliminate 75 to 80 percent of all Food and Drug Administration regulations. A recent deregulatory effort is a small step in this direction. It also serves as a comical (and a little concerning) example of how far the agency’s regulatory authority extends....

By Henry Olsen – washingtonpost.com – May 23, 2019 Negotiations over a big infrastructure bill hit a huge pothole on Wednesday. President Trump’s declaration that the Democrats have to choose between “infrastructure or investigations” struck many observers as petty and foolish. But as a political matter, he’s absolutely right. House Democrats have the constitutional right to investigate the president, and even...

By: Matt Vespa- townhall.com – May21, 2019 Okay, so we all know the hammer the judiciary dropped on the Trump administration last night, right? A federal judge sided with House Democrats over their subpoenas over President Trump’s tax returns. Democrats want six years worth of returns, including those from the president’s businesses. The subpoenas targeted an accounting firm and to...

By: Daily Signal Staff – dailysignal.com – May 22, 2019 Texas’ Republican-controlled House voted Monday to pass a “Save Chick-fil-A” bill. The “Save Chick-fil-A” bill does not allow the government to take “any adverse action” against any contractor, individual, or business because of their religious beliefs. “It strengthens and reaffirms Texas’ First Amendment rights,” Republican state Rep. Matt Krause said to The...

By Lisa Respers France – CNN.com – May 22, 2019 The creative team behind “Bridesmaids” has joined a growing movement to boycott Georgia in the wake of the signing of an anti-abortion bill. On Wednesday, a rep for Kristen Wiig confirmed to CNN that her new comedy with Annie Mumolo, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” has pulled out of...

By: Sonja Sharp – latimes.com – May 22, 2019 Beverly Hills has long been anything but a smoker’s paradise. The city was the first in California to ban smoking inside restaurants and most public places, back in 1987, and added outdoor venues to the list in 2007. Now it is poised to enact what officials say is the most stringent tobacco...