Author: Matt Mackowiak

Immigration remains a major issue across the country, but in Texas, it’s not just a political football. Border security is a top priority this legislative session. In his State of the State address, Gov. Greg Abbott made it an emergency item, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick consistently campaigned on the issue, and both the Texas House […]

Last week a political bloodbath unfolded on Capitol Hill. Forty-seven U.S. senators, all Republicans and including four potential presidential candidates, sent an “open letter” to Iran explaining that a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran (with five other signatories) would not be binding if Congress did not approve it. The political reaction was fierce. […]

Think back to how Americans felt in the days after 9/11. We all had a fresh sense of vulnerability. This is how the six million Jewish citizens of Israel feel – every day. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which funds the terrorist group Hezbollah, poses an existential threat to Israel. How do we know? They […]

James Richard Perry has been governor of Texas longer than Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president of the United States.When he leaves office on Jan. 20, Perry will leave as the longest serving governor in the history of this state. So assessing his legacy is both important and time-consuming. I have not always been a Perry […]

By the middle of last week, the barrel price of oil on the global market was $64. Three months ago it was around $100 per barrel. It topped out, over the past year, at around $112 per barrel in late June. This is a precipitous drop in oil prices, and it is having a dramatic […]

The 2014 election in Texas was an absolute, unmitigated, epic disaster for the Democrats. There is simply no other conclusion to draw from the results. I know a few supremely confident Republicans, but no one was predicting that state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, the celebrity Democratic nominee for governor, the beneficiary of at least […]

Amid all the political back and forth about the stunning, once-in-a-century indictment of our sitting governor, it is easy to forget that for James Richard Perry, Aug. 15 was a life-changing day. Then last Tuesday, he booked himself in at the Travis County jail for fingerprints and his mug shot, an experience he will never […]

You may be seeing a concerted attempt by liberals and their media allies to convince you that Obamacare is 1) succeeding; 2) losing political impact for the midterms; and 3) being emphasized less frequently by Republicans on the campaign trail.In fact, all three of these are false. In the past few weeks, we are seeing […]

Over the past three weeks, one Republican has gained more national attention than any other: Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX).He has been everywhere – calling up the Texas National Guard, appearing on network interviews, headlining: Sunday: shows, touring the southern border with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, appearing on The Blaze with Glenn Beck. Perry has penned national op-eds […]

Two Texans may be vying for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016: Sen. Ted Cruz and Governor Rick Perry.Cruz overwhelmingly won the Texas GOP 2016 convention straw poll, confirming his position as the conservative grassroots candidate. He fires up crowds unlike any other politician today, and the power of motivating voters and volunteers should not […]

Education has become a major issue in the Texas governor’s race, with six months to go.: The differing approaches unveiled by the two major candidates for governor tell us a lot.: An examination of Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis’ education reform proposal shows the plan clearly refuses to increase accountability and competition in the public education system, […]

Texas has a part-time legislature, and inherent in any state with a part-time legislature is the potential for conflicts of interest.Unless a legislator is personally wealthy, they must hold a job, which inevitably leads to their consideration of a bill that impacts their industry or company directly.Texas ethics laws are lax and have loopholes. Legislators […]

Our immigration system is broken. Few would disagree.The political debate over immigration reform over the past decade has centered on legalization (also called amnesty) versus border security, and both sides are dug in. Liberals believe they cannot achieve their aim of the legalization of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the country without […]

Desperate to find a Texas lifeline, the struggling Wendy Davis for Governor campaign, staffed primarily by out-of-state Obama operatives, resurrected a tired national wedge issue: equal pay. After two weeks of hyperventilating media coverage, I presume you have some awareness of this issue. Let’s put five basic facts out on the table: 1) Gender-based pay […]

Universal preschool sounds like a no-brainer. President Barack Obama proposed it in his State of the Union. He followed that address with a speech in Decatur, Ga. “Study after study shows that the earlier a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road,” he said in Georgia. “But here’s the thing: […]

Wendy Davis will not be governor of Texas. If you believe that she will, I am perfectly willing to make a $100 wager on it for the benefit of the Navy Seal Foundation. She will, however, earn more national media attention and raise more money than any Texas Democrat in the modern era. She may, […]

There is always a tension between the practicality of winning elections and the desire for ideological purity. But for many conservatives across the country, in recent years we have been asked to support mainstream candidates who talk a good game but then don’t fight for conservative principles. The litany of failed mainstream presidential candidates on […]

The decision of whether to run for president of the United States is unlike any that a human being faces. And yet Rafael Ted Cruz, the junior U.S. senator from Texas, faces it. Not now. Not even soon. Next year probably. Certainly by Thanksgiving 2014. Imagine the discussion a candidate and his or her spouse […]

July 8, 2013 marked the beginning of the end of the Rick Perry era in Texas. Middle school children have never known another Texas governor in their lifetime. Anyone in office 14 years will have good and bad in their record. Unquestionably, Gov. Perry is viewed in partisan terms in Texas. From my perspective, his […]

Mexico has a tremendous opportunity available to grow the average income, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and accelerate the building of a middle class – and all that is required is removing the current barrier to capital investment. Let us explain. The Eagle Ford shale formation in Texas produces approximately 2 billion cubic […]

When it rains, it pours. Spare me the well-timed media/left-wing celebration over the creation of Battleground Texas. At its core, the organization was created to employ out-of-state Obama political operatives, in a slow campaign period, by selling to wealthy donors the dream of winning Texas and upending the electoral map. Clever construct. But history is […]

When it rains, it pours. The combined weight of the three growing Obama administration scandals is weighing down the White House and overwhelming their ability to control the story or advance their agenda. In hospital triage, this is the equivalent of not having enough bed space. Each scandal, if it occurred by itself, could potentially […]

What’s the catch? Whenever something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Our country, since the FDR era, has believed in entitlements as an earned benefit that serves as a safety net for all Americans. Unfortunately, those programs, created in the 1940s and only modestly changed since then, are unaffordable, promising more in […]

Two of the key figures in the Republican Party happen to live in the same city, in the same state, share many supporters and donors and enjoy a close, personal friendship where one has been a mentor to the other. So they both can’t run for president against each other, right? One of the most […]

Don’t blame Ted Cruz, he’s only doing what he said he would do if elected. The wave of national media attention surrounding the freshman senator late last week followed a traditional groupthink pattern. First it was a Reuters national wire story early in the week, then the Politico story late Thursday, The New York Times […]