Patrick's blog

Given the $41,000 price tag for the Chevy Volt compact plug-in hybrid, the question of 'who will pay for it?' has arisen in news articles. Given the billions in development subsidies and the buyer credit, one answer is - the taxpayer. This Slate article makes the point that the billions in subsidies for EV development, and the tax credit for EV buyers, is really a subsidy for wealthy car-buyers able to pay a premium price for a 'green' ride: http://www.slate.com/id/2262229/pagenum/all/

In this very important upcoming election, voters will be facing an important choice in this upcoming election. America is, metaphorically, in a ditch. How will we get out of it and and who will move us forward?

Governor Chris Christie is touted in this Peggy Noonan column as a model for how we can go forward and fix our manifest budget problems:

Unwelcome news in the Travis county budget - a large property tax increase is coming our way:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/travis-county-preliminary-budget-proposal-unveiled-826932.html.

Since the Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007, the U.S. has lost over 7 million jobs. Since Obama was elected in November 2008, the U.S. has lost over 4 million jobs. We have more long-term unemployed people than we've had in generations, and it will take years to get back to the number of jobs America had when Obama was elected. For too many, even here in Austin, Texas, it's hit close to home.

Texas State Representative Ken Paxton sent a recent communication talking about "opportunities to balance our State budget without raising taxes while also ensuring that we are able to adequately fund our essential functions of government." In it, he talks about education tax credit scholarships: