UPDATE 9.20.23: Miami-Dade County has burnished its reputation as the least woke big city in America after the school board rejected a resolution to recognize October as LGBTQ History Month at the schools. Joe Jacquez reports in The Hill: For the second time, the Miami-Dade County School Board rejected a proposal that would’ve made October “LGBTQ history month,” according to multiple reports. The 5-3 decision came around 1 a.m. Thursday morning, after dozens of public speakers representing both sides of the issue made their respective cases. A similar item was proposed last year before … [Read more...]

You read here about Joel Kotkin's "Growth Corridors," a concept the author and urban studies fellow introduced in 2013. Now, in City Journal, Kotkin explains why the Appalachian states, part of Kotkin's growth corridors, are drawing so many Americans away from the poorly run blue states and cities. He writes: The rise of Appalachia is reflective of a broader change taking place between red and blue states. Indeed, Republican states are comfortably outperforming their blue counterparts economically, even though the latter represent the base for Biden and the Democrats. The biggest destination … [Read more...]

Americans are generally aware that fuel costs more in Europe than at home, but you may not realize just how high taxes are on a gallon of gas in many European countries. In fact, the EU sets a minimum tax of $1.55 (at current exchange rates) per gallon for all member states, but many charge their drivers far more. The Tax Foundation's Adam Hoffer explains: In response to a year of extreme energy price increases in 2022, many European countries offered partial relief through temporary fuel tax reductions. In 2023, European gas and diesel taxes have mostly returned to the rates in place before … [Read more...]

Texas's power grid is being pushed to its limits. But that's not so surprising when so many new residents and businesses are coming to the state. Texas's power grid looks like it will break records this month for consumption. Fox Weather reports: A heat wave has baked Texas for two weeks, with triple-digit record temperatures being reported across large swaths of the state nearly every day. Temperatures, however, aren't the only thing setting records in the Lone Star State. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90% of the state's power grid, reported "unofficial" … [Read more...]

Isn’t it ironic that the blue blob Covid overlords governing cities are the ones now dealing with the mess they created? Heather Gillers reports in The Wall Street Journal on the rising vacancies and falling confidence in America's cities. She writes: Wall Street is betting against America’s downtowns. Investors are paying less for bonds linked to New York subways and buses. Downtown-focused real-estate investment trusts trade at less than half their prepandemic levels. Bondholders are demanding extra interest to hold office-building debt. Downtowns have been a mother lode for American … [Read more...]

You read about the many individuals that left lockdown blue states during the COVID pandemic (read here, here, here, and here for a small sample), but businesses fled too, looking for survival in states that treated them with more respect. The data is in from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it isn't a good look for governors who decided to put a stranglehold on their states' economies. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board writes: We’ve chronicled the pandemic population flight from states with high taxes and high living costs that also imposed excessive lockdowns. A new report from … [Read more...]

There are some states like New Hampshire, Florida, Texas, Wyoming, and Idaho that are consistently doing the right things for their citizens and ranking in the top tier of Your Survival Guy's Super States. Then there are others who get it mostly right and some that, despite good intentions, seem to land in the middle of the pack. Until recently, Nebraska has been a "middle-of-the-pack" state. Not terrible, but not top tier either. But lately the state, pushed by Gov. Jim Pillen, has been doing all the right things. This year Nebraska became America's 27th permitless carry state when Pillen … [Read more...]