The Liberty Café

Since Republicans took full control of Texas government 19 years ago, grassroots Texans have grown ever more vocal in demanding results from policymakers. Michael Quinn Sullivan joins us this week on Episode 51 of the Liberty Café for the second of a two part look at our recent successes and failures and the future of liberty in Texas.

Since Republicans took full control of Texas government 19 years ago, grassroots Texans have grown ever more vocal in demanding results from policymakers. Michael Quinn Sullivan joins us this week on Episode 50 of the Liberty Café for the first of a two part look at our recent successes and failures and the future of liberty in Texas.

Too many Americans today are turning to civil government as their god. On this week’s Liberty Café, we complete a two-part series on the purpose and roles of government to help us turn to Him who ordained government for His glory and our good.

Too many Americans today are turning to civil government as their god. On this week’s Liberty Café, we begin a two-part series on the purpose and roles of government to help us turn to Him who ordained government for His glory and our good.

Whether it is transgender children, mask mandates, or heavy government regulation, society today is embracing a lot of crazy ideas. Today, on Episode 47 of the Liberty Café, we examine the role that “experts”–and our willingness to listen to them–is playing in the downfall of our culture.

It wasn’t that long ago that conversations in Republican and conservative circles would eventually circle back to the concepts of limited government and free markets. On this week’s Liberty Café, we examine how the conversation has shifted at the federal level and in Texas toward using Big Government to promote “conservative” solutions rather than letting a free people solv...

Governors Gregg Abbott and Ron DeSantis are in a battle. Part of that battle is seeing which one can attract more voters in the upcoming Republican presidential primary. But in Episode 45 of the Liberty Café, we take a look at the bigger battle they are engaged in as “lesser magistrates” standing between the power of tyrannical “greater magistrates” in the federal governmen...

Republicans have wasted a good portion of the 19 years they have been in charge of Texas government. On Episode 44 of the Liberty Café, we take a look at the role stupidity has played in their poor performance.

Twenty years ago Texas began its experiment allowing competition in the electricity market. Despite its great successes, it looks like competition may succumb to fearful politicians and rent-seeking generators and Wall Street bankers. On Episode 34 of the Liberty Cafe, we examine how and why all this happened.

Dealing with the Great Texas Blackout of 2021 was near the top of the to do list for Texas Legislators this session. This week on the Liberty Café we take a look how the Texas Legislature failed to deal with both the causes and the fallout of the blackout–though we’ll suggest different reasons than are being offered by progressives and the mainstream media.

The Sanhedrin Jesus is making all things new, but some things stubbornly remain the same. That is particularly true about current ruling elites when compared to those of the 1st Century A.D. On Episode 41 of the Liberty Café, economist Jerry Bowyer helps us understand what Jesus said about rulers, wealth, and corporate cronyism in his day so that we can better understand them today.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki Earthly power is corrupting. Unfortunately, most power exercised today by our elected officials–including those in Texas–is earthly, not biblical. Yes, their authority as rulers comes from God, but most of what that they do with their God-given authority defies God’s commands in Scripture. On Episode 40 of the Liberty Café, we examine what this means for g...

Photo by Matthias Groeneveld from Pexels Next week the Texas Legislature will pass a budget that will ultimately account for at least $265 billion in spending–and perhaps as much as $280 billion; up from $209 billion only six years ago. This week on the Liberty Café we go over the Top Ten reasons conservatives and Christians should oppose this continued profligate spending from Texas policym...

Texas school districts use Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code to give large property tax breaks to businesses–especially renewable energy generators–that the rest of us don’t get. On Episode 38 of the Liberty Café, we take a look to see if the Texas Legislature is doing anything to rein in corporate cronyism through Chapter 313 and other special interest provisions in state law.

The place of God in government and in our personal lives is of great debate in our increasingly secularized culture. On Episode 37 of the Liberty Café, U.S. Rep Chip Roy discusses his views on the Christian faith and how faithful adherence to God’s Word in our personal and political lives is the only path to liberty.

Image by PublicDomainPictures The Texas Legislature will not stop spending more and more our money. And most of what they spend it on is not good for Texans–or liberty. This week on Episode 36 of the Liberty Café, we visit with Texas Scorecard’s Jeramy Kitchens to talk about what the last few weeks of session will mean for Texan’s pocketbooks.

Corporate cronyism is one of the major threats to liberty in the world today. This was also the case back in first century Jerusalem, as the ruling class in Jerusalem joined with their Roman overlords to exploit the local Jewish population. On Episode 35 of the Liberty Café, we look at what Jesus had to say about exploitation by elitist rulers and how we might apply His wisdom in our world today.

In Episode 34 of the Liberty Café, economist Robert Murphy and I revisit the Texas blackouts and look at the role renewable energy played in turning the lights off in Texas. But we don’t stop there. We take a look at how the Bible informs us of God’s wisdom about how to deal with the many public policy issues of the day.

Jesus Christ is the King of all creation: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” In Episode 33 of the Liberty Café, we discuss how this fact of life should influence our thinking about public policy.

After a year of the Texas government destroying businesses and jobs and harming millions of people, Texas’ leadership is doubling down on this dictatorial approach to dealing with pandemics. But this only follows years of Texas government defying rational thought and conservative principles, leading to events like the Texas blackouts. This week on the Liberty Café, we discuss whether Texas i...

Mainstream media and liberal politicians almost always coordinate their response when something goes wrong with their progressive narrative. Well, they are at it again when it comes to trying to absolve big government and corporate cronyism from the blame for last week’s Texas blackouts. This week on the Liberty Café, we take a look at the real causes of why the Texas grid couldn’t handle th...

Recently filed legislation highlights Texas’ effort to lead the way on expanding corporate cronyism. This partnership between big government and big business is becoming the greatest threat to liberty we face. On Episode 30 of the Liberty Café, we examine how bad this problem is and where it might take us.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas regulates electricity, telecommunications, and water markets in Texas. Though nowhere near as bad as their federal counterparts, PUCT bureaucrats still can’t keep their hands out of markets–and consumers’ pocketbooks. This week on the Liberty Café, we examine the effects of the PUCT’s intervention on markets in Texas–particularly...

Given the tough economic times we are facing, Texas has a real chance to cut spending and reduce the size of state government through the Liberty Budget. But the only way we will see this come to pass is if Republican policymakers are more scared of us than they are of liberals, big business, and the Austin lobby. It is up to us to make this happen.

Even 6th graders are aware that the Magna Carta established in law the biblical principle that no government is above God and His laws. However today, most of our leaders ignore–or are ignorant of–this principle enshrined in English law more than eight centuries ago. In Episode 37 of the Liberty Café, we take a look at how government has once again risen above the law and what we can d...