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Connecting today’s news with the research & opinion you need.

Building a Community

What to Know: Bonton Farms is an urban farm that is helping to revive an inner city Dallas community.

The TPPF Take: Bonton Farms shows that change comes from people—not programs.

“We’re seeing lives changed and communities restored not through government programs or political fiat, but by the rebuilding of the institutions that matter,” says TPPF’s Kevin Roberts. “It happens when individuals take upon themselves the command of every faith to care for the poor and forgotten. I’m reminded that ‘compassion’ literally translated means ‘to suffer with.’ And that’s what Daron Babcock does every day.”

O Christmas Tree?

What to Know: The Percy brothers are still mired in litigation over clearing brush on their own land in order to plant a Christmas tree farm—which infuriated their local township officials.

The TPPF Take: So much for the Christmas spirit.

“When government prevents you from using your own property as you see fit, and prevents you for generating income from that property, it has, for all practical purposes, seized your land,” says TPPF’s Chance Weldon. “On top of that, the township has retaliated against the Percys following their lawsuit to assert their constitutional rights. That’s why TPPF continues to represent the brothers in federal court, and why we’re confident they’ll win.”

Carbon Tact

What to Know: A carbon tax is “bipartisan—if you squint,” a new piece in The Atlantic claims.

The TPPF Take: Carbon taxes are all about the taxes, not about the carbon.

“Carbon taxes won’t help the environment; they’ll only increase the cost of electricity and fuel—which means increasing the cost of everything we do,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “Carbon taxes are about government control; the lives of our children and grandchildren will be impoverished, not improved. Instead, let's allow more free markets and more innovation, which are the real sources of environmental improvement.”