The Fight That Matters Most

Originally published on Substack. 

The best policy debates are not really about policy. They are about whether families have the freedom to build a life. Last week—between spring break with my kids and fights over AI, healthcare, lockdowns, and government overreach—that truth was impossible to miss.

The Highlight of the Week

Last week was spring break with my kids, and honestly, it was the highlight of my week.

We played soccer, baseball, and tennis. We watched movies, laughed a lot, and slowed down just enough to remember what actually matters. Those moments go fast if you are not paying attention.

They also remind me why I do this work in the first place.

Policy is not abstract. It is not about another flashy hearing or a “solution” designed by the same people who caused the problem. It is about whether families have the freedom, stability, and opportunity to build a good life.

It is about whether parents can afford groceries. Whether workers can find opportunity. Whether patients can control their care. Whether innovators can build. And whether government knows its limits.

That thread ran through everything I worked on last week. As I wrote in Prosperity Through Pain, the purpose of the work is not the work itself—it is what that work allows: the laughter in the yard, the time with your kids, the life you are building together.

Innovation Needs Room, Not Fear

I spent part of last week writing about how AI could transform banking and the broader economy—expanding competition, lowering costs, and helping smaller institutions compete.

That future is possible.

But only if Washington and the states do not regulate it into the ground before they understand it.

• More than 1,500 AI-related bills have already been filed across state legislatures this year.
• Even in Texas, HB 149 showed how quickly fear can override evidence.

The takeaway: Markets adapt. Entrepreneurs solve problems. Bureaucrats slow both down.

A patchwork of vague rules will not make America safer. It will make America slower.

And in a global race, slower means losing.

Six Years After Lockdowns

This week marked six years since COVID reshaped American life.

I was in the room when those decisions were made. I opposed the lockdowns then, and the data since has only reinforced that view.

The Great Lockdown did not save America.

It devastated small businesses. It disrupted learning. It weakened liberty. It eroded trust.

And the worst part?

The same central-planning instincts that drove those decisions are still with us today.

The takeaway: Central planning fails in crises—and in everyday life.

This was never just about a virus. It was about power.

Healthcare Still Misses the Point

Healthcare debates last week made one thing clear: policymakers are still treating symptoms instead of causes.
The fight over Medicare Advantage and proposals like Tennessee’s SB 2040 to ban PBMs are perfect examples.

As I wrote in Stop Scapegoating Middlemen in Healthcare, targeting one piece of the system does not fix broken incentives. It just rearranges them.

• TennCare alone faces about $66 million in added costs from these kinds of policies.

That is not reform. That is expensive political theater.

The real solution is Empower Patients:

• Put individuals in control
• Expand no-limit HSAs
• Strengthen doctor-patient relationships
• Restore real price signals

​The takeaway: Healthcare improves when patients—not bureaucracies—are in charge.

Affordability Is Not a Mystery

Across healthcare, housing, energy, and taxes, families are feeling squeezed.

That is not random. It is policy.

Government spends too much, regulates too much, distorts too much—and then acts surprised when costs rise.

Whether it is:

• Tariffs raising prices
• Overspending fueling inflation
• Regulations restricting supply

…the result is the same.

As I explain in Correcting America’s Financial Future and across my writings:

You don’t get affordability through control.

You get it through competition, production, and freedom.

That same issue shows up in Texas water and the electric grid.

Texas does not mainly have a scarcity problem.

It has a control problem.

Why This Fight Is Personal

Everything I worked on last week—AI, healthcare, lockdowns, taxes, infrastructure—comes back to one truth:

People do better when they are free.

Spring break reminded me of that in the simplest way.

Playing ball in the yard. Watching movies. Laughing with my kids. Just being present. That is the life worth protecting.

Bad policy erodes that life slowly—through higher costs, fewer opportunities, and more dependence on systems that cannot love your family or build your future.

Only people can do that.

Government’s job is not to run our lives. It is to protect the freedom that makes a good life possible.

Three Takeaways for Policymakers

1. Stop regulating fear—start enabling innovation. Let markets evolve and address real harms with evidence, not speculation.

2. Decentralize power—people outperform planners. Centralized systems fail repeatedly. Push decisions closer to individuals.

3. Fix affordability at its source—government excess. Restrain spending, remove barriers, and let competition work.

The Bottom Line

Freedom works. Central planning does not.

That was true during COVID. It is true in healthcare, banking, energy, and the broader economy. And it will still be true long after today’s policy debates fade.

I am grateful for the work. But I am even more grateful for the reason behind it. Time with family.

A Direct Challenge

If you are a policymaker reading this, here is the question:

Will you keep expanding control—or will you trust people?

Because that choice determines whether families merely get by…
or truly prosper.
​
Stay engaged, stay principled, and keep letting people prosper.