With this week's edition of the best blog posts, Tweets, and lefty news from around and about the Great State, the Texas Progressive Alliance celebrates a variety of holidays.
Beginning today with the latest from GeneralHermann Goehring Ken Paxton:
Previously on mail voting ...
And previously on Paxton:
Moving on to the governor's restarting of the state's economy ...
JIm Schutze at the Dallas Observer writes that someday we'll know if this move by Abbott was a good one or not.
There was civil action on May Day yesterday.
Some fresh polling broke a little news:
Kuff looked at that poll showing Joe Biden with a one-point lead over Donald Trump in Texas.
SocraticGadfly looked at some coronavirus conspiracy thinking and how it shows the "horseshoe theory" is sometimes true.
Better Texas Blog urges us to protect immigrants as they power our economy.
Eater Dallas explained the dangers of reopening for small restaurants.
Ken Hoffman at CultureMap Houston found that Hobby Airport is as empty as you'd expect.
Dos Centavos shared his tortilla recipe.
And a pair of books to read, courtesy their authors (and Texas Monthly).
More Wrangling with Alex Jones, Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel, Willie Nelson, Matthew McConaghey, environmental and criminal justice developments and a lot more in the next edition tonight (or maybe tomorrow)!
— Jack Blitz (@jackblitz21) May 4, 2020
Picture if you will for a moment people where Cinco de mayo falls on Taco Tuesday only to be ruined by a virus ironically named Corona.— 𝓙𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓮 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓪𝓾𝔁 (@jessemarion25) May 4, 2020
Beginning today with the latest from General
Texas attorney general says election officials offering mail ballots because of COVID-19 could face criminal punishment https://t.co/XtHrfmUADF via @james_barragan— Mede Nix (@medenix) May 1, 2020
“Public officials shall not advise voters who lack a qualifying sickness or physical condition to vote by mail in response to COVID-19,” said Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton in a letter to county judges and county election officials (PDF). Further, third parties advising voters to apply for a ballot by mail out of fear of contracting COVID-19 without a qualifying disability “could subject those third parties to criminal sanctions.”
The letter follows District Judge Tim Sulak’s decision last month to grant a temporary injunction enjoining Travis Co. Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir from “rejecting any mail ballot applications received from registered voters who use the disability category of eligibility as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The state immediately appealed that decision to the Third Court of Appeals. Paxton said Sulak’s injunction is stayed during the appeal.
Paxton’s argued that fear of contracting COVID-19 is an “emotional condition and not a physical condition” under Sec. 82.002, Election Code and this “not, by itself, sufficient to meet the definition of disability for purposes of eligibility to receive a ballot by mail.” In his ruling, Sulak determined it was “reasonable to conclude that voting in person while the virus that causes COVID-19 is still in general circulation presents a likelihood of injuring [voters’] health, and any voters without established immunity meet the plain language definition of disability.” Paxton’s letter does not appear to address this reasoning.
Appellate briefs in the case are due by May 29.
Previously on mail voting ...
Latest front in ongoing battle to open up voting-by-mail in Texas:— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) April 29, 2020
Six Texas voters are suing state to challenge restrictions that limit age eligibility for mail-in voting to those 65 and older. It's a 26th Amendment challenge: https://t.co/gjyof7qFV6 #txlege
And previously on Paxton:
.@apnews’ review of county and campaign finance records shows Ken Paxton’s actions stood to benefit an exclusive group of Texans with Colorado homes, including a Dallas donor and college classmate who helped Paxton launch his attorney general run: https://t.co/kfgnSeVdMm— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) April 29, 2020
Moving on to the governor's restarting of the state's economy ...
Public health experts say it’s too early to start reopening businesses around Texas and warn cases could spike as a result. In rural areas, experts say a lack of confirmed cases doesn’t necessarily mean an absence of the virus. https://t.co/vSMJlPCWJP— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) May 1, 2020
Just graphed the seven day moving average of daily new cases and covid deaths in Texas, and now I'm horrified that @GovAbbott has already started reopening things. pic.twitter.com/EnnF9idmQJ— Eldon Katz 🌹 (@eldon_katz) May 3, 2020
A state order means Galveston beaches are open this weekend, despite the wishes of some local officials for them to remain closed. https://t.co/O494RrMD8x— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) May 1, 2020
JIm Schutze at the Dallas Observer writes that someday we'll know if this move by Abbott was a good one or not.
“I think they’re playing Russian roulette,’’ one infectious disease expert said of states putting reopening ahead of better testing. https://t.co/1mxuHMES3r— San Antonio Current (@SAcurrent) May 1, 2020
Almost 3k Americans died yesterday, 67k in weeks but @JohnCornyn can’t stop tweeting self-promoting pics of himself hoping we won’t remember how he helped enable the botched response of this administration.— Janet Janssen (@janetjanssen) May 3, 2020
But we won’t forget, Senator. We will never forget. #NovemberIsComing pic.twitter.com/BZ2763DbC3
There was civil action on May Day yesterday.
Texas union nurses are ready and rarin' to go!— NationalNursesUnited (@NationalNurses) May 2, 2020
33 RNs from hospitals across El Paso, Texas took the streets in today’s #MayDay action to #ProtectNurses, as part of a series of actions at more than 160 workplaces across the country. pic.twitter.com/N3d22u55d1
Just a reminder: Police arrested 22 protesters for a #RentStrike, but didn’t arrest anyone for protesting with fire arms when they protested to open America, with weapons. https://t.co/xPejTb9SIT— Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? 🌹 (@PaulDeCristofo4) May 3, 2020
PACT/ADAPT of TX members in front of @GovAbbott's mansion while socially distancing to demand PPE, raise the wage for community attendants, & for Abbott to meet with ADAPT/PACT— ADAPT National (@RealNatlADAPT) April 28, 2020
Press Release: https://t.co/wkMaGKM5qd
.#DisabledNotDisposable #ADAPTandSurvive #Covid19 #CripTheVote pic.twitter.com/UW1XAtB3N1
Some fresh polling broke a little news:
For our 3rd @dallasnews-@UTTyler poll about the #2020Elections, we shifted gears: #COVID19 is the big story. So we asked ... and learned 51% of Texans don't plan to fly before Aug. But young adults do! #txlege 1/8 https://t.co/wzpFMkQbIC pic.twitter.com/Pvp7U78kel— Bob Garrett (@RobertTGarrett) May 2, 2020
Kuff looked at that poll showing Joe Biden with a one-point lead over Donald Trump in Texas.
.@ppppolls survey for Democracy Toolbox (Dallas Dem consultancy) has Biden 47, Trump 46 in Texas (MOE: +/-3.1%) https://t.co/1D7Km2Cn2n— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) April 29, 2020
The presidential race in Texas is a statistical dead heat in the latest Texas Survey released today (Wednesday) by Democratic national polling firm Public Policy Polling. Joe Biden leads President Trump, 47%-46%, well within the survey’s margin of error. Respondents to the survey favored Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016, 51%-42%. Seven percent of Trump’s 2016 voters said they would vote for Biden and another 7% were not sure. Self-identified “independents” favored Biden, 50%-34%.
Biden led among Hispanic/Latino voters, 68%-21%. This is dramatically different than the most recent Univ. of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, which showed Abbott leading Trump, 50%-40%, among Hispanics/Latinos.
SocraticGadfly looked at some coronavirus conspiracy thinking and how it shows the "horseshoe theory" is sometimes true.
Better Texas Blog urges us to protect immigrants as they power our economy.
Eater Dallas explained the dangers of reopening for small restaurants.
Ken Hoffman at CultureMap Houston found that Hobby Airport is as empty as you'd expect.
Dos Centavos shared his tortilla recipe.
And a pair of books to read, courtesy their authors (and Texas Monthly).
I wrote about @DanCrenshawTX‘s book “Fortitude”, his recent viral defenses of Trump, and the stories he tells himself. Enjoy! https://t.co/dWblC7uO5Z— Tim Miller (@Timodc) April 29, 2020
Lawrence says he wrote his new pandemic thriller—about a deadly virus that quickly spreads across the globe—as a “cry of warning,” but he never expected it to be released during an eerily similar crisis. https://t.co/pPEzW37Xn4— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) May 3, 2020
More Wrangling with Alex Jones, Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel, Willie Nelson, Matthew McConaghey, environmental and criminal justice developments and a lot more in the next edition tonight (or maybe tomorrow)!