Wednesday, August 19, 2020

TexProg Blog Wrangle, Hump Day edition


Ed. note: Looks like the left hip is due for a replacement.  When and how long blogging becomes more sporadic than it is currently is still to be determined.  It's probably for the best; I feel so radicalized by the gaslighters in the Democratic Party that I'm ready to join the revolution, if not start it.  Tweeting and reTweeting will continue at the regular pace, so those BidenTimers among my remaining readers and followers might not want their hopes and dreams punctured with the increasingly acidic truth coming down the pike.  You've been warned. -- PD

Catching up with a few things about the Latinx bloc in Texas.  We might be waiting awhile longer for them to save the Donks from the eevil GOP.


The community may have even bigger problems than not being motivated to turn out for Biden and the Democrats in November, if you can imagine.


On a brighter note, the AAPI electorate is highly charged following the selection of Kamala Harris as VP, and that likely bodes well for Sri Preston Kulkarni in TX-22.


Mustafa Tameez interviewed Ilhan Omar after she won her primary last week.

In yet another threat against local control, Greg Abbott said he would support laws in the next legislative session that would limit the raising of property taxes by budget-strapped communities that defund their police departments.



Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast was among the many bloggers who weighed in.


... I thought conservatives believed revenue caps were a good thing, not a sanction applied to liberal cities for doing something they don't like.

Indeed, I'm old enough to remember when conservatives favored less spending and smaller government. Now the governor wants to punish cities that reduce spending. We've passed all the way through the looking glass, it seems.

Austin cut its police budget by less than five percent. By contrast, Gov. Abbott, the Lt. Governor and the House Speaker recently told state agencies they all must cut their budgets by 5% because of declining tax revenue in the COVID era. Isn't what's good for the goose good for the gander?

Finally, cities around the state face budget shortfalls because of COVID combined with revenue caps the Legislature already approved. "Austin bashing" is one thing -- folks in the capital city have come to expect that -- but are you really going to punish every small town that must cut its police budget because tax revenue declined thanks to the virus?

Ten years ago, Texas Republicans were all about "less government" and "local control." Now Abbott wants to micromanage municipal budgets to keep spending high. This debate is becoming downright surreal.


D Magazine summarizes and links to the DMN's report on the City Council's loss of confidence in the leadership of their police department.

It's not just local cops, as we know.


And because so many of these issues are being managed by Democrats in big cities, the question is begged: what good is voting for them actually doing?


Democrats are busy removing any options to their left from your ballot.


Is that democratic? Is it progressive?


More later (possibly).
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