A Texas GOP operative tells me it's quite possible Gov @GregAbbott_TX's "guarantee the lights will stay on" could be his "read my lips" moment #TxLege
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) February 1, 2022
The next few days will reveal whether Abbott and company will coast to re-election in March -- and November -- or whether the weather can turn the tide from red to blue. If the Lone Star version of Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it's four more years of winter in Deep In The Hearta.
Inbox: @GregAbbott_TX's campaign mocks @BetoORourke's "Keeping the Lights On" Tour as the "Praying the Lights Go Out" Tour #TXGOV
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) February 1, 2022
Hope is not a strategy, but when you're as far behind in the polling and the fundraising as Beto is today ... what else is there?
We'll come back to Texas Democrats' failing downpost; let's catch up with the TXGOP, still doing what they do.
West Texas energy billionaires make 7-figure wager against Abbott in GOP governor primary #txlege #TX2022 #TXGOP #TXGovhttps://t.co/WF2YIhakXH
— Mark P. Jones (@MarkPJonesTX) February 2, 2022
With the price of oil soaring, these guys will have millions more to throw away on hyper-extremist conservative politics this year.
Certainly not as large as the thousands at the Trump rally but this is right in line with the general direction of right wing politics down here in Texas https://t.co/i2PQZFn3hb
— steven monacelli (getting worried) (@stevanzetti) January 30, 2022
Republican logic. Genius. #txlege pic.twitter.com/5RSrWij40C
— IsraxAvila.eth (@israxavila) February 1, 2022
New = After backlash, Texas comptroller abandons plan to hide details of controversial tax break program https://t.co/mX3C5jHZWb via @houstonchron w/ @John_Tedesco
— Mike Morris (@mmorris011) January 28, 2022
Very interesting nugget from @ktullymcmanus best viewed in context of Cornyn staying in mix to be future GOP leader, even though he hasn’t been in the elected leadership for three years now https://t.co/YYDlNuop9S pic.twitter.com/kKl81mGUW6
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 31, 2022
Texas Republican, Ted Cruz, makes baffling claim that a Black woman on the US Supreme Court is an insult to Black women
— Socialist Voice ⭑ (@SocialistVoice) January 31, 2022
‘The fact that he’s willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a Black woman, I got to say, that’s offensive,’https://t.co/X3Ei28ShCw
Ted's presidential ambitions are going to be thwarted again by Trump. What a tragedy.
.@GovAbbott begs crypto-miners to shut down if the #TexasPowerGrid is about to fail https://t.co/YWUTfasD5c #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 31, 2022
It's a drinking game. Every time Gov. Greg Abbott calls Democrats "socialists" you gotta drink a shot. But don't drive afterward. In this piece, I explain how Abbott is the true Texas socialist. https://t.co/OO2Tc73bRM #txlege
— Dave Lieber, CSP (@DaveLieber) February 1, 2022
Moving on to more of the foibles of Governor Fish Lips that don't include the grid.
Column: Abbott’s move is a minor skirmish in what has become the Texas Republican war on cities and local governments. https://t.co/mKk8lbdBst
— San Antonio Report (@SAReport) February 1, 2022
#GregAbbott #Immigration #OperationLoneStar #Texas pic.twitter.com/dmWZ7uFoB4
— John Branch (@Branchtoon) January 24, 2022
And wrapping this segment with the egregious laws passed in the 87th Texas Lege that are coming home to roost.
There are nearly 200 anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers in Texas. State funding for them increased *twentyfold* between 2006 and 2021. https://t.co/OI1pd49kwP
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 1, 2022
Court in Texas redistricting case has denied plaintiffs' request to throw out redrawn Senate District 10 ahead of primaries: https://t.co/b0DW0NXWYY
— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) February 1, 2022
Without appeal to SCOTUS, this would mean Texas elections will move forward without any changes to maps #txlege drew.
Banned: Books on race and sexuality are disappearing from Texas schools in record numbers https://t.co/gEMsBGyrD1
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) February 1, 2022
BREAKING: We’re suing the state of Texas. @TXsecofstate continues to incorrectly identify registered voters as “non-citizens” and has refused to reveal records that disclose how these purged voters are being identified as such.
— ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) February 1, 2022
This is voter suppression. #TXDeservesBetter pic.twitter.com/3t5IINCke3
That 41/41 split among republicans 👀 #txlege https://t.co/Z6Ne9K3abe
— Jake Salinas (@mrjakesalinas) January 31, 2022
The damage wasn't limited to Republicans, however. Some of your favorites on Team Blue really disgraced themselves, and it's only Wednesday.
Apparently, Democrat @EddieforTexas hopes to squeeze more juice out of the political backlash to Austin's 2019 decision to loosen its criminal ban on homeless camping: https://t.co/nyrtKF3RMJ
— Gus Bova (@gusbova) January 31, 2022
ICYMI. Truly smells like desperation from Rodriguez. It was revealed by Tribune of the People that his primary opponent Greg Casar made his own lurch to the right, and reported at nearly the same time that Amnesty International called out the government of Israel. Lining up with an apartheid state is a bad move no matter when it occurs, but right before voting is to begin for a brand new, solid D seat just reeks of pandering for the Jewish vote. This move also came in the wake of the federal court ruling that Texas' anti-BDS law violates the First Amendment (injunction .pdf).
A very coincidental series of events.
The #HarrisCounty #M4A Coalition just met with @RepSylviaGarcia//@LaCongresista.
— Harris County Medicare for All Coalition (@HarrisCountyM4A) February 1, 2022
We asked her if she would commit to sign-on and become a co-sponsor of H.R. 1976, the #MedicareForAll Act of 2021.
She said: "Well, the short answer is no..."
Garcia is failing her constituents.
Not as difficult to understand given Garcia's other progressive failings, but another echo -- on the heels of the no-vote taken in the California Assembly yesterday -- of Democrats' inability to choose the will of the people over the will of their donors. It's an extension of Gene Green's legacy she's settling into.
The findings reveal the growth and ascendancy of a shadow political infrastructure that is reshaping U.S. politics, as megadonors to these nonprofits take advantage of loose disclosure laws to give millions of dollars in total secrecy.https://t.co/acSVoSwgHM
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 29, 2022
In 2016 I was @TheDemocrats nominee for Congress TX21. In 2020 I ran for the same seat again, this time as a Green. Same issues, same policy positions. The DCCC & local Dems sued to keep me off the ballot. They’re for free & fair elections just not for 3rd party candidates. https://t.co/7xrTRDJjQG
— Rev. Thomas Wakely (@Wakely2020) January 22, 2022
I suppose that will be my segue to the legal, criminal, and social justice updates.
On April 27, 2022, Melissa Lucio will be executed for a crime she didn’t commit.
— AWKWORD (@AWKWORDrap) February 1, 2022
Tell Gov. @GregAbbott_TX that he and Cameron County’s new district attorney, the courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must review of Melissa’s @innocence claimhttps://t.co/xos4hnAoVF
MURDERVILLE, TX: Harris County, Texas, has sent more people to death row than anywhere else in the nation. Among them is a man named Charles Raby.
— The Intercept (@theintercept) February 2, 2022
Listen now: https://t.co/uwHbnNmCnl pic.twitter.com/xzxLDUoYQk
Keep in mind, this guy has a 50 caliber machine gun that can be mounted to that truck. The "company" he runs owns a surveillance trailer, multiple rifles, and other firearms. These are the people the city of Dallas contract with? https://t.co/W4fQKHN61w
— Dallas Protest Police Watch (@dallas_protest) January 28, 2022
A couple of labor updates, segue-ing into the soothers to end today.
🚨 Ethylene oxide is produced in #Houston area & used in sterilizing medical equipment & household products. The colorless gas is said to be significant contributor to cancer risk, too. Yet, @TCEQ says not so much. @EPA, @SierraClub, @EDF DISAGREE#TXlege https://t.co/raiHe5QsCB
— Anna Núñez (@nunez_anna) February 2, 2022
8 months ago, Exxon Mobil locked out unionized employees after contract negotiations fell through at its Beaumont facility. For @grist, @emilypont and I on how the union is pressuring local govt to stop catering to Exxon while it undermines union labor: https://t.co/T8UxB6cxRA
— Amal Ahmed (@amalahmed214) January 31, 2022
On this day in labor history in 1938, the Pecan Shellers' strike began in San Antonio, initially led by Emma Tenayuca.
— Texas AFL-CIO (@TexasAFLCIO) January 31, 2022
Tenayuca championed higher wages for the 12,000+ striking workers, who were predominantly Mexican American women. pic.twitter.com/iq0tAttvTu
Houston researchers Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi among Nobel Peace Prize nominees for COVID efforts | https://t.co/SzGzZg2Uve https://t.co/FVIXjZqvL4
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) February 2, 2022
Professor Scott’s book, “Lynching and Leisure:Race and the Transformation of Mob Violence in Texas”, provides a discussion of the organized Paris, Texas lynching #txlege https://t.co/AKSPz1ozz2 pic.twitter.com/Scz2aMhl2M
— Retro Snacking (@Retrosnacking) February 2, 2022
We caught up with guitarist Paul Leary, drummer King Coffey and others to discuss the iconic underground band's formative years in San Antonio. #SanAntonio #SATX #SanAntonioTX #TexasMusic #SanAntonioMusic #Punk #ButtholeSurfers #UndergroundRock https://t.co/yrbMVMK4V2
— San Antonio Current (@SAcurrent) January 25, 2022
Orange, Texas 1943. I love the domino club sign. It would be so great to step into that place & play for an hour or two. And think: these people were only arrayed in relation to one another like this one time in the history of the universe and John Vachon was there to record it. pic.twitter.com/9fFgc4U34s
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) February 1, 2022
Happy 75th Birthday to Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, born this day in Refugio, TX. pic.twitter.com/MPh3l78nh1
— Baseball In Pics (@baseballinpix) January 31, 2022
