The Texas Progressive Alliance was a little perturbed about having to unpack a jacket and pick up a few limbs in the yard .... while also collecting this week's best blog posts and news from the left of Texas from last week.
(We're both thankful for not being near -- and hope the best for those who were close to -- heavier winds in east Texas over the weekend.)
There will be lots to watch in Austin this week.
Pages of Victory notes Dan Patrick's plans to
blow up decades of Senate comity by trying to ram through the
sales-tax-hike-for-property-tax-cut proposal as soon as today. Carlos Sanchez at
Texas Monthly questions whether it's even
sound policy.
“It’s a dangerous idea, one that increases taxes on working families to disproportionately provide tax cuts for corporations and the rich over everyday homeowners,” said Representative Ramón Romero, D–Fort Worth, on behalf of the Texas House Democratic Caucus.
Even with accidental shooting deaths on the rise, Kate Groetzinger at the
Texas Observer writes that there are Texas Republican legislators that are
still not interested in so much as a gun safety public awareness campaign. The NRA -- and the extremist conservatives who vote in the GOP primary -- still have them too spooked to do the right thing. The same holds true for the Pro-Life (sic) Caucus, which is apparently threatening state Rep. Jeff Leach, a very conservative lawmaker who has refused to advance a bill
calling for the death penalty for a woman who ends her pregnancy. Meanwhile,
Better Texas Blog would prefer to keep children on health insurance plans, thanks.
Grits for Breakfast points out Greg Abbott's flipflop on marijuana reform, and the
Polk County Enterprise catches the governor in
another hypocrisy.
A letter from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Kevin McCarthy expresses his opposition to video bingo on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation and the passage of H.R. 759, filed by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Woodville).
That letter has local political leaders scratching their heads.
Abbott was criticized in the 2017 session of the Texas Legislature for expanding his role to “mayor in chief” for Texas; now he apparently wants to be dealt a bigger hand in Washington D.C.
Click and read to see how Abbott is leaving east Texas supporters confused and upset.
Charles Kuffner was not surprised to see Ken Paxton
flip off the demand from the US House for documents relating to the SOS's advisory on non-citizen voters. Silas Allen at the
Dallas Observer sees it as
slow-walking, but either way, it's a pantsload of disrespect for Congress.
With the latest in election developments,
TXElects.
CD7: The campaign of U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Houston) announced she raised $515K during the first quarter and has nearly $550K on hand as of March 31. More than 70% of funds raised were from “Houston-area residents.”
Former Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel stepped down from the Metropolitan Transit Authority board, effective immediately, to challenge Fletcher as a Republican. Siegel was mayor from 2004 to 2012 after serving six years on the city council. Houston sales manager Tom DeVor and Houston homebuilder Wesley Hunt are already in the GOP primary.
CD10: The campaign of Democratic challenger Pritesh Gandhi announced he raised $160K during the last 27 days of March.
CD12: Hurst progressive activist Al Wollum established a campaign committee for a potential challenge of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) as a Democrat. Wollum began a campaign for the seat in 2017 but withdrew before the filing period began.
CD26: Frisco business analyst and conservative activist Jason Mrochek established a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Lewisville). He is the executive director of the Patriot Coalition and the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition. He has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC and other media outlets.
Arlington: The Dallas Morning News endorsed Mayor Jeff Williams for re-election. Meanwhile, Joe Arpaio, former sheriff from Arizona, was the featured speaker at an event for challenger Ashton Stauffer.
National Democrats: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it would open a satellite office in Austin with eight paid staffers. The DCCC has targeted six Republican-held districts in the state: CD10 (McCaul), CD21 (Roy), CD22 (Olson), CD23 (Hurd), CD24 (Marchant) and CD31 (Carter). A similar effort in California last year contributed to the flipping of seven seats there.
Progrexas expands on this news.
Down With Tyranny,
Splinter, and
The Intercept all remind us that the DCCC's record with respect to supporting progressive Democrats ... sucks.
Harris County: By a 3-2 vote, Commissioners Court opted to appoint a replacement for County Court at Law Judge Bill McLeod, who accidentally resigned in late March when he declared his candidacy for Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Stace at
Dos Centavos wrote about the
kerfuffle surrounding this appointment, and prior to doing so,
Lowering the Bar chimed in with the former judge's supporters who felt that the state's Constitution is
a little too strict in this regard.
Politico concern-trolled Texas Democrats about the 2020 US Senate primary. In lockstep with the rest of the corporate media (and Kuffner), only establishment candidates mulling the contest were referenced; no mention was made of the
Latina already declared. One Houston consultant does give her some props, however (even if it is only to acknowledge a spoiler role):
In this week's edition of "Cops Behaving Badly",
The Root reported that a plainclothes policeman instigated an altercation with a group of young women at a Nacogdoches apartment complex pool and
tackled one for resisting arrest. After seeing bystander video (at link), the police department began an investigation.
In climate news, Brendan Gibbons at the
Rivard Report says that sewage treatment plants across the Hill Country are threatening to turn
clear streams into algae pools. And a Houston outfit wants to establish a
market-based solution to carbon offsets, connecting businesses and individuals with marshland property owners.
SocraticGadfly talks about a Lone Star history event known to relatively few Texans and to very few non-Texans:
The Great Hanging at Gainesville.
In Port Arthur, petrochemical giant Motiva will purchase and renovate two historic buildings for company offices, improving the fortunes of that city's urban district.
Houston's mayor and the head of the firefighters union continue to squabble over the implementation of the voter-approved pay raise in order to avoid municipal layoffs. Last Friday's developments saw
agreements that were later
disagreed to.
Texas Moratorium Network posted a trailer for the film
'Trial by Fire', which is the story of Todd Willingham's ill-fated journey through the state's criminal justice system. It is
widely believed today that faulty forensic evidence -- at the very least -- was used to
convict Willingham, and that Texas subsequently
executed an innocent man in the death of his children.
David Collins mourned the passing on March 30 of Texas Green Party leader and UH professor
George Reiter. A memoriam was also published by Todd Ackerman of the
Houston Chronicle, highlighting his contributions to KPFT and his long marriage to another Green Party leader, Deb Shafto.
The Texas Progressive Alliance sends its condolences to family and friends.
And the TPA also salutes the life of Sulphur Springs high school, SMU, and Green Bay Packer football legend
Forrest Gregg, who passed away last week.
Gregg (#75) in action against the Philadelphia Eagles in November 1962. Playing right tackle and occasionally right guard, Gregg was a first-team All-Pro seven times and selected for the Pro Bowl nine times. Photo courtesy New York Times
Finally and also on a gridiron-related topic, Dan Solomon understands that the Houston Texans have no right to wear Oilers throwback uniforms.
But they should.
It won’t happen. Amy Adams Strunk -- daughter of Bud Adams, the man who founded the Oilers in 1960 and moved them to Nashville in 1997 -- told Titans beat reporter Paul Kuharsky that the prospect of the Texans playing in Oilers uniforms wasn’t even up for discussion. “Very interesting, except the Oilers don’t have anything to do with the Texans,” she said. “So that’s a hard no.”
Thanks again, Bud! You raised her to be just like you.
