Progress Texas Podcasts

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Daily Dispatch 2/6/25: Texas Senate Passes Private School Voucher Scam, and More Feb 06, 2025

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

No surprise that the Texas Senate has fast-tracked approval of SB2, Governor Abbott's private school voucher scam, to approval: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/texas-senate-school-voucher-vote/

Austin saw hundreds turn out for Texas' share of the national protest against the Trump administration's policies organized in all 50 states yesterday: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/protesters-rally-at-texas-capitol-against-project-2025

...The ACLU of Texas is providing training materials on best practices related to public protest, how to interact with police and immigration officers, and more: https://www.aclutx.org/en/events

...A letter from administrators of Alice, Texas' school district warn parents that their students could face immigration raids on their school buses while traveling through South Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/alice-texas-buses-students-citizenship-border-patrol/

Senator John Cornyn taunts protestors in a Facebook post, complete with Indivisible and MoveOn tags, showing complete contempt for half of his constituents in Texas: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dc2UW9aLw/

Houston U.S. Congressman Al Green plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Donald Trump over his plans for an American takeover of Gaza: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/al-green-trump-impeachment-articles-gaza

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar responds to newbie DFW Congressman Brandon Gill's call for her to be deported, calling him a "dumbass" and a "nepo baby": https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-ilhan-omar-20148422.php

We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture

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Daily Dispatch 2/5/25: Crockett And Congressional Dems Push Back On Musk Treasury Takeover, and More Feb 05, 2025

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett was a prominent voice yesterday as lawmakers and civilian protestors rallied against Elon Musk's "hostile takeover" of the financial systems of the U.S. Department of Treasury: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/04/democrats-protest-elon-musk-treasury-washington

...Crockett notes that the Trump administration appears to have little regard for the legality or Constitutionality of their opening moves: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5125167-jasmine-crockett-donald-trump-constitution/

Dallas-area freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill has called for collegue Rep. Ilhan Omar to be deported over her advice to her constituents to know and exercise their rights if confronted by ICE officers: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5126520-freshman-texas-lawmaker-calling-for-deportation-of-ilhan-omar/

Operation Lone Star, despite having little to show for the $11 billion that's been blown on it and an uptick from federal border enforcement, appears to remain a popular and very expensive budget goal for Republicans: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/texas-border-security-immigration-spending-operation-lone-star/

A new survey of Texans of both parties finds that very few Texans want to keep marijuana prohibition as it is, with the majority in both parties supporting the decriminalization of personal-use possession: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-marijuana-laws-recreation-2025-legislature/285-db2ece8c-f9cf-4b3f-9ac6-320ea6cc075e

Next door in New Orleans, NFL crews are busily removing the "End Racism" slogan from the Super Bowl field end zones - a move appearing to appease Donald Trump, who will be in attendance on Sunday: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/nfl/nfl-will-remove-end-racism-end-zones-ahead-super-bowl-rcna190686

Protesting today? Be aware of your surroundings and keep things legal, peaceful and safe: https://apnews.com/article/50501-protests-project-2025-trump-state-capitols-ddd341171a54ba9b498cbfe7530e18ab

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Daily Dispatch 2/4/25: Protests Against Trump and Abbott Immigration Policies Spread, and More Feb 04, 2025

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Protests against Donald Trump and Greg Abbott's immigration policies and deportation efforts have begun rising across Texas, including Houston: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/immigration/2025/02/03/512709/hundreds-march-through-west-houston-in-opposition-of-immigration-policy-changes/

...And Conroe: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/immigration-protest-arrests-conroe-texas/285-add40d0c-73a2-466a-a1b8-76358d4861e4

...And Austin: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/anti-ice-protest-north-lamar-rutland-drive-north-austin-texas

...And San Antonio: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/san-antonio-isd-students-organize-walkout-to-protest-threat-of-ice-raids-in-schools-36678048

...And Leander: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/leander-texas-glenn-high-school-students-walkout-protest-ice

...Meanwhile a national protest against Project 2025's implementation by the Trump administration is planned in all 50 states on Wednesday: https://www.newsweek.com/50-states-anti-trump-protest-nationwide-february-5-details-2025300

Governor Greg Abbott, with the blessing of the Trump administation, has given Texas National Guard troops the authority to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-national-guard-arrest-migrants-new-agreement/

Elon Musk's blitzkrieg against American political norms, moving almost to fast to cover, is briefed in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/musk-federal-government.html

...NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-doge-usaid-treasury-government-rcna190450

...CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/usaid-cuts-thousands-american-jobs/index.html

...More CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/musk-washington-chaos/index.html

...Is Donald Trump beginning to grow weary of Musk's dramatic rampage? https://www.axios.com/2025/02/03/trump-musk-usaid-democrats

Is Donald Trump vulnerable to his growing negative polling numbers? The Republican Party sure is: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-approval-rating-start-second-term.html

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Happy Hour 193: The Winning Playbook of Ground Game Texas Feb 03, 2025

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Engaged progressives across the Lone Star State know Ground Game Texas as our state's most active advocacy organization in the realm of marijuana decriminalization, with initiatives driven all the way to ballot box success in a wide range of Texas cities, both big and small. You might not know that Ground Game has expanded those winning strategies into the areas of reproductive justice, election integrity, and much more, providing a terrific example of setting and accomplishing specific goals with hard work and sound strategy - just when that example is needed for folks gearing up to resist the budding autocracy and oligarchy of the second Trump term.

Learn more about Ground Game Texas at https://www.groundgametexas.org/.

Thanks for listening! Join Progress Texas as we continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.

Daily Dispatch 2/3/25: Elon Musk and DOGE Begin Assault On Federal Institutions, and More Feb 03, 2025

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Elon Musk and DOGE have been granted access to the highly-sensitive payments system at the heart of the U.S. Treasury Department: https://abcnews.go.com/US/treasury-dept-elon-musks-team-access-federal-payment/story?id=118380399

...Senator Elizabeth Warren, top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, is demanding answers from new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/warren-bessent-treasury-musk-doge.html

...Meanwhile, Musk and DOGE have launched an all-out attempt to dismantle and destroy USAid, the U.S. government's primary foriegn aid agency: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/03/elon-musk-says-usaid-is-beyond-repair-and-he-is-working-to-shut-it-down

Governor Greg Abbott laid out seven emergency items in his State Of The State address yesterday - limiting the 89th Legislature to dealing with those items for the rest of the session's first 60 days: https://www.keranews.org/2025-02-02/gov-abbott-lays-out-his-agenda-for-texas-with-emphasis-on-vouchers-water-and-property-taxes

...Outgoing Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa and a gathering of other Texans responded in a pre-recorded video: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-democrats-abbott-doesnt-have-a-clue-about-everyday-citizens-needs/

Next time you get targeted online by MAGA hate, keep in mind that most of that is likely coming from bots: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/texas-house-speaker-bots-20068116.php

The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.

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Daily Dispatch 1/31/25: Start Watching Avocado Prices - Trump Tariffs On Mexico Start Sunday, and More Jan 31, 2025

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Donald Trump says he plans to follow through with applying a 25% tariff to all goods imported from Mexico starting Sunday - consumers in border states like Texas will feel the pinch immediately: https://thehill.com/business/5117233-trump-mexico-canada-tariffs-threat/

East Texas freshman GOP State Rep. Brent Money has filed legislation that would define life as beginning at fertilization - rendering illegal IVF, IUD's and Plan B: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/breaking-brent-money-bill-to-criminalize

...All while hundreds of Texans have been fleeing the state to get abortion care - lately including at least six girls under the age of 12: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-abortion-ban-teens-20047622.php

More puzzlement, considering the massive federal immigration intervention underway, over Texas Republicans' apparent plan to keep staffing and funding Operation Lone Star: https://www.tpr.org/military-veterans-issues/2025-01-30/as-more-federal-troops-deploy-to-the-border-the-fate-of-texas-state-military-mission-is-unclear

...Schools are no longer safe - a Conroe parent is furious that her daughter was grilled for her immigration status by her Spanish teacher: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/conroe-schools-immigration-20065867.php

...Churches are no longer safe, and experts say that's both a tragic backslide into prior historical injustices, and an erosion of the First Amendment: https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-churches-christianity-constitution-trump/

Governor Abbott is set to give a statewide address to outline his legislative priorities on Sunday evening at 5pm: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/31/greg-abbott-state-of-the-state-speech/

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Daily Dispatch 1/30/25: 13 Texas GOP U.S. Reps Co-Sponsor National Abortion Ban, and More Jan 30, 2025

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

13 U.S. House Republicans from Texas - more than any other state - are among the 67 members of their party who are co-sponsors of H.R. 722, which would establish a national ban on abortion: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/722/cosponsors

...More on H.R. 722: https://thistleandmoss.com/p/hr722-the-republicans-try-to-ban?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's list of his top 25 legislative priorities include prayer and the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools, banning books, and doing away with "Drag Time Story Hour": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/dan-patrick-priorities-texas-senate/

...Private school vouchers are on Patrick's list too, and he insists the Republican voucher plan won't pull funds from Texas public schools: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/lt-gov-dan-patrick-texas-senate-set-to-approve-bill-for-thousands-of-students-to-attend-private-s/

...Should vouchers pass, Texas' private schools are all but certain to raise their tuition rates, as their counterparts in other states with voucher programs have: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2025/01/texas-voucher-plan-could-lead-to-higher-private-school-tuition-experts-say.html

A Facebook post by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, highlighting that most of Texas' biggest companies have not yet raised consumer prices in anticipation of Donald Trump's import tariffs, fails to note that almost a third of them have: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18hvHuM39f/

Ted Cruz lies on national TV that "thousands and thousands" of Americans died during the building of the Panama Canal - in fact most of those deaths were of workers from the Carribean, while about 300 were Americans: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/sen-ted-cruz-falsely-claims-thousands-of-americans-died-building-the-panama-canal-36629308

A Lubbock dad of three, working on securing a green card, has been swept up in Trump's deportation sweep after a Lubbock police officer turned him in to ICE during a traffic stop: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/texas-immigration-lubbock-police-traffic-stop-ice-deportation/

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Daily Dispatch 1/29/25: How A Trump Federal Funding Freeze Would Eff Up Texas, and More Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Hard to know where to start in evaluating the devastating impacts on Texas that Donald Trump's freeze on federal spending would have: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-trump-federal-spending-freeze/

Several Texas Republicans in the U.S. House have presented bills designed to codify recent Trump executive orders into permanent law: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/27/texans-congress-trump-executive-orders/

Austin Congressman Greg Casar is one of 20 House Democrats who have written to Donald Trump, wondering what happened to his promise to lower food prices: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-food-prices-trump-20061041.php

D/FW Republican Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne has filed legislation to end federal financial backing of the development and production of cleaner transportation fuels: https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/texas-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-repeal-45z-clean-fuel-production-credit

Texas House Minority Leader and Houston Democrat Gene Wu gave a great talk via the Texas Tribune yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWqVKuJy6wU

The Texas Senate Committee on K-12 Education has fast tracked Senate Bill 2, which would establish a private school voucher program, to a full vote in the Senate: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/state/texas-news/texas-school-voucher-plan-advances-sb2-senate-vote-private-school-funding/269-e3372769-b66b-4123-928a-3f326dd6d80d

The head of Israel's World Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem has criticized Elon Musk for encouraging German citizens to disregard their own fascist past: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/europe/israel-holocaust-memorial-chair-musk-criticism-intl/index.html

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Daily Dispatch 1/28/25: Why Is Governor Abbott Wasting More Troops (And Money) On Operation Lone Star? And More Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

In spite of renewed federal border control efforts, a very low current flow of migrant traffic at the border, and after $11 billion wasted - Governor Abbott has deployed more Texas National Guard troops to Operation Lone Star: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-gov-greg-abbott-deploys-hundreds-more-troops-texas-mexico-border/

...San Antonio State Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer is as confused as we are - and wants an audit of Operation Lone Star's expenditures: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democratic-state-rep-fischer-opposes-gov-abbott-s-deployment-of-400-more-texas-troops-to-the-border/vi-AA1xYyFa

Fort Worth ISD officials are working to identify a North Side High School substitute teacher who posted to Twitter an invitation for ICE to raid that heavily Hispanic-serving school: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/fort-worth-isd-investigating-social-media-comment-calling-for-ice-at-high-school/

Actress and singer Selena Gomez has pulled down an Instagram post expressing her distress at the uptick in deportations, after coming under a massive MAGA attack - including Senator Ted Cruz: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/selena-gomez-raids-cruz-20058899.php

One of the January 6th rioters pardoned by Donald Trump is free despite a request from Texas law enforcement for him to be kept in custody - he's wanted for soliciting sex from a minor, and is now at large: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/january-6-trump-pardons-andrew-taake-b2687340.html

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Daily Dispatch 1/27/25: Deportation Raids Ramp Up Across Texas, and More Jan 27, 2025

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

A variety of federal agencies began "enhanced targeting operations" against, so they claim, undocumented immigrants presenting criminal threats across Texas, including Austin and San Antonio: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/26/texas-immigration-deportation-ice-austin-san-antonio/

...Also in North Texas and the Rio Grande Valley: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-01-26/ice-begins-immigration-raids-across-texas-dozens-arrested

...Protests against Trump's immigration policies have begun popping up, including one at the Texas State Capitol in Austin: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/protest-at-texas-capitol-after-ice-operations-in-austin/

...And a bigger one near downtown Dallas: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/protesters-rally-in-north-texas-over-new-immigration-policies/

The Texas Senate has rolled out a school voucher plan that would grant Texas families $10,000 for private school tuition and other expenses - not nearly enough to cover it: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2025/01/24/511928/texas-senate-proposes-extensive-school-voucher-like-program-with-1-billion-price-tag/

...While over 20 bills limiting a range of policies regarding vaccines have been filed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/27/texas-legislature-vaccine-mandate-bills/

Texas transplant Elon Musk, already under fire for his Nazi salute the other day, gave an address via video link at a rally for Germany's notorious far-right AfD party, in which he advocated for Germans to disregard their own fascist history: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/elon-musk-appears-video-german-far-right-campaign-event-2025-01-25/

A list of all 123 January 6 defendants pardoned by Donald Trump with Texas ties has been published: https://patch.com/texas/across-tx/123-jan-6-defendants-tx-pardoned-trump-s-first-official-act

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