Progress Texas Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

Daily Dispatch 8/16/24: Right Wing Group Mounts Massive Attack On Texas Voter Rolls, and More Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

A Houston-based right-wing group has been bombarding election officials in Texas with thousands of objections to voter rolls: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/16/voter-registration-challenges-texas/

...The Texas Tribune has posted a great guide on the obstacles and opportunies that Texans with disabilities need to be aware of for November: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/16/texas-voter-disabilities-election-2024/

Yet another child sex abuse scandal has popped up related to Gateway Church in Southlake: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gateway-church-new-lawsuit-child-sex-abuse/

Texas has been revealed as the national leader - by a long shot - in child marraiges: https://www.newsweek.com/child-marriages-map-1937901

Ken Paxton will atone for those felony securities fraud charges he dodged for almost a decade by volunteering at a food bank: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-food-bank-19658618.php

Arts supporters in Lubbock are pushing back against their MAGA City Council and mayor who have stripped funding from their montly arts walk: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/15/lubbock-art-trail-drag-show-council-vote/

Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/15/24: Federalist Society Judge Rules Against LGBTQ+ Kids, and More Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

A Texas-based, reliably-conservative activist Federal judge (and Federalist Society member) has blocked future protections for LGBTQ+ school kids under Title IX: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/08/texas-based-judge-expands-ban-on-title-ix-gender-sexuality-protections.html

Ken Paxton threatens legal action against the City of Dallas if the State Fair of Texas doesn't rescind their planned ban on most guns at this fall's event: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-ken-paxton-state-fair-gun-policy-ban-lawsuit-attorney-general/287-9813c745-1eb1-42f3-8755-4cd627ac35b3

That massive dump of data on the Robb Elementary school massacre last weekend, it turns out, was incomplete: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/14/uvalde-shooting-police-footage/

Governor Greg Abbott's promise to his MAGA base to keep busing migrants into northern cities faces a critical shortage of migrants to victimize: https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/texas-gov-greg-abbott-vows-keep-busing-migrants-north-one-problem-not-rcna166412

"Zombie" wells are haunting the Texas oil patch - and the role of the Texas Railroad Commission is coming under increased scrutiny: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/texas-oil-regulator-under-scrutiny-zombie-wells-gush-back-life-2024-08-14/

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/14/24: Sylvester Turner Tapped By Harris Dems For Congress, and More Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

In a narrow vote, a committee of the Harris County Democratic Party picked former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner as their nominee to replace the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in the U.S. House: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/13/turner-jackson-lee-november-ballot-houston/

Harris County DA Kim Ogg's "big announcement" is that a joint investigation between her office and the Texas Rangers of suspected election fraud in 2022 has turned up nothing: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/ogg-corruption-election-texas-harris-no-fraud-19653715.php

That droning, two-hour Donald Trump/Elon Musk borefest earlier this week may have violated federal campaign finance laws: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4826806-end-citizens-united-fec-complaint-trump-musk-interview/

El Paso slaps a huge delinquency charge onto an almost-half-million-dollar debt it's owed by Donald Trump over a 2019 rally he held there: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-rally-el-paso-payment-b2595353.html

The civil trial regarding the responsibility of the parents of the shooter in the 2018 Santa Fe High School massacre continues in Galveston: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/14/us/shooting-parents-santa-fe-texas-trial.html

As college kids head back to their campuses for the fall, the task of voting from outside their home counties is difficult and requires advance planning: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/14/vote-by-mail-texas-2024-election/

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/13/24: Two Texas Hospitals Targeted For Refusing Abortion Care, and More Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Two Texas women have filed suit against two Texas hospitals, which they say denied needed emergency care for ectopic pregnancies: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/12/texas-abortion-law-ectopic-pregnancies/

Primary-defeated and outgoing Harris County DA Kim Ogg is set to announce corruption charges in relation to the November 2022 election in the Houston area: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/ogg-rangers-corruption-election-harris-county-19652702.php

Over 70 Republican officeholders and nominees have signed a letter demanding that the State Fair of Texas reverse its decision not to allow patrons to carry guns into the fairgrounds this fall: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-safety/2024/08/12/texas-lawmakers-urge-state-fair-to-reverse-gun-ban-a-year-after-shooting/

A new state law that protects Texas teachers from prosecution for violating the First Amendment's application to the separation of church and state was highlighted yesterday during a hearing of the Texas Committee on Public Education: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/teachers-now-free-to-violate-separation-of-church-and-state-texas-education-official-says-35297488

Elon Musk's two-hour conversation with Donald Trump last night was riddled with dozens of unchecked lies: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/us/politics/trump-musk-x-fact-check.html

...While Musk's SpaceX company us under scrutiny from multiple environmental regulation agencies over its dumping of mercury-contaminated water in South Texas: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/12/spacex-repeatedly-polluted-waters-in-texas-tceq-epa-found.html

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Happy Hour 165: Harnessing Tech For Democracy with Jeremy Smith Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

The high-tech world is frequently (and rightfully) seen as antithetical to democracy - but it doesn't have to be that way. We're proud to welcome Jeremy Smith, an Army veteran and Austin-based information technology innovator who has led the way on a growing array of digital platforms and products that are designed to increase and enhance our connection to the democratic process - NOT to isolate us from it, as is all too often the case.

Learn more about Jeremy Smith and Civitech at https://civitech.io/team/jeremy-smith/.

Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Daily Dispatch 8/12/24: New Uvalde Details In Weekend Data Dump, and More Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Over the weekend, new details about the 2022 Robb Elementary mass shooting were revealed as the City of Uvalde released its records on the incident: https://www.propublica.org/article/uvalde-city-officials-release-school-shooting-records

...Meanwhile the demolition of the old church building in Sutherland Springs where our state's most deadly mass shooting occurred in 2017 began on Saturday: https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-08-10/demolition-begins-on-the-site-of-texas-deadliest-mass-shooting-as-divided-community-watches

Every Texan releases a new analysis of likely outcomes of Governor Abbott's requirement of Texas hospitals to report information about patients who cannot prove their citizenship: https://everytexan.org/2024/08/09/gov-abbotts-executive-order-will-increase-distrust-in-texas-health-systems-diminish-health-outcomes-and-harm-state-economy/

The Texas House of Representatives Committee on Public Education meets today to begin what's likely to be an all-out war over public school vouchers during next year's Legislative session: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-house-committee-to-lay-ground-work-for-private-school-subsidy-legislation/

The State Fair of Texas in Dallas will no longer allow guns to be carried onto the fairgrounds as of this fall, following the lead of rodeos in San Antonio, Austin and Houston: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-state-fair-guns-19630807.php

As Texas as a whole trends gradually blue, the Rio Grande Valley has been trending gradually red - can VP Harris halt that trend? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/10/election-latino-voters-texas-trump

...And could Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presence on the Texas ballot swing our state to Harris? https://www.chron.com/politics/article/robert-kennedy-texas-19630866.php

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/9/24: Abbott Demands Immigrant Info From Texas Hospitals, and More Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

We were proud to be included in yesterday's celebration of the Texas Rangers' 2023 World Series victory with President Joe Biden at the White House: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40784277/biden-hosts-world-series-champion-rangers-white-house

Governor Abbott has signed an executive order demanding information on undocumented people who seek medical care at Texas hospitals: https://abc13.com/post/texas-hospitals-ordered-inquire-patients-immigration-status/15162069/

An enormous scheduling backlog at Texas DPS's drivers license division is causing months-long appointment delays - and yet another obstacle to voting: https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dps-staffing-shortages-missed-appointments-massive-delays-getting-drivers-license/3616134/

Climate change is certain to continue pushing your insurance premiums skyward, as we're on track to set a new state record for natural disasters costing over $1 billion: https://www.lonestarlive.com/weather/2024/08/texas-on-track-for-record-breaking-year-of-billion-dollar-natural-disasters.html

Texas civil rights groups continue pushing state school districts to modify their student dress codes to accommodate the CROWN Act, with varying success: https://www.texasaft.org/profession/know-your-rights/texas-aclu-finds-dress-codes-of-51-school-districts-violate-crown-act/

State election officials ignore the objections of the Texas Democratic Party and evidence of petition malfeasance, declaring that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified to be on the November ballot in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/08/kennedy-texas-ballot-signatures-election-2024/

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/8/24: Texas GOP Rage Against Tim Walz Is...Weird, and More Aug 08, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Texas Trump types are throwing everything they can at Tim Walz - is any of it sticking? https://www.chron.com/politics/article/tim-walz-texas-communist-19625695.php

...Our Jackie Rogers compares Walz to his VP opponent, the eminently gross J.D. Vance: https://progresstexas.org/blog/everything-you-need-know-about-vp-candidates-tim-walz-and-jd-vance

After considering complicating matters, the Lockhart City Council has voted to put a simple, direct marijuana decrim measure on the November ballot as mandated by petition: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/marijuana-decriminalization-lockhart-texas-ballot-signatures-update/269-4c2bff54-c091-44fd-b95c-4bef066519c0

The lawsuit based upon the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act against the Trump Train drivers that dangerously harrassed a Biden/Harris campaign bus south of Austin in 2020 can proceed to trial: https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/kkk-act-lawsuit-over-trump-train-surrounding-of-biden-harris-bus-days-before-2020-election-just-got-one-step-closer-to-trial/

J.D. Vance wrote a violent foreward to a book on Project 2025 - the publication of which has been postponed until after the November election: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/us/politics/project-2025-book-jd-vance-delayed.html

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/7/24: Texas Progressives Celebrate VP Pick Tim Walz, and More Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Texas progressive politicos are jazzed about the pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris' pick as her running mate: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-democrats-praise-harris-walz-presidential-ticket/

...Governor Abbott is somewhat less enthusiastic: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article290795974.html

...Petroleum polluting billionaires are alarmed by the Walz pick: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/tim-walz-oil-climate-harris-19622939.php

PT Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone reminds the U.S. Department of Energy that they're under no obligation to approve new LNG facilities: https://progresstexas.org/blog/hey-department-energy-environmental-justice-means-uplifting-frontline-communities

...While a federal court finds that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has fallen short in evaluating the negative environmental impacts of the energy projects it is evaluating: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/lng-rio-grande-texas-court-19623769.php

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Daily Dispatch 8/6/24: Are You On Texas' Voter "Suspense" List? And More Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

About 12 percent of Texas voters - over two million of us - are on an official "voter suspense list" due to uncertainty that our addresses match our voter registration: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/elections/2024/08/05/texas-voter-suspense-list-tops-21-million-heres-what-to-do-if-youre-on-it/

A Texas Ranger targeted for termination earlier this year due to failure to execute his job properly during the Uvalde school shooting has been reinstated: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/05/chris-kindell-uvalde-fired-reinstated-texas-ranger/

New all-time energy demand is expected by ERCOT as summer heat maxes out this week - will the lights and AC stay on? https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-power-grid-energy-demand-19620604.php

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham seeks to draw medical care talent, laboring under threat of prosecution in Texas due to our reproductive care limits, to the less-oppressive environment of her state: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/08/new-mexico-invites-texas-medical-professionals-to-relocate-away-from-abortion-bans.html

The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/

See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025

...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

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