Progress Texas Podcasts

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Daily Dispatch 7/15/24: Texas Connections to the Trump Assassination Attempt, and More Jul 15, 2024

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Texas connections to the Trump assassination attempt:

...The Pennsylvania man who allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump on Saturday was wearing merchandise from a Texas-based gun fanatic YouTube channel at the time: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/what-is-demolition-ranch-19573090.php

...Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was standing near Trump when the shooting began: https://www.khou.com/article/news/national/sid-miller-trump-rally-shooting/285-ff11c342-22a2-4a5f-9eec-77cc47a24622

...A nephew of Amarillo U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson was wounded but is okay: https://www.wral.com/video/blood-on-his-neck-texas-congressman-s-nephew-injured-during-trump-rally-shooting/21524308/

...President Biden's visit to the LBJ Library at UT Austin has been postponed: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/biden-to-reschedule-visit-to-austin-following-trump-rally-shooting/

Governor Abbott's ass-kissy tweets about the attack on Trump have drawn backlash from Houston folks still without power after Abbott's neglectful handling of Hurricane Beryl: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/greg-abbott-trump-rally-shooting-19573058.php

...Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo counters much of then-Acting Governor Dan Patrick's story of his handling of the situation while Abbott was sightseeing in Asia: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2024/07/11/493282/harris-county-judge-lina-hidalgo-responds-to-claims-from-acting-governor-dan-patrick-that-she-did-not-request-aid-for-the-county/

...As a Category 1 hurricane basically cripples Houston, worry builds about the likely impacts of inevitable future storms of much greater intensity: https://www.texasobserver.org/hurricane-beryl-warning-shot-houston/

...Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa calls on Republican elected officials to stay at their posts in Texas, rather than jetting off for the Republican National Convention: https://x.com/texasdemocrats/status/1811865878671298715

Protestors outnumbered the attendees of the extremist event they were countering at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden over the weekend: https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-07-13/christian-nationalism-event-in-fort-worth-botanic-garden-draws-protest-police-presence

ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: 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 7/12/24: Fingerpointing at Centerpoint, and More Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Centerpoint Energy predicts that hundreds of thousands of Southeast Texans still without power will remain that way into next week: https://apnews.com/article/houston-beryl-hurricane-power-outages-7f624c7e14f41284449009295e69ac12

...The utility is actually outpacing itself compared to prior weather-related outages: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/11/centerpoint-power-restore-texas-houston-when-why-timeline/

...Dan Patrick continues clinging to the idea that he had to personally assess the disaster area before requesting federal help - which is simply not true: https://www.chron.com/news/article/dan-patrick-beryl-biden-19567475.php

Today marks the start of an event being held by the extremist group True Texas Project at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, who were forced by city officials to host it - protests are expected: https://fortworthreport.org/2024/07/10/fort-worth-event-on-christian-nationalism-spurs-concerns-over-safety-free-speech/

...While a TCU seminary head notes that white supremacy and Christian Nationalism are fundamentally at odds with the teachings of Christ: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article289902849.html

Progress Texas highlights the perspectives and goals of younger voters in Texas, dovetailing with our recent podcast discussion: https://progresstexas.org/blog/gen-z-and-millennials-heroes-our-democracy-needs

A new profile on oil billionaire and Christian Nationalist crusader Tim Dunn outlines his federal aspirations: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/11/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump

Amidst ever hotter summers and against national trends, the cities of Lubbock and Longview have both closed down all of their public swimming pools, leaving kids of limited funds high and dry: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/11/texas-public-pools-lubbock-longview/

President Joe Biden will speak on Monday July 15 from the LBJ Presidential Library at UT Austin, marking the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act - here's a link to watch: https://www.youtube.com/live/9x5xcS2aXTY?si=8sbMn1VT6D_voDPv

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

Daily Dispatch 7/11/24: Misery In Southeast Texas as Republicans Point Fingers, and More Jul 11, 2024

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Over 1 million Houston area Centerpoint and Entergy power customers remain without power or AC amidst sweltering heat this morning: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricanes/article/hurricane-beryl-power-updates-houston-heat-19563819.php

...Centerpoint's outage map shows that as of now, about half of the affected area has not yet seen actual repair work begin: https://abc13.com/post/centerpoint-energy-outage-map-when-will-power-come-back-beryl-houston/15048348/

...Entergy, which serves the non-ERCOT sections of the area, predicts restoration to be largely compete by the end of this weekend: https://www.khou.com/article/weather/hurricane/beryl/entergy-texas-beryl-power-restoration-effort-update/285-2e4add87-21d5-4402-ac81-0a924d125fbe

...Houston city leaders are up in arms with Centerpoint: https://apnews.com/article/houston-power-outages-beryl-ceb5fdc1db4d89d2376abb22bfd45d99

...NRG Stadium is now holding discharged hospital patients who can't return to their sweltering homes: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/10/texas-hospitals-beryl-power-outages/

...The state's response to Beryl, in particular its requests for federal help, came much more slowly than in prior hurricane situations: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricanes/article/greg-abbott-hurricane-beryl-19565079.php

Ken Paxton predicts that the Texas House General Investigating Committee is planning to recommend impeaching him a second time: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/10/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-impeach/

Daily Dispatch 7/10/24: Republicans Deflect While Texans Suffer Another Massive Power Outage, and More Jul 10, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Millions of Texans are beginning their third day without power - or AC - amidst a summer Texas heat wave: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/09/beryl-texas-houston-power-outages/

...Massive infrastructure failures after significant weather events has become a highly unfortunate routine reality in Texas: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-07-09/hurricane-beryl-makes-a-mockery-of-texas-climate-deniers

...This time, we can add a massive, debilitating internet outage to the list of infrastructure vulnerabilities: https://cw39.com/news/texas/spectrum-reports-power-outages-across-texas/

...And right away, Republicans in charge are wild-eyed with deflections of blame towards President Biden: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/09/politics/biden-abbott-patrick-texas-hurricane-beryl-aid/index.html

Tens of millions of Texas taxpayer dollars are being funneled into shady "crisis pregnancy centers" with little oversight: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/09/texas-crisis-pregnancy-centers-abortion/

Disgraced Gateway Church pastor and child molester Robert Morris' lawyer once tried to paint his victim Cindy Clemishire, who was 12 at the time, of having made the initial sexual advance on Morris: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/robert-morris-gateway-church-lawyer-letters-cindy-clemishire-rcna160661

Momentum is ramping up for a protest by multiple Tarrant County progressive activist groups of this weekend's True Texas Project event, forced upon the Fort Worth Botanic Garden by the city officials: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article289854404.html

...The True Texas Project, identified as an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, espouses a full range of hateful and lunatic positions: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/bud-kennedy/article289261520.html

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

Daily Dispatch 7/9/24: Abbott Enjoying Asia Trip As Texas Endures Hurricane, and More Jul 09, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

As three Texans die, millions go without power, and flooding threatens multiple parts of the state, Governor Abbott continues a tour of East Asia, playing President: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/abbott-hurricane-beryl-acting-governor-patrick-19561623.php

A Texas oil billionaire family finds itself in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission on anti-trust suspicions as their massive contributions to state regulatory officials come into focus: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01072024/texas-pioneer-natural-resources-political-contributions/

A significant protest of this weekend's event being held at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden by a right wing extremist group by multiple Fort Worth progressive advocacy groups is expected: https://defenseofdemocracy.org/news/

Can abortion restrictions in Texas get even worse than they already are? Hell yes they can: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article289581064.html

Marijuana decriminalization appears headed to the November ballot in Bastrop: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-activists-turn-in-signatures-to-put-marijuana-decriminalization-on-local-ballot-in-bastrop/

Elon Musk's SpaceX company is accused by environmental activists of excessive disruption of the ecosystems around Boca Chica: https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-boca-chica-texas-starbase-bird-habitat-2024-7

Residents of Granbury have been falling ill with a gruesome set of symptoms thought to be connected to noise coming from a nearby Bitcoin mining facility: https://time.com/6982015/bitcoin-mining-texas-health/

Donald Trump still owes El Paso over a half-million dollars for bills related to a rally he held there in 2019: https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/trumps-campaign-still-owes-el-paso-over-500k-for-2019-rally-other-cities-also-unpaid

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

Daily Dispatch 7/8/24: Abbott Absent As Beryl Slams Houston, and More Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Hurricane Beryl has made landfall at Matagorda and is currently slamming the Houston metro area: https://www.khou.com/article/weather/weather-impact/hurricane-beryl-texas-gulf-coast-landfall/285-c5815723-a9d2-440b-9b15-93341665e0c0

...While Governor Abbott is out of the country on an economic excursion to Taiwan: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-lt-governor-dan-patrick-is-acting-governor-where-is-greg-abbott/287-76ddfe70-4c04-4453-a0ec-95654dc0207b

...California Congressman Eric Swalwell has noticed: https://x.com/RepSwalwell/status/1810137695009542498?t=qdMmC4qhbRGiAlNUR6pSzQ&s=03

Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett is catching hell from Texas progressives for recommending that President Biden abandon his race for re-election: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/letters/2024/07/04/lloyd-doggett-joe-biden-withdraw-stunt-act-of-disloyalty-letters/74293475007/

...But, others are praising the move: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/letters/2024/07/06/lloyd-doggett-deserves-praise-openly-calling-president-biden-to-quit-presidential-race/74310790007/

...While Doggett affirms that he'll support the President, or whomever the Democratic nominee is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uXL_OPO4_A

...President Biden will speak at UT Austin's LBJ Presidential Library next Monday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/07/texas-joe-biden-lbj-library/

Media Matters finds that mainstream national media essentially ignored the massive infant mortality spike in Texas related to our near-complete ban on abortion: https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/national-news-media-barely-covered-infant-mortality-spike-followed-texas-anti

Lavish gifts to Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas are paying off big time for billionaires like Texas' Harlan Crow: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/chevron-supreme-court-texas-crow-thomas-19549205.php

The City of Fort Worth has intervened and is forcing the Fort Worth Botanic Garden to host a hateful conference being held by the extremist True Texas Project next weekend: https://fortworthreport.org/2024/07/04/fort-worths-ban-on-discriminatory-events-on-city-property-very-likely-to-be-removed/

Former USC and NFL QB Matt Leinart is the target of online backlash over a smiling photo he posted on July 4 with Ted Cruz: https://thespun.com/nfl/heisman-trophy-winner-is-getting-crushed-for-photo-with-ted-cruz

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

Daily Dispatch 7/5/24: New Poll Shows Dead Heat For Allred And Cruz, and More Jul 05, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

A new poll (from a conservative think tank, mind you) shows only a three point advantage for Ted Cruz over Colin Allred, with women and independents far in Allred's favor: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-polls-texas-senate-allred-narrow-lead-1921176

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a new Federal Trade Commission ban on non-compete agreements: https://www.axios.com/2024/07/03/ftc-non-compete-agreement-ban-workers

Prisoners inside Texas' uncooled prisons plead for mercy as summer heat builds: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-inmates-in-uncooled-prisons-plead-for-relief-in-another-hot-summer/

A former Republican Congressman writes on Christian Nationalism, which is more closely connected to the cultural fears of older white Texans than to their religious piety: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/2024/07/06/make-america-christian-again/

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

Daily Dispatch 7/3/24: Rep. Lloyd Doggett Calls For Biden To Step Down, and More Jul 03, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following here at Progress Texas:

Austin U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett has become the first House Democrat to publicly call for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/us/who-is-lloyd-doggett-biden.html

...Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett disagrees strongly: https://x.com/JasmineForUS/status/1808295266992128154?t=5YH20SnNuChhoWaGrzrgIw&s=03

...As does Houston U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: https://x.com/SJacksonLee/status/1808243082108063829?t=DQ_VZQ0ZX7_lkEd9dqdDMw&s=03

...Doggett uses President Lyndon Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 race as an example - that ended in Richard Nixon handily defeating Hubert Humphrey: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/lloyd-doggett-joe-biden-withdraw-election/

The Biden Administration has issued a rule allowing emergency medical providers to conduct abortions in situations where the mother's life is at risk: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/biden-admin-directive-on-abortion-could-protect-texas-doctors-from-political-prosecution

The Biden Administration has also proposed new rules protecting workers from excessive heat, following the lead of Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2024/07/02/biden-administration-proposes-rule-to-protect-workers-from-extreme-heat/

Ken Paxton has lost that legal battle he picked with longstanding immigrant shelter non-profit Annunciation House: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/ken-paxton-annunication-house-texas-catholics-19551657.php

Amarillo voters will have a direct say in that city's proposed abortion ban, marking the closest Texas has seen to a direct referendum on reproductive rights: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/amarillo-texas-abortion-travel-ban/

Residents of Sutherland Springs are resisting plans for the 100 year old church that was the site of the 2017 mass shooting that took 26 lives and has been since been converted into a memorial: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/sutherland-springs-church-raze-sanctuary-mass-19551486.php

"Texas Is In Danger Of Becoming A Theocracy": https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/opinions/columns/article/texas-school-vouchers-19524200.php

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

Daily Dispatch 7/2/24: SCOTUS Grants POTUS King-like Immunity, and More Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's granting of broad immunity to the President are only beginning to develop: https://apnews.com/article/trump-immunity-supreme-court-capitol-riot-trial-72ec35de776315183e1db561257cb108

...Basically, if the President wants you dead, you're dead: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-immunity-supreme-court/

...Not easy, but the Trump call is the worst of the year for SCOTUS: https://progresstexas.org/blog/supreme-injustices-corrupt-high-court

Texas gun enthusiasts are also fixated on how the law might protect them should they decide to open fire: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-stand-your-ground-true-texas-project/

Houston multi-millionare mega-pastor Joel Osteen is mercilessly roasted for an out-of-touch tweet about "the simple things in life": https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13590173/Millionaire-televangelist-Joel-Osteen-roasted-tweet-followers-simple-things-life.html

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

Daily Dispatch 7/1/24: Conservative Courts Declare War On American Democracy, and More Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Friday's SCOTUS move to overturn Chevron v NRDC represents a massive power grab by MAGA courts: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/06/elena-kagan-dissent-supreme-court-john-roberts-chevron-disaster.html

...SCOTUS also backs the right to criminalize homelessness: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/28/supreme-court-texas-homelessness-camping-bans/

...While the Texas Supreme Court defends a Waco-area judge's right to refuse to marry same-sex couples: https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-06-29/waco-judge-can-sue-over-reprimand-for-not-marrying-gay-couples-texas-supreme-court-rules

...And a Sherman-based, Trump-appointed federal judge blocks a Biden administrative rule that would have required employers to fairly compensate salaried workers when they put in over 40 hours in a week: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-overtime-pay-ruling/269-236181d7-509f-41bd-a76a-c59c54db2748

A history professor who has correctly predicted 9 of the 10 last Presidential elections advises that replacing President Biden on the Democratic ticket would be "foolhardy nonsense": https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/06/30/lichtman-dems-replace-biden/74260967007/

Disgraced Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris once offered to pay off his child sex abuse accuser: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/28/robert-morris-gateway-child-abuse-transcript

...While four of Gateway's "elders" are taking a leave of absence while a legal review takes place: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/robert-morris-sexual-abuse-elders-19546307.php

Dallas stands to become the largest Texas city to decriminalize small-time marijuana possession: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/dallas-largest-texas-city-to-decriminalize-marijuana/287-0d9cf889-dc1f-4b54-9084-5410a701a907

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

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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