Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

In mere hours, following the announcement of President Joe Biden that he was standing down from the election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place, the fundraising platform ActBlue reported over $50 million in donations: https://x.com/mattmfm/status/1815199349737205860?s=46

President Biden's under-appreciated administration will be remembered well by history: https://apnews.com/article/biden-political-legacy-presidential-election-5aee4f47ecb317d4f6ef2a2148eba1d8

Progress Texas celebrates both the accomplishments of the Biden/Harris team: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-biden-taps-vp-harris-%E2%80%9Cfinish-job%E2%80%9D-most-progressive-presidency-american-history

...And the potential for a new administration led by Kamala Harris: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/21/texas-democrats-worried-about-down-ballot-races-feeling-better-after-bidens-decision/

Progress Texas sends our condolences to the family of legendary progressive fighter and leader Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sheila-jackson-lee-dies-age-74/

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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The 2024 Republican National Convention wrapped with a fiery celebration of our country's cultural lowest common denominator and an endless, snoozy Trump diatribe: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/19/takeaways-rnc-day-4-trump-speech

...While a speech featuring VP pick J.D. Vance extolling the virtues of Alex Jones surfaces: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/vance-alex-jones-oligarchs-speech-report-1235061811/

...And most of the major players in Texas' conservative circus seem primed for sweet Trump gigs should he win in November: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/18/texas-republicans-not-in-2024-spotlight-could-thrive-under-a-trump-second-term/

An Austin-based network of shelters for immigrant children is the target of a federal lawsuit alleging systemic sexual abuse of the kids under its care: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/national/2024/07/18/doj-texas-company-staff-sexually-abused-migrant-children-in-their-care-at-shelter/

...While Ken Paxton seeks the approval of the Texas Supreme Court to continue his efforts to shut down the Catholic immigrant shelter network Annunciation House: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-revives-effort-close-annunciation-house-el-paso/

Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett thumbs her nose at the state-level GOP lawmakers who want her to step down over her support of a bill denying former Presidents convicted of felonies their traditional lifetime Secret Service privileges: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-texas-jasmine-crockett-trump-secret-service-bill-congresswoman/287-b4db9260-858e-40c8-9e9f-1b4be667923f

See Progress Texas' new 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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Governor Abbott left Texas amidst hurricane recovery for a second time to speak at the Republican National Convention's third night: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-rnc-speech-takeaways-19580598.php

...Badly-needed fact checking of Abbott's RNC remarks: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/fact-checking-texas-gov-abbotts-immigration-claims-in-rnc-speech/

The Pennsylvania billionaire who gave Abbott $6 million to push for vouchers has kicked in another $4 million: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/17/greg-abbott-jeff-yass-campaign-donation/

Repeated weather-related mass power outages in Texas are due to poor stormproofing of infrastructure: https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2024/07/18/why-texas-mass-power-outages-continue-to-happen/

...A Senate committee will look into our state's power problems - think they'll find themselves responsible? Right: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricanes/article/texas-senate-beryl-power-outages-committee-19580158.php

Texas has been ranked only behind Mississippi in negative women's health outcomes: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2024/07/17/texas-ranks-almost-dead-last-in-the-nation-for-womens-health-care-research-shows/

See Progress Texas' new 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/.

Since he was first elected to the Austin City Council ten years ago in 2014, Houston native Greg Casar has emerged as one of our state's most respected progressive leaders, and since 2022 has been pushing hard for progress in Texas in the U.S. House, where he's currently the second-youngest member of that entire esteemed body. Join us for a great conversation on his experience so far in D.C., how it has inspired him to keep fighting for his folks back home, and how Texas progressives should both buckle down and buck up about the work at hand, even when the battles seem tough - let's play the long game and win the war.

Learn more about Congressman Greg Casar at https://casar.house.gov/.

Thanks for listening! Your donations and your purchases from our web store help Progress Texas continue our important work, and we appreciate it very much. Come see us at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Governor Abbott remains defiant in the face of criticism over his abandoning Texas during Hurricane Beryl: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/greg-abbott-asia-hurricane-beryl/

...Abbott's attacks notwithstanding, Centerpoint Energy has donated heavily to Republicans for years - thus the lack of regulation, likely leading to Houston's vulnerability: https://www.kxan.com/news/centerpoint-has-contributed-at-least-1-4m-to-texas-lawmakers-since-2022/

...Beryl's death toll in Southeast Texas has risen to 18: https://abc13.com/post/hurricane-beryl-death-toll-hyperthermia-heat-illness-power-outages/15063218/

...And an already challenging hunger crisis in Houston has gotten a lot worse: https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/hunger-was-already-bad-enough-then-beryl-hit/

Ted Cruz returned to a Republican National Convention stage for the first time since 2016 last night - this time, not defiant to Trump, but groveling: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/ted-cruz-trump-republican-national-convention/

...RNC calls for "unity" and attempting to disavow political violence ring hollow, as several of their speakers, including Cruz, are known for stoking the violent tendencies of their audiences: https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/republican-convention-features-speakers-who-have-called-and-downplayed-political

Trump VP pick J.D. Vance once clerked for Senator John Cornyn: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/jd-vance-john-cornyn-texas-vice-president/

...And has publicly supported Texas' abortion ban: https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-defends-texas-abortion-ban-calls-rape-inconvenient

...Leading to fears that his presence on the ticket makes a national abortion ban more likely should Trump win: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-abortion-rights-groups

A new ranking of U.S. states by quality of life finds Texas the worst in the country, largely due to the by-products of Republican rule: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/texas-worst-quality-of-life-in-america-ranking-19576834.php

See Progress Texas' new 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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Texas formed a visible component of the garish display that was Monday night's Republican National Convention: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/trump-rnc-cruz-biden-19575121.php

Colin Allred has outraised Ted Cruz in the second quarter of 2024: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/15/colin-allred-ted-cruz-senate-race-texas/

A Texas YouTuber, whose channel has generated billions of views of videos glorifying guns and military weapons, expresses surprise that his content inspired the 20 year old who tried to kill Donald Trump: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/shocked-and-confused-texas-youtuber-speaks-after-trump-rally-gunman-wore-channel-merch-shirt/

A group of Texas Republican lawmakers and candidates have signed a petition calling for Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett to step down over her support of a move to strip Trump of his Secret Service detail: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/trump-assassination-attempt-secret-service-bill-jasmine-crockett-texas-republicans/287-e0353733-1673-435d-b5ee-5cd7e64273be

Local school and law enforcement officials in Uvalde have been ordered by a judge to turn over video, audio and records related to the Robb Elementary shooting: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/15/uvalde-school-shooting-records-sheriff-district/

...While another judge has approved the demolition of the old church building where 26 died in a mass shooting in 2017 in Sutherland Springs: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-clears-demolition-texas-church-26-people-killed-111972090

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/.

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/.

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

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/.

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/

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

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

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/.