Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Presidents' Day is about noting ALL of the Presidents - not just the current one, who falls at the very bottom of the most recent ranking done by the Presidential Greatness Project: https://presidentialgreatnessproject.com/ Trump's prospects of improving that dead-last ranking appear dismal as Elon Musk and his DOGE hackers are now this close...

In Texas, being an outspoken progressive person comes with risks. In a state overrun by MAGA, wearing your belief in equality, compassion and kindness on your sleeve can invite conflict with not only family members and neighbors, but also your boss - thus, now more than in the recent past, it's risky to speak up. Brad Stuver and his wife Ashley, in founding the Brad and Ashley Stuver Foundation, a...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Spurred by Elon Musk's commentary that USAID is a "criminal organization", Russian officials who have suspected that organization of supporting anti-Putin dissidents wants Musk and Trump to turn over their names: https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/russia-elon-musk-list-names-dissidents-usaid-s798gktd7 About 100 suspected undocument...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Congressional Democrats are railing against the abdication by the Congress of their control of federal purse strings to the unelected Elon Musk, including Austin Congressman Greg Casar: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuiverQuantitative/s/gNFR33sfZS ...And Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/02/12/fir...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: In a bizarre moment, Elon Musk casually towered over Donald Trump in the Oval Office during a press conference on DOGE's federal cost-cutting efforts: https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2025/02/12/unelected-musk-holds-court-in-trumps-oval-office-as-he-defends-efficiency-drive/ ...MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell analyzes this crazy, telling moment...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The measles outbreak in Gaines County appears to be gaining momentum, spreading concern across the state at a time when vaccination rates are down: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/measles-outbreak-texas-20159156.php ...The problem isn't limited to rural Texas - Houston kindergarteners saw a massive drop in measles vaccinations...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Kanye West, as part of a long, unhinged tirade in several topical directions, cites Texas transplant Elon Musk as having stolen his "Nazi swag": https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/kanye-west-says-i-love-hitler-accuses-elon-musk-of-stealing-his-nazi-swag-in-explosive-social-media-rant/articleshow/118027124.cms Dallas Congresswoman J...

Houston State Rep. Gene Wu, Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, has long been one of our favorite fighters for progress in the Lone Star State. And Clayton Tucker, wearer of many stylish hats in Texas progressive circles is a voice we follow closely as well - for this discussion, joining us in his role as Program Associate for the Trade Justice Education Fund. How should progressive Texans...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Lawsuits against technical moves made by Elon Musk and his team of hackers that have exposed sensitive data are gaining steam: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/federal-workers-sue-opm-elon-musk-takeover.html ...Musk and DOGE's disruption of USAID has potentially derailed a new HIV vaccine, and has disrupted programs to mitigate mal...

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 y...

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 administr...

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...

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, electi...

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 Se...

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 wo...

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?...

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:...

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 Ant...

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://...

The Progress Texas staff were pleased to be a part of today's forum of five of the candidates to become the new Chair of the Texas Democratic Party in March. We gathered for a quick post-event recap - enjoy and keep it here for future forums.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Upending over five decades of tradition, but right in line with their anti-democratic MAGA fanaticism, the Republican majority in the Texas House voted yesterday to ban Democrats from chairing committees: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/texas-house-republican-committee-chairs/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&utm_campaign=9a17...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The welcome challenge to the MAGA distortion of Christianity by Bishop Mariann Budde during the Trump inauguration proceedings casts new light on attempts by Texas GOP lawmakers to force that distorted vision into public life in Texas: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/01/22/texas-is-on-the-path-to-even-harder-right-christian-supremacy/ Budget d...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: San Antonio is one of the cities said to be in the crosshairs for ICE's renewed push for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/immigration-raids-texas-trump-20046972.php ...The expansion of dentention facilities in Texas and other states - to the benefit of private prison companies - is...

Stories we're following at Progress Texas: Right out of the chute, as promised, a flurry of executive orders from Donald Trump - many of which will face immediate legal challenge: https://apnews.com/article/trump-day-1-executive-orders-3a035a0bbd37b5c12630b92c8c8a9625 We bid godspeed and offer our admiration and gratitude to Cecile Richards, who died yesterday at home at the age of 67: https://the...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Seven employees of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have been fired under suspicion of breaching the data and stealing the service funds of thousands of low-income Texans who rely on their services: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-hhsc-food-stamp-fraud-data-breach/ Amarillo anti-choice activist judge Matthew Kacsma...