News

The new Texas voter law is already causing problems - or is working out just as intended, depending on which side of the aisle you’re on. Vote-by-mail applications are being rejected at a massive scale across the state. In Denton and Tarrant counties, rejecting rates of 40% and higher have been...

June 13, 2012

A Hopeful Outlook for LGBT Texans

LGBTQIA+

Last weekend at the Texas Democratic Party (TDP) and the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) state conventions small but significant progress was made regarding marriage equality here in Texas. Prior to the 2012 TDP Convention the words gay, lesbian, bisexual...

June 12, 2012

NYC’s Soda Ban Serves As A Model For Cities Nationwide

Health Care

Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal of a city-wide ban in New York City on soda drinks larger than 16 ounces within restaurants and other public venues has prompted reactions ranging from approval for a major step towards combating obesity, to indignation at the...

June 11, 2012

The Trouble With Texas

Hot Topics

If you live east of the Mississippi or north of the Red River, you have probably had a few laughs about Texas. New Yorkers, who are convinced the planet disappears on the other side of the Hudson, tend to see Texans as caricatures from pulp fiction cowboy...

June 8, 2012

Our Courts Are In "Jeopardy"

Justice

Earlier this month Alex Trebek asked the following question on Jeopardy: “Of these 874 federal government jobs, 85 are vacant, some for over five years.” If you have been keeping up with the Texans for a Fair Judiciary, you may have guessed - "What are...

June 8, 2012

Netroots Nation: Update From Providence

Hot Topics

As you might know if you have been following us on Twitter ( @ProgressTX ), Phillip Martin and I are currently in Providence, RI for the 7th annual Netroots Nation conference ( #NN12 ). For those unfamiliar, Netroots Nation is a national conference of...

June 4, 2012

300K Eligible Texas Voters Targeted In Purge

Hot Topics

Are you dead? You sure? It might seem absurd, but you very well may be according to your local county election office. Earlier this year Harris County resident and voter Walter Pinkston received a letter from his country election office requesting his...

May 31, 2012

1,600 Call For Action On Rate Hikes

Health Care

Earlier this month Progress Texas teamed up with Texas Well and Healthy in a joint effort calling on Texas legislators and Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman to quit dragging their feet on reviewing unfair and unjustified...

May 29, 2012

Analysis: Bogus Budget Cuts Leave Texas 15,000 Teachers Short

Hot Topics

This morning the Dallas Morning News released an independent analysis of school teacher cuts that resulted from the 2011 Texas Legislature. Their findings are upsetting, if not shocking. From their story, titled, " Texas schools short by 15,000 teachers...

May 25, 2012

Top 10: Texas’s Demographic Changes and Immigration Politics

Hot Topics

Immigration

In advance of the Texas primaries on Tuesday, Vanessa Cárdenas (Director of Progress 2050) and Angela Maria Kelley (Vice President for Immigration Policy and Advocacy at the Center for American Progress) have published an interesting list of the " 10...