The criminalization of poverty is not limited to the broken and unconstitutional cash bail system in our state. It also includes subjecting poor, low-income and working-class Texans to criminal prosecution for failing to timely repay unconscionable payday loans.
Some "experts" will say that investing in all these congressional districts in Texas is a waste of resources, but these are the same people who did not think Doug Jones could win a Senate seat in Alabama, and did not see Democrats almost winning back the Virginia House of Delegates last year.
The current attempt by extreme right wing members of the Texas House to have only the Republican Caucus select the next speaker of the Texas House is a violation of the Texas Constitution, House rules and possibly the Voting Rights Act and federal Constitution.
This proposed draft announcement speech for a 2018 Democratic candidate for governor of Texas is the kind of speech and candidate Democrats need and are hoping and looking for in 2018. As FDR once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Texas Democrats, let's not be afraid to fight for change and progress to move our state and nation forward. What do you think? Who will say it?
Next year, Democrats need a successful entrepreneur running for governor to lead the ticket and carry a message that the lifelong government employees seeking statewide office on the Republican ticket don't have the ability or vision to lead Texas into the future.
What questions should a Convention of States address? Should the presidential Electoral College be eliminated? Should term limits be imposed on Congress? Do we need a federal balanced budget amendment? Should health care be a constitutionally protected right?
To protect our nation and their own majority in Congress, Republicans not only have to govern by building a national consensus, but also to get to the bottom of the Trump and Russia issue.
For years, Democrats and progressives have rallied in support of investments in education, improvements in healthcare and protection of the environment. They have been tireless champions of civil rights and voting rights. Unfortunately, what they haven’t talked about enough is the increasingly high property taxes surging in Texas.
