Justin Miller
‘I’m in Limbo Here’: Texans Are Met with an Overwhelmed and Antiquated State Unemployment System
The safety net meant to support the second largest workforce in the country is using decades-old technology. The workforce agency was trying to replace it when the pandemic hit.
Four months ago, Alan Chastain moved from Louisiana to the Houston area for a promising new job as a sales representative at a sign company. By late March, Chastain had been let go. It wasn’t a shock; as the coronavirus … Read More
A ‘Stay-at-Home’ Order by Any Other Name
At a time when clear and decisive action is paramount, Governor Greg Abbott has delayed, deferred, and equivocated, likely costing lives.
Twenty-six days after an elderly Fort Bend man became the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott convened a press conference at the Capitol. It was the last day of March, and Texas’ official case count … Read More
Texas Republicans’ Pandemic Performance Is True to Form
Dan Patrick performs for Fox News; Greg Abbott dithers; and John Cornyn defiantly refuses to log off.
On Monday evening, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick went on Fox News with Tucker Carlson and issued a call for the American economy to ramp back up in the very near-term, even if it means exposing vulnerable members of society, namely … Read More
Texas Democratic and Republican Parties Spar Over How to Hold Elections During a Pandemic
With primary runoffs two months from now, Dems want universal mail-in voting; Republicans want delayed elections; and local elections officials just want some guidance.
The coronavirus outbreak in the United States presents a seemingly endless number of systemic challenges. One big one: How do you hold elections in a pandemic? That’s an urgent question in Texas, where statewide primary runoffs are scheduled for May … Read More
Coronavirus is Exposing the Faulty Foundations of the Texas Fracking Industry
The oil and gas sector was already having problems, but the fear and uncertainty around a global pandemic could end the Texas energy boom.
For the past few years, Texas has reaped the rewards of a huge oil boom centered on the shale formations in the Permian Basin. Companies gobbled up acreage across the region and expanded fracking operations at an unprecedented rate. West … Read More
Henry Cuellar Prevailed Against Progressive Insurgency, But He Didn’t Go Unscathed
The resilient Blue Dog Democrat held on to his South Texas seat, but it was a much closer call than expected.
This article was produced in partnership with The Nation. A few hours after Jessica Cisneros voted at her local polling station—a Pep Boys auto shop near Laredo’s Sal Si Puedes neighborhood, where she grew up—the 26-year-old attorney began to knock … Read More
These Primary Races Will Test Texas’ Progressive Movement
Up and down the ballot, progressives are running up against establishment Democrats. The outcome could shape the future of politics in the state.
2018 offered a spark of hope for Democrats in Texas: Beto O’Rourke ran a competitive Senate campaign, and Dems flipped several reliably Republican congressional and legislative seats. Hoping to build that momentum in 2020, national groups have swooped in and … Read More
The Party Pariah
How Henry Cuellar rose to power—and how he intends to stay there.
The Party Pariah How Henry Cuellar rose to power—and how he intends to stay there. * by Justin Miller February 28, 2020 Over the course of his nearly 35 years as a politician, Henry Cuellar has managed to piss off … Read More
John Cornyn Bets Big on Trump
During the impeachment proceedings, Cornyn proved that his calculation is the same as the entire GOP’s: Live with Trump, die with Trump.
It’s become abundantly clear that U.S. Senator John Cornyn has no intention of distancing himself from Donald Trump, the man who will forever be immortalized in American history books as the third president to be impeached. Cornyn has proved to … Read More