Politics
Environmentalists Fear Conservative Group’s Push to End Corporate Subsidies is Really Just a Hit on Renewables
As Speaker of the House, Will Dennis Bonnen be a Menace to the Environment?
Despite his earlier reputation as a hatchet man for environmental regulation bills, activists are cautiously optimistic that they can find common ground with Bonnen as speaker.
As chair of the Texas House Committee on Environmental Regulation from 2003 to 2008, Representative Dennis Bonnen was labeled a “tyrant,” a “Clean Air Vil...Read More
Texas GOP Chair: Racism and Bigotry are an ‘Extreme Exception’ in the Party
James Dickey on white nationalists in the Texas GOP, xenophobia and “America First.”
Last week, the Observer reported that Ray Myers — who had a hand in crafting the platform for the most influential state Republican party in the country — ...Read More
‘Damn Right, I’m a White Nationalist’ Declares Texas GOP Platform Committee Member
A connected tea party activist says white nationalism has nothing to do with race supremacy — it’s just part of Trump’s “America First” vision.
At the Texas Republican Party’s 2018 convention, Ray Myers was a part of a select group of activists charged with crafting the platform for the biggest and mo...Read More
John Guandolo is on a Crusade to Turn Texas Cops Against Muslims
An ex-FBI agent living in the Dallas area, Guandolo occupies a special niche in a larger network of Islamophobes in the United States.
In late September, about 100 conservatives gathered at the Odessa Country Club to hear from two men: Republican Congressman Mike Conaway, who discussed the 357...Read More
How Climate Change Is Driving Central American Migrants to the United States
In the poor, violent Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, worsening floods, drought and storms are pushing a growing number of migrants north.
Donald Trump thinks there’s an immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. He has no idea what’s coming. Thousands of Central American migrants arrive at ...Read More
How Beto Built His Texas-Sized Grassroots Machine
To pull off the largest GOTV effort in state history, O’Rourke turned to the top architects of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
How Beto Built His Texas-Sized Grassroots Machine To pull off the largest GOTV effort in state history, O’Rourke turned to the top architects of Bernie Sander...Read More
Tarrant County Republicans to Host Islamophobic Speaker Days Before Vote on Muslim Leaders
The party could soon oust four members, one who's Muslim and another married to a Muslim. First, some members plan to hear from an anti-Islam crackpot.
Emails obtained by the Observer reveal that members of the Tarrant County Republican Party plan to hold a training by notorious Islamophobe John Guandolo at an ...Read More
In 2019, Another Chance to Fix the Texas Public Information Act
With a GOP committee chair gone and new bills in the pipeline, state lawmakers and government transparency advocates seek to close loopholes in Texas open records law.
It’s been three years since Enrique Iglesias walked away from the Rio Grande Valley holding a proverbial sack full of taxpayer cash. He got the money in 2015 ...Read More
Empower Texans Flushed Millions Down the Toilet
After a decade spent trying to remake Texas politics, the right-wing enforcement group has achieved nothing interesting or notable with Tim Dunn’s money.
Earlier this decade, there was no more interesting subplot in Texas politics than the Republican Civil War, a somewhat grandiose name for the discomfort the tea...Read More