Politics 86
Texas road congestion is hitting a breaking point. Are voters ready to approve more public transit spending?
Houston Metro has a $3.5 billion bond on the November ballot to greatly expand the region’s public transportation system. Image credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune As road congestion worsens in Texas cities, public transit authorities are racing to raise money for vast expansions of light rail and buses to transport the state’s growing
President Trump to hold October campaign rally in Dallas
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso on February 11, 2019. Image credit: REUTERS/Leah Millis The event is set for Oct. 17 at the American Airlines Center. It’s his first visit to Texas since the U.S. House launched an impeachment inquiry. By Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune.
How Congress turns citizens’ voices into data points
Answering constituents in congressional offices often involves tabulating comments in a database. Office of Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. via AP Samantha McDonald, University of California, Irvine Big technology companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google aren’t the only ones facing huge political concerns about using citizen data: So is Congress. Reports by congressional researchers over the
The American Founders made sure the president could never suspend Congress
The signing of the U.S. Constitution. Architect of the Capitol Eliga Gould, University of New Hampshire The British monarch has the right to determine when Parliament is in session – or, more to the point, when it is not. Breaking with longstanding tradition, and possibly with the United Kingdom’s unwritten constitution, new Prime Minister Boris
820 new Texas laws go into effect in September. Here are some that might affect you.
The laws were passed during the recent legislative session at the Texas Capitol. Image credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune The laws include new rules for smokers, telemarketers and kids selling lemonade. By Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune. This Sunday, 820 new laws passed during the 2019 session of the Texas Legislature will go into
Bibles but Not Textbooks: Trump’s Tariff Exemptions Pick Winners and Losers
Products won exemptions from the U.S. Trade Representative for “health, safety, national security and other factors,” but the criteria remain unclear. By Lydia DePillis, ProPublica. President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade brinksmanship has split the American economy into new castes of winners and losers, with few consistent criteria defining who ends up in which group —
Trump Administration revives public charge clause that kept Nazi-era refugees from the US
“Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet. And who will not become a public charge,” said Acting head of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli. AP Photo/Seth Wenig Laurel Leff, Northeastern University During the Nazi era, roughly 300,000 additional Jewish refugees could have gained entry to the
Politicians don’t seem to laugh at themselves as much anymore
Ronald Reagan at the end of his debate with Walter Mondale, Oct. 22, 1984, Kansas City, Mo. AP/Ron Edmonds Frank T. McAndrew, Knox College As the 2020 presidential campaign gets underway, one of the key factors that shapes our perceptions is how the candidates use – or do not use – humor. One kind of
Donald Trump is spending more money on Facebook ads in Texas than in any other state
The spending in the traditionally red state is raising questions about whether he’s simply shoring up his support — or treating Texas as potentially up for grabs in 2020. By Alex Samuels, The Texas Tribune. Beginning in June, thousands of voters across the country saw a fundraising plea in the form of a Facebook ad
One budget line Congress can agree on: Spending billions on the US military
Since WWII, there’s been strong partisan support for military spending. Mircea Moira/Shutterstock.com Rebecca U. Thorpe, University of Washington The two-year budget deal signed into law in July marks a rare bipartisan agreement. The deal adds US$320 billion over current spending levels spread across defense and non-defense programs, averting the threat of debt default until after
The ‘warspeak’ permeating everyday language puts us all in the trenches
It’s a linguistic battlefield out there. Complot/Shutterstock.com Robert Myers, Alfred University In a manifesto posted online shortly before he went on to massacre 22 people at an El Paso Walmart, Patrick Crusius cited the “invasion” of Texas by Hispanics. In doing so, he echoed President Trump’s rhetoric of an illegal immigrant “invasion.” Think about what
From across the globe to El Paso, changes in the language of the far-right explain its current violence
Law enforcement officers walking to the scene of a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. AP/Rudy Gutierrez Arie Perliger, University of Massachusetts Lowell The recent shooting attack in which a young white man is accused of killing 22 people in a Walmart in El Paso fits a
