Abbott, Gov

==

pow bak 919

SEE GOV GREG ABBOTT BAK

former AG so escalator , poster boy for AG?

raga run by? pruitt took over from abbott?

big lie? signed heritage action BS voter bill in minutes// ga?

Calls mount for Biden to seize control of National Guard as Abbott ignores SCOTUS ruling - Alternet.org

6 23 heat wave dome saves day

https://www.alternet.org/environment/solar-texas/

5 22 an

....After 10 people were killed in a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, in 2018, Gov. Greg Abbott suggested considering a “red flag” law. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick nixed it.

After 23 people were killed at a Walmart in El Paso and seven people were killed in Midland-Odessa in 2019, Patrick discussed expanding background checks. Instead, the Legislature passed permitless carry.

But after Uvalde, neither Patrick nor Abbott indicated any interest in reforming the state’s gun laws. On Fox News, Attorney General Ken Paxton said it’s unreasonable to think we can “stop bad people from doing bad things.”

“We can potentially arm and prepare and train teachers and other administrators to respond quickly,” he said. “That, in my opinion, is the best answer.”

While Democrats expressed their outrage — some more immediately than others — none of this came as any surprise to people who study gun issues.

Poliquin’s research shows that Republican-dominated states tend to pass legislation in the wake of mass shootings that make guns more readily accessible. Democrat-led states don’t see a statistically significant increase in gun laws of any kind after these events, in part, Poliquin hypothesized, because they already have strong gun control laws.

Republicans in Texas are acting on their party’s ideology around guns, which emphasizes more guns in more places as a deterrent to acts of violence. And even if that doesn’t reflect public opinion, they have no reason to anticipate backlash in the voting booth.

[Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference at Uvalde High School on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 in Uvalde. Twenty one people were killed after a gunman after a high school student opened fire inside Robb Elementary School on Tuesday where two teachers and 19 students were killed.

Even conversations about compromise are enough to rile up the faithful, and in a polarized and gerrymandered state like Texas, the political fringes are where a politician's career can be made or lost.

“The more the gun control advocates try to put in place what they euphemistically call common sense gun laws … those of us that believe in the Second Amendment and everything it was set in place to protect tend to hold much tighter,” Hupp said. “We recognize what their ultimate goal is, which is to completely disarm citizens.”

Donna Howard, one of a minority of Democrats in the state Legislature, said Texas’ approach to gun policy reminds her of the bumper stickers she would see in the 1960s: “America: Love it or leave it.”

It feels like her fellow legislators are telling her — and any Texans who want gun control — “if you don't like it, you can just leave,” she said.

“That’s not something I have felt until recent years,” she said. “This is my home, and the fact that what I believe and people like me believe, and the way we would like to have society structured, is just totally discounted, it feels like we don't matter.”

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/29/texas-mass-shootings-self-defense-gun-ownership/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Example tokens

**Greg Abbott** — Received somewhere in the range $9 million from a tort against a homeowner whose tree branch fell and permanently paralyzed him while was jogging.^[7] As Texas attorney general he has supported tort reform that would substantially cap the amount of tort payments.^[8]

mebbe we shd've let the sombitches secede when we had the chabce9s):

iterative voter suppression consolidates power minority rule

texas kill roe and voting in one day?! abbott

tx ct ordered baby jail reboot in 1 wk?! backed by scotus (no names ruling?]

https://www.alternet.org/2021/08/big-lie/

rove takeover pioneer?

tex state scotus   backed gov idiocy on mask mandate

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/15/world/covid-delta-variant-vaccine

tested pos after superspreader fundraiser?!

. Abbott takes aggressive step to close a loophole in his vaccine mandate ban

David Badash The New Civil Rights Movement

 August 26, 2021

**Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott**, still recovering from contracting COVID-19 and still in atight re-election campaign on Wednesday changed his executive order banning coronavirus vaccine mandate....

he and desantis called out by biden

mengele

https://www.alternet.org/2021/08/texas-public-schools/

officially authoritarian voter suppress, CRT, __, nat'l guard on border, arrest dems who fled to DC

https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/border-wall/

Gov. Greg Abbott promised 'transparency' for border wall donations. But donors don’t have to use real names

https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/texas-history-book/

cdv

In the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney proclaimed that Black people have "no rights that the white man is bound to respect." Today's Jim Crow Republican Party, and the white right more broadly, have taken the spirit of those words and updated them for the 21st century, effectively by arguing that "white people are not bound to respect historical truth or established facts — at least not as they pertain to Black and brown people in America".

As the next step in their war against multiracial democracy, the Republican Party and its allies have launched a moral panic about "critical race theory." Of course, their version of "critical race theory" is a type of racial bogeyman or psychological projection, a function of white racial paranoia about the "browning of America" and the threat of "white genocide."

Facts do not matter in the right-wing echo chamber. It is of no importance that the white right's version of "critical race theory" has nothing to do with the scholarly paradigm of the same name.

As the truism holds, history is written by the victors. To that end, in dozens of states across the country, the white right is engaging in an Orwellian campaign of rewriting school curricula to prevent the teaching of "critical race theory" -- which in practice means stopping any serious engagement with America's real and often uncomfortable history of racism and white supremacy.

The white right's campaign against the teaching of real American history involves actual thoughtcrimes.

For example, in Florida, a law was recently passed mandating a survey of students and faculty in public colleges and universities to determine their political beliefs. Of course, Florida has also banned the teaching of "critical race theory."

Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, perhaps the single most influential voice on the white right, recently suggested that cameras should be placed in classrooms to ensure that no teachers will deploy "critical race theory" or other facts and arguments deemed to be "unpatriotic."

The Republican-controlled Texas Senate recently passed a bill eliminating a requirement that the history of the civil rights movement and other human rights struggles be taught in public schools. The bill also removed a condemnation of the Ku Klux Klan from course requirements as well.

As Yahoo News reports, the requirements removed from the state's curriculum include two speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., any mention of Latino labor organizers Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and any mention of Thomas Jefferson's long-term relationship with Sally Hemings, an enslaved teenage child who bore six of his children. The bill bars any use of the New York Times' 1619 Projectand "prohibits teaching that slavery was part of the 'true' founding of the United States" and removes the requirement to study the "history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong."

This Republican legislation has been met with widespread outrage. But that reaction should just be the beginning. The next step involves doing the harder work of understanding why so many other (mostly white) Americans actually believe that "critical race theory" and the teaching of America's real history should be banned. Understanding these beliefs and motivations is essential to defeating American neofascism and its white supremacist social and political project.

Many Americans have been propagandized by their schools, news media, the internet, churches and other social institutions to believe in a large set of interlocking lies and myths about the country's past and present. To intervene against these lies often causes emotional pain and/or narcissistic injury to those who hold such beliefs.

This dynamic is especially powerful for those who are emotionally, psychologically, financially and politically invested in defending and protecting white privilege and white people's control over almost every aspect of American life. In that context, the personal truly is political: Whiteness, as a concept and a social force, has become linked at an individual level to the maintenance of white power.

How does this right-wing fantasy machine work? The Root has exhaustively documented how some of America's most widely used history textbooks misrepresent the real history of the color line and distort such topics as chattel slavery, the Civil War, the civil rights movement and social injustice more generally, through the use of what sociologist Joe Feagin has called the "white racial frame."

Michael Harriot offers this analysis:

So when Mitch McConnell and 38 Republican senators sent a letter to the secretary of education decrying the ghastly prospect of white students having to learn actual facts about slavery, it was not unexpected. For centuries, this country's schools have perpetuated a whitewashed version of history that either erases or reduces the story of Black America down to a B-plot in the American script. It's why they hate Critical Race Theory, The 1619 Project and anything factual — because the white-centric interpretation of our national past is so commonly accepted, white people have convinced themselves that anything that varies from the Caucasian interpretation must be a lie. …

This is why they oppose expanding the historiography of our national story. American schools have never taught a version of history that wasn't racialized. But, apparently, it's perfectly fine if the racial narrative skews toward whiteness. They can't be opposed to learning a different historical perspective because they never learned history; they were spoonfed fiction in bite-sized morsels.

To be fair, it's understandable why they are so adamant about what they believe in.

Imagine you are a white man. Now imagine what it's like going through 12 years of school, four years of college, graduate school and an entire career that made you one of the most powerful people on the planet. Now imagine a group of Black journalists, led by a Black woman, told you that you don't know shit.

To that point, the right-wing echo chamber consistently repeats neo-Confederate "Lost Cause" myths, such as the oft-repeated lie that the Civil War was fought over "states' rights" rather than white-on-Black chattel slavery.

The right obsessively depicts the Democrats as "the party of the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow and slavery". This is a deliberate distortion of history because the pro-slavery, pro-segregation faction of the Democratic Party became solid Republicans after the enactment of civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

Right-wing propagandists also love to claim that Martin Luther King Jr. was a "Republican," or at least espoused Republican values. This is a ludicrous allegation: In contemporary terms King was a democratic socialist or progressive who opposed racism, poverty, military adventurism and injustice of all kinds. King would have viewed the modern-day conservative movement as a great force for evil in American society and the world.

Black conservative propagandists play an important role in the right-wing echo chamber, validating racist fantasies that slavery was a "gift" to Black people because it brought them to America. In this twisted perception of history, chattel slavery is understood as a "necessary evil" because it gave Black people Christianity and taught them the value of "hard work".

These same Black conservatives love to repeat the vicious lie that the Democratic Party is a type of "plantation." In reality, the plantations of the antebellum South were prison camps, charnel houses and places of torture, rape, suffering and death. Black conservative propagandists frequently announce that they are special and uniquely capable of "thinking for themselves," as compared to the vast majority of Black people who support the Democratic Party and are therefore deemed to be ignorant or uninformed.

The campaign against "critical race theory" — and against teaching America's real history — must be understood as part of a larger fascist strategy of attacking public schools and other institutions of learning with the aim of creating compliant followers and a public that is not equipped to participate in democracy — or to defend it.

This plan involves placing white supremacists, QAnon conspiracists, Trump supporters and other right-wing extremists — to the degree those categories of people can be separated — on local school boards and library advisory councils, banning "controversial" books, and the surveillance or intimidation of teachers deemed too "liberal" or suspected of "politicizing" the classroom, i.e., by refusing to teach right-wing dogma and other lies.

The fascist assault on education and critical thinking also involves think tanks, right-wing activists and advocacy groups, along with a network of wealthy funders committed to remaking American society to fit their racist, theocratic and plutocratic vision.

The Texas Republicans' attempt to literally whitewash the Ku Klux Klan out of American history is so ridiculous that it approaches parody. That doesn't make such historical erasure and distortion any less dangerous. Those dangers are further amplified by the crisis of democracy caused by the Jim Crow Republicans and ascendant neofascist movement.

As historian Timothy Snyder warned in a recent essay in the New York Times:

Democracy requires individual responsibility, which is impossible without critical history. It thrives in a spirit of self-awareness and self-correction. Authoritarianism, on the other hand, is infantilizing: We should not have to feel any negative emotions; difficult subjects should be kept from us. Our memory laws amount to therapy, a talking cure. In the laws' portrayal of the world, the words of white people have the magic power to dissolve the historical consequences of slavery, lynchings and voter suppression. Racism is over when white people say so.

We start by saying we are not racists. Yes, that felt nice. And now we should make sure that no one says anything that might upset us. The fight against racism becomes the search for a language that makes white people feel good. The laws themselves model the desired rhetoric. We are just trying to be fair. We behave neutrally. We are innocent.

When viewed in the aggregate, these attacks on "critical race theory" and the teaching of America's real history echo some of the worst aspects of the country's past. In his book "Trouble in Mind", historian Leon Litwack details how history was taught during the Jim Crow reign of terror:

The history to which Black children were exposed in the classroom and the primers made a virtual gospel of the superiority of Anglo-Saxon institutions and ways of thinking and acting…. What little they learned of their own history consisted often of disparaging caricatures of Black people as the least civilized of the races — irresponsible, thoughtless, foolish, childlike people, satisfied with their lowly place in American life, incapable of self-control and self-direction. The history of Black people was a history of submission gladly endured and of services faithfully rendered. Transported from the darkness of heathen Africa to the civilized and Christian New World, grateful slaves found contentment and happiness…. The treatment of emancipation depicted Blacks passively waiting for Massa' Lincoln to strike off their shackles. And Reconstruction saw the enthronement of Black ignorance and inexperience, with the Ku Klux Klan in some account redeeming Anglo-Saxon civilization from alien rule. The history lessons taught in public schools were calculated to produce patriotic citizens, albeit with a distinctive southern bias.

The Jim Crow Republicans and the white right view this approach to American history as admirable, something to be resuscitated from the dustbin of the country's past.

In the self-serving stories told by the Ku Klux Klan, that terrorist organization had noble origins, represented "Christian values," did charity work and helped the poor, served the community by dealing with drunks and other miscreants, and protected "white families" as well as the "good Blacks". This is the fake history that the Jim Crow Republicans want to see taught to America's young people.

The neofascist movement understands that if it wins the battle over the teaching of the past, it can in turn control the future. In total, the right wing's moral panic over "critical race theory" resembles the kind of hearts-and-minds indoctrination favored by the great villains of history. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler and Goebbels would be proud to see their legacy continued.

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omg

Unbelievably dangerous': Top Democrat slams Gov. Noem for using the National Guard as a 'private militia'

David Badash The New Civil Rights Movement

July 01, 2021

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee is blasting South Dakota Republican **Governor Kristi Noem** for fulfilling the request of a wealthy GOP donor who asked her to deploy....nat'l gd in texas abbott border

getting beat so desperate flail? 2024 run?

ABBOTT PVT $ FOR wALL 621, ALSO TAX $?

we must keep the homeland pure, immaculate, virginal vs dark invasion/infection; we need strict fr and wALL TO REPELL THEM/OTHER/ENEMY

critics denounce Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick's 'invasion' rhetoric on immigration

https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/dan-patrick/

gov. Greg Abbott says power grid better than ever as Texans asked to cut back electricity use

Mitchell Ferman The Texas Tribune

June 17, 2021

"Gov. Greg Abbott says power grid better than ever as Texans asked to cut back electricity use" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs....

drought grid fail

https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/greg-abbott-2653380346/

pvt donor wall

https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/greg-abbott-2653384985/

https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/texas-gov-was-aware-of-gas-shortages-days-before-winter-storm-blackout-but-publicly-blamed-solar-winds-anyway-report/

521 an

Texas House votes to remove state funding from sports teams that don't play national anthem at games

The Texas Tribune  May 25, 2021

"Texas House votes to yank state funding from sports teams that don't play national anthem at games" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

The Texas House gave preliminary approval on Monday to the so-called“Star Spangled Banner Protection Act," a conservative-backed bill that would require any professional sports teams with contracts with the Texas state government to play the national anthem before the start of a game.

Senate Bill 4 was passed on a voice vote, with no changes by the House. It is expected to receive a record vote and final passage on Tuesday and head to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.

House Republicans defeated several proposed amendments along partisan lines, signaling more division on the issue in the lower chamber than was seen in the Senate, which passed the bill last month with overwhelming bipartisan support and only two votes against it.

Athletes protesting the national anthem has become a divisive and partisan issue since NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling in 2016 to protest police brutality against Black Americans.

In February, Patrick named the bill one of his legislative priorities after Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, stopped playing the anthem before home games, which went largely unnoticed during the pandemic with no fans in the stands.

That decision quickly drew the ire of conservative lawmakers in the state.

“Sell the franchise & some Texas Patriots will buy it," Patrick said in a tweet at the time. “We ARE the land of free & the home of the brave."

In a public response to the outcry condemning his decision, Cuban expressed support for the anthem, but he said team executives “also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them." The NBA later said all teams would play the anthem before games.

During Monday's debate on the House floor, opponents questioned the constitutionality of a law that they said ties funding to free speech by threatening negative action against sports teams that choose to express their opinions by declining to play the anthem.

“Once again, we're carrying legislation that is openly and aggressively unconstitutional," said state Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat who unsuccessfully tried to turn the bill into a resolution, allowing the House to take a stand in favor of the anthem without the force of law.

The bill's House sponsor, state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, said the bill does not violate free speech because teams can still choose not to play the anthem and forgo the funding and business relationship with the state.

“It's very simple. If they do not want to play the national anthem, they don't take the tax dollars," Burrows said. “If we're going to go ahead and subsidize with hard-earned American dollars the sporting facilities and the teams in the different ways that I think is articulated in this bill, then this would apply."

Attempts by Democrats to require teams to play both the “Star-Spangled Banner" and “Lift Every Voice and Sing," or to choose between them, were shut down along partisan lines.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing" is commonly known as “the Black national anthem," said Rep. Jasmine Felicia Crockett, D-Dallas, who authored one of the amendments.

“I don't even understand why we would feel the need to force someone into singing any song," Crockett said. “But if we are going to force people to sing a song, we should at least be mindful of the people playing on these teams, the people that are actually in the stands supporting these teams."

Burrows opposed the amendments “with the deepest amount of respect to my friend and colleague" because he wanted to avoid any changes to the bill, which would slow its progress to the governor's desk during the final week of the legislative session.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/24/texas-house-national-anthem/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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debacle ~ dereg an 521 https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/texas/]

https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/abbott/

no lnx

Greg Abbott consulted an infamous climate change denier before Texas energy debacle: reporter

Alex Henderson March 17, 2021

Gov. Greg Abbott has drawn a great deal of criticism from Texas Democrats, including former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, over his response to the Lone Star State's recent energy debacle — which found millions of Texas without heat, electricity and running water during freezing temperatures. And according to Madlin Mekelburg, an environmental reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, one of the people Abbott consulted before the cold snap was Joe Bastardi — a meteorologist known for being a climate change denier.

Abbott, during the crisis, claimed that green energy was to blame for the widespread power outages that Texas was suffering. But as O'Rourke pointed out, only a fraction of Texas' energy comes from wind power — the state is much more reliant on fossil fuels. And the state's power grid, O'Rourke stressed, suffered across-the-board problems because it hadn't been properly winterized.

Bastardi, reporter Abigail Rosenthal notes on the My San Antonio website, is someone who was recommended to Abbott by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Fox News' Sean Hannity. The meteorologist has said that if changes in climate occur, they do so naturally — claiming that use of fossil fuels has nothing to do with it. Scientists all over the world, however, have been warning that fossil fuels are a key factor in climate change.

Hannity, in fact, wrote the forward for Bastardi's book, "The Weaponization of Weather in the Phony Climate War" — which has drawn a great deal of criticism from scientists. Bastardi has appeared on Hannity's show more than once.

Mekelburg reports that Abbott and Bastardi spoke on February 12, which was a few days before the freezing temperatures arrived in Texas. And Bastardi, according to Mekelburg, told the Texas governor to expect "a winter version of a Category 5 hurricane."

During the cold snap, major Texas cities like Houston, Austin and San Antonio experienced afternoon highs of around 33F or 34F — which wouldn't be unusual for Pittsburgh or Detroit in February, but was unusually cold for cities in South Texas. Unlike states that were used to coping with icy, freezing weather, Texas did not winterize its power system — and its power grid failed.

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coke for votes [vs no food and water for AA voter lines]

https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/greg-abbott-2651059181/

is blame wind made possible by massive hist of BS // hillary ark pjt? trump said cause cancer?

// --> brownback as libtard fail?

who said small price to pay to keep gubmint out of our business?

https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/green-new-deal/

Author and environmentalist Naomi Klein argued in a New York Times column Sunday that Republicans rushed to attack the Green New Deal as disaster struck in Texas because the popular push for a sweeping transformation of the U.S. energy system poses a genuine threat to the deregulated, fossil-fuel dependent status quo that left the Lone Star State vulnerable to extreme weather driven by the climate crisis.

"Texans are living through the collapse of a 40-year experiment in free-market fundamentalism, one that has also stood in the way of effective climate action," Klein wrote. "Fortunately, there's a way out—and that's precisely what Republican politicians in the state most fear."

Klein characterized the ongoing power, water, and food crises in Texas as the consequence of "an energy-market free-for-all" stemming from "a fateful series of decisions [that] were made in the late-'90s, when the now-defunct, scandal-plagued energy company Enron led a successful push to radically deregulate Texas' electricity sector."

"As a result, decisions about the generation and distribution of power were stripped from regulators and, in effect, handed over to private energy companies," Klein wrote. "Unsurprisingly, these companies prioritized short-term profit over costly investments to maintain the grid and build in redundancies for extreme weather. Today, Texans are at the mercy of regulation-allergic politicians who failed to require that energy companies plan for shocks or weatherize their infrastructure (renewables and fossil fuel alike)."

In the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri, ordinary Texans are beginning to see the direct impact of the deregulatory push on their material wellbeing as electric companies hit them with bills topping $17,000—"a consequence," Klein argued, "of leaving pricing to the whims of the market."

Alluding to her previous work on "the shock doctrine"—a term she coined to describe how the right has exploited past disasters to force through unpopular privatization and austerity agendas—Klein noted that "large-scale shocks... become ideal moments to smuggle in unpopular free-market policies that tend to enrich elites at everyone else's expense."

"I often quote a guru of the free market revolution, the late economist Milton Friedman," Klein wrote. "In 1982, he wrote about what he saw as the mission of right-wing economists like him: 'Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable."[gop sez BO cos chic guy]

The difference between past shocks such as the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 financial crisis and the current emergency in Texas, Klein argued, is that "Republican ideas are no longer lying around—they are lying in ruin."

Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott attacked the Green New Deal—a proposal that has not even been implemented—in an appearance on Fox News last week because he knows its promise to "create millions of union jobs building out shock-resilient green energy infrastructure, transit, and affordable housing" is "extremely appealing" to Texans as they "suffer under the overlapping crises of unemployment, houselessness, racial injustice, crumbling public services, and extreme weather," Klein wrote.

"All that Texas' Republicans have to offer, in contrast," Klein added, "is continued oil and gas dependence—driving more climate disruption—alongside more privatizations and cuts to public services to pay for their state's mess, which we can expect them to push in the weeks and months ahead." [death spiral]

As The Houston Chroniclereported last week, Republican members of the Texas state legislature are already signaling that "one of the most immediate reforms they will push for is recalibrating the state's electricity grid to ensure more fossil fuels are in that mix and fewer renewables."

But Klein contended that "unlike when the Republican Party began deploying the shock doctrine, its free-market playbook is no longer novel."

"The horrors currently unfolding in Texas expose both the reality of the climate crisis and the extreme vulnerability of fossil fuel infrastructure in the face of that crisis," Klein wrote. "So of course the Green New Deal finds itself under fierce attack. Because for the first time in a long time, Republicans face the very thing that they claim to revere but never actually wanted: competition—in the battle of ideas." twt

in recent days, as Common Dreams has reported, progressive advocacy groups such as the youth-led Sunrise Movement and Greenpeace USA have made the case that—contrary to the GOP's bad-faith attacks—a Green New Deal is precisely what's needed to help Texas equitably recover from the present emergency and build the resilience necessary to withstand future climate-driven disasters.

"Many people across the country are realizing for the first time that fossil fuels are not only polluting, they are unstable. Millions of Texans are being let down by coal, oil, and gas right now," Greenpeace climate campaigner Ashley Thomson said last Thursday.

On Monday, activists with the Sunrise Movement of Texas are expected to rally at the state capitol in Austin to demand immediate relief for struggling Texans, the resignations of Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.), and passage of a Green New Deal that would "make our state and country more resilient to future disasters, and create millions of good union jobs in the process of transforming these necessary structures."

"Texas is the perfect example of what happens when our politicians cater to fossil fuel executives instead of the young people who have been shouting from the rooftops for years, warning of an impending climate emergency like this," said Chante Davis, a 17-year-old Sunrise Movement leader and Houston resident.

"I've survived three once in a lifetime storms in my 17 years of life," added Davis, whose family moved to Texas in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. "We need change, and the Green New Deal is the obvious, urgent solution. As our communities come together to fill the void of our government, our leaders must invest in us to provide jobs that directly address the crises we face."

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resign he lies ppl die

polar vortex AGW

wind blamed (by abbott?]  ~ AOC GND

https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/texas-green-energy/

https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/gov-abbott/

https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/texas-power-grid

by Kate Galbraith, The Texas Tribune Feb. 8, 2011

"Texplainer: Why does Texas have its own power grid?" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Why does Texas have its own electric grid?

Texas' secessionist inclinations have at least one modern outlet: the electric grid. There are three grids in the Lower 48 states: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection — and Texas.

The Texas grid is called ERCOT, and it is run by an agency of the same name — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT does not actually cover all of Texas. El Paso is on another grid, as is the upper Panhandle and a chunk of East Texas. This presumably has to do with the history of various utilities' service territories and the remoteness of the non-ERCOT locations (for example the Panhandle is closer to Kansas than to Dallas, notes Kenneth Starcher of the Alternative Energy Institute in Canyon), but Texplainer is still figuring out the particulars on this.

The separation of the Texas grid from the rest of the country has its origins in the evolution of electric utilities early last century. In the decades after Thomas Edison turned on the country's first power plant in Manhattan in 1882, small generating plants sprouted across Texas, bringing electric light to cities.

Later, particularly during the first world war, utilities began to link themselves together. These ties, and the accompanying transmission network, grew further during the second world war, when several Texas utilities joined together to form the Texas Interconnected System, which allowed them to link to the big dams along Texas rivers and also send extra electricity to support the ramped-up factories aiding the war effort.

The Texas Interconnected System — which for a long time was actually operated by two discrete entities, one for northern Texas and one for southern Texas — had another priority: staying out of the reach of federal regulators. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Power Act, which charged the Federal Power Commission with overseeing interstate electricity sales. By not crossing state lines, Texas utilities avoided being subjected to federal rules. "Freedom from federal regulation was a cherished goal — more so because Texas had no regulation until the 1970s," writes Richard D. Cudahy in a 1995 article, "The Second Battle of the Alamo: The Midnight Connection." (Self-reliance was also made easier in Texas, especially in the early days, because the state has substantial coal, natural gas and oil resources of its own to fuel power plants.)

ERCOT was formed in 1970, in the wake of a major blackout in the Northeast in November 1965, and it was tasked with managing grid reliability in accordance with national standards. The agency assumed additional responsibilities following electric deregulation in Texas a decade ago. The ERCOT grid remains beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which succeeded the Federal Power Commission and regulates interstate electric transmission....

some county he size of sm state?!

Gov. Greg Abbott Is Closing All But One Dropoff Location For Mail-In Ballots In Each County

Abbott is closing all but one ballot drop-off location in each of Texas's 254 counties, severely limiting voting access.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/texas-counties-can-offer-only-one-drop-off-ballot-location-federal-appeals-court-rules-upholding-gov-greg-abbotts-order/

Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune Oct. 13, 2020

"Texas counties can offer only one drop-off ballot location, federal appeals court rules, upholding Gov. Greg Abbott's order"was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Texas counties may collect mail-in ballots at only one location, a federal appeals court ruled late Monday, once again upholding an order from Gov. Greg Abbott that restricts voting options.

Abbott in July acted to lengthen the early voting period and allow voters to deliver completed absentee ballots in person for longer than the normal period. But after large Democratic counties including Harris and Travis established several sites where voters could deliver their ballots, Abbott ordered Oct. 1 that they would be limited to one.

A number of civil rights groups sued in at least four lawsuits, calling the order an act of voter suppression that would disproportionately impact low-income voters, voters with disabilities, older voters and voters of color in Democratic counties. A federal judge on Friday sided with those groups, blocking Texas from enforcing the ruling.

But a three-judge panel on the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appealstemporarily halted that ruling on Saturday and on Monday gave a more formal word on the matter in a written opinion.

“Leaving the Governor's October 1 Proclamation in place still gives Texas absentee voters many ways to cast their ballots in the November 3 election. These methods for remote voting outstrip what Texas law previously permitted in a pre-COVID world," wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan for the panel of three judges all appointed by President Donald Trump. “The October 1 Proclamation abridges no one's right to vote."

Travis County had designated four locations and Harris County — home to 2.4 million registered voters and spanning a greater distance than the entire state of Rhode Island — had designated a dozen before Abbott's order forced them to close most sites. Fort Bend and Galveston counties also planned to use multiple locations, according to court documents.

Voting rights advocates and local election administrators said the extra sites were critical for helping voters cast their ballots safely during the coronavirus pandemic. Texas is set to receive an unprecedented number of absentee ballots this year, and amid concerns over U.S. Postal Service delays, advocates say, in-person drop-off locations are critical.

Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins has not hesitated to say the governor's decision amounts to voter suppression.

“To force hundreds of thousands of seniors and voters with disabilities to use a single drop-off location in a county that stretches over nearly 2,000 square miles is prejudicial and dangerous," Hollins said earlier this month.

In some states, voters can simply leave their ballots in boxes outside town halls or local churches. Not in Texas, where voters must show an election worker an approved form of identification and can only bring their own ballot.

Abbott had argued that the measure was necessary to ensure election integrity, but he did not provide any evidence and his office did not answer questions about how limiting the highly regulated drop-off locations would do so. In court filings, lawyers for the Texas Attorney General's Office wrote that some counties wouldn't provide “adequate election security, including poll watchers" — “inconsistencies" that the state argued “introduced a risk to ballot integrity."

Abbott said that poll watchers must be allowed at the drop-off sites, as they are at in-person voting sites. Experts say voter fraud is rare, but Republican officials in Texas and nationally have sought to cast doubt on the security of absentee ballots even as their political party calls on its own voters to use them.

The appeals court ruled Monday that Texas did not need to show evidence of voter fraud to justify its decision to limit counties to one location.

“Such evidence has never been required to justify a state's prophylactic measures to decrease occasions for vote fraud or to increase the uniformity and predictability of election administration," Duncan wrote for the court.

One voter who sued the state over the order, 82-year-old Ralph Edelbach, said in court documents that closing the site nearest his Cypress home will mean he adds an extra 20 miles each way to his trip to deliver his ballot, forcing him to spend nearly 90 minutes round trip.

That inconvenience will only be greater, advocates say, for voters with disabilities or those without reliable access to transportation.

The groups that sued the governor include the Texas and National Leagues of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters of Texas, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus of the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/13/texas-election-ballot-drop-off/.

The Texas Tribune is proud to celebrate 10 years of exceptional journalism for an exceptional state. Explore the next 10 years with us.

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spike covid he stopped opening MORE?

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July 3, 2020

““Kill ’em.” Houston GOP powerbroker Steve Hotze left Greg Abbott a voicemail requesting National Guard “shoot to kill” rioters” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

In the days after George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis last month, as massive protests against police brutality spread across Texas and other states, conservative power broker Steve Hotze of Houston called Gov. Greg Abbott’s chief of staff to pass along a message.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/furious-texans-revolt-after-governor-gets-caught-on-hot-mic-admitting-his-reopen-order-will-worsen-the-pandemic/

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mofo

https://theconversation.com/the-made-up-crisis-behind-the-state-takeover-of-houstons-public-schools-128346

school bd pipeline for ppl of color into politics, TX abbott

==

//bondi

WASHINGTON -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott received a $35,000 donation to his successful gubernatorial campaign from Donald Trump. This after a Texas probe into Trump University was dropped in 2010, according to the Associated Press.

The AP reported that Abbott, a Republican, was serving as Texas Attorney General at the time, and opened a civil investigation of "possibly deceptive trade practices" into Trump University, but quietly dropped it when the organization agreed to end its operations in Texas.

Trump subsequently donated $35,000 to Abbott's successful gubernatorial campaign, according to records obtained by the AP.

The AP reported that a spokesman for Abbott declined to comment.

Former Texas Official: Abbott Not Involved in Trump University Decision

name keeps coming up, tick tick to implosion watch 11/18/19

eg

texas’ 2019 inauguration cost millions. Much of it went to fundraising and staff

Shannon NajmabadiNovember 18, 2019

By Shannon Najmabadi and Jay Root, The Texas Tribune Nov. 18, 2019 “The inauguration of Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick cost millions. But much of it went to fundraising and…

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==

Amnesty International amplifies calls for clemency for Rodney Reed as Supreme Court considers case

Julia Conley / Common Dreams

As the Supreme Court debated Friday whether to take up the case of death row inmate Rodney Reed, Amnesty International demanded that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott grant clemency in the case as…

...Each of the 11 Greenpeace activists involved in the ship channel protest, along with the 20 others who were also arrested, now face years in prison and a permanent criminal record for “interrupting”Big Oil’s operations for 18 hours. So rather than protecting our fragile environment and constitutional rights, America’s power elites are defending corporate profits — from us!

When did We the People vote to outlaw peaceful public protest against corporate excesses? When did we demand that lawmakers in Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas make it a felony for us to assemble and speak out at corporate sites to protest profiteers who’re running roughshod over our values, livelihoods, environment and … well, our lives?

Answer: Never. Yet, behind our backs, for-sale lawmakers in those states and many others are taking big bucks from oil giants, utilities, industrial ag outfits and other for-profit entities to pass corporate-written laws that criminalize protest actions against their greed. The laws assess inordinate jail time and exorbitant fines for the vague offense of “interrupting” or “interfering with” the operations and infrastructure of corporations that despoil, contaminate, violate and otherwise abuse us, the planet and everything else that gets in the way of another dime in profit.

Where did these anti-democratic, corporate-coddling laws come from? ALEC, the secretive American Legislative Exchange Council, which convenes closed-door tete-a-tete sessions to link its corporate members with a nationwide network of whorish state lawmakers willing to do tricks for them. In January 2018, ALEC produced a model bill called the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, which would effectively sledgehammer peaceful protestors of corporate wrongdoing as though the demonstrators were terrorists. Suddenly, virtually identical versions of ALEC’s plutocratic/autocratic bill were introduced in 22 state legislatures. Nine have already been enacted, usually with little public notice or participation.

The Texas version, which took effect Sept. 1, was used just 11 days later to slap harsh felony charges on the Greenpeace protestors and the 20 others who were also arrested during the nonviolent symbolic shutdown of the Houston Ship Channel.

The two primary sponsors of the Texas anti-democracy legislation are ALEC adherents. The corporate powers that formally lobbied it through the legislature included Chevron, Dow, Exxon, Koch Industries, Shell and various industry consortiums, ranging from pipeline builders to poultry factories. And the legislation was forcefully backed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose top industrial donor group is — surprise! — oil and gas, which pumped more than $10 million into his 2018 election campaign.

...

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https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/texas-governor-busted-sending-racist-call-to-arms-a-day-before-el-paso-attack-take-matters-into-our-own-hands

no lnx

Texas governor busted sending racist call-to-arms a day before El Paso attack: ‘Take matters into our own hands’

Written by Matthew Chapman / Raw Story August 23, 2019

On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) tweeted out a message of unity and promised to work to reduce violence in his state, in the wake of the shooting in El Paso that left 22 dead and dozens more injured:

Today we had hearings responding to the tragic shooting in El Paso.

We focused on community healing, combating domestic terrorism, reducing hateful ideologies, & keeping guns out of hands of deranged killers while respecting 2nd Amendment rights.

We’ll keep TX safe.#txlege pic.twitter.com/ymct4aiSgK

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 22, 2019

But this was decidedly not the attitude Abbott had just one day before the shooting took place, when, according to the Texas Signal, he sent out a letter peppered with racist attacks on Hispanic immigrants — and a menacing, violent suggestion that Texans “take matters into our own hands.”

“Just three weeks in June, 45,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended crossing the Mexican border into Texas!” said the letter. “That amounts to the entire population of Galveston – every three weeks. In just six months, we’d add the population of Arlington!

“If we’re going toDEFEND Texas, we’ll need to take matters into our own hands,”the letter continued. “Theproblems of illegal immigration never reach swanky limousine-liberal neighborhoods in New York and California!”

The El Paso shooter’s manifesto made it abundantly clear that he was motivated to kill by a hatred of Mexican migrants, who he saw as invaders. He drove hours across the state to reach the border city for his massacre.

Republicans have relied on increasingly warlike rhetoric to describe undocumented immigrants and lawful asylum seekers, encouraged by President Donald Trump.

==

https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/leaked-audio-shows-oil-lobbyist-bragging-about-success-in-criminalizing-pipeline-protests/

no lnx

Leaked audio shows oil lobbyist bragging about success in criminalizing pipeline protests

Written by Jake Johnson / Common Dreams August 20, 2019

As a growing number of states move to pass laws that would criminalize pipeline protests and hit demonstrators with years in prison, an audio recording obtained by The Intercept showed a representative of a powerful oil and gas lobbying group bragging about the industry’s success in crafting anti-protest legislation behind closed doors.

Speaking during a conference in Washington, D.C. in June, Derrick Morgan, senior vice president for federal and regulatory affairs at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), touted “model legislation” that states across the nation have passed in recent months.

AFPM represents a number of major fossil fuel giants, including Chevron, Koch Industries, and ExxonMobil.

“We’ve seen a lot of success at the state level, particularly starting with Oklahoma in 2017,” said Morgan, citing Dakota Access Pipeline protests as the motivation behind the aggressive lobbying effort. “We’re up to nine states that have passed laws that are substantially close to the model policy that you have in your packet.”

Friends of the Earth

Big Oil is now using its political power to try and criminalize protests of oil & gas infrastructure.

"This legislation has potential to punish public participation and mischaracterize advocacy protected by the First Amendment."https://theintercept.com/2019/08/19/oil-lobby-pipeline-protests/ …

Oil Lobbyist Touts Success in Effort to Criminalize Pipeline Protests, Leaked Recording Shows

In leaked audio obtained by The Intercept, AFPM conceded its behind-the-scenes role in crafting state laws to criminalize oil and gas pipeline protests.

theintercept.com

The audio recording comes just months after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law legislation that would punish anti-pipeline demonstrators with up to 10 years in prison, a move environmentalists condemned as a flagrant attack on free expression.

“Big Oil is hijacking our legislative system,” Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network said after the Texas Senate passed the bill in May.

As The Intercept‘s Lee Fang reported Monday, the model legislation Morgan cited in his remarks “has been introduced in various forms in 22 states and passed in… Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota.”

“The AFPM lobbyist also boasted that the template legislation has enjoyedbipartisan support,” according to Fang. “In Louisiana, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the version of the bill there, which is being challenged by the Center for Constitutional Rights. Even in Illinois, Morgan noted, ‘We almost got that across the finish line in a very Democratic-dominated legislature.’ The bill did not pass as it got pushed aside over time constraints at the end of the legislative session.”

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10/18

Oliver points to RAGA (Repulican Attorneys General Association) and DAGA (Democratic Attorneys General Association), the partisan associations that “sound like twins from Dutch folklore that teach children right from wrong” and raise funds via somewhat questionable ties to corporations. Further, AGs belonging to one party have increasingly teamed up across states to sue the federal government (blocking actions such as the Medicaid expansion under the Obama Administration) and this has become a point of pride for some, such asTexas’ Greg Abbott (“I go into the office, I sue the federal government and then I go home”) and his successor, Ken Paxton, a man seriously outshone by his wife, the “pistol packin’ momma.”

Diving further into how Paxton’s conservative views have affected his work in office, and later on the surprising statistics of how few people actually vote for AG when confronted with the choice on a ballot, Oliver makes his case for awareness of these races.

“So please, before Nov. 6, just think about your AG race. You can do it, you’ve got nine days left,” said Oliver. “I know we’ve all been asked to think about a lot this year from Supreme Court nominations to gun control, to the energy of Pete Davidson’s penis—it’s been a lot and now I am adding research your state AG race to the list—but it is honestly worth it. If you do it, you’ll frankly be amazed at the kind of tidbits you may find.”

https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/heres-what-we-know-about-the-texas-voter-citizen-checks-and-its-not-what-donald-trump-claimed/

Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune

Jan. 25, 2019

“Texas officials flag tens of thousands of voters for citizenship checks”was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

The Texas secretary of state’s office announced Friday it would send local election officials a list of 95,000 registered voters who the state says counties should consider checking to see whether they are U.S. citizens and, therefore, legally eligible to vote.

In an advisory released Friday afternoon, the office said it was flagging individuals who had provided the Texas Department of Public Safety with some form of documentation — including a work visa or a green card — that showed they were not a citizen when they were obtaining a driver’s license or an ID card. Among the individuals flagged, about 58,000 individuals cast a ballot in one or more elections from 1996 to 2018, the secretary of state’s office said.

It’s unclear exactly how many of those individuals are not actually U.S. citizens and whether that number will be available in the future. In its notice to counties, the secretary of state’s office said the names should be considered “WEAK” matches, using all capital letters for emphasis.

That means counties may now choose to investigate the eligibility of the individuals who were flagged, which would require them to send a notice asking for proof of citizenship within 30 days, or take no action. By law, the counties aren’t allowed to automatically revoke a voter’s registration without sending out such a notice.

It’s possible that individuals flagged by the state — who provided DPS with documentation that indicated they were authorized to be in the country — could have become naturalized citizens since they obtained their driver’s license or ID card. A spokesman for the secretary of state said officials are “very confident” that the data received from DPS is “current.”

In announcing the review of the rolls, Secretary of State David Whitley — who was appointed to the post last month after serving as deputy chief of staff to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — immediately handed the data over to the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who said his office will “spare no effort in assisting with these troubling cases.”

But without additional verification, you can’t say these individuals all engaged in illegal voting, said Chris Davis, the head of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators.

“People get naturalized,” Davis said. “It’s entirely too early to say that.”

The numbers were released just a few weeks into a legislative session during which lawmakers may take up proposals to require some form of citizenship verification before registering to vote. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 rejected states’ efforts to require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Other federal courts have knocked down more recent efforts.

“Integrity and efficiency of elections in Texas require accuracy of our state’s voter rolls, and my office is committed to using all available tools under the law to maintain an accurate list of registered voters,” Whitley said in a statement.

But Beth Stevens, voting rights legal director for the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the announcement echoed efforts around the country to remove eligible voters from the rolls.

“The secretary’s actions threaten to result in tens of thousands of eligible voters being removed from the roles, including those with the least resources to comply with the demand to show papers,” Stevens said.

In a state where about 15.8 million Texans are registered to vote, the AG’s office has recently pursued a small number of convictions of illegal voting by non-citizens. Past reviews of the voter rolls by other states ultimately found that only a small number of the thousands of non-citizens they initially flagged had actually voted. For years, researchers have found that voter fraud is rare and claims that non-citizens are voting in large numbers have not been substantiated.

Read related Tribune coverage

• Trump election fraud commission bought Texas election data flagging Hispanic voters
• Judge blocks Texas secretary of state from giving voter information to Trump commission

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**Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the single dumbest thing about school shootings during press conference** 

Congratulations are in order for Jim DeMint: Saying that his move signals a “new mission” for the Tea Party, the former senator has gone from presiding over one of the most well-funded institutions in the dark-money ecosystem to advising one of the most radical. DeMint, the Republican who retired from the Senate in 2013 to run the Heritage Foundation has been named a “senior advisor” to the Convention of States Project—a nationwide effort backed by billionaires like the Kochs and the Mercers to revise the United States Constitution without the approval of Congress.

A hero to Tea Party Republicans, DeMint was already perceived to have led Heritage away from its policy-oriented beginnings, and according to Politico, his continued support for Trump drove a wedge between him and the Heritage Foundation’s board of directors. They voted early last month to remove DeMint as president of the organization amid a broader debate in the conservative establishment over what posture to take towards an increasingly volatile Trump administration.

“The Tea Party needs a new mission,” DeMint told *USA Today*, of his new role. “They realize that all the work they did in 2010 has not resulted in all the things they hoped for. Many of them are turning to Article V,” a legal loophole that would (theoretically) allow state legislators to bypass Congress. At the Convention of States Project, DeMint will join another former senator, Tom Coburn, who now travels to state legislatures across the country lobbying lawmakers to pass resolutions demanding that Congress hold a convention to amend the constitution. It’s not clear whether DeMint will be working as a lobbyist like Coburn. The Convention of States Project did not immediately respond to Fusion’s request for comment. >Various activist groups have sought to amend the constitution on specific points through an Article V convention before, but few have been as well-funded or as ideologically driven as the Convention of States Project, steeped in evangelical Christianity and backed by millions of dollars in dark money. Between 2011 and 2015, the group’s budget more than tripled to $5.7 million—buoyed by donations from the Mercer Family Foundation and various donor-advised funds linked to the Koch brothers. (Eric O’Keefe, a longtime Koch operative, co-founded the Convention of States Project’s parent organization, Citizens for Self Governance, and serves as chairman of its board of directors.) Two thirds of state legislatures (so, 34) must pass resolutions petitioning Congress to hold an Article V convention in order to make it happen; so far, 12 have passed the Convention of States application.

“Convention of States is a much more radical approach to a constitutional convention” than earlier efforts, Arn Pearson, General Counsel at the Center for Media and Democracy, told Fusion. “Their budget has increased dramatically. This is their effort to push the state agenda as far as they can while they hold peak power.”

One Convention of States lobbyist (a member of the Utah legislature in his spare time) lauded Texas governor and Article V proponent Greg Abbott’s plan for several proposed amendments, including one that would prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within a single state—a proposal that would effectively negate what little remains of progress made during the New Deal and the Civil Rights eras. “I see these guys as the new Confederacy,” Pearson said. “They want to have it so that states are no longer bound by federal law. They want the ability to opt out.”

“People are disgusted with Washington,” DeMint told *USA Today*. “They are ready to move power back closer to home.” A fitting cause for the gentleman from South Carolina—although, actually, the preferred terminology these days isn’t “states’ rights” but “local control.

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https://www.democracynow.org/2017/5/8/headlines/texas_gov_greg_abbott_signs_show_your_papers_anti_immigrant_bill

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backed cruz, condemnd trump on anti woamn stuff then supported? 35K$ trump U

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/opinion/herman-gov-greg-abbott-fires-elector-who-took-pass-donald-trump/yxcAuW0aj8qRULZcBCw2YK/

http://www.alternet.org/right-wing/koch-brothers-donald-trump

...his past January, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the multimillionaire protege of the Koch brother's Plutocratic Kingdom and American Legislative Exchange Council darling, revealed to a startled nation that he has penned not one but NINE new amendments to the Constitution of the USA. Forget the Bill of Rights, Abbott is proposing a Bill of Sale, effectively transferring the title of our national government from The People to The Plutocrats. The upshot of his "tweaks" would be outlawing government actions that restrain corporate abuse of workers and consumers, while also preventing future Congresses from meeting crucial public needs such as health care, voter rights, and restoration of our national infrastructure.

One could call Abbott and his Founding Father pretentious and ludicrous—which both are—but he's not the force behind this diabolical, ideological tampering with our Constitution and our people's ideals of fairness and justice. ALEC, at the direction of the Kochs and their corporate cohorts, wrote this Bill of Sale.

Convening an explosive convention, permitted under Article V of the Constitution, is a longtime dream of those elites seeking an American Kochistan, and ALEC is spearheading a hodgepodge of right-wing groups that—believe it or not—are alarmingly close to succeeding. An ALEC/Koch affiliate with the cumbersome acronym of BBATF (Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force) came out of the Tea Party maelstrom in 2010 and is now aggressively pushing governors and state legislatures to endorse such an Article V convention. At the convention, they would attempt to rewrite our nation's fundamental governing document by adding a balanced budget amendment, along with Abbott's other eight. Together these changes would enthrone the "moneyed corporations" that Jefferson and other founders abhorred as destroyers of America's democratic possibilities.

Absurd? Of course. Even the late Phyllis Schlafly, who was the head of the right-wing Eagle Forum, called this push "a prescription for political chaos," adding, "Alas, I don't see any George Washingtons, James Madisons, Ben Franklins, or Alexander Hamiltons around who could do as good a job as the Founding Fathers, and I'm worried about the men who think they can."

Well, ALEC and the Kochs sure do think they can. But their diabolical schemes don't stop with Gov. Abbott and changing our Constitution, they want to take over our country's entire political system. Having already spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get their policy pushing puppets like Abbott into office, the Koch's want to bend the will of the people as well. They recently started a new program that they call Grassroots Leadership Academy that gives how-to lessons in everything from mounting successful protest actions to recruiting middle-of-the-road voters.

Using Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals," they are training thousands of people to become organizers and political activists. This so-called "grassroots" outfit has been set up by the gabillionaire Koch boys to train cadres of right-wing corporatists to spread their ideological laissez-fairydust across the land. The academy is run through Americans for Prosperity, Charlie's and Davie's political wing, which put up $3 million to get it going. About 10,000 people have gone through some of the training sessions in three dozen states. The brothers' grandiose scheme is to take over the Republican Party and use it as their tool to rebuild America itself into a Kochlandia, ruled by the superrich.

The academy's curriculum is loaded with such corporate nonsense as a course titled "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels." Attendees are indoctrinated with two overarching lessons: (1) freewheeling corporate power—unrestrained by labor, environmental or other public protections—GOOD; (2) Social Security, unemployment benefits, and other social programs—BAAAAAAD!

Koch Kollege for right-wing social engineers is peddling a status quo agenda of corporate elitism and trickle-down ideology, which the vast majority of Americans have openly rebelled against. It's like trying to sell chicken salad made out of chicken manure.

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https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-2

State Denies Texas Community’s Anti-Fracking Rights

The elections of November 2014 brought anti-fracking triumphs in Ohio and California communities, but the ultimate victory was won in the city of Denton, Texas.  Denton is the most heavily fracked community in the U.S. with 275 urban wells. It sits above the Barnett shale and is considered the birthplace of this mining technology.  The vote was a convincing 59% in favor despite the oil and gas corporations outspending supporters ten to one in this heavily Republican city.[1]

These votes in support of local bans encouraged opponents of hydraulic fracturing everywhere. It’s estimated that more than 15 million Americans live within a mile of an oil or gas fracking well.[1] Hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking or “fracking” involves the high-pressure injection of millions of gallons of chemical-laced water and sand into deep rock formations setting free oil or natural gas that can’t be captured through conventional drilling.

Frack Free Denton, a citizen group, said: “Simply put, without the ban, fracking will continue unchecked all across Denton less than 200 feet from homes, schools and playgrounds. The negative health and safety impacts of living close to fracking are well established. Fracking requires heavy truck traffic, poses risks of industrial-scale accidents, uses undisclosed proprietary chemicals, and has permanently contaminated over one billion gallons of Denton’s fresh water.”[3]

Community activists used creative means against their well-funded adversaries, captivating residents through puppet shows, flash-mob dances, original tunes by the Frackettes trio, and coffin races.

Fracking Bans Banned by Texas Legislature and Governor

The oil and gas corporations and their industry-wide front groups, the Texas Oil and Gas Association and the Texas Land Office, immediately rose up to whine, initiating a lawsuit against the ban claiming it is “inconsistent with state law and therefore violates the Texas Constitution.”[2] But that legal assault on a community’s right to define its future and protect its citizens’ health and safety will not be necessary.  State’s lawmakers passed and Governor Greg Abbott signed a law in mid-May 2015 declaring null and void Denton’s hard-fought victory by forbidding and preempting local laws against fracking.

pix  Texas fracking wells.

Despite a Texas Home Rule Law that grants local jurisdictions authority to zone-out industrial activity deemed harmful, this recent law subordinates the people to corporate authority. It denies citizens the power to protect their community. Corporations and their complicit politicians claim that such democratically defined protections take away corporate “rights.”

Indeed, U.S. courts granted corporations plenty of legal rights and powers over the past 200 years—rights associated with their property and profits that gave them great power over people, workers and nature--rights equal to those of “persons under law.” More recently, the Supreme Court granted corporations and wealthy individuals the right to donate without limit in our electoral campaigns. Corporate actors used and use these illegitimate “rights” to foil people’s self-governance. The corporate initiated lawsuit against Denton’s fracking ban is merely the most recent assault on our diminished democracy.

“It was the oil and gas industry’s contempt for impacted residents that pushed Denton voters to ban fracking… and now the oil and gas industry, through state lawmakers, has doubled down by showing every city in Texas that same contempt,”[4] said Sharon Wilson of Earthworks and a Texas organizer for the Denton ban.

Move to Amend applauds the people of Denton for building a movement to assert the community’s rightful self-governing authority. MTA’s national grassroots work seeks to legalize such actions, end corporate rule, and make democracy real.

To learn more:

1. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/05/birthplace-fracking-boom-votes-ban-denton-texas

2. http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27272660/denton-residents-could-ban-fracking-in-historic-vote

3. http://www.commondreams.org/election-2014-fracking-bans-ballot

4. http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/05/19/banning-fracking-bans-texas-picks-gas-drillers-over-local-democracy

==

Top Industries

Uncoded

    $18,189,627.66

Oil & Gas

    $6,765,469.14

Securities & Investment

    $2,608,708.83

Lawyers & Lobbyists

    $1,792,317.03

Real Estate

    $1,429,384.36

Health Professionals

    $1,157,404.27

Building Materials & Equipment

    $968,000.00

Computer Equipment & Services

    $795,937.77

Miscellaneous Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

    $734,417.00

Automotive

    $676,955.03

Telecom Services & Equipment

    $668,085.76

Hospitals & Nursing Homes

    $651,526.79

General Contractors

    $607,442.55

Beer, Wine & Liquor

    $586,983.07

Food & Beverage

    $582,510.75

Insurance

    $560,584.64

Retail Sales

    $550,555.63

Miscellaneous Energy

    $467,409.00

Nonprofit Institutions

    $450,000.00

Chemical & Related Manufacturing

    $428,941.47

Miscellaneous Finance

    $405,550.00

Commercial Banks

    $390,750.00

Retired

    $378,500.00

Food Processing & Sales

    $361,500.00

Railroads

    $343,821.00

Accountants

    $336,660.00

Candidate Committees

    $327,736.88

Miscellaneous Services

    $313,377.80

Home Builders

    $253,000.00

Miscellaneous Manufacturing & Distributing

    $236,000.00

Other/Single Issue Groups

    $226,568.88

Tribal Governments

    $205,000.00

Business Associations

    $200,318.49

Payday/Title Loans

    $195,208.44

Electric Utilities

    $195,183.12

Construction Services

    $179,850.00

Summary

==

Top Contributors

==

Perry HomesContran CorpAbbott, GregMt Vernon InvestmentsSilver Eagle DistributorsBP CapitalTexans For Lawsuit ReformMarketing Investors CorpRepublican State Leadership CmteVinson & Elkins

Campaign Finance

$41,150,165 Received

Information

federal data covers from 1989 roughly through Q2 2014

state-level data is not available in bulk for 2014. for current state data, browse http://followthemoney.org/

• #### Top Industries

OpenSecrets.org and FollowTheMoney.org classify contribution data into about 100 industries.

$4,639,860$4,220,724$2,625,245$2,102,592$2,043,823$1,529,773$1,238,275$1,125,950$973,205$736,820Lawyers/Law FirmsOil & GasReal EstateSecurities & InvestmentHome BuildersCommercial BanksHealth ProfessionalsBeer, Wine & LiquorMisc FinanceAutomotive

80% of the total amount raised came from an identifiable industry.

• #### In State vs. Out of State

contributions from individuals, in dollars

In-State($29.2M)Out-of-State($629.2K)

• #### Individuals vs. PACs

in dollars

Individuals($29.1M)PACs($11.4M)Unknown($717.4K)

• #### Top Contributors

PAC Color BlockOrganizations' PAC(s)Employee Color BlockAssociated IndividualsIncludes contributions from an organization’s employees, their family members and its political action committee.

$1,700,265$972,500$675,000$550,000$489,622$484,674$375,000$325,000$316,377$304,460Perry HomesContran CorpAbbott, GregMt Vernon InvestmentsSilver Eagle DistributorsBP CapitalTexans For Lawsuit ReformMarketing Investors CorpRepublican State Leadership CmteVinson & Elkins

http://influenceexplorer.com/politician/greg-abbott/c03455b21a6341079742026cc48d6a08

Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is the Texas Attorney General, and is the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate. Prior to assuming the office of attorney general, Abbott was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, a position to which he was initially appointed in 1995 by then-Governor George W. Bush. He is noted outside the state of Texas for successfully defending the right of the state of Texas to display the Ten Commandments in front of the state Capitol in Austin in a 2005 United States Supreme Court case known as Van Orden v. Perry.

Source: Wikipedia

==

9/15

jade helm atlernet

http://www.alternet.org/5-conservative-hoaxes-lies-and-absurd-urban-legends-have-made-america-stupider

==

disenfranchise

Greg Abbott, the Republican Attorney General of Texas, issued a stern warning this week to members of an international delegation expected to be on hand to monitor voting at polling places around the country on Election Day.

In a letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which works to ensure the integrity of elections, among other tasks, Abbott warned the diplomatic poll-watchers that their involvement in U.S. elections could have strong legal repercussions.

"It may be a criminal offense for OSCE's representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place's entrance," he writes. "Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE's representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law." Such a restriction makes election monitoring highly difficult.

The OSCE announced earlier this month that it would send 44 observers to polling places around the country on Election Day in order to monitor possible disputes that could arise in the voting process. The move came in response to a petition from liberal-leaning voting rights groups, including the NAACP and ACLU, that suggested the OSCE's presence could help combat what they fear will be a concerted effort to suppress votes from supporters of President Barack Obama.

Concerns among Democrats have mounted in the wake of reports that right-leaning groups, such as the Tea Party-aligned True The Vote, had plans to dispatch armies of poll-watchers seeking to root out invalid votes. Opponents warn that the volunteer "poll challengers" will engage in intimidation of legitimate minority voters who tend to vote Democratic.

In his letter, Abbott takes issue with the OSCE's supposed opposition to voter ID laws, which won't be in place in Texas after being rejected by a federal court, and adds that the group's efforts at polling places are neither needed nor acceptable.

"If OSCE members want to learn more about our election processes so they can improve their own democratic systems, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the measures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of elections," he writes. "However, groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas. This State has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. All persons -- including persons connected with OSCE -- are required to comply with these laws."

Abbott's opposition is consistent with a growing trend of conservative distrust toward the United Nations and other international organizations. On Tuesday, Florida GOP Senate candidate Connie Mack said that the U.N. should be defunded and "kicked off of American soil." In a statement, Mack appeared to suggest that the broader U.N., and therefore presumably the OSCE as well, was driven by nefarious motives.

“The very idea that the United Nations -- the world body dedicated to diminishing America’s role in the world -- would be allowed, if not encouraged, to install foreigners sympathetic to the likes of Castro, Chavez, Ahmadinejad and Putin to oversee our elections is nothing short of disgusting," he said.

UPDATE: 3:10 p.m. EST -- Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), responded in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that Abbott's threat put the state of Texas at odds with an agreement between the body and state authorities.

“The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” Lenarčič said. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Lenarčič took issue with insinuations that officials in the group would meddle with elections, reiterating that they were bound by national laws and regulations, as well as their own strict code of conduct.

“Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way,” Lenarčič said. “They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them.”

A release relaying Lenarčič's comments pointed out that the OSCE has observed five previous U.S. elections since 2002, all without incident.

CORRECTION:This article originally reported that the OSCE was created by the United Nations. While the OSCE and UN partner on some operations,they are independent organizations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/greg-abbott-texas-un-elections_n_2010081.html

8/13

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) explicitly referenced Texas Republicans' gerrymandering tactics in a court brief earlier this month, acknowledging that districts were redrawn in 2011 to minimize the clout of Democratic voters.

In July, Attorney General Eric Holder filed a statement of interest, arguing that the state should be required to undergo some form of preclearance with districting plans. A month before, the United States Supreme Court had struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, meaning that the Texas redistricting plan was no longer subject to federal preclearance requirements.

In his filing, Holder called on a judge to review the districting proposal, and cited "evidence of intentional racial discrimination that was presented" in another lawsuit,Texas v. Holder in 2012. The 2012 ruling denied the state preclearance to enact a potential voter identification law, and Holder used the suit as a springboard for suggesting that similar federal approval would again be necessary.

In response to the most recent case, Abbott denied that redistricting practices were racially motivated, but revealed that political interests were very much at work.

"In 2011, both houses of the Texas Legislature were controlled by large Republican majorities, and their redistricting decisions were designed to increase the Republican Party's electoral prospects at the expense of the Democrats," read a court brief filed by Abbott.

Abbott also qualified the tactics, noting that partisan districting decisions are still constitutional, despite "incidental effects on minority voters." The brief cites *Hunt v. Cromartie*, a South Carolina case in which it was decided that "[a] jurisdiction may engage in constitutional political gerrymandering, even if it so happens that the most loyal Democrats happen to be black Democrats and even if the State were conscious of that fact."

Partisan gerrymandering, while legal, is an often frowned upon. Before John Paul Stevens' 2010 retirement, the then-Supreme Court justice criticized the practice, asserting that it is "very, very harmful to the community at large."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/greg-abbott-gerrymandering_n_3757385.html

wikifluff

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott

Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician, and currently serves as the 48th Governor of Texas. He was the 50thAttorney General of Texas. He is a Republican.

Abbott was only the second Republican to serve as Attorney General of Texas since Reconstruction. Prior to assuming the office of attorney general, Abbott was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, a position to which he was initially appointed in 1995 by then-Governor George W. Bush. He is noted outside the state of Texas for successfully advocating the right of the state of Texas to display the Ten Commandments in front of the Texas State Capitol in Austin in a 2005 United States Supreme Court case known as Van Orden v. Perry.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 Early life, education, and early law career
• 2 Judicial career
• 3 Attorney General of Texas
  • 3.1 2002 election
  • 3.2 Tenure
    • 3.2.1 Lawsuit against Sony BMG
    • 3.2.2 Van Orden v. Perry
    • 3.2.3 2006 election
    • 3.2.4 2010 election

• 4 Governor of Texas
  • 4.1 2014 election
  • 4.2 Tenure

• 5 Election history
• 6 Personal life
• 7 References
• 8 Further reading
• 9 External links

Early life, education, and early law career

Abbott was born on November 13, 1957 in Wichita Falls, Texas of English descent. His mother, the former Doris Lechristia Jacks, was a homemaker, and his father, Calvin Roger Abbott, was a stockbroker and insurance agent.^[2][3] When he was six years old they moved to Longview and the family lived in the East Texas city for six years.^[2]

At the beginning of junior high school, Abbott's family moved to Duncanville in Dallas County. In his sophomore year in high school, his father died of a heart attack, and his mother went to work in a real estate office.^[2] He graduated from Duncanville High School.^[4] He was on the track team in high school and won every meet he entered his senior year.^[5] He was in the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed".^[5]

In 1981, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Young Republicans’ Club. He met his wife, Cecilia Phelan, while attending UT.^[2] In 1984, he earned his J.D. degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School inNashville, Tennessee.^[2] He commented about his marriage, that "San Antonio is also where Cecilia and I got married at Our Lady of the Lake, 31 years ago. Our marriage wasn’t just the joining of two families. It was a uniting of cultures: My Anglo heritage and Cecilia’s Irish and Hispanic heritage. We may have come from different cultures but we realized that we share the same foundation: “Dos casas. Pero, una fundacion."The story of my family is as old as the story of Texas itself: the uniting of cultures to create one unique people, Texans."^[6]

He went into private practice, working for Butler and Binion, LLC between 1984 and 1992. Abbott’s political career began in Houston, where he served as a state trial judge in the 129th District Court for three years.^[7]

Abbott became a paraplegic when an oak tree fell on him while he was running following a storm in 1984.^[7][8] He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since.^[9][10] He sued the homeowner and negotiated an insurance settlement worth more than US$10 million, resulting in payouts of US$14,000 a month.^[11] Abbott later championed laws capping punitive damages to two times the amount of economic damages awarded plus US$750,000.^[12] While the current law caps punitive damages, which are meant to punish gross negligence or bad faith, the law still allows payments for medical costs, potential lost wages, economic damages and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Matt Hirsch, a spokesman for the Abbott campaign, said the attorney general did not seek punitive damages in his lawsuit.^[13]

Judicial career

Then-Texas Governor George W. Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, and he was thentwice elected to the state's highest civil court—in 1996 (two-year term) and 1998 (six-year term). In 1996, Abbott had no Democratic opponent but was challenged by Libertarian John B. Hawley of Dallas. Abbott defeated Hawley 84%-16%.^[14] In 1998, Abbott defeated Democrat David Van Os 60%-40%.^[15]

In 2001, he went back to private practice and worked for Bracewell & Giuliani LLC.^[16] He was also an adjunct professor at University of Texas School of Law.^[17]

Attorney General of Texas

2002 election

Abbott resigned from the Texas Supreme Court in 2001 to seek the position of Lieutenant Governor of Texas.^[2] His campaign for Lieutenant Governor had been running for several months when the previous Attorney General, John Cornyn, vacated the post to run for the U.S. Senate.^[2] He then switched his campaign to the open attorney general's position in 2002. Abbott defeated the Democratic nominee, former AustinMayor and current State Senator Kirk Watson, 57%-41%.^[18] Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following fellow Republican John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate.

Tenure

Abbott expanded the Attorney General's office’s law enforcement division from about thirty people to more than one hundred.^[2] He also created a new division called the Fugitive Unit to track down convicted sex offenders in violation of their paroles or probations.^[2]

Abbott has spoken out against concerns such as voter fraud, the right to bear arms, and President Barack Obama’s health care reform. Abbott said that when asked what his job entails, he explains 'it’s gotten simplified'. "I go into the office in the morning, I sue Barack Obama, and then I go home."^[19] Abbott has filed suit against various U.S. agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (including challenges to Obamacare), and the Department of Education, among many others.^[2]

Abbott has said that the state must not release Tier II Chemical Inventory Reports for security reasons, but that Texan citizens "can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not".^[20] Koch Industrieshas denied that their contributions to Abbott's campaign had anything to do with his ruling against releasing the safety information.^[21][2 ^teens ^blown ^up?]

In 2014, Abbott argued against a lawsuit brought by the NRA to allow more people access to concealed carry of firearms, as Abbott felt this would disrupt public safety.^[22]

Lawsuit against Sony BMG

Main article: Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal

On November 21, 2005, Abbott sued Sony BMG.^[23][24] Texas was the first state in the nation to bring legal action against Sony BMG for illegal spyware.^[23][24] The suit is also the first filed under the state’s spyware law of 2005.^[23][24] It alleges the company surreptitiously installed the spyware on millions of compact music discs (CDs) that consumers inserted into their computers when they play the CDs, which can compromise the systems.^[24][25][26] On December 21, 2005 Abbott added new allegations to his lawsuit against Sony-BMG. Abbott says the MediaMax copy protection technology violates the state's spyware and deceptive trade practices laws.^[23][27] He says Sony-BMG offered consumers a licensing agreement when they bought CDs and played them on their computers.^[23][27] But, Abbott alleges in the lawsuit that even if consumers reject that agreement, spyware is secretly installed on their computers, which pose security risks for music buyers.^[23][27] Abbott said "We keep discovering additional methods Sony used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music", and "Thousands of Texans are now potential victims of this deceptive game Sony played with consumers for its own purposes."^[23][27] In addition to violations of the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, which allows for civil penalties of US$100,000 for each violation of the law, the alleged violations added in the updated lawsuit, on December 21, 2005, carry maximum penalties of US$20,000 per violation.^[27][28]

Van Orden v. Perry

Main article: Van Orden v. Perry

On March 2, 2005, Abbott appeared before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., where he defended a Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds. Dozens of similar monuments were donated to cities and towns across the nation throughout the 1960s by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, who were inspired by the 1956 epic The Ten Commandments; in doing so, they gained the support of the film's director Cecil B. DeMille.^[29] The Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that the Texas display did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause and was constitutional.

After Abbott's oral arguments in Van Orden v. Perry, Justice John Paul Stevens commented upon Abbott's performance while in a wheelchair, "I want to thank you … for demonstrating that it’s not necessary to stand at the lectern in order to do a fine job".^[5]

2006 election

In the November 7 general election, Abbott was challenged by civil rights attorney David Van Os, who had been his Democratic opponent in the 1998 election for state Supreme Court. He won re-election to a second term 60%-37%.^[30]

2010 election

Abbott ran for a third term, and campaigned for other Republican candidates in 2010 including Jim Landtroop, the Plainview insurance agent. While on his Plainview stop, Abbott cited his and Landtroop's mutual opposition to the health care plan signed into law in March 2010 by President Barack Obama.^[31] He defeated the Democratic attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky of Houston and, the Libertarian Jon Roland once again. Radnofsky was also the unsuccessful Democratic candidate opposing U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2006 general election. Abbott defeated Radnofsky 64%-34%.^[32] He is the longest-serving Texas Attorney General in Texas history.^[33]

In July 2013, the Houston Chronicle alleged improper ties and oversight between many of Abbott's largest donors and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas of which he was a director.^[34]

Governor of Texas

2014 election

Main article: Texas gubernatorial election, 2014

On July 8, 2013, Governor Rick Perry announced that he would not seek a fourth full term.^[35]

On July 14, 2013, speaking near the Alamo on the 29th anniversary of the accident that left him a paraplegic, Abbott formally announced his intention to run for Governor of Texas in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election.^[36] In the first six months of 2011, he raised more funds for his campaign than any other Texas politician, reaching US$1.6 million. The next highest fundraiser among state officeholders was Texas Comptroller Susan Combs with US$611,700.^[37]

In February 2014, while speaking on the dangers of corruption in law enforcement, Abbott compared the South Texas area to a Third World country^[38] that "erodes the social fabric of our communities and destroys Texans' trust and confidence in government."^[39] Abbott further said that he does not consider corruption "limited to one region of Texas […] My plan is to add more resources to eliminate corruption so people can have confidence in their government."^[39]

Abbott criticized Ted Nugent's infamous "subhuman mongrel" comment directed at President Barack Obama by saying "This is not the kind of language I would use or endorse in any way. It's time to move beyond this, and I will continue to focus on the issues that matter to Texans."^[40]

Abbott won the Republican primary on March 4, 2014, with 1,219,903, or 91.5 percent of the ballots cast. The remaining approximately 103,000 votes were divided among three minor candidates. He faced state Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, who polled 432,065 votes (79.1 percent) in her Democratic primary contest against a lone opponent.^[41]

Abbott promised to "tie outcomes to funding" for pre-K programs if elected governor,^[42] but he said he would not require government standardized testing for 4-year olds, as Davis has accused him of advancing.^[43]When defending his education plan, Abbott cited Charles Murray: "Family background has the most decisive effect on student achievement, contributing to a large performance gap between children from economically disadvantaged families and those from middle class homes."^[44] A spokesman for Abbott's campaign pointed out that the biggest difference in spending is that Davis has proposed universal pre-K education while Abbott wants to limit state funding to only programs that meet certain standards.^[44] Davis' plan could reach US$750 million in costs and Abbott has said that Davis' plan is a "budget buster" whereas Abbott's education plan would cost no more than US$118 million.^[44]

Overall, Abbott said the reforms that he envisions would "level the playing field for all students [and] target schools which don't have access to the best resources." He has called for increased accessibility to technology in the classroom and mathematics instruction for kindergarten pupils.^[39]

Abbott received US$1.4 million in campaign contributions from recipients of the Texas Enterprise Fund, some of whose members submitted the proper paperwork for grants.^[45]

Abbott received the endorsement of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram,^[46] Dallas Morning News,^[47] the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal^[48] and the Tyler Morning Telegraph.^[49]

Tenure

Abbott was sworn in as the governor of Texas on January 20, 2015.^[50][51]

Abbott declared February 2, 2015 to be 'Chris Kyle Day,' after the United States Navy SEAL who was the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history who was portrayed in the highly successful and controversial filmAmerican Sniper.^[52][53][54] This came exactly two years after Kyle was shot and killed.^[52] Abbott held his first meeting as governor with a foreign prime minister when he met with the Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny on March 15, 2015 to discuss trade and economic relations.^[55]

Abbott on April 28, 2015 asked the State Guard to monitor the training exercise, Jade Helm 15, amid Internet-fueled suspicions that the war simulation is really a hostile military takeover.^{[56][57][58][59][60]}

Election history

On November 4, 2014, Abbott defeated Wendy Davis by 21 points. According to exit polls he received 44 percent of the Hispanic vote and 50 percent of Hispanic men, a majority (54 percent) of women voters, and 62 percent of the votes of married women (75% of women in Texas are married).^[61][62][63]

A week after his election, Abbott announced that Carlos Cascos, of Brownsville, the county judge since 2007 of Cameron County in far South Texas, will become the Secretary of State of Texas. In the same election in which Abbott defeated Wendy Davis, Cascos, a Republican, won a third term as county judge but will resign in January 2015, pending confirmation by the Texas Senate, to become secretary of state.^[64]

Personal life

Abbott is married to Mexican-American Cecilia Phalen Abbott, the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants.^[70][71] Abbott's election as governor of Texas makes Cecilia Abbott the first Latina to be the First Lady of Texas since Texas joined the union.^[71][72] Abbott and his wife have one adopted daughter, Audrey.^[16][70][71] The Abbotts were married in San Antonio in 1981.^[2] She is a former school teacher and principal.^[7] He is the first elected governor of a U.S. state to use a wheelchair since George Wallace of Alabama, 1983–87.^[73]

Abbott knows some Spanish words but is not fluent.^[74][75]

References

1. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Unknown to Most, Cecilia Abbott Could Make History". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
2. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-2) ^d(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-3) ^e(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-4) ^f(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-5) ^g(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-6) ^h(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-7) ⁱ(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-8) ^j(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-9) ^k(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXMonthSweany102013_2-10) Sweany, Brian D. (October 2013). "The Overcomer". Texas Monthly (Austin, Texas). Retrieved October 31,2014.
3. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Person Details for Gregory Wayne Abbott, "Texas, Birth Index, 1903-1997" — FamilySearch.org". Retrieved November 8, 2014.
4. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ vote-smart.org.^{[dead link]}
5. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-WashPostReid10302014_5-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-WashPostReid10302014_5-2) Wilson, Reid (October 30, 2014). "The likely next governor of Texas is full of Lone Star swagger. Don’t be surprised if he runs for president.". Washington Post (Washington, D.C.). RetrievedOctober 31, 2014.
6. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/first-reading/2014/feb/19/ted-nugent-greg-abbott-and-subhuman-mongrel-who-pr/
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8. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Accident set Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on a path toward politics, May 31, 2010, The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved October 27, 2010
9. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Fernandez, Manny. "Candidate Draws Support and Critics for Talk of Disability" July 22, 2013. The New York Times.
10. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Ackerman, Todd. "Houston rehab giant ready for Giffords." Houston Chronicle. January 20, 2011. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-rehab-giant-ready-for-Giffords-1687205.php
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12. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Sec. 41.008(b)". Retrieved October 11, 2014.
13. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Hoppe, Christy, August 2, 2013, The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved March 31, 2014.[1]
14. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "TX Supreme Court Justice (Place 5) Race - Nov 05, 1996". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
15. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "TX Supreme Court Justice (Place 5) Race - Nov 03, 1998". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
16. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-BusWk09192013_16-1) Mildenberg, David and Laurel Brubaker Calkins. Grit Drives Abbott to Follow Perry as Texas Governor, Bloomberg Businessweek, September 19, 2013.
17. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Attorney General Greg Abbott's Biography - Project Vote Smart". Votesmart.org. November 13, 1957. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
18. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "TX Attorney General Race - Nov 05, 2002". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
19. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Greg Abbott shares views with local Republicans". SAST. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
20. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Root, Jay (July 1, 2014). "Abbott: Ask Chemical Plants What's Inside". www.texastribune.org (The Texas Tribune). Retrieved July 1,2014.
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22. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Poppe, Ryan (February 26, 2014). "Supreme Court Won't Hear NRA’s Case For Lowering Conceal-Carry Age Limit". tpr.org (Texas Public Radio). Retrieved July 4, 2014.
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24. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXAttyGenSonyPR_24-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXAttyGenSonyPR_24-2) ^d(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-TXAttyGenSonyPR_24-3) Texas Attorney General's Office (November 21, 2014)."Attorney General Abbott Brings First Enforcement Action In Nation Against Sony BMG For Spyware Violations". State of Texas (Austin, Texas). Retrieved October 31, 2014.
25. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1266, oag.state.tx.us. Archived 28 October 2007 at WebCite
26. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Texas sues Sony BMG over alleged spyware - CNET News". Archive.is. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
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28. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "sanantonio.bizjournals.com". sanantonio.bizjournals.com. December 22, 2005. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
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31. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Texas Attorney General backs candidate in District 85 State Rep. race, October 19, 2010". kcbd.com. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
32. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "TX Attorney General Race - Nov 02, 2010". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
33. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Root, Jay (November 4, 2014). "Greg Abbott Crushes Wendy Davis in GOP Sweep". Texas Tribune (Austin, Texas). RetrievedNovember 8, 2014.
34. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Abbott's role at cancer agency under fire". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
35. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Rick Perry Won't Run for Re-election". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
36. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ [2]^{[dead link]}
37. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Greg Abbott and the Quiet Spot at the Top". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
38. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Third-world implications". www.themonitor.com. The Monitor. February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
39. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-lmtstateissues_39-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-lmtstateissues_39-2) "Texas Gubernatorial Candidate: Greg Abbott speaks about state issues, Laredo Morning Times, May 16, 2014, pp. 1, 14A
40. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Ted Nugent's comments may hurt Greg Abbott's campaign". Fox News. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
41. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". team1.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
42. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Alexander, Kate (March 31, 2014). "Greg Abbott promotes improving quality of pre-K over expanding access, full-day classes".www.statesman.com. American-Statesman. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
43. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Smith, Morgan; Ura, Alexa (April 8, 2014). "Abbott Campaign: Pre-K Plan Does Not Mean More Tests". www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
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45. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Slater, Wayne (September 28, 2014). "Greg Abbott shielded problem-plagued business fund by withholding applications that didn’t even exist". dallasnews.com (The Dallas Morning News Inc.). RetrievedSeptember 30, 2014.
46. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Editorial Board (October 19, 2014). "For governor, Abbott holds promise". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
47. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Editorial: We recommend Greg Abbott for Texas governor". Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas). October 16, 2014.
48. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ ,Editorial Board (October 18, 2014). "Our View: Attorney General Greg Abbott is the best gubernatorial candidate". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas). Retrieved October 19, 2014.
49. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Editorial Board (October 18, 2014). "Greg Abbott ready to be our governor". Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, Texas).
50. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Fernandez, Manny (January 20, 2015) - "Texas’ New Governor Echoes the Plans of Perry". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
51. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Whitely, Jason (January 20, 2015) - "Abbott, Patrick Sworn in as new Texas Leaders". WFAA.com. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
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53. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Associated Press (January 30, 2015) - "Greg Abbott Declares Feb. 2 'Chris Kyle Day'". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
54. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Howell, Kellan (January 30, 2015) - "Gov. Abbott Declares ‘Chris Kyle Day’ in Texas: ‘We Honor Our Military Heroes’". The Washington Times. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
55. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Abbott Discusses Trade With Irish Prime Minister". Texas Tribune. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
56. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Texas Republican decries 'pandering to idiots:{':(style="padding-right:0.2em"):}:". MSNBC.
57. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Greg Abbott Tells Texas National Guard to Monitor U.S. Military Exercises - US News". US News & World Report.
58. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Texas Governor Deploys State Guard To Stave Off Obama Takeover". NPR.org. May 2, 2015.
59. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Feds Preparing to Invade Texas, List State as ‘Hostile’ Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!". Infowars.
60. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Former GOP lawmaker blisters Abbott for ‘pandering to idiots’ over military exercises". Trail Blazers Blog.
61. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Thorburn, Wayne (November 17, 2014). "How the Democrats Lost Texas". Politico (Washington, D.C.). Retrieved November 18, 2014.According to the NBC exit poll, Abbott and Davis split the 18-29 year old cohort evenly, while married women went 62 percent for Abbott (he received 54 percent from all female voters), and a near-record 44 percent of Hispanics cast their ballots for the Republican gubernatorial candidate.
62. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Hoppe, Christy (November 5, 2014). "Greg Abbott tops Wendy Davis in Texas governor's race". Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas). Retrieved November 5, 2014.
63. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Carney, Dave (February 6, 2015). "How We Won Texas". Politico(Washington, D.C.). Retrieved February 7, 2015. The exit polls showed Greg Abbott won 54 percent of women, 50 percent of Hispanic men and won 44 percent of Hispanics overall—all of which are traditionally strong Democratic groups.
64. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ John Reynolds and Reeve Hamilton (November 11, 2014). "Abbott Says He Will Name Cascos as Secretary of State". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
65. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "2014 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Retrieved 2007-01-02.
66. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Office of the Secretary of State. 2010 General Election.http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe
67. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Office of the Secretary of State. 2006 General Election.http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe (accessed 15 December 2006)
68. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Office of the Secretary of State. 2002 General Election.http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe (accessed 15 December 2006)
69. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Office of the Secretary of State. 1998 General Election.http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe (accessed December 15, 2006)
70. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-CeciliaAbbottGovCamp_70-1) "Cecilia Abbott". http://www.gregabbott.com/. Greg Abbott for Governor. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
71. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-UraTXTrib03162014_71-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott#cite_ref-UraTXTrib03162014_71-2) Ura, Alexa (March 16, 2014). "Unknown to Most, Cecilia Abbott Could Make History". Texas Tribune (Austin, Texas). RetrievedOctober 22, 2014.
72. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "New first lady of Texas advocates for Hispanic population". Retrieved November 8, 2014.
73. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Greg Abbott’s election in Texas opens possibilities for disabled - OnPolitics". OnPolitics. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
74. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ MacLaggan, Corrie (September 5, 2013). "Many Texans Choosing TV en Español". Retrieved June 13, 2015.
75. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Sweany, Brian (July 15, 2013). "Greg Abbott Makes His Move". Retrieved June 13, 2015.

Further reading

• Gonzalez, John W. "Abbott has friends and foes in disabled community." Houston Chronicle. July 29, 2013.

External links

• Governor Greg Abbott Official state website official state site
• Official website
• Greg Abbott at DMOZ
• Profile at the Texas Tribune
• Coverage at the Texas Observer

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replaced by paxton

**Joint Sting Operation Leads to Arrest of 16 Suspected Child Predators**

Monday, July 20, 2015 – Cleburne, Texas

The Texas Attorney General’s Office (OAG) today announced the arrest of 16 suspected child predators following a joint sting operation between the OAG’s Child Exploitation Unit, the Johnson County Special Crimes Unit and Sheriff’s Office, and the Cleburne and Burleson Police departments.

**Attorney General Paxton Statement on Two Year Anniversary of HB 2**

Friday, July 17, 2015 – Austin, Texas

“Two years ago this weekend, House Bill 2 was signed into law, recognizing the dignity of life in the womb at 20 weeks, as well as the need to improve both sanitary conditions and the quality of care available to Texas women. I was proud to co-sponsor House Bill 2 in the Texas Senate and help elevate the Lone Star State as a leader for life, and I’m proud to have led the effort to defend portions of HB 2 in court."

**Media Advisory: Clifton Lamar Williams scheduled for execution**

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 – Austin, Texas

Pursuant to a court order by the 114th Judicial District Court of Smith County, Clifton Lamar Williams is scheduled for execution after 6 p.m. on July 16, 2015. In 2006, Williams was convicted and sentenced to death for the capital murder of ninety-three-year-old Cecelia Schneider.

**Texas Attorney General’s Office Investigating Planned Parenthood After Shocking Video About Sale of Baby Body Parts**

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 – Austin, Texas

“The Office of the Attorney General has launched an official investigation into Planned Parenthood following the release of a video that details the organization’s calculated slaughter of human babies to maximize the available body parts they plan to sell."

2013?

Donald Trump and former President George W. Bush have in common? They both want Greg Abbott to be the next governor of Texas. Both men are among contributors in Abbott’s latest campaign finance report, which covers fundraising over the last six weeks. Trump, the millionaire developer and high-profile birther, gave Abbott $25,000 last month. Bush contributed $5,000 in July to the attorney general’s gubernatorial campaign. Some of the donations had been reported before. But disclosure of money raised in July is new — and includes several billionaires.

During July, Abbott raised $1 million. Republican challenger Tom Pauken, former state GOP chairman, raised $44,395. During the same period following her headline-grabbing filibuster against an abortion bill, potential Democratic opponent Wendy Davis raised $412,000.

Abbott’s biggest givers include Dallas investor and nuclear-dump owner Harold Simmons, who gave $150,000; California investor Peter Thiel, the initial big investor in Facebook, $100,000; Dallas billionaire and yachting enthusiast Darwin Deason, $100,000; and Fort Worth oilman and investor Lee Bass, $100,000.

The reports give a snapshot of the initial round of political fundraising following the regular legislative session. Although politicians were not allowed to raise money during a regular session, they could do fundraising during special sessions. During the full six-week period from June 26 through July 30, Abbott raised $4.2 million to launch his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. During that same period, which followed her filibuster that attracted national attention, Davis raised $1.3 million. Of Davis’ money, 37 percent came from outside Texas. Of Abbott’s total during the six weeks, 8 percent came from outside Texas.

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ecowatch.comhttp://ecowatch.com/2015/05/19/texas-prohibits-local-fracking-bans/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=4f7022ec41-Top_News_5_19_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-4f7022ec41-85920373

It’s Official: Texas Prohibits Local Fracking Bans

Earthworks, Denton Drilling Awareness Group, Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council

Yesterday Texas Gov. Abbott signed HB 40 into law. Written by former ExxonMobil lawyer Shannon Ratliff, the statute forces every Texas municipality wanting common sense limits on oil and gas development to demonstrate its rules are “commercially reasonable.” It effectively overturns a Denton ballot initiative banning fracking that passed last November.

“HB 40 was written by the oil and gas industry, for the oil and gas industry, to prevent voters from holding the oil and gas industry accountable for its impacts,” said Earthworks’ Texas organizer Sharon Wilson. Wilson, who played a key role in the Denton ballot initiative, continued, “It was the oil and gas industry’s contempt for impacted residents that pushed Dentonvoters to ban fracking in the first place. And now the oil and gas industry, through state lawmakers, has doubled down by showing every city in Texas that same contempt.”

By a 59-41 percent vote, including 70 percent of straight ticket Republican voters, the residents of Denton banned hydraulic fracturing within city limits. The ban was a last resort after more than five years of fruitlessly petitioning oil and gas companies, the city and the state for help. “By signing HB40 into law, Governor Abbott just declared that industry profits are more important than our health, our homes and our kids,” said Adam Briggle, president of the Denton Drilling Awareness Group and a leader in the Frack Free Denton effort. He continued, “The letter of Texas law now says no city can ‘effectively prevent an oil and gas operation from occurring,’ no matter the threat to families’ health and safety or damage to private property.”

The City of Denton is fighting a lawsuit brought against it by the oil and gas industry over its ordinance. Until HB40, attorneys for the city felt fairly confident their ordinance would stand. The Denton Drilling Awareness Group and Earthworks have intervened in the case in support of the city. They are represented by Earthjustice, attorneys from the Natural Resources Defense Counsel and the Texas law firm Brown & Hofmeister, LLP.

“The Texas courts have upheld a long tradition of local control, so the Governor and the Legislature took matters into their own hands.  Now, they have capitulated to the greedy but powerful oil and gas industry at the expense of their own constituents’ health, well-being, and property rights,” said Earthjustice attorney Deborah Goldberg, who is co-counsel for the citizen groups and successfully defended the town of Dryden, New York, in a similar court case. “We have been proud to represent the proponents of Denton’s ban, and we know they will regroup and fight back against this legislative over-reach.”

“The people of Denton exercised their democratic right to keep a nasty industrial process out of their community–and now big oil and their friends in high places are steamrolling them, along with everyone else in Texas,” said NRDC attorney Dan Raichel, co-counsel for the citizen’s groups. “The interests of a powerful industry should never take priority over the health and safety of American families. Texans should be able to keep dangerous activities and chemicals away from their homes, schools, and hospitals—just as hundreds of other communities across the country have already done.”

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Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R in a new governor's race ad against state Sen. Wendy Davis (D).

Abbott's Thursday attack has a Star Wars theme, accusing Davis of being someone who will "threaten gun rights... promote higher taxes... And remove freedom from the galaxy..."

Watch the ad above.

The ad emerges days after Abbott rejected Davis' request to participate in a series of six debates. At a Wednesday evening campaign event in Dallas, Davis said Abbott was "hiding" from more head-to-head events because he is "too afraid to speak for himself" and "explain his record." Abbott's campaign told the Houston ChronicleTuesday that he was "already committed" to two televised debates and therefore had to "respectfully decline."

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Last week, allies of Greg Abbott -- the Tea Party[actually beat dewhurst?] wacko who is running to become the next governor of Texas -- covered bus stops and phone booths with posters depicting Abbott's Democratic opponent Wendy Davis as "Abortion Barbie."

We're not talking about a relatively tame little sketch here. We're talking life-sized pictures of a mostly naked Barbie doll with Wendy's face plastered on it --complete with a pair of scissors and a plastic baby stuck in its belly.

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TX GOV: If demographics are destiny, then Democrats believe at some point they should be able to turn ruby red Texas blue. Texas is now a “majority-minority state.” Whites only make up 45% of the state population (!!!). And yet, Democrats have ZERO statewide officeholders. They hope that changes in 2014 when they shoot for the big prize – governor, with rock-star-of-the-left state Sen. Wendy Davis, who faces off against state Attorney General Greg Abbott. Make no mistake, Abbott is the favorite here. But Davis, who was launched to fame because of her ability to delay passage of a Texas abortion law, will be able to raise a ton of money from the left. The question will be, can she mobilize Latinos, who make up four-in-10 Texans, and peel off some white women. And most importantly, can Davis be seen as more than a one-issue candidate?

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Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott^[1](born November 13, 1957) is the Texas Attorney General, and is the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate. Prior to assuming the office of attorney general, Abbott was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, a position to which he was initially appointed in 1995 by then-Governor George W. Bush. He is noted outside the state of Texas for successfully defending the right of the state of Texas to display the Ten Commandments in front of the state Capitol in Austin in a 2005 United States Supreme Court case known as Van Orden v. Perry.

Some state attorneys general have already weighed in on the climate fight. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt signed onto a legal brief urging the Supreme Court to take up a case that challenges existing EPA greenhouse gas regulations. Other attorneys general, including Scott Pruitt from Oklahoma, have asked the federal government to grant states more authority to regulate natural gas drilling, or fracking. Texas' attorney general Greg Abbott, has petitioned the Supreme Court to take up his federal lawsuit challenging EPA's authority to regulate pollution.

The Chamber of Commerce vs. Climate Science

The business lobby's challenge to carbon regulations probably won't convince a court of law. The court of public opinion is another matter.

—By Kate Sheppard

| Mon Mar. 1, 2010

LAWSUIT

William Kovacs, the US Chamber of Commerce's vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs, last year famously called for a "Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" on climate change. Kovacs was referencing the lightning-rod 1925 court case that made it illegal to teach anything other than divine creation in Tennessee public schools—and he wanted a similar public hearing in which climate science would be put on the stand. The remark drew plenty of bad press, and Kovacs soon recanted his "inappropriate" analogy. But it looks like the chamber is angling for that monkey trial after all, by way of a lawsuit it's filed against the Environmental Protection Agency that could be the first wave of a big-business assault on greenhouse gas regulations.

At issue is a scientific finding issued by the EPA last year concluding that greenhouse gases are a threat to human health, due to the lower air quality, extreme weather events, and heat waves caused by rising temperatures. The chamber announced its intent to sue the EPA last month in an attempt to have the endangerment finding, as it's known, tossed out. The big-business lobby has been joined by a collection of trade groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Mining Association; free-market think tanks such as FreedomWorks and the Competitive Enterprise Institute; and the attorneys general of Texas, Alabama, and Virginia.

Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General, Threatens To Arrest International Elections Observers [CORRECTED]

The Huffington Post  |  By Nick Wing Posted: 10/24/2012 2:06 pm EDT Updated: 10/25/2012 3:12 pm EDT 

Greg Abbott, the Republican Attorney General of Texas, issued a stern warning this week to members of an international delegation expected to be on hand to monitor voting at polling places around the country on Election Day.

In a letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which works to ensure the integrity of elections, among other tasks, Abbott warned the diplomatic poll-watchers that their involvement in U.S. elections could have strong legal repercussions.

"It may be a criminal offense for OSCE's representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place's entrance," he writes. "Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE's representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law." Such a restriction makes election monitoring highly difficult.

The OSCE announced earlier this month that it would send 44 observers to polling places around the country on Election Day in order to monitor possible disputes that could arise in the voting process. The move came in response to a petition from liberal-leaning voting rights groups, including the NAACP and ACLU, that suggested the OSCE's presence could help combat what they fear will be a concerted effort to suppress votes from supporters of President Barack Obama.

Concerns among Democrats have mounted in the wake of reports that right-leaning groups, such as the Tea Party-aligned True The Vote, had plans to dispatch armies of poll-watchers seeking to root out invalid votes. Opponents warn that the volunteer "poll challengers" will engage in intimidation of legitimate minority voters who tend to vote Democratic.

In his letter, Abbott takes issue with the OSCE's supposed opposition to voter ID laws, which won't be in place in Texas after being rejected by a federal court, and adds that the group's efforts at polling places are neither needed nor acceptable.

"If OSCE members want to learn more about our election processes so they can improve their own democratic systems, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the measures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of elections," he writes. "However, groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas. This State has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. All persons -- including persons connected with OSCE -- are required to comply with these laws."

Abbott's opposition is consistent with a growing trend of conservative distrust toward the United Nations and other international organizations. On Tuesday, Florida GOP Senate candidate Connie Mack said that the U.N. should be defunded and "kicked off of American soil." In a statement, Mack appeared to suggest that the broader U.N., and therefore presumably the OSCE as well, was driven by nefarious motives.

“The very idea that the United Nations -- the world body dedicated to diminishing America’s role in the world -- would be allowed, if not encouraged, to install foreigners sympathetic to the likes of Castro, Chavez, Ahmadinejad and Putin to oversee our elections is nothing short of disgusting," he said.

UPDATE: 3:10 p.m. EST -- Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), responded in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that Abbott's threat put the state of Texas at odds with an agreement between the body and state authorities.

“The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” Lenarčič said. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Lenarčič took issue with insinuations that officials in the group would meddle with elections, reiterating that they were bound by national laws and regulations, as well as their own strict code of conduct.

“Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way,” Lenarčič said. “They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them.”

A release relaying Lenarčič's comments pointed out that the OSCE has observed five previous U.S. elections since 2002, all without incident.

CORRECTION:This article originally reported that the OSCE was created by the United Nations. While the OSCE and UN partner on some operations,they are independent organizations.

At issue is a scientific finding issued by the EPA last year concluding that greenhouse gases are a threat to human health, due to the lower air quality, extreme weather events, and heat waves caused by rising temperatures. The chamber announced its intent to sue the EPA last month in an attempt to have the endangerment finding, as it's known, tossed out. The big-business lobby USCoC  has been joined by a collection of trade groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Mining Association; free-market think tanks such as FreedomWorks and the Competitive Enterprise Institute; and the attorneys general of Texas, Alabama, and Virginia.

Just how well-founded are fears of voter fraud?

There have been only a small number of fraud cases resulting in a conviction. A New York Times analysis from 2007 identified 120 cases filed by the Justice Department over five years. These cases, many of which stemmed from mistakenly filled registration forms or misunderstanding over voter eligibility, resulted in 86 convictions.

There are "very few documented cases," said UC-Irvine professor and election law specialist Rick Hasen. "When you do see election fraud, it invariably involves election officials taking steps to change election results or it involves absentee ballots which voter ID laws can't prevent," he said.

One of the most vocal supporters of strict voter ID laws, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, told the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that his office has prosecuted about 50 cases of voter fraud in recent years. "I know for a fact that voter fraud is real, that it must be stopped, and that voter id is one way to prevent cheating at the ballot box and ensure integrity in the electoral system," he told the paper. Abbott's office did not immediately respond to ProPublica's request for comment.