Paul Burka’s passing is an ending of an era of political reporting in Texas. He will be remembered for his acerbic biennial look at the Legislature. But if you want to read some great political journalism, this is it.
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rgratcliffe
@rgratcliffe
Long-time Texas political writer and sometimes policy ninja. Rarely on Twitter any more. I can be found on Facebook.
Austin, TxJoined December 2008
rgratcliffe’s Tweets
🚨 'Imminent Disaster' in the Rio Grande Valley, according to recent declarations. Local judge says resources available for "trucking in water." One city prepping for no water to municipal plant for "up to 3 days." My story from the border for :
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Texas elections officials targeted amid 2020 fraud claims report threats, intimidation to Congress
Student Innovation Competition – RJI
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If you called for Hillary Clinton to be investigated for potentially having classified information on an unsecured server, you should be doing the same for Donald Trump for potentially having classified information in an unsecured box.
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The really disappointing thing about the Alex Jones case is Texas decades ago capped punitive damages. My best guess is it is going to cost him and his company a total of about $15 million. And testimony set the value of his company at $207 million.
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Had Covid for the first time last week. Tested negative on Tuesday. Now Im having the Paxlovid rebound. Positive again. Another week in isolation. The virus is real. Don’t spread it. Wear a mask when in public.
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BA.5 is one of many Covid-19 Omicron subvariants to hit since last winter. The subvariant is driving up cases in parts of Europe and North America, and has emerged as the dominant U.S. Omicron strain.
Here’s what we know about BA.5 so far.
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This is funny.
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Alex Jones’ cell phone is everything Republicans dreamed Hunter Biden’s laptop would be.
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I first wrote this story when Ken Paxton's indictments turned five.
I updated it last year, when they turned six.
Now, the charges are 7 years old. If they were a kid, they'd be entering 1st grade.
#txlege
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted for fraud seven years ago.
But he's no closer to facing a jury than he was when the charges were filed just months into his first term.
Paxton is now running for a third term. Read more here:
dallasnews.com/news/politics/ #txlege
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Is this information from a DPS official or propaganda for Governor Abbott?
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Collin County—
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Texas man who stormed Capitol on Jan. 6 with gun, helmet and body armor sentenced to more than seven years in prison. It's the longest sentence to date. apnews.com/article/capito
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How did all the news stories today seemed to downplay this end to church/state separation? “Ultimately, if we’re going to win the battle to protect religious freedom, in an increasingly secular society, we will need more than positive law,” Alito said.
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I wrote extensively about this for Texas Monthly in 2018. We had a major election in 2020. But the Texas Democratic Party only wakes up after it is on TV.
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PRESS RELEASE: Chairman Hinojosa Releases Statement on CNN Report, Demands Transparency from Texas Republicans #txlege
Read more: texasdemocrats.org/media/chairman
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Kind of important context. When DPS officials were pointing fingers at Uvalde school police for failing to go after the shooter, there were 91 DPS officers there, according to the report released today. Uvalde CISD had 5.
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Hey, Dallas News, a racing commission is killing your local horse racetrack in a dispute with the federal government. It is another state v feds story, not really about racing. They barred the track from simulcasting to states that accept a federal law to protect horse health.
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Incidentally, I’m not a Trump supporter. Just a cranky retired political reporter who has written a lot of poll stories. They just shouldn’t be misleading.
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The sample size is 350 people. The story says the margin of error is 4%. But that is for the entire poll sample. For this subset, the margin of error would be more like plus or minus 6%. Trump could be in worse shape, or have majority support. via
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7 Trump Allies Subpoenaed, including Jacki Pick Deason of the Texas Public Policy Foundation , in Georgia Criminal Investigation
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How can you support police and at the same time support weapons that can take them down this way?
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Incredible footage released by the Haltom City Police Department shows the moment officers encountered a heavily armed man wearing tactical gear and carrying an AR15 rifle. The officers were shot multiple times but fortunately will all survive. Two civilians were killed.
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This poll says Democrats and Republicans think members of the other party are bullies. They are correct, but at the moment the Republicans are winning control of the playground. uchicagopolitics.opalstacked.com/uploads/homepa
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Texas has spent millions of dollars on “border security,” flooding South Texas with DPS officers, funding fusion centers to gather intelligence, and financing local sheriffs. But could not identify a big rig loading immigrants up on the Texas side of the border.
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Myra Flores won a South Texas special election with less than 8% voter turnout. The SOS or Lege Council should have the Spanish surname voter turnout by now. Id guess it was less than 50% of the vote.
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You can shoot a spit wad. You can shoot a sling shot. You can shoot a bow and arrow. Let’s stop calling these mass killers “shooters.” Let’s call them “gunmen.”
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GovAbbott showed he is pro-life except for already born babies.
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Also, the story portrays this as boomer v millennials. But the windfall probably will fall to millennials when their boomer parents live out their lives in their home and die. Millennials will inherit this wealth.
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Missed points: If you sell your house to take the windfall, where do you go to live? Also, in states with property taxes, the taxable value is going up dramatically—a tax on unrealized capital gains.
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Conservative Media Cheering DeSantis Crackdown on Disney Are Ignoring What a Catastrophe It Would Be for Florida mediaite.com/a/brvti via #sayfie #ReedyCreek #flapol
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Follow the link below to view the article.
No-bid bonanza at the border
tinyurl.com/y43sbge2
The "Louie Belt" will be studied for generations in political science classes
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Print journalists need to read this story, especially those who are former Aggies:
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An incomplete list of the vaccines anti-vaxxers and everyone else had to take to go to school in the US and maintain health in public places.
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Suddenly the announcers discovered Baylor is playing.
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So why are the Sugar Bowl announcers so deeply in the tank for Ole Miss? The game with Baylor is pretty even, but not so with the broadcasters.
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As we go into what I hope is the final Covid surge, ponder this: there have been 42,100 Covid deaths in Texas in 2021 through Dec. 13–just 6 fewer than the number of traffic fatalities from 2008-2020 combined. 85% of 2021’s Covid deaths are among unvaccinated people.
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