Gov. Abbott Says He's Tough On Crime - But He's NOT

By Matt Angle at the Lone Star Project. 

Abbott / Paxton - Bleating Sheep With Empty Threats

Texas Gov. Abbott has called a special session of the Texas Legislature. The main purpose of the session is to redraw House district lines to give Republicans an additional five districts in the state (at the request of Donald Trump - who is afraid Republicans will lose the U.S. House in next year's election).

Texas Democratic State House members don't have enough votes to stop the GOP's racist gerrymandering, so they have left the state to deny a quorum. Nothing can be passed without a quorum (100 members) present in the House.

Gov. Abbott has threatened to arrest, fine, and even take the seats away from those Democratic members, quoting a non-binding opinion issued by Texas AG Ken Paxton.

Matt Angle, at the Lone Star Project, had the following to say about the actions of Abbott and Paxton: 

The sound coming from Greg  Abbott and Ken Paxton is the bleating of sheep. And their intended audience isn’t even the frontline Democrats who are courageously defending Texas. Abbott and Paxton are performing for Donald Trump.
 
Abbott and Paxton reacted to the strength of Texas State House Democrats by teaming up and doubling down on their own surrender to Trump. They engaged in petty name calling and then incorrectly cited an AG opinion to justify empty threats to vacate Democratic member’s seats in the Legislature.
 
Here are the facts around Abbott and Paxton’s threats to declare Democratic seats vacant.
 
First, an AG opinion does not have the force of law. Paxton’s claims have all the credibility of his marriage vows.
 
Second, the case cited in the AG opinion requires showing a failure to perform a duty of office and a purposeful decision to relinquish office. Breaking quorum is a legislative option contained within the Texas Constitution. It is an explicit part of a legislator performing his or her duty. All of the strong Texas Democrats now acting to halt action on the racist Trump map are purposefully fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as a Texas legislator.
 
The cowardice and dereliction of duty comes from Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, and every one of the weak-kneed legislators who have surrendered their responsibility to defend Texas. They have collapsed in shameful submission to a corrupt President. They’ve picked Trump over Texas, which may not require relinquishing their office, but it is certainly a firing offense.

Abbott Defies U.S. Supreme Court - Denies Feds Border Access

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has decided to play politics with the situation at the Texas border. He has ordered the Texas National Guard and state troopers to take over a park in Eagle Pass, and put up razor wire to stop immigrants. This has already resulted in the deaths of 3 immigrants (two of them children) as they denied Border Patrol entrance so they could try to save the people.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Texas must allow the Border Patrol to access the border and remove the razor wire. Abbott has refused, and continues to order the installation of the razor wire. He also continues to allow Border Patrol officers access to the border.

This amounts to sedition. No state has the right to ignore federal law or Supreme Court decisions about that law. Sadly, the Constitution doesn't mean much to today's Republican Party. Many Republicans in Washington have encouraged Abbott to continue his actions. And 25 Republicans governors have signed a statement backing Abbott's shameful, dangerous, and illegal actions.

The crazy part of this mess is that a bipartisan Senate bill could reach the Senate floor this week -- a bill that would solve the crisis at the border. But House Republicans, at the behest of Donald Trump, are saying they will refuse to pass the bill. It seems that Republicans want the border crisis to continue so they can keep playing politics with the issue.

Here is a list of the Republican governors supporting Abbott's illegal defiance of the Supreme Court:

• Governor Kay Ivey, Alabama
• Governor Mike Dunleavy, Alaska
• Governor Sarah Sanders, Arkansas
• Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida
• Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia
• Governor Brad Little, Idaho
• Governor Eric Holcomb, Indiana
• Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa
• Governor Jeff Landry, Louisiana
• Governor Tate Reeves, Mississippi
• Governor Mike Parson, Missouri
• Governor Greg Gianforte, Montana
• Governor Jim Pillen, Nebraska
• Governor Joe Lombardo, Nevada
• Governor Chris Sununu, New Hampshire
• Governor Doug Burgum, North Dakota
• Governor Mike DeWine, Ohio
• Governor Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma
• Governor Henry McMaster, South Carolina
• Governor Kristi Noem, South Dakota
• Governor Bill Lee, Tennessee
• Governor Spencer Cox, Utah
• Governor Glenn Youngkin, Virginia
• Governor Jim Justice, West Virginia
• Governor Mark Gordon, Wyoming

New Poll Has Abbott Leading O'Rourke By Only 2 Points

The chart reflects the results of the Beacon Research Poll -- done between October 15th and 19th of 1,125 Texas voters who say they will definitely vote. The margin of error is 2.8 points.
 

Poll Of Likely Voters Gives Abbott A Big Lead In Texas

This chart reflects the results of the Texas Politics Project at University of Texas Poll -- done between October 7th and 17th of 883 likely Texas voters, with a 3.3 point margin of error.

The poll only considers likely voters (those voting in every election the last 2-3 years). With a large turnout (containing many new voters and random voters) the result could be very different.

Abbott Lied About Texas Having Low Electricity Prices

 From Reform Austin News

Abbott Has A Lack Of Compassion For Texas Women

From the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle: 

Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the most restrictive abortion law in the nation months before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe, appears determined to toe the hard line.

Abbott has doubled down — supporting an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest — a calculated gamble showing he’s willing to prioritize the extreme demands of his base over the views of the majority of his constituents, who strongly support at least some abortion rights. While he’s backed off of his far-fetched vow to “eliminate rape” in the state of Texas — a hasty response to a reporter’s question about how the abortion ban would affect sexual assault victims — his latest attempt to address the issue is almost as cringe-worthy.

“We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it,” Abbott said during a segment on Lone Star Politics. “By accessing health care immediately, they can get the Plan B pill that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place.”

We’ll give Abbott credit for coming back to reality. Perhaps it dawned on him that ending rape just wasn’t feasible, what with Texas leading the nation in rape offenses in 2020 and the clearance rate for rape arrests dropping by nearly half over the course of his tenure. Or maybe he considered the state’s enormous backlog of untested rape kits, which have left thousands of victims in limbo as they await justice.

Yet telling rape victims to go out and get a pill that’s only effective within 72 hours of conception reflects Abbott’s fundamental misunderstanding of the effects of trauma.

Plan B, also known as the “morning-after pill,” is a critical tool to prevent pregnancy. Yet many women who suffer the trauma of sexual assault don’t immediately realize they can be pregnant. As Piper Stege Nelson, chief public strategies officer for the SAFE Alliance, told NPR last year, many rape victims sometimes cope with the abuse by numbing themselves to the reality that they could be pregnant.

“That dissociation can lead to a detachment from reality and the fact that she’s pregnant,” Nelson said.

Even for victims who want to follow the governor’s advice and immediately pursue Plan B, the Supreme Court’s dismantling of Roe has made obtaining the pill far more difficult. Pills have been in such high demand in Texas that some pharmacies have been forced to limit sales because of dwindling supply. It’s one reason why the owner of a suburban Lubbock coffee shop started giving away the pill for free.And, in another testament to the extremism and ignorance that exists in the anti-abortion movement in this state, protesters were quick to condemn her as well, apparently believing Plan B to cause abortion.

Perhaps the governor’s promotion of it will clear up that misconception. But other obstacles remain: When Plan B is available over the counter, it’s not exactly cheap. It can cost up to $50 at a pharmacy unless you have an insurance plan that covers it. And for a state with the highest uninsured population in the nation, that means many low-income women are forced to pay what could be a prohibitive price for a pill that could restore some modicum of control over their reproductive lives.

If Abbott’s desire were genuine to help rape victims — or any woman, for that matter — avoid unwanted pregnancy, he’d make a serious effort to expand health access for Texas woman. That starts with a step he has refused to take for years: expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a program that requires insurance companies to cover women’s contraceptives. Texas is one of only a dozen states that has steadfastly refused to expand the program. The state’s recent plan to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage is so restrictive — it excludes women who terminate pregnancies, even in medical emergencies — that the federal government is likely to reject it.

f Abbott wanted to encourage more pharmacies and other stores to sell Plan B over the counter, he could direct the attorney general to clarify the legality of doing so since there seems to be so much confusion. Emergency contraception does not require a doctor’s prescription or parental consent to people over 17 years old, and yet that coffee shop outside Lubbock, Tumbleweed + Sage in Wolfforth, has had the police called on them for making the pill available.

Another thing the governor could do to truly aid rape victims and catch predators before they rape again is help local law enforcement investigate the crimes. The Lavinia Masters Act Abbott signed into law in 2019 provided $50 million in grant funding for local authorities, and requires labs to process a kit within 90 days of receipt. Yet the Dallas Observer reported that data from late 2021 shows that over 1,000 kits which had been sent to labs between September 2019 and late November 2021 were not analyzed within the required time frame. Strengthening the law by threatening to pull grant funding from governments that lag in testing could go a long way.

Women in Texas don’t need Abbott to continue feigning compassion. They need him to restore their rights to control their own bodies. Short of that, they need him to take realistic steps to reduce rapes and improve access to emergency contraception. It’s not nearly enough — but it’s better than some impossible promise he couldn’t keep if he wanted to.

New Poll Has O'Rourke Trailing Abbott By Only 5 Points

These charts are from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs / YouGov Poll -- done between June 27th and July 7th of 1,169 registered Texas voters, with a 2.9 point margin of error.

NOTE -- Charts 2-5 contain only "likely voters". 

O'Rourke Is Within 6 Points Of Abbott In Texas

 

The chart above reflects the results of the recent University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll -- done between June 16th and 24th of a sample of 1,200 registered voters in Texas, with a 2.89 point margin of error.

Legal Pot More Popular In Texas Than Governor/Lt Governor

 

The charts above are from the Dallas Morning News / University of Texas at Tyler Poll -- done between May 2nd and 10th of 1,232 registered Texas voters, with a 2.8 point margin of error.

Texas GOP Just Wants To Stay In Power - Not Govern

Abbott and other Texas Republicans have taken actions that will help them stay in power, but they done nothing to help the plight of ordinary citizens. They have no interest in actually governing.

The following is part of an editorial in The New York Times by Mimi Swartz (executive editor of The Texas Monthly):

Republicans hold the power here in Texas, and as in so much of the nation, holding onto it is their top priority.

“Governing” is a term with which they do not seem familiar. Or, at least, governing in the conventional sense, which used to mean assenting to the will of the majority while also looking out for the most vulnerable citizens. Like schoolchildren. I don’t know what to call what our leaders are doing now, but it isn’t that. For the millions of us in the state who are not hard-right Republicans or supporters of the governor, the question we should ask ourselves is, why not?

What they have been doing is making Texas appealing for corporations and for hard-right culture warriors. Mr. Abbott, the performative governor, really likes a publicity stunt: busing migrants to Washington, D.C., in an ultimately pointless (though, for many migrants, unintentionally welcome) effort to “take the border to President Biden,” as the governor put it; or sending the Texas National Guard to the border as part of another pointless — but very expensive — action, ostensibly to secure the southern border but more likely to hold off challenges from Mr. Abbott’s right.

Yes, this is a state where the freedom of individuals to do whatever boneheaded thing they want to do has always been sacrosanct. Yes, this is a state where “responsible gun owner” is not an oxymoron — children as young as 8 grow up learning to shoot and hunt here. And yes, depending on which polls you look at, Mr. Abbott is running comfortably ahead of Mr. O’Rourke, or at least ahead of him.

Still, none of these facts suggest — or endorse — the mandate with which those at the top of the Texas ticket have been operating. An early May poll from The Texas Politics Project found Texans gloomier than usual: 43 percent said that their family’s economic situation was worse compared with last year, the highest figure since 2009. The poll began in 2008, and this one marked just the second time that the percentage of respondents who said that the state was on the wrong track exceeded 50 percent.

It doesn’t sound like a majority of Texans have enjoyed Republicans’ handling of abortion. Already, we have one of the most restrictive laws in the country — and if Roe falls, we will have a trigger ban that eliminates access completely. When asked if they supported or opposed banning all abortions in the state if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, 54 percent of voters said they were opposed, with 42 percent strongly opposed. As for the constitutional carry law that passed last year — the one that means anyone 21 or older can carry a handgun without a license — a majority of Texans, along with many law enforcement officials, opposed it.

For a stretch last year, more Texans disapproved of Mr. Abbott than approved of him — a rarity since 2015. His rating bounced back this spring, to 47 percent approval vs. 41 percent disapproval. Republicans still like him — as of April, 80 percent approved.

And yet: If the measure of a leader is how he operates in a crisis, Mr. Abbott has failed at every turn — sometimes spectacularly, if such a thing can be said. Some examples: The freeze in February 2021 that officially killed 246 Texans, though the real toll was likely far higher, while donors from energy companies made off like bandits. His antipathy toward vaccination mandates of almost any kind while more than 88,000 Texans died of Covid. His failure to even consider that his stance against abortion in the case of rape would cause what some think of as forced births. No worries: Mr. Abbott said that his administration would “eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas.”

Who, then, could be surprised when he said about the school shooting in Uvalde that “as horrible as what happened, it could have been worse”?

Such responses are not because of Mr. Abbott’s lack of empathy, as many have suggested. Well, he does seem to be lacking in empathy, but there are other, more salient factors at work. After the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, he did make a feeble attempt at new school safety regulations but soon retreated.

Ultimately, a big reason for this hard-right governing is and has been the base of Republican primary voters. In a state of almost 30 million, roughly 17 million are registered to vote, but only about two million voted in the past two Republican primaries — and those who do vote dependably are older, white and far to the right. In this year’s primary, a Republican candidate could have won the nomination with under 4 percent of voters. So the typical calculus for Republican politicians is this: Keep the far-right voter base happy, and you are a guaranteed winner in Republican-dominated Texas.

This is why Lieutenant Governor Patrick can get away with claiming that arming teachers is the way to prevent school shootings, and why Ted Cruz’s solution to preventing the deaths of schoolchildren is to keep all but one door to school buildings locked, fire marshalls be damned.

So when you see Mr. Abbott sitting stone faced on a dais when confronted by an angry Mr. O’Rourke or by an emotional State Senator Roland Gutierrez, who begged for a special session to address gun violence, it may be because the governor is shocked that anyone would have the bad manners to question, much less confront him.

But it’s also because he doesn’t have to answer to anyone on that side of the political spectrum. They don’t matter, just like the folks at Discovery Green didn’t matter.

Texas Lyceum Poll Shows A Close Race For Texas Governor

The chart above reflects to results of a recent Texas Lyceum Poll -- done between March 11th and 20th of a statewide sample of 1,000 Texas adults, with a 2.83 point margin of error.

It shows the race for the governor of Texas is very close between Republican Greg Abbott (42%) and Democrat Beto O'Rourke (40%). That two point difference is within the poll's margin of error.

New Poll Has Beto Trailing By 10 Points In Texas

 

The chart above is from the University of Texas / Texas Politics Project Poll -- done between January 28th and February 7th of a statewide sample of 1,200 registered Texas voters, with a 2.83 point margin of error.

It shows Beto O'Rourke trailing Greg Abbott by 10 points (37% to 47%) in the governor race.

Recent Poll Shows O'Rourke / Abbott In Virtual Dead Heat

 

The charts above are from the Rice University / Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation Poll -- done between October 14th and 27th of a sample of 1,402 registered voters in Texas. It shows Democrat Beto O'Rourke trailing Republican Governor Greg Abbott by only 1 point. I didn't see any margin of error, but it has to be more than 1 point, meaning the poll has the two in a virtual dead heat.

New Poll Has Abbott & O'Rourke In A Dead Heat In Texas

 The charts above are from the new Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation Poll -- done between October 14th and 27th of a statewide sample of 1,402 registered Texas voters, with a 2.6 point margin of error.

Majority Of Texans Say Abbott Doesn't Deserve Re-Election

 

The chart above reflects the result of a new Quinnipiac University Poll -- done between September 24th and 27th of a sample of 863 registered Texas voters, with a 3.3 point margin of error.

This should light a fire under Texas Democrats! If they can get out the vote in 2022 (and some unhappy Republicans stay home), there is a chance (albeit small) that they can dump Greg Abbott -- one of the worst governors in the nation.

Note that he has a 21 point deficit among women (who vote in larger numbers than men). He also has a 15 point deficit among Independents (which can offset the larger number of Republicans over Democrats in the state).

Texas Poll Shows Abbott May Be Vulnerable In 2022 Election

The charts above are from a new Dallas Morning News / University of Texas Poll -- done between September 7th and 14th of a sample of 1,148 registered voters in Texas, and has a 2.9 point margin of error.

It shows that Governor Abbott is losing support, and may be vulnerable in the 2022 election.

Here are some other interesting parts of the DMN/UT survey:

Abbott's Record Is An Assault On Texas Women And Children

Greg Abbott will try to tell you that he has a good record on protecting vulnerable Texans. But his record shows just the opposite. He has a record of harming more than helping the vulnerable -- especially women and children.

Here, from the Lone Star Project, is a brief review of his terrible record regarding women and children:

In a 1996 case, Texas Supreme Court Justice Greg Abbott denied a woman with repressed memories from suing her father for repeated sexual abusebecause she filed four months after the statute of limitations expired. Justice Priscilla Owens, a Republican, disagreed with Abbott and argued that this case of sexual assault should merit an exception. The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature even broke with Abbott when they changed the law to extend the statute of limitations in repressed memory cases.

Later, in 1998, Abbott turned his back on Kristi Read—a married mother with children who was brutally raped in her home by a convicted sex-offender working as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. Read sued the Kirby Vacuum Company because it failed to adequately check the rapist’s criminal background which would have revealed his history of sexual assault. The conservative court voted 6-3 in favor of Mrs. Read, but Abbott voted against her, writing that the company “owed no duty” to the rape victim.

In 1999, Abbott ruled against another rape victim, Angela Holder, for suing the company that owned a dangerous Houston parking garage where she was repeatedly assaulted. Evidence revealed that 190 violent crimes were committed near the garage in just the two years before Holder was raped. Abbott acknowledged the garage was unsafe but argued that the company could not have “reasonably foreseen” that a rape would occur at the structure. Abbott’s ruling made it harder for all Texas rape victims to hold property owners accountable.

In 2014, Abbott proudly campaigned closely with the musician Ted Nugent, who notoriously admitted to sexually abusing underage girls and manipulating their parents into giving him access to their daughters. Nugent was so close to Abbott that he called the then-attorney general his “blood brother.”

In 2015, Abbott promised to overhaul Texas Child Protective Services (CPS), but an investigation by the Dallas Morning News revealed that Abbott made things worse. More Texas children died of abuse and neglect AFTER Abbott got involved. Public documents revealed gruesome child deaths, relentless caseworker turnover, and dangerous case backlogs. The consensus is that many deaths could have been prevented had Abbott’s team acted swiftly and competently.

Thousands of Texas kids have been beaten, abused and exploited by human sex traffickers during Abbott’s time as governor. A report from the Texas Tribune in 2017 detailed horrific accounts of young children who were captured and forced into sex trafficking against their will. Abbott campaigned on the issue, claiming it was one of his “key issues,” but evidence shows resources are still limited and action has been underwhelming in helping victims or reducing crime.

This year, a court monitor’s report showed that Abbott’s office knew for months that foster children were being illegally housed in an emergency shelter cited hundreds of times for dangerous conditions — but failed to report the violation to court-appointed watchdogs tasked with monitoring the state’s foster care system.

Now, under Greg Abbott, vigilantes can be paid bounties for reporting anywoman seeking an abortion and anyone who helped her. The bounty applies to any woman who has been pregnant 6 weeks – which is usually only two weeks after a woman learns that she’s pregnant. The new Abbott-backed law provides NO exceptions for rape or incest.

Abbott also refused to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which would require Texas women be paid the same amount as men for doing the same or equal work.

And despite outcries from medical professionals, school officials, and youth advocates, Abbott is putting the lives of kids, teachers, and others involved in public education at deadly risk by forbidding vaccine and mask requirements.

Abbott's Job Approval Has Dropped Sharply In Texas

These charts are from the University of Texas / Texas Politics Project. They come from a poll done between August 20th and 30th of 1,200 registered Texas voters. The poll has a margin of error of 2.83 points.

It shows Governor Abbott's job approval is now upside-down (with 41% approving and 50% disapproving). That's a 9 point deficit -- the largest deficit since he has been governor.

Republicans still like him (73% to 18%), but Democrats (6% to 90%) and Independents (30% to 52%) do not. That large deficit among Independents should be especially worrying to him.

The poll was done before the Supreme Court allowed the new abortion law to take effect. He supported (and signed) the law, and that's not going to help him with women or Independents. A majority of Texans wanted Roe vs. Wade to stay as law.

For the first time, I think he may be vulnerable in 2022.

COVID Hospitalizations For Children Is At A Record Level

While ignoring the COVID pandemic, Donald Trump told Americans that young people, especially children, didn't get the disease. That was a lie, but it seems to be a lie that is still being put forward by right-wing Republican politicians.

As school is starting across the country, many schools want to mandate that their students (and teachers) wear a mask. That is a reasonable action. Consider the chart above. It shows that not only can children get sick with COVID, but many require hospitalization -- and those child hospitalizations have reached a record level nationwide.

But in spite of the virus raging across the country, many red-state governors are banning mask requirements in schools (or anywhere else). This is especially true of Gov. Abbott in Texas and Gov. DeSatis in Florida. Both have issued edicts that say schools cannot have a mask mandate.

They did this in spite of the fact that their own states are experiencing record child hospitalizations due to the Coronavirus (especially the Delta variant). They do this to please their extremist base. Evidently, playing politics is more important to them that saving the lives of children in their states.