Tag: Greg Abbott

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Elections GOP

Texas Senate Gives Gov. Greg Abbott The Authority To Overturn Elections

The Texas Senate has given the power to overturn elections in the state to one man, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

The bill which passed is aimed specifically at Harris County, which is home to the state’s most populous city, Houston, which is majority Hispanic and black.

HuffPost reports the move is unprecedented, even in state like Texas.

The legislation penalizes county officials for running out of ballot paper at some voting sites in the 2022 election, the Houston Chronicle reported. Still, more importantly, it gives Republican Gov. Greg Abbott “precedent-setting” power to undo election results.

The measure would give Abbott’s appointed secretary of state the authority to hold a new election in the county if it runs out of paper at 2% or more of its polling sites for more than an hour, the newspaper noted.

Harris County, it should be noted, votes largely Democratic, and voted 56% for Joe Biden in 2020. Both Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R) also lost Harris County when they ran for reelection.

Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) noted, “You want to vest in a political appointee the ability to make a decision as to whether or not an election should be overturned and reheld?”

And Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the bill was “about targeting the largest county in the state, which is led by people of color.”

The bill now goes to the Texas House, where it’s likely to pass, meaning that one man would have the right to tell voters in the state’s largest county that their ballots are not going to be counted.

 

Categories
Abortion Elections GOP

Powerful Abortion Ad Aimed At Greg Abbott Goes Viral As His Poll Numbers Slide

Unless you live in the state of Texas or happen to be a political junkie who regularly follows campaigns in other states, you may not have seen the hottest political ad of the 2022 midterm elections.

The ad, which is aimed at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), has quickly gone viral, and is being shown all over cable television and online, where it is quickly earning the reputation as the most brilliant political ad in years.

Newsweek notes:

The Mothers Against Greg Abbott PAC posted the ad on Twitter on Monday, where it has since amassed more than 3 million views.

It begins with a nervous couple waiting in a doctor’s office. When the doctor enters, he solemnly tells them their baby has a “catastrophic brain abnormality.”

Nancy Thompson, the founder of the Mothers Against Greg Abbott PAC, explained the purpose of the ad:

“(It shows) the absurdity and horror of the government making a deeply personal decision – a decision which should be made between a woman and her health care provider. The video has been well received… We’re getting donations, and we’re not going to stop.”

Could a political ad in deep red Texas actually manage to turn the tide against the incumbent Abbott, who is facing a challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke? That depends on who you talk to, but the polls suggest that Abbott is indeed vulnerable and facing the political battle of his life, according to Axios:

In December, after the well-known Democrat announced his campaign, 54% of voters supported Abbott, compared to 37% who supported O’Rourke, a Quinnipiac University poll showed.

This month, 48% of voters support Abbott compared to 43% who support O’Rourke.

What, you may ask, is happening in Texas, long thought to be a conservative stronghold? In a word, pessimism:

Texans think Texas is on the wrong track and have expressed pessimism about their personal finances and the national economy.

Abbott’s approval rating has slipped to 43%, and 26% of Texas Republicans disapprove of the governor’s handling of the electric grid, according to the latest polling figures from the Texas Politics Project.

Additionally, following the money shows where the momentum is in the last three months of the race, with O’Rourke outraising Abbott since February.

Will Beto pull off one of the great political upsets in electoral history? It’s too soon to say definitively, but if it does happen, a viral campaign ad may well prove to have been the beginning of the end for Greg Abbott.

 

Categories
GOP The Biden Administration

Jen Psaki Put Texas Governor Greg Abbott On Full Blast Today And It Was Fun To Watch

In a publicity stunt so he can boost his flagging poll numbers as he faces an uncertain bid for reelection, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) recently decided to begin what he dubbed “enhanced” inspections at several key border crossing areas of the state that have greatly slowed down commerce by truck.

According to the El Paso Times, truckers are normally able to get their freight moved from Mexico to Texas in a couple of hours. But then Abbott imposed his enhanced inspections in order to let the public know he’s doing something even though the truth is exactly the opposite:

Truckers said they usually spend two or three hours crossing into El Paso from Juárez. After Gov. Greg Abbott announced new Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper inspections at ports of entry, truckers this week suddenly found themselves in 10-plus hour lines. 

Rather than admit he’d screwed up, Abbott tried to blame the Biden administration, though his logic was badly flawed:

Abbott blamed the Biden administration for “not securing our border” and rescinding Title 42, effective next month. The governor did not explain how DPS inspections, which include safety checks on brakes and lights, relate to immigration policies.

Abbott’s remarks were read back to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at Wednesday’s press briefing, and she quickly eviscerated the Texas governor, remarking:

 “Well, I think we are trying to state the facts of what his — another political stunt that we seeing happen and the impact of it. What we’re seeing is right now factually there is over $1 million in trade crossing over the US/Mexico border every minute. These actions are impacting people’s jobs and the livelihoods of hardworking people in Texas and across the country. That’s not a political statement. That is a statement of fact. I would note what we’re seeing with these unnecessary inspections of trucks, transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are significant delays which are resulting in a drop of commercial traffic of up to 60% to 70% in some ports.”

Psaki was far from finished, adding:

“And that is significantly impacting the local and regional supply chains to the point that trade associations, officials are businesses are calling for the Texas governor to reverse this self-inflicted gridlock. I would also note that CBP officers are very good at their jobs and Texas DPS does not need to replace them at the southern border. CPD has conducted a record number of drug seizures….so the economic impact here, something that people of all political stripes are calling for a reversal of is something that is significant and we felt that it should be shouted out.”

Jen Psaki is leaving the administration this spring to join MSNBC. Her clear, factual rebutting of Republican bullshit will be missed.

Here’s the video from CBS News:

Categories
Abortion GOP The Biden Administration

Jen Psaki Has The Perfect Response To Greg Abbott’s Absurd Pledge That He’ll ‘Eliminate All Rapists’

On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made an absurd statement regarding how he planned to “eliminate all rapists” in response to a question about what women in the Lone Star State are supposed to do if they’re raped and don’t want to carry the child to term now that the state has all but made all abortions illegal.

Abbott was asked:

“Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?”

Abbott replied:

“It doesn’t require that at all because obviously, it provides at least six weeks for a person to get an abortion. That said, however, let’s make something clear. Rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about what Abbott said at her press briefing Wednesday afternoon, and her reply has quickly gone viral:

“Well if Governor Abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the United States then there’d be bipartisan support for that. But given there has never in the history of of the country, in the world, been any leader who’s ever been able to eliminate rape, eliminate rapists from our streets, it’s even more imperative—it’s one of the many reasons I should say not the only reason—why women in Texas should have access to healthcare.”

She then added:

“So it does not change our objectives, does not change our commitment. The Department of Justice, the Attorney General, announced a step on Monday. Our Department of Justice is continuing to look at legal options. Our Department of Health and Human Services is also continuing to look at all options and the president has made clear that it’s a priority to do everything that we can to ensure that women in Texas have access to healthcare.”

And there it is: The perfect way to counter these right-wingers who want to keep women from controlling their own reproductive choices. This isn’t about abortion. It’s about the right to choose what happens to your body. It’s about health care and letting women make the most personal and difficult decision any person can ever have to make.

The government doesn’t belong in the bedroom or the doctor’s office. And it damn sure doesn’t belong in anyone’s uterus.

 

Categories
Abortion GOP Reproductive RIghts in America WTF?!

Abbott: Texas Women Who Are Raped Won’t Need Abortions Because I’ll ‘Eliminate All Rapists’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Tuesday that women in his state who are raped need not worry they won’t be able to get an abortion because he plans to “eliminate all rapists” in the Lone Star State.

At a signing ceremony for yet another piece of bad legislation (which makes it harder to vote in Texas), Abbott was asked:

“Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?”

The governor responded:

“It doesn’t require that at all because obviously, it provides at least six weeks for a person to get an abortion. That said, however, let’s make something clear. Rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them.”

No need to worry, ladies. Gov. Abbott is going to do what has never been done in the history of the world: Completely eliminate rape by arresting all the rapists and prosecuting them for the crime. Why didn’t anyone think of that sooner? This Abbott guy must be a freaking genius!

Actually, he’s as dumb as a damn stump.

What Abbott conveniently neglected to mention was that rape is already an underrated crime because women feel shame when it happens to them. And yet now Texas wants to all but guarantee that women and girls who are raped or victims of incest have no choice but to give birth. It’s beyond horrific; it’s inhumane and outright torture.

Even worse, for Abbott to pretend he actually gives a damn is also perverse. If he cared, it wouldn’t have signed the anti-abortion law in the first place. If he cared, he wouldn’t try to make it harder for people to vote.

But like nearly every Republican in today’s GOP, Greg Abbott only cares about himself and his own self-aggrandizement. Everyone else is secondary to his political ambitions. Too bad there isn’t a law to cover that crime.