Texas

American zombies, Paradise Papers and sources of rebellion + this day in history w/Reagan reelected and our song of the day by The Pack A.D. on your Morning Monarchy for November 6, 2017.

A couple days ago, we noted that one of Ryan's top lieutenants in Texas, House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling is abandoning the sinking ship. Hensarling announced he's had enough.

It may have been lost yesterday as a line in a long, long post on how crooked the political establishment is. At one point I listed the Hillary donors funding a crap candidate for Pete Sessions' seat in Dallas, Ed Meier.

Yesterday, Jeb Hensarling announced he is retiring after the current term. It matters because he's been a major player in Wall Street congressional politics.

When Melinda Sandlin walked out of Discount Furniture in Austin in late 2014, she was sure the store had put her on a payment plan to buy a new bedroom suite worth $2,750.
A year later, after realizing she had sent in more than $3,000 for her seven-piece set, she figured she was done. So Sandlin told the store clerk she wasn’t going to be making any more monthly payments.
“I already bought it out,” she recalls telling them. “And they’re like, ‘Oh no, read your contract. It’s a rental contract. It’s not a purchase contract.’ ”

Over the last few decades, once populist Texas has turned into a very red state. But not hopelessly red. Last year , without even trying, Hillary made unexpected inroads in districts that were gerrymandered to prevent unexpected inroads. Trump won the state-- 4,685,047 (52.23%) to 3,877,868 (43.24%). Those 3.87 million Texans who voted for Hillary were more than her margin of victory in the national popular vote.

In this second installment of special coverage Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, Abby Martin explores how the petrochemical industry dominates the city and why its low-income, Black and Latino areas are in the highest-risk areas for flooding and pollution, earning them the name “sacrifice zones.”

Over the years, Democrats let Texas slip away. When Democrats were firmly committed to representing the legitimate aspirations and interests of working families, Texas was part of their coalition.

RT | October 20, 2017 Residents in a Houston suburb will not receive funds donated for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts if they support boycotting Israel, according to a funding application form issued in the wake of the devastating storm. The city of Dickinson, Texas, told individuals and businesses on Monday that they are now accepting […]

DICKINSON, TX — The town of Dickinson, Texas is home to just over 20,000 people, an annual crawfish festival, and one of the most absurd requirements for disaster relief imaginable.
The town recently made non-support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign a condition for receiving hurricane aid. How can a small town like Dickinson put forth such a gratuitous disaster relief requirement? In this case, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree — Dickinson is simply following in the footsteps of the entire state of Texas.