Vote-by-mail is also called vote-at-home or absentee voting. It’s increasing throughout the United States because it’s a great way to improve voter turnout, reduce election costs, and maintain security.
With the primary runoff complete, we now have our full slate of Democratic candidates for the November mid-term election. It’s a strong slate, filled with candidates with rich and varied backgrounds and a passion to work to improve the lives of all Texans.
Partisan and racial gerrymandering are major contributors to the current polarization in our nation. This polarization has led to a dysfunctional government dominated by extreme views. Moderate conservative and moderate progressive voters are often left out of the discussion, letting extreme views dominate.
Our judicial system appears to be the only entity protecting us from a totalitarian regime bent on taking complete control of our nation. The huge number of losses in court by this administration is thanks to organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and closer to home, the Texas Freedom Network.
Our political leaders have spent years trying to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter and that the election system is corrupt; they’ve enacted unnecessary steps to make it harder to vote. All so you’ll give up and not cast your ballot. There’s plenty you can do to fight these efforts.
CEOs are now being paid 280 times that of a typical worker. This happens because the system is rigged for the wealthy. The richest 1% of our population own 34% of the nation’s wealth--more than 10 times that of the bottom 50%. The top 100 richest families gave $2.6 billion to federal elections in 2024. There are numerous things we can do to address the issues, such as enact laws that make all political contributions public with full disclosure of the donors and antitrust laws.
This article introduces Suanne Pyle, the new Democratic Chair for Kendall County. She has been a Democrat her entire life, but her career in politics started with the Wendy Davis campaign for Governor in 2014. She previously served as Treasurer for the Kendall County Democratic Party (KCDP) the last 3 ½ years, along with several other responsibilities.
The whooping crane and bald eagle are two examples of birds that have survived due to extensive conservation efforts, but the Trump administration is doing nothing to support conservation efforts, instead FWS withdrew the final Land Protection Plan for the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in the panhandle, the oldest national wildlife refuge in Texas and the FWS lost nearly 20% of its staff. These attacks mean extinction for wildlife and habitats.
Trump is well known for labeling people he dislikes, frequently using derogatory nicknames and insults. This is a consistent pattern throughout his political career. And most recently, the president of the United States threatened Democratic lawmakers, calling for their arrest, and accusing them of engaging in “seditious behavior, punishable by death”. Charlie Kirk, in his own words, has made horrifying, un-American statements that should not be lauded. Surely this is not the heart of America.
There were 154 episodes of the award-winning series called The West Wing. The Jed Bartlet character was a Nobel Prize-winning economist who at times could be a bit full of himself. Bartlet also listened to all sides of an argument when making decisions and often admitted he was not infallible. He loved his wife and daughters, giving them great respect. I look forward to the day we get back to the norms and values that make our system work. Moderates must stand up to extremists no matter their party. Let’s all work to end the hostility that threatens our democracy.