So says Heather Cox Richardson in Letters from an American  yesterday. After a 54-day break, Mike Johnson had little choice but to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva at 4 PM, and she immediately signed the discharge petition to the FBI for release of the Epstein files. Earlier in the day, the Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released three emails from a cache of more than 23,000 documents received from the Epstein estate. These w

Says Robert Reich today. This video is a must watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imtkNL4v2ks

Texas voters who are disenchanted with the state of the state need candidates they can get excited about, argues Michelle Davis in yesterday's piece . Otherwise we risk a repeat of the 2024 election when 1.4 million Texas Democrats stayed home. Davis points out that we’ve tried “centrist, unity ,maybe-the-Republicans-will like me” candidates for years, and it hasn’t worked. She slams gubernatorial candidates Andrew White and Nick Pappas and senatorial candidate Colin Allred f

One of California’s most powerful unions is set to unveil a 2026 state ballot measure to establish the nation’s first wealth tax. Supported by SEIU’s United Healthcare Workers West, the measure would levy a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of roughly 200 California billionaires to make up for the $100 million hit on California’s Medicaid program mandated by last summer’s passage of the One Big Beautiful bill. What a wonderful idea! Why can’t we do that in Texas? Because Texas is

Drastic cuts to food stamps and health care were always central to Project 2025. They were written into the BBB that was passed last summer. But they weren’t supposed to surface until AFTER the 2026 midterms. The shutdown has caused the cuts to surface well ahead of schedule at great inconvenience to the GOP. Americans are starting to feel the pain and demanding action. Mike Johnson is loath to call Congress back into session after what is now a 6-week recess. He doesn’t want

Texas 2036, a nonpartisan public policy think tank, has published results of its Sept 25-Oct 1 poll of 1001 registered voters - and one of their findings shocked me. It was in the answer to the question, “How would you rate the Texas state government’s performance this year in solving problems and serving the needs of its residents…” In a year that saw an additional 2 special sessions (at a cost to taxpayers of $1 million a pop), continuous contentious debate, a walkout by D

In today’s piece Michelle Davis points out that when the right chooses cruelty, the left organizes care. Overnight 3.4 million Texans will lose food assistance, half of them being children. Nationally 86% of all SNAP benefits go to household that include a child, elderly person, or person with disabilities. In the Big Bad Bill, Republicans require recipients to work to continue receiving benefits. Of course, Texas House Democrats (who are still in touch with reality) stepped

Yesterday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presented Trump with a replica of an enormous ancient crown, following in the footsteps of Japan and Malaysia who also pulled out all the stops to impress Trump. The orange one was clearly pleased! Read more in the Washington Post Oct 29, 2025 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/29/trump-apec-south-korea/?utm_campaign=wp_the7&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-l

He’s now spoken directly to U.S. troops three times since January, the most recent being yesterday aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington inJapan. To members of the military lined up at his command, he clearly revealed his purpose - to justify the use of lethal force against ANYONE SUSPECTED of acting illegally, domestic or foreign. He and his lapdogs aim to convince the troops and their leaders to play ball with complete disregard for the Constitution. The good ne

It’s pure blackmail. Dem Reps in Congress are fighting to reinstate the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a condition for ending the shutdown. The program has been with us in one form of the other since the dark days of 1933 to provide relief for impoverished families. Friday the Trump administration said it would not use any of the $6 billion in the USDA reserve fund to extend the program when the money runs out in November. That means 42 million Americans could s

Thank you, Robert Reich, for reminding us today that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-were-winning

Reported today in the Houston Chronicle: “In June, state leaders did not defend the Texas DREAM Act from a federal complaint, effectively ending the 24-year-old law in a matter of hours. The landmark policy had allowed tens of thousands of Texas students without legal status to qualify for in-state tuition at public universities, including the University of Texas, the University of Houston and Texas A&M. “Now, the loss of in-state tuition — combined with Texas’ refusal to iss

At crucial points in our history, Americans have stood up en mass to defy anti-Democratic forces working to destroy the country. Joe McCarthy and his witch hunt evaporated after being publicly called out in 1954 by chief counsel for the U.S. Army Joseph Welch. Civil rights were passed after millions o Americans saw the unconscionable brutality of the early 1960’s on TV. Richard Nixon was brought down after the Watergate tapes leaked. Here are the signs that it’s happening aga

And it’s bound to backfire. Read on… Civil Resistance Confronts the Autocracy by Paul Krugman Oct 20 While MAGA’s spin was both insane and revealing, the No Kings Day 2 Marches were a major step towards taking our country back. Last Saturday’s No Kings Day 2 was awesome to behold. The very best of America shone through. From coast to coast, in big cities and small, in red states as well as blue states, Americans peacefully marched to uphold our humanity as a country and to sh

Trump is using the 200 year-old Insurrection Act to deploy troops against peaceful protestors across the country! Share your outrage at this shameless tactic by leaving a message for Congressman McCaul (R) at (202) 225-2401 and (512) 770-8929. Whether or not you join a protest, do as Robert Reich urges below. Every call counts! https://robertreich.substack.com/p/tomorrow-and-forever-no-kings-in

Today, Lone Star Left endorsed Rep Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor. Follow the link for all the wonderful reasons why. More great news, Rep James Talarico announced his bid for the U.S. Senate seat. These are two battle-tested Dems who have fought in the trenches against a far right Texas House. Something to cheer about! https://substack.com/home/post/p-176257014 Today , Lone Star Left endorsed Rep Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor. Follow the link for all the wonderful reaso

Substack writer Michelle H. Davis (LoneStarLeft) points out today how Texas got into this redistricting mess in the first place. Here’s...

Blue states typically have fewer obviously gerrymandered districts than red states, because Democrats basically believe in fair play and...

Take a minute to read Robert Reich’s piece today to find reasons for hope. He further admonishes us, “…there are sources of hope all...

We’re all aware of Trump’s more blatant attacks on the rule of law - the use of federal agencies to round up immigrants, the rigging of...