The Baines Report
On Sept. 15, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the Latino Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin invited Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, former senior advisor to Bernie Sanders and architect of the campaign’s success with Latinos, to speak on his perspective and experience coordinating outreach to Latino voters. Rocha’s […]
As 2020 marks the first election cycle in which Latinos are the largest minority electorate, politicians and political pundits grapple with how and to what extent this voting block will impact the ballot box in November. On Sept. 15, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the Latino Studies Department at the University […]
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, voting rights activist and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams joined Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune to discuss voter suppression and the upcoming election. The event, held on National Voter Registration Day, was part of this year’s all-virtual Texas Tribune Festival. “We have seen a renewed commitment to limiting access for […]
Out of the 535 members of Congress, only 11 receive a majority of their campaign funds from small donors. Seattle’s 2017 Democracy Vouchers program reversed this trend, resulting in an election where 87 percent of all contributions were from small donors. Moving forward, democracy vouchers provide a promising template for future electoral reforms that look […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is often referred to as the “good guys” of the immigration bureaucracy. They are the benefits giving arm of the web of departments and agencies that govern US immigration policy. USCIS oversees reviewing and issuing immigrant visas, green cards and citizenship. In May, the agency announced they were […]
“Never again” came sooner than expected. Kidnapped by their oppressive government, religious minorities are carted from their homes and held inside political prisons, where they are indoctrinated, tortured, raped, and experimented on. This is not Nazi Germany. This is Communist China, where up to 2 million Muslims currently reside inside concentration camps, the largest mass […]
On July 14, Mayor Steve Adler joined a virtual interview with Politico on the state of affairs in Austin, given the recent surge in Texas COVID-19 cases. Adler expressed his concern for the state and Austin in particular, singling out the difficulties that the city’s healthcare system is facing and the issues The University of Texas […]
Following last week’s public outcry at the Austin City Council’s virtual hearing, councilmembers unanimously backed new police reform and divestment resolutions. On June 11, council took comments on five agenda items responding to police brutality against Black Austinites and Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Despite four councilmembers voicing lost confidence in Police Chief Brian Manley, these […]
Over the past weeks, the nation experienced an outpouring of indignation, anguish and unity in response to the murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd after video of a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck ignited a long-culminating powder keg of anger towards police forces. This powder keg of anger grew significantly during recent months following the murders […]
“If you take care of the land, the land takes care of you,” said Wenceslaus “June” Provost Jr., a fourth-generation sugarcane farmer from Louisiana. “For me, farming is everything. It’s my life. It was never a job.” Provost spoke to a packed room on Feb. 19 with his wife, Angie, as part of the LBJ […]