The race for Senate is now Talarico vs. Musk. Fuck the South African billionaire. He isn't a Texan and doesn't give a fuck about us. A vote for Paxton is a vote for Musk which means data centers across the rural landscape. Y'all want that?

A Travis County judge ruled Monday that Gov. Greg Abbott must allow state Rep. Gina Hinojosa to review more than 1,000 pages of unredacted communications between the governor and Elon Musk — records Abbott previously tried to withhold, describing them as too “intimate and embarrassing.”

“I have a legislative record, Ken Paxton has a criminal record. This election is about whether or not you want a Senator who puts money in your pocket or who puts money in their own. Elon Musk is trying to buy this Senate seat in Texas. On November 3rd, we will deliver a crystal-clear message to the world’s first trillionaire. We will let Elon Musk know that Texas is not for sale” - James Talarico

REJECT SATAN. VOTE BLUE TODAY!

Honest question, because I feel like everyone says “corruption” and nobody explains it.

I used to picture it as someone taking a bribe in a parking garage. But the more I read, the more it seems like most of it is just... legal? A billionaire funds a politician, the politician writes a tax break or hands out a contract, and the rest of us pay for it. Nobody gets arrested. Our bills just keep going up.

Texas has plenty of examples. Two oil billionaires, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, are the biggest Republican donors in the state. Elon Musk put $158 million into a super PAC in September, and that money ended up funding ads for Ken Paxton. That’s one guy trying to pick our senator. And Paxton himself got impeached on corruption allegations by a Texas House his own party runs, so it’s not like this is a partisan smear.

Talarico said something at the CNN town hall that stuck with me: we have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but it kind of explains everything. If the people making the rules answer to donors, why would the rules ever be about our rent?

So what do we actually do? From what I can find, his plan is to ban super PACs, stop members of Congress from trading stocks, end gerrymandering, put term limits on Congress and the Supreme Court, and make every member of Congress hold town halls. He says it should apply to both parties. The super PAC part is the hard one since it probably needs a constitutional amendment, but the rest could actually pass.

The small stuff helps too. Every political ad ends with “paid for by.” Look that name up sometime. The donors are public on fec.gov. And early voting ends Friday, Oct. 30. They can buy every ad slot in Texas, but they can’t buy our votes.

Anyway. What would “taking on corruption” have to mean for you to feel it in your own life?

Pick something in Texas that gets too much credit or not enough. A food chain, a town, a highway, a tradition, anything. Then tell us why you're right. Disagreeing is the whole point here, being a jerk isn't.