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Monday, July 25th, 2022

How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift

Author:     Casey Tolan, Matthew Reynard, Will Simon and Ed Lavandera,
Source:     CNN
Publication Date:     9:50 PM ET | Sun July 24, 2022
 Link: How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift
Stephan:   By any social wellbeing measure you like, material mortality, healthcare, education, and on and on, Texas under Abbott is now a failed state ruled by an oligarchy. Very profitable for corporations and oligarchs. Similar in a way to Russia under Putin. This is what America will look like if Republicans take control as a result of the November election. How it goes is up to you me, and everyone we know.
Bob Deuell speaks to CNN’s Ed Lavandera in Greenville, Texas on February 23, 2022. Credit: CNN

Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion.

This is Texas now: While the Lone Star State has long been a bastion of Republican politics, new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades.

Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas’ most far-right political candidates — helping reshape the state’s Republican Party in their worldview.

Over the last decade, Dunn and his wife, Terri, have contributed more than $18 million to state candidates and political action committees, while Wilks and his wife, Jo Ann, have given more than $11 million, putting them among the top donors in the […]

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1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Monday, July 25, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    We need to ramp up our Democratic program for involving people in what it will mean if Republicans win more powerful positions. That would not be good for our Democracy. We need to motivate people to vote Democratic in order to save our Democracy.