Not World War III (Yet): Things have changed quickly in the last few days, but as of Wednesday as the Chronicle went to press, the cease-fire deal between Israel and Iran was holding. Both nations had declared victory, while a U.S. intelligence report said America’s bombing in Iran didn’t dismantle Iran’s nuclear progress, but set it back a few months.
NATO Members Pony Up: And with global military threats top of mind, on Wednesday NATO allies agreed to dramatically increase their defense spending, in a demonstration aimed at keeping Donald Trump on board with the whole post-World War II tradition of collective defense. The new defense spending target for member countries is 5%, up from the 2% target that not all members had been reaching to begin with.
Incoherence Is Not the Same As Genius: Trump campaigned on an isolationist message and complained about forever wars, but then went imperial with threats to straight-up annex part of NATO ally Denmark, then decided to bomb Iran. If there were ever rails, the train ain’t on ’em. But what’s fun about that whole thing is watching JD Vance try to make sense of the absurdity with a fun little list. “What I call the Trump Doctrine is quite simple: Number one, you articulate a clear American interest,” he said in Ohio. “Number two, you try to aggressively diplomatically solve that problem. And number three, when you can’t solve it diplomatically, you use overwhelming military power to solve it and then you get the hell out of there before it ever becomes a protracted conflict.”
A New Direction for Democrats: While the nation is still on edge over America’s will-we-won’t-we war story arc, we also have (for once, it seems) some evidence of a lively progressive movement in the United States. That is the sudden emergence and success of Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist candidate for mayor in New York City whose star rose seemingly overnight. He beat out Andrew Cuomo, and it seems like a huge symbolic shift for Democrats nationwide. He became popular with a far-left campaign that involved talking with Trump supporters about their money problems and presenting them with socialist solutions. He has some very attractive promises for New Yorkers – frozen rent, free buses, and free child care. Dems, listen up. People don’t want to be poor. Focus.
Meanwhile, Abbott Back in the Blunt Rotation: Three weeks ago in this space, we opined that the chances that Gov. Greg Abbott would veto Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s THC ban, SB 3, were “zero percent.” God, it’s good to be wrong! Abbott vetoed the bill Sunday night, saying it had constitutional flaws that would render it “dead on arrival in court.” He then sought the high ground on the issue, calling a special session for July 21 so that lawmakers may immediately create an extensive and costly plan to regulate the hemp industry. Abbott said he wants to outlaw THC products for minors, require product testing, give local governments the power to prohibit THC stores, and provide money to law enforcement to enforce the rules.
You, However, Are Still Out of the Rotation: Abbott’s veto happened late Sunday night, but it took just minutes for Dan Patrick to notice and begin a public meltdown. First the lieutenant governor responded on X that he was sad for the families whose loved ones’ lives had been “destroyed by these very dangerous drugs.” He followed that up with a delightfully petulant press conference the next day, where he said his working relationship with Abbott had never been better, but asked, “Where has he been all session?” Patrick got angrier as the press conference went along, claiming that hemp businesses are owned by drug cartels and that Abbott wants to legalize marijuana.
Gitcha Gitcha Gummies Here: Without Abbott’s veto, SB 3 would have destroyed Texas’ $8 billion hemp industry and put 50,000 people out of work, starting Sept. 1. KUT reports that the owner of local hemp business Happy Cactus had planned to move out of state before the veto. Other businesses were filling huge orders and seeing lines out the door, even though they would have had two more months to operate. Now, the business owners are waiting to see what the special session will bring. Many of them support the regulation of THC products.
Veto Town: SB 3 was just one of a couple dozen bills Abbott vetoed Sunday night. Abbott also vetoed Senate Bill 974, which would have allowed public school teachers to serve on residential tax appraisal review boards, after conservatives began fearmongering that teachers would try to boost property tax values because higher valuations would bring more money to school districts. Six of the vetoed bills will be reconsidered during the upcoming session, including bills focused on water infrastructure, the prosecution of trafficking victims, and semiconductor manufacturing.
Let Them Eat Not Even Cake: The governor also vetoed a $60 million measure in the state budget that would have unlocked $400 million in federal food assistance for poor families. The measure would have allowed Texas to enter the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, which would have provided $120 per child to pay for lunches during the 2027 summer months. According to the Tribune, nearly 4 million Texas children would have qualified for the food assistance that Texas lawmakers had, just to remind you, already voted to approve. And federal funding cuts have already affected food access for poor Texans.
More Movie Making: Abbott agreed to direct $1.5 billion to the motion picture industry over the next decade. Senate Bill 22 was a priority of Dan Patrick’s, made possible by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s hobnobbing with the lieutenant governor and other Republicans at the Capitol this session to win approval of the funds. The goal is partly to support the local industry and partly to ensure stories set in Texas are also filmed here.
Making Immigrants Pay More: Meanwhile, our Republican leaders are telling the state’s public universities to identify which of their students are undocumented, so the universities can start charging them out-of-state tuition rates. Texas had allowed student immigrants in the country to attend college at the much-reduced in-state tuition rates since the bipartisan passage of the Texas Dream Act in 2001. But then Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over the act in June and Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the court to agree with the feds that the law was unconstitutional. This will make a college degree from a Texas university unobtainable for many of the 57,000 undocumented residents currently attending college and for thousands more to come.
Community Colleges for the Win: But some institutions are challenging the repeal of in-state tuition for undocumented students. Austin Community College District trustees voted unanimously this week to join a new lawsuit over the repeal of the Texas Dream Act, the Statesman reported. ACC trustees said the quick repeal of the law bypassed a process “meant to ensure fairness and transparency.”
That’s Not How You Treat People: A federal judge in San Antonio ruled last week that the state of Texas has, for decades, unnecessarily institutionalized as many as 4,500 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes, denying them services they are entitled to by law. In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia said state authorities caused irreparable harm to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by withholding the assessment of needs, provision of services, and treatment in their individual cases. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed 15 years ago by the Center for Public Representation and Disability Rights Texas.
Leaky Lifeboat: Also, Austin has leaky pipes. Yes, it’s true, and the pipes are more leaky than anyone had ever guessed. The city water utility reports that Austin has lost 7 billion gallons of water per annum from its water treatment and distribution system in recent years – enough water to fill Lady Bird Lake three times. But actually, according to the water utility, the city lost even more water last year – 9.3 billion gallons, enough to fill the lake four times. However, as KUT surmises from the water report, 2024 may have simply been a bad year for leaks.
Quote of the Week
“They don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
– Pot Donald Trump refers to kettles Israel and Iran
This article appears in June 27 • 2025.