Presenting - The Voucher Scam

We'd love your support:</p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Claire and Nichole are so excited to share the trailer for our brand new project titled - The Voucher Scam. </span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Voucher Scam i</span><strong style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">s an exposé on one of the most critical issues facing public education today - education vouchers.</strong></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As Texas leadership pushes an aggressive voucher agenda that would privatize and defund public schools, Claire and Nichole give listeners a behind-the-scenes look at what's really at stake.</span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The first episode of The Voucher Scam is available. Subscribe to the show where you listen to podcasts.</span></p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Also we are still actively creating this show. Want to help us finish it? Donate to our page:</span></p><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br /><br /></p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:05:54

Get Ready for a New Podcast

We'd love your support:</p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This week’s show is short and sweet. We are working hard on a brand new podcast called The Voucher Scam which will premiere next Thursday October 5th. In the meantime, we encourage y’all to sign up for our newsletter and donate to the new project.</span></p><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br /></p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:03:23

Ken Paxton Acquitted on All Charges

We'd love your support:</p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Texas Monthly Articles that grounded our conversation:</span></p><a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-supporters-gop-civil-war/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-supporters-gop-civil-war/</a></p><a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-acquitted-texas-senate-impeachment-trial/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-acquitted-texas-senate-impeachment-trial/</a></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Join us as we break down the acquittal of Attorney General Ken Paxton on all charges. It was quite a trial and had twists and turns up until the end. However, as we’ve done research it seems as if the acquittal was quite predictable. There is no doubt that this was a political trial and the Texas Senate stayed loyal to Paxton and the far-right wing of the Republican Party that is in the pocket of Tim Dunn, a west Texas billionaire. It was a great reminder that democracy is at stake and voting has never been more important. </span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Want to listen to more about Christian nationalism? Listen to our episode with </span><a href="mailto:menditackett@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">Mendi Tackett</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">:</span></p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">https://gobehindtheballot.com/what-is-christian-nationalism-and-how-is-it-undermining-democracy-with-mendi-tackett-culture-wars</span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Want to read more about Christian nationalism?</span></p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Read </span><em style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Jesus and John Wayne</em><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> by Kristin Kobes Du Mez</span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Speaking of democracy…help us do our part by supporting our podcast, </span><em style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Voucher Scam</em><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, which reveals how integral public education is to a healthy democracy. </span></p><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: </span><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br /><br /></p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:43:52

Paxton Impeachment Trial–Week Two Shenanigans!

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton has remained full of interesting developments! In fact, by the time you read this, neither of us would be surprised if there’s multiple new developments and this seems like old news. But for this episode, prepare yourself to hear about Paxton’s chief of staff, Missy Cary who knew more about Paxton’s mistress than she ever wanted to know. We’ll fill you in on Brandon Cammack who was the outside counsel hired by Paxton and spoiler alert–was never paid for his services. We will catch you up. We’ve learned that the trial could conclude as early as this week so we may be able to bring you final thoughts next week. However, it also wouldn’t shock us if it goes on for much longer. Who really knows!?! </span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Friends, we’re still fundraising for our podcast and it is really taking shape. Humbly, we ask for your help to get the word out across the state about the danger of education vouchers. If you feel moved to donate, awesome! If you feel moved to share our campaign, also awesome!</span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: </span><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br />We'd love your support:</p><a href="prod_NRnmIMb0RU5rp2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donate on Stripe</a></p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/GoBehindtheBallot" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Support us on Patreon</a></p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:33:04

Extra, Extra! Week One of the Paxton Impeachment Trial!

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton began on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. It began with Paxton’s defense lawyers making a motion to dismiss all charges. Just imagine if they’d succeeded–everyone could’ve called it a day! But alas, the 16 charges were all upheld and the trial began in earnest. Ken Paxton, through his attorneys, pleaded not guilty on all charges. If opening statements are a good indicator of how this whole trial will go, it will be quite the fiery event! So far, we’ve heard from Paxton’s top deputy who resigned after concerns with the attorney general’s behavior. We will keep watching and may very well continue to bring updates. In the meantime, the Texas Tribune has great coverage and we’ve linked an article below.</span></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Need a great rundown of the major players? Look here:</span></p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/01/ken-paxton-impeachment-witnesses-parties/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/01/ken-paxton-impeachment-witnesses-parties/</a></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">And also, got some pennies or energy to spare? We could use your help on our anti-voucher podcast.</span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: </span><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br />We'd love your support:</p><a href="prod_NRnmIMb0RU5rp2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donate on Stripe</a></p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/GoBehindtheBallot" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Support us on Patreon</a></p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:29:58

The Paxton Impeachment Delivers the Drama!

We'd love your support:</p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">A big component of a healthy democracy is accountability. Are our elected leaders abiding by their oath of office? Do we, as their constituency, trust them? Join us as we discuss the upcoming impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton set to begin on September 5, 2023. Y’all it’s a case that’s full of drama and cloak and dagger twists and turns! We will be watching and on the edges of our seats to see how it all turns out. In a nutshell, he’s charged with abuse of office. This all took center stage when he came before the House in February 2023 to ask for $3.3 million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought against him by former staff members who were whistleblowers. That request launched a secret investigation that led the Texas House to impeach him by a 121-23 vote. Now it’s the Texas Senate’s turn to hear all the evidence and decide on his guilt or innocence. It’s a nail-biter for sure! </span></p><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Texas Tribune articles:</span></p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/24/ken-paxton-attorney-general-investigations-lawsuits/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/24/ken-paxton-attorney-general-investigations-lawsuits/</a></p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/18/ken-paxton-impeachment-evidence/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/18/ken-paxton-impeachment-evidence/</a></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">While we’ve got your attention… we remain working hard on our investigative podcast to expose the education voucher scam. We’d love your help to continue–or share it with others if that’s what you can do right now. Thanks, everyone!</span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: </span><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br /></p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:25:04

A Way Forward: Youth and Democracy with Bently Paiz

<span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Bently Paiz, 18-year-old candidate for County Commissioner in Comal County, joins us to talk about his historic candidacy and to discuss youth and democracy. Bently confirms that many young people do feel apathetic about voting because they are disappointed in the candidates they have to choose from and their lackluster platforms. We learn about Bently’s work on Claudia Zapata’s campaign and how that inspired him to make serving others a core principle of his own campaign. Bently is truly inspiring for everyone to see that we are all capable of making a difference and that it all starts within each of us. We hope you will donate to Bently’s campaign or even volunteer! </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Email Bently at:</span></p><a href="mailto:bently4countycommissioner@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">bently4countycommissioner@gmail.com</a></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Find Bently on social media platforms as: @bently_4_comal_county</span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Also, consider supporting another audacious 18-year-old county commissioner candidate running in Guadalupe County, </span><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Nahomie Alanis. </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Email Nahomie at:</span><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"> </span><a href="mailto:nahomie4guadalupe@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">nahomie4guadalupe@gmail.com</a></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Find Nahomie on Instagram as:</span><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"> @nahomiealanis_</span></p><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">And, yes, we are still fundraising for our podcast about education vouchers and exposing them as the scam that they are. Please help us bring this important information to the public so we can build an informed coalition to fight back and reject them once and for all!</span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"> Donate here: </span><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br />We'd love your support:</p><a href="prod_NRnmIMb0RU5rp2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donate on Stripe</a></p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/GoBehindtheBallot" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Support us on Patreon</a></p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /></p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:39:04

How to Get What You Want in 30 Days! (Hint: Call a Special Session)

<span class="ql-cursor"></span><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">So you’ve heard of the regular Texas legislative session. You know it ended already. So what’s up with these special sessions? We’re here to answer. We’ll give you all the quick facts you need to know especially because we hear from reliable sources that Governor Abbott is very likely to call another special session in October for a singular issue: education vouchers. Speaking of education vouchers…did you hear that we’ve been deep into research? Did you know that we’ve discovered they’re a scam? Listen to this latest episode for all the facts about special sessions and know that we want to arm you with all the information you need to prepare for October! If you want to help us in this fight to defeat vouchers and fully fund public schools, please consider donating.</span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: </span><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</a></p><br />We'd love your support:</p><a href="prod_NRnmIMb0RU5rp2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donate on Stripe</a></p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/GoBehindtheBallot" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Support us on Patreon</a></p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:16:43

Can You Get An Abortion In Texas? Are We Even Allowed To Talk About This? Avow Gives Us the Latest

Caroline Duble and Nneka Iheanacho of <a href="https://avowtexas.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Avow</a>, an unapologetic abortion advocacy organization, speak to us about the state of abortion care. In Texas, abortion is completely banned with the exception of a life or death scenario with the pregnant person and there is no rape or incest exception. To be clear, providers are criminalized, and the charge could be a first-degree felony. Beyond these concerns, there are also the less obvious effects of increased surveillance and the general fear created by the current laws. </p> </p>A reminder: an abortion is a procedure you can have when you no longer want to be pregnant and there are two kinds: medication and procedural. </p> </p>Good bills: HB12 which extends Medicaid to one-year post pregnancy and HB300 which removed sales tax on menstrual care items and adult diapers. </p> </p>Nneka gives a great rundown of the empowered work happening on the local level to support vulnerable communities. </p> </p>Bad bills: Came in the form of budget items. For instance, an increase was given to crisis pregnancy centers that are fake clinics and this funding now stands at $140 million of our state budget. SB24 codifies alternatives to abortion, and it’s now called Texas Thriving Families. HB17 reduces the local control of district attorneys. HB1575 establishes a screening process for collecting data from pregnant people. Finally, all the anti-LGBTQ legislation was bad and more can be heard in an earlier episode from Ricardo Martinez of Equality Texas.</p> </p>If you’re wondering how to help, plug into local groups. It can be as simple as signing up for updates so you are aware of what’s happening.</p><p class="ql-align-justify"> </p><p class="ql-align-justify">Resource:</p><p class="ql-align-justify"><a href="https://needabortion.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://needabortion.org/</a></p><br /><br /></p>We'd love your support:</p><a href="prod_NRnmIMb0RU5rp2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donate on Stripe</a></p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/GoBehindtheBallot" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Support us on Patreon</a></p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:42:55

Join the Movement to Expose the Education Voucher Scam!

We'd love your support:</p><a href="https://fantastic-thinker-5851.ck.page/7581c6e7f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Join our newsletter</a></p>Leave us a rating and review</p>Share our podcast with a friend</p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">We’re on a mission to preserve democracy by exposing the education voucher scam! We see that there is a huge disconnect between what our governor and a few legislators are pushing versus what the public wants. </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Spoiler alert: we don’t want vouchers! They tried again and again to pass vouchers but failed in the regular legislative session. Yet, here we go again with an attempt in an upcoming special session–rumored to be held in October. This is our chance to make our voices heard and make sure vouchers are rejected again. But we know that this will require loud and united voices. </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Step 1: create this podcast to educate what vouchers are, who’s pushing them, and why they’re bad for democracy. </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Step 2: amplify that message by building a network of messengers who will spread this critical message. </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Step 3: get vouchers defeated! The way we do this is by building this grassroots movement now and so we are asking for your support. We’d deeply appreciate a financial contribution. Not possible right now? We'd also deeply appreciate you sharing this message and joining us in this important movement. Let’s reject vouchers and also send the message that the citizens of Texas are united and we want policy that is good for all Texans–not just a few at the top. </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Let’s be mighty together! </span></p><br /><span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saynotovouchers</span></p><br /><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

00:13:03