Politics & Policy

Trash Talk

Why the citizens of Alvin are down in the dumps over garbage.

Truckin’

On the road with Victor Morales, the schoolteacher turned U.S. Senate candidate who is out to prove he’s not running on empty.

The Tort Tax

No high diving boards at public pools. No cameras in operating rooms. All this and more, thanks to lawyers.

Fight Bakke

Will UT get affirmative action on affirmative action? Plus: A runoff rundown.

Taking Sides

YOU CAN GIVE ME A STANLEY MARSH 3 OVER A WHITTENBURG anytime [“Big Feud at Cadillac Ranch,” March 1996]. Reading and howling about this eccentric old coot’s escapades, I kept wondering, “How can I help this guy stave off those damn Whittenburgs?” I was waiting for a quote from George

Bombers Away

The B-1 bomber costs too much and does too little—so who wants to keep it alive? The people of Abilene, whose economy could take a direct hit if the Pentagon pulls the trigger.

Right On

Primary color: Dole on a roll, a report card for the Religious Right, and other fallout from Election Day.

Goat or Hero?

How clueless is Congressman Steve Stockman? Plus: Life, death, and race in East Texas.

Fed Up

We take aim at five Texas militias.

War, Inc.

Brown and Root goes to Bosnia for the Pentagon—and cleans up.

The Far Right Stuff

Wyatt Roberts says he’s simply crusading against sin, but critics contend that the Christian activist is trying to usher in a new era in Texas: the anti-gay nineties.

Current Affair

Why electricity is a supercharged political issue. Plus: Who cares about the Democrats running for U.S. Senate?

Race Value

Rating our primary concerns.

Major Barbara

Barbara Jordan saw herself not as a black politician but as a politician who happened to be black—and that was one of the things that made her great.

Poll Positions

The right’s phony gay-bashing campaign. Plus: Poor Phil Gramm.

Trailing the Field

Texas was supposed to be horse racing’s salvation, a Thoroughbred–loving state with money to burn. So why can’t the sport get out of the gate?

Also-runs

Wacky White House wannabes.

Cutthroat Island

Once upon a time, Galveston was an isolated island with few big-city problems. Recent flaps over civic corruption, press bias, and race suggest those days are over.

Congressman Clueless

Steve Stockman was supposed to have been a lethal weapon in the Republicans’ fight to unmake the Great Society. Instead the freshman legislator has been a loose cannon—an outsider in his own party.

Bugging Out

Farmers in the Rio Grande Valley are reeling from last year’s crop disaster—and they don’t cotton to agriculture commissioner Rick Perry’s excuses.

Tyrannosaurus Ex

Gauging Barney’s Universal appeal.

Sorry, Charlie

The last of the LBJ-style Democracts, the rowdy and reckless Charlie Wilson has called it quits. A fond farewell.

The Fund’s Over

Budget cuts are coming. Are teaching hositals DOA? Plus: Are white Democrats MIA?

Roads to Nowhere

The myth of the NAFTA superhighway.

Fighting Back

Inspired by th O.J.Simpson case, Texas has taken the lead in fighting domestic violence.

Mrs. & Mrs. Bridge

Tobi Sokolow and Mildred Breed, two of the world’s expert cardplayers, have little in common—except a killer instinct.

Smelling Like a Rose

Critics complain about Houston’s rising debt, but Mayor Bob Lanier’s reputation is blooming, which is why he’ll win a third term this month.

Hype or Hero?

He’s won the support o Mexican Americans in El Paso; now he wants to win a seat in Congress. Is Silvestre Reyes’ attack on illegal immigration heroism or hype?

The Force

Joe Jamail fights the power. Plus: Who will save the Texas Democratic party?

Bar Hopper

Tainted Mexican pols sign up a Corpus Christi lawyer.

Gramm’s Master Plan

Phil Gramm’s master plan for defeating Dole, whipping Wilson, and locking up the GOP nomination.

Up, Up, and Away

The death of a federal program in Amarillo shows that cutting the budget isn’t the answer to everything.

Texas Twenty: Carol Porter

A hunger for feeding children.

Texas Twenty: Tom Luce

Head of the class.

Texas Twenty: Gwen and Willie Richardson

Long before racial preferences were a political hot potato, these respected conservatives were bucking conventional wisdom—within their own community.

Texas Twenty: Dick Armey

The man of the House.

Texas Twenty: Ron Kirk

The people’s mayor.

Games of Chance

Bad Medicine

By vetoing the Patient Protection Act, Gearge W. Bush put cost before care.

Grounded

Parting Shots

Roe v. World

Twenty-five years after Norma McCorvey joined the flight to legalize abortion, the battle is still raging—and so is she.

1995: The Best and the Worst Legislators

From the respected to the rascally, our regular roundup of the session’s most renowned pols.

Fee, Fie

The Book on Waller

Four for Four

George W. Bush got elected governor by promising to focus on welfare, education, tort reform, and juvenile crime. After his first one hundred days, he’s batting a thousand.

Pine and Agony

Race Matters

Ron Kirk is ready to be Dallas’ first black mayor. But is Dallas ready for him?

Right, but Wrong

In his memoirs, archconservative state GOP chair Tom Pauken refights the cultural wars of the sixties—and loses.

To Pack and Pack Not

We asked twenty famous Texans: Will you carry a gun?