Facebook-square Youtube
DONATE
DONATE

Lone Star Project’s Abbott Tracking Report

Broken promises, pandering and weakness revealed
Today, Greg Abbott begins his re-election campaign in San Antonio – the same spot he announced his campaign for Texas Governor four years ago.  Back in 2013, Abbott opened the campaign saying he would “keep Texas the #1 economy in the nation.”  That’s a bold promise but it’s type of campaign bluster typically made by Abbott, never thinking he’ll be held accountable.
 
Well, Lone Star Project staff and volunteers were watching, listening and documenting Abbott’s appearance in San Antonio and have continued to track him since. So, don’t take Greg Abbott at his word.  Lone Star Project cameras, recorders and researchers mean that we can measure Abbott’s rhetoric against his record.  Take a look at the facts, and hold Greg Abbott accountable.  We think you’ll agree with us.  Three years in, Greg Abbott has taken shape as the weakest, least effective Texas Governor in decades.
 
Spoiler alert:  Remember Abbott’s very first promise about keeping the Texas economy #1 – he broke it.
 
Lone Star Project tracking 
“Tracking” is capturing video, audio and other direct verification of words and/or actions in real time.  The Lone Star Project’s 2014 election cycle volunteer tracking operation captured hundreds of hours of video from Abbott events from El Paso to Amarillo, Beaumont to Brownsville and most places in between.
 
As Abbott kicks off his re-election, Lone Star Project has compared some of Abbott’s speeches to his record and the results are revealing.  Greg Abbott makes and breaks promises.  He puffs himself up while pandering to the most destructive and divisive forces within the Republican Party.  Take a look:
 
Abbott’s Broken Promise on Texas Jobs and Economy
“with me as your governor, Texas will remain the number one state for creating jobs” — San Antonio, 10/31/2013
In nearly every speech during his 2014 campaign Abbott promised to keep Texas number one in job creation, and his “Working Texans” plan said he would keep Texas’ economy first in the nation.
 
Facts: Yesterday the San Antonio Express-News reported that Texas’ private sector job creation has slowed. CNBC also reported that Texas has fallen from the top two for the first time in the best state’s for business since the ranking started in 2007. And last year, Governing Magazine dropped Texas from 3rd to 21st in their state economic rankings.  
 
Abbott’s Border Lie
“I will ensure from the top of the ticket to the bottom of our ticket that our party is reaching to send a positive message”– McAllen, 5/15/2014
During his 2014 campaign, Abbott visited the Border shortly after a fresh round of Dan Patrick anti-Latino rhetoric.  To distance himself, Abbott told highly respected McAllen Monitor Editor Carlos Sanchez that he would take anti-Hispanic and derogatory comments personally and hold other Republicans accountable for their rhetoric.
 
Facts: Greg Abbott has reneged on his Border promise to Texas Hispanics many times over.  Here are just a few examples: When Donald Trump  questioned the ability of a Latino federal judge to carry out his duties because of his race, Abbott said nothing. When Donald Trump disrespected veterans, Abbott dummied up.  Abbott has personally promoted and defended intentionally discriminatory voting restrictions and redistricting plans.  Abbott turned his back on law enforcement officials and Hispanic families by promoting and then signing the “show your papers” harassment law.
 
Texas Foster Children Beaten, Abused, Exploited
“make no doubt, we will continue to hunt down and arrest the human traffickers who exploit children but until we end this scourge, we must do all we can to help the youngest victims.”– Dallas, 2/4/2014
At the rollout of his so-called “Securing Texans” policy plan, Abbott pledged to crack down on human traffickers and protect Texas children.
 
Facts: Last year, Greg Abbott took personal responsibility to reform and repair the Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) which is responsible for the care and safety of Texas foster children. Fast forward to detailed investigative news reports showing how things actually got worse instead of better at CPS after Abbott got involved. Under Abbott’s watch, thousands of Texas kids were beaten, abused and then exploited by human sex traffickers.  Instead of a protector, Greg Abbott has been an incompetent and uncaring bungler.  
 
Pre-K
“To help pre-k 4 classes become genuine pre-literacy and pre-numeracy programs, my education plan will create a gold standard for high quality pre-K education. My plan provides additional funding, $1,500 more per student, to any pre-K 4 program that adopts the gold standard” –Dallas, 9/26/2014
At the same time that Greg Abbott was dragging Texas neighborhood schools through court trying to get back millions in school funding cut by the Republican legislature, Abbott promised a “Gold Standard” Pre-Kindergarten program to give the youngest Texans a better start to a good education. 
 
Facts:  Abbott’s Pre-K standard quickly turned into fool’s gold. Abbott’s plan ran into major trouble when school districts refused to participate in the program because the grant amounts did not come close to the $1,500 per student promised by Abbott. Abbott’s plan has been a colossal failure, and the Republican legislature threatened to remove his pre-K plan from the state budget altogether.

A 180 on Local Control
“The state wants local government to do something; the state should help shoulder the responsibility to pay for it..”  Houston, 11/5/2013
During the 2014 campaign, Abbott preached the local control gospel, saying “I submit we need a constitutional amendment prohibiting the state from putting any more unfunded mandates on local governments…”
 
Facts:  Abbott was barely in the Governor’s Mansion before he ditched the local control shtick and went full Big Government Republican.  From local zoning to fracking restrictions to education mandates, Abbott has moved to big foot local voters and local elected officials. He has demanded that they follow orders from Austin that cost voters their money and their right to local control.

 

The Latest

View More

Statements

Dead Senator Walking

News, Video

Republicans Laundering Kash

Statements

A Man of God and a Goddamn Disgrace

Statements

It Took Texas Democrats to Protect the Independence and Integrity of the Texas House

We fight back with facts.
Join the fight!

Donate to the project

$5
$25
$50
$100
$500
Other Amount

If you've saved your information with ActBlue Express before, your donation will go through immediately.

DONATE

lonestar@lonestarproject.net | 972-885-9440
6 E St SE, Washington, D.C. 20003

Facebook-square Youtube

Copyright by Lone Star Project.
Powered by Apollo | All Rights Reserved.

Paid for by the Lone Star Project, www.lonestarproject.net, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Contributions or gifts to the Lone Star Project are not tax deductible. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. The Lone Star Project is a federal political committee that accepts contributions from individuals, partnerships, and other federal political committees of up to $5,000 per calendar year. All contributions of up to $5,000 per calendar year will be placed in the federal committee account and used in connection with federal elections. Contributions over $5,000 per calendar year can be made to the Lone Star Project’s non-federal committee, and will not be placed in the federal committee account.

Donate
Donate
Facebook Youtube