Jon Cassidy - Watchdog.org
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Jon Cassidy is the Houston-based reporter for Watchdog.org. He used to report for The Orange County Register and The Hill, and his work has been published by Fox News, Reason, The American Spectator, The Federalist, Human Events, and other publications. You can reach Jon at [email protected]

Investigators probe mystery votes in Cook’s primary win

By   /  July 21, 2016  /  News, Politics & Elections, Texas  /  No Comments

paperballot_opt

Just one day after a federal appellate court dismissed voter fraud as an “almost nonexistent problem,” Texas is facing a potentially major election fraud case.
In a March 1 primary election in Hill County, there were some 1,743 more votes cast then there were voters in the election, according to a June 21 letter from state Director of Elections Keith Ingram referring an investigation to the Attorney General’s office.

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Transparency at issue as Fair Park privatization nears

By   /  July 18, 2016  /  News, Texas, Transparency  /  No Comments

Used by permission

Tammy Johnston, one of nine people named last week as potential overseers of the new Fair Park Texas Foundation, is calling for the foundation to subject itself to the Texas Public Information Act.

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Ignoring the real scandal at the University of Texas

By   /  June 25, 2016  /  Accountability, Education, Federal Government, Judiciary, News, Open Records, Power Abuse, State Government, Texas  /  No Comments

The University of Texas' use of political favoritism in admissions is an aberrant practice, a new study finds.

The Supreme Court upheld affirmative action at the University of Texas in a 4-3 decision Thursday by openly ignoring the facts of the case. In his opinion for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy dismissed a bombshell report on admissions corruption at UT as mere “extrarecord materials” which “the Court properly declines to consider.” The excuse […]

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Houston ISD’s suspension of auditor raises red flags

By   /  June 13, 2016  /  News, Texas  /  No Comments

Uncommonschools.org photo

A complaint filed this week by the suspended chief audit executive of the Houston Independent School District raises red flags about the integrity of the school board, and in particular, Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones.

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After Puerto Rico’s collapse, is your city or state next?

By   /  June 6, 2016  /  Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, News, Pensions, State Budgets, State Government, Texas  /  No Comments

Puerto Rico

With short-term budget troubles and colossal long-term debt, Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, in particular, are much closer to the basket case economic condition of the Caribbean territory on the Mercatus fiscal health index than they are to states such as Texas, Missouri, Florida, or Nebraska, where budgets are balanced and public pension systems may yet be salvaged.

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McRaven’s rationale for UT cover-up denounced by regents, AG

By   /  June 1, 2016  /  Accountability, Education, Judiciary, News, Open Records, Power Abuse, Texas  /  No Comments

Creative Commons-Japan Wiki

There are more than 11,000 board members of accredited universities in the United States, plus another 6,500 trustees of community, technical, and junior colleges. Yet not once has any of those institutions attempted to draw the veil of secrecy between the school’s overseers and its hirelings.

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