Friends have told me the predominate rumor around the Capitol this summer has been that Empower Texans is going away. Of course, that rumor – often spoken as a hopeful prayer by establishment politicians – has existed almost since we began!
Let me first thank you for your generous support for the work of Empower Texans. Thanks to thousands of donors and supporters around the Lone Star State, we have together advanced the cause of self-governance, promoted liberty, and helped citizens hold politicians accountable.
We have operated from the position that we must not seek a seat at the backroom tables of power where politicians and lobbyists negotiate away Texans’ liberties. Instead, we are about the work of overturning that table!
As a media operation, Empower Texans has constantly innovated new ways to communicate with citizens what lawmakers are doing – often in contradiction to what those politicians had promised on the campaign trail. Someone is always keeping score; we think it ought to be the citizens.
As a result, politicians can no longer lie with impunity about their records. The politicians’ enablers in the corrupt Austin lobby are finding it harder to hide in the shadows; the establishment media has been exposed as their mouthpieces.
This summer, at the urging of our Board of Directors, I stepped away from the daily activities of our work so I could focus on “what’s next” – how to grow the successful brands we have built and activities we have engaged in, while shining an even brighter light on every level of government in the Lone Star State.
Today I’m focusing specifically on our Texas Scorecard news magazine and media brand.
When Empower Texans launched Texas Scorecard on January 1, 2015, we had no idea it would prove so popular with citizens in the grassroots movement. Covering state and local government with an emphasis on “what the citizens can do about it,” though, has been met with hatred and scorn from office-holding conservatives of convenience. Why? They really don’t want an informed and empowered citizenry; it terrifies them.
So I am excited to announce that Texas Scorecard is being launched into its own separate non-profit organization. Everything you already like in the current Texas Scorecard content offerings will be there… and then some… all at TexasScorecard.com. (Yes, we will also continue offering the print edition to our donors!)
In the coming months Texas Scorecard will be expanding our local coverage partnerships, while sharpening the focus on helping citizens cut through the legislative session clutter so they can meaningfully impact public policy.
We’re also going to be expanding our podcast and video projects. For example, we’ll be announcing a couple new podcast offerings in early September which we think you will really enjoy.
Texas Scorecard’s brand promise, guiding all we do, will be…
- Never personal.
- Always trustworthy, with the facts in context.
- Relentlessly pro-citizen, unabashedly pro-liberty.
- Pursuing our heritage of self-governance.
- Inspiring, without venting.
Thank you for letting us partner with you these last 14 years. We are honored to be by your side in the fight going forward for a better, stronger Texas!
