While former Gov. Rick Perry may be cha-cha-ing on “Dancing with the Stars,” it’s the cha-ching of the 2016 presidential campaign Texans should remember, writes former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost.
Robert Inks
Robert Inks was the night news editor at the Tribune from 2015 to 2018. Before joining the Tribune, Robert copy edited for several newspapers in and outside Texas. He also was a writer and editor for online global affairs website Stratfor and a project manager for newspaper publisher GateHouse Media. Robert is an Austin native and a UT-Austin graduate.
New in TribTalk: Jodey Arrington on Border Security
Our nation needs the political courage necessary to ensure America’s borders are secured in a way that stops drug traffickers, illegal immigrants and terrorist infiltrators, writes Republican congressional candidate Jodey Arrington.
New in TribTalk: Texas Independence?
You can’t walk into any city or town in Texas and throw a rock without hitting someone who thinks that Texas should reclaim its independence from the unelected bureaucrats in Washington, writes Daniel Miller of the Texas Nationalist Movement
New in TribTalk: Watchman or Warfighter?
Surplus or obsolete military gear is being transferred to law enforcement agencies nationwide — and some of Texas’ acquisitions raise eyebrows, writes the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Michael Haugen.
New in TribTalk: A Newcomer’s View of the Legislature
Presumptive incoming Texas House member Lina Ortega writes that she’s learned some saddening but unsurprising things about the gender and ethnic makeup of one of the most powerful bodies of state government in the country.
New in TribTalk: Reversing the Texas Opioid Epidemic
The opioid public health epidemic will not be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach. Physicians, legislators, and other state leaders must all work together, writes Dr. Patrice Harris, chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees.
New in TribTalk: Why This Hispanic Republican is Voting Trump
If he stays tough on immigration and doesn’t take the path of least resistance, Donald Trump deserves the vote of every constitutional conservative from sea to shining sea, writes conservative, Hispanic Republican Weston Martinez.
New in TribTalk: Experimental Drugs and “Right to Try”
When it comes to experimental drug access, circumventing Food and Drug Administration protections can leave terminally ill patients vulnerable to unknown — and possibly deadly — side effects, write Michelle Rubin and Kirstin R.W. Matthews of Rice University’s Baker Institute.
New in TribTalk: Better Testing for Better Schools
Education reformers are pursuing two different approaches for escaping the pitfall of turning schools into joyless test-preparation factories, writes Charles Moody.
New in TribTalk: “Conscientious” Vaccine Exemptions
There is nothing conscientious about rejecting vaccines for non-medical reasons, writes Anna C. Dragsbaek, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership.


