Jump to content
  • Texas -- a failed state


    Brisketexan

    I think that it’s now safe to say that we Texans now live in a failed state.  30 years of GOP rule, setting our own standard, living the “Texas Dream,” which they’ve bragged about relentlessly…and let’s see where we are:

    A majority of the state in complete failure, unable to deliver the most BASIC of services (things that are called “utilities,” not “luxuries,” for a reason).  No power.  No water.  No means of clearing roads (that one, I can’t fault the state so much….but it wouldn’t be as big a crisis if people weren’t stuck in their homes with no power and water).  So citizens are stuck in their homes, some of them dying there. 

    Water resource planning?  After pretending for decades that a drought would never happen again, and not doing ANYTHING to develop resources in the state water plan (a document actually developed using science and mathematical projections), we had several locations, including actual cities, down to a few days of water supply.  We’ve finally gotten on our horse a bit, but it may be too late if the next drought comes anytime soon.  

    State rank in key categories:

    Education – 34

    Health Care - 37

    Infrastructure - 33

    Opportunity - 39

    Environment - 44

    Infrastructure - 33 

    In overall quality of life ranking by US News, we are now #38, down from #36 just two years ago.  At that rate, we’ll be in the bottom 3 within ten years.

    We are SUPER independent, and FUCK the feds….but we have requested federal disaster assistance more than any other state in the past decade or so.

    But hey, our economy is ranked #15!

    That’s right, we have a “roaring economy” and the “Texas Miracle!”  But we can’t deliver the basics for our citizens.  The economy is VERY efficient at funneling bazillions to the very few…..with little of it “trickling down” to most Texans.  Yeah, the people on this board generally do fine, but face the facts – we’re the top 10% or so.  We are educated, older, and fortunate.

    Our federal system allows for state-by-state experiments.  Texas is the poster child for near anarcho-capitalism and zero regulation or oversight.  We have tested that approach, for over a generation now (30 years of Republican rule).  That approach is a failure.  The evidence is undeniable, and overwhelming.  It doesn’t matter how many River Oaks millionaires you produce if the rest of your people are dying in their homes.  Shit, some of those River Oaks millionaires might be freezing to death today, too.

    The kids of a middle class family can hardly afford to go to a good state school.  Their prospects for employment are mediocre.  Their prospects of suffering crippling medical debt at some point are significant.  Their chances of not having basic utilities needed for life safety at some point – all but certain.  Their chances of becoming ill or dying from a pollution-caused illness are material.

    What’s the result?  Our leaders have sold Texas as a paradise – move here!  Bring your business here!  And some businesses have done so, adding opportunity…..but providing little to no tax support for the infrastructure we all depend on.  To the contrary, over the past few years, I know more and more people – educated people, people who can do their jobs elsewhere, who are looking to bail on this state.  It’s people with young kids, who want them to grow up in a better place.  It’s people in their working years, who simply want a better path.  It’s retirees, who want a safe and secure place to live.

    We have consumed our seed stock.  We have burned through our reserves.  We are now consuming ourselves.  The ability to pitch Texas as the land of opportunity is done.  Seeing what we have become, the tentative thought/plan my wife and I had of wrapping up our careers here and then getting the hell out of Dodge is becoming much more concrete.  My children are already unlikely to make their future in this state.  Now we are, too.

    But the response from the Republican leadership and their sycophants – “how are you gonna pay for it?  Taxes?  That’s socialism!  You want that stuff, you have to pay for it!”

    Fuck yes I do, and I’m okay with that.  I want groceries…so I have to pay HEB.  I want a car…so I have to pay Ford.  I want clothes…..so I have to pay Dillards.  I want my population educated….so I have to pay the school district.  I want electricity, with enough capacity to keep us running when we need it…..so I have to pay my bill, maybe with a capacity surcharge.  I want water to come out of the taps….so I have to pay for development of resources and maintenance of infrastructure.  I want roads….so I pay taxes to build and maintain them.  YES, I have to pay for all of those things, and “nothing is free” – no fucking shit.  So, let’s pay for it.  We have the #15 economy….we HAVE the funds in this state.  An economy with the flow of funds that ours has can produce and maintain all of those results.  But we have chosen a different path; funnel all the dollars to the top, and spend next to nothing for the public good.  We have privatized profit….we have socialized the costs.  And we are dying because of it.

    My fellow Texans are dying in their homes….and there’s nothing I can do about it today.  And I am enraged.

    I love Texas.  I am 6th generation here.  My ancestors have Texas historical markers on their graves.  We helped make this state, and this state helped make us.  It educated us (back when college was affordable).  But it’s time to face the fact – this state is a failure, and on its current path, with its current leadership and philosophy, it will only get worse.  This state has a terrible future, unless we dramatically change our path.   Chances of that happening?  0.0% -- because we’ll continue to vote for the guys who make our leadership priorities bathroom bills, and transgender sports, and requiring the national anthem be played at certain events.  Any bill that has been proposed to improve emergency preparedness of gov’t entities has been crushed by the Republicans controlling the lege….but we will definitely stick with those guys.  No taxes.  No government functionality.

    What we are seeing happening right now is our system working EXACTLY AS IT WAS DESIGNED AND INTENDED TO WORK.  And we will, I guarantee it, collectively decide to stick with that.  This state is in free-fall, and anyone with eyes can see it.  And anyone with a brain is starting to think of ways to make their life elsewhere.  It breaks my goddamned heart to see us commit collective suicide, but here we are.

     

     


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    The head of the TCEQ commissioners just resigned.  The other two commissioners are political hacks, so odds are we’re going to have three of them.  I’m not a huge Neirmann fan but I think he was pretty by rules as a commissioner and considered all the facts.  Not hopeful for his replacement.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    what are the opinions on Texas' k-12 education. I see places like Frisco ISD, Plano ISD, Prosper ISD have good rankings, but I'm not certain how to interpret those findings. good according to whom? also are they actually curtailing what kids can learn in school?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    13 minutes ago, safe sex said:

    Every district in Texas is encouraged to teach the Bible, and they get money if they do so.

    Old Testament is like a porno version of a Conan story. I was reading Book of Kings as a young spider monkey while the preacher would carry on about forgiveness.

    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    He knows which party has been in control in Texas for 20 straight years, right?
     
     

    So private companies can fix traffic? Where has this worked? How does it get fixed? Magic?
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    What? You mean building 48202938 new neighborhoods without first building roads and infrastructure to handle the traffic that is created from those neighborhoods might make it to where you can't drive anywhere ever? Wow, who could have seen this coming? Good thing republicans love oversight and putting the needs of society over making maximum amounts of profit for a few societal leaches. 

     

    Just build more toll roads. That will fix everything. And it definitely isn't a double tax or anything.

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
    • Rage+1 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    This seems grim.

    https://thebarbedwire.com/2024/12/18/in-texas-bipartisanship-is-on-life-support-republicans-could-pull-the-plug/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1K96z1NzdrnI-rW8tkzubTcFtJmh9rgTLhHB5TgqezuQmBjfJp0u8L69c_aem_T1KUpYhawAuvEiBPJaBiRg

    As lawmakers gear up for the 2025 legislative session, Texans are in for a bumpy ride. Buckle your seatbelts.

    A tight competition for the position of speaker of the state House has caused long-simmering tensions between the far-right and moderate-but-still-conservative wings of the Republican Party to boil over with acrimony. Deep fissures exposed during the failed attempt to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton are once again fueling intense party infighting, this time between supporters of Rep. David Cook, whose candidacy for speaker of the House is endorsed by the majority of the Republican caucus, and Rep. Dustin Burrows, an ally of former speaker Rep. Dade Phelan who is challenging Cook with the support of both Republican and Democratic state representatives.

    On Dec. 7, the Republican Party of Texas passed a resolution that implies it would censure — and thereby effectively bar members of the House from participating in primary elections for two years thanks to Rule 44, which was adopted at the 2024 Texas GOP convention — if they don’t support the rightmost wing of the party’s preferred candidate for speaker. Cook, a Republican from Mansfield, has committed to ending the long-standing bipartisan practice of awarding Democratic state representatives with committee chairmanships.

    The resolution was adopted within hours of news that Burrows had released a list of bipartisan supporters that was just long enough to win the race for speaker — only for several Republican lawmakers to subsequently ask for their names to be removed. Regardless of whether the new GOP rule influenced the reversals, the message was the same: Get in line or get squashed.

    And if the attempt to ban Republican lawmakers from primary elections is challenged in court and proves unsuccessful, there’s still a backup plan to fund aggressive primary challenges against Republican state representatives if they don’t support Cook’s bid for speaker, as reported in the Texas Tribune.

    The promise to replace Republican state representatives who would dare honor traditions of bipartisanship mirrors similar threats from the camp of President-elect Donald Trump (via Elon Musk-funded campaigns) to replace Republican senators who don’t vote to confirm Trump’s controversial cabinet picks. (See also: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s modus operandi.) The threats also resemble the tactics of Texas Republican “Christian Kingpin” megadonor Tim Dunn, whose massive oil-funded warchest helped propel a slate of hard right Republican primary challengers to victory over their more moderate incumbent opponents who had voted against school vouchers in the last legislative session.

    The tradition of Texas bipartisanship was once so strong that some considered state level politics “nonpartisan.” Ten years ago, the 2013 session was nicknamed “The Kumbaya Session.” Even under decades of trifecta Republican control of the governorship, legislature, and courts in Texas, a modicum of bipartisanship has remained in the statehouse, even if it has become exceedingly rare. During the speakership of Republican Rep. Dade Phelan, a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and largely rural district Republicans prevented the passage of private school voucher bills, a top priority for top GOP donors like Dunn and the Christian nationalist wing of the party that wants to siphon public dollars toward religious education. This past year, Texas Republicans and Democrats have voted together on AI regulation and to temporarily halt the execution of Robert Roberson, a man convicted of murder on the basis of a medical syndrome that is increasingly derided as “junk science.”

    But that bipartisanship has withered away under increasingly authoritarian leadership. Trump’s rise to power, characterized by his idiosyncratic style and eschewal of long-established political traditions, scrambled the governing norms that dominated Republican party politics and is concomitant with the transformation of the Republican Party of Texas from the business-friendly “party of local control” into the party of state preemption and spiritual warfare. Now that Trump is set to be back in power in January, we can reasonably expect our state level politicians to follow his lead.

    As I wrote earlier this month, the dominant right-most wing of the Texas Republican Party is gradually embracing a muscular style of politics that disregards traditions of federalism and bipartisanship in favor of naked will to power. They’ve already demonstrated that they’re unafraid to use the power of big government to strip away local Democratic control. They’ve also called for the creation of a sort of state level electoral college that would decide elections for statewide office based on a “majority vote of the counties with each individual county being assigned one vote allocated to the popular majority vote winner of each individual county” — a system that, if enacted, would likely cement one-party Republican rule at the state level for decades. To achieve this, Republicans would have to successfully pass a joint resolution supporting a State Constitutional Amendment and then voters would have to approve it. The intention behind the proposal is clear — though the probability of its success is not.

    Now, the Texas GOP is poised to wield the party apparatus against fellow Republicans who are willing to reach across the aisle — or oppose the priorities of major donors that don’t align with the interests of their constituents. The demand to support Rep. Cook for speaker, or risk being barred from primary elections, not only serves as further confirmation of the ascendancy of the right-most wing of the state Republican party, but it may also prove to be the final nail in the coffin of bipartisanship in the state. Above all, it sends a clear signal: The Texas GOP has plans, and they are willing to crush anyone who stands in their way.
    • Rage+1 4
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    CA Dems' fault
     

    Ha nope. CA magas. This state is in big trouble and things set now could set it back decades. This session will be interesting I feel for young families with ties to it
    • Hook 'Em 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    17 minutes ago, Updawg said:


    It’s just so wrong. This state is broken. It’s a shame and every native Texan should be embarrassed and demanding change

     

    see, they're illegals looking to break the law. so it's ok. jesus would do the same thing 

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    23 hours ago, C-Man said:

    They’ve also called for the creation of a sort of state level electoral college that would decide elections for statewide office based on a “majority vote of the counties with each individual county being assigned one vote allocated to the popular majority vote winner of each individual county”

    Now now- let’s not call this electoral college. t least that system awards more EC votes based on population of the voting unit, in this case the states. 
     

    one vote per county very effectively alters the value of single votes in a way that SHOULD be considered unconstitutional. 
     

    and I guess the other thing to pay attention to is getting this through scotus for Texas and then that grants permission to change presidential electoral college to 1 vote per state.  
     

     

    • Rage+1 3
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    10 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

    Maybe we should chip in for a billboard that says “If you come to Texas, an oak tree might fall on you and then you will never walk again.”

    giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9525zc5o5uzfuu2sdcx9m

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Like 2
    • Haha 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    and I guess the other thing to pay attention to is getting this through scotus for Texas and then that grants permission to change presidential electoral college to 1 vote per state.  

    Steve Bannon Bingo GIF

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 12/19/2024 at 7:49 AM, Pancho said:

    He knows which party has been in control in Texas for 20 straight years, right?

     

     

    That's one of the more interesting aspects of the stupidity that has seized us.

    Things that are clearly Republicans' fault, but not THESE Republicans, RINOs or someone else, but with pretty much the exact same policies.

    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    3 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

    Not really surprising. Texas friendly is a facade. We are assholes.

    c127052b78ca890ef8d43cd2c64178df.png

    Drive Friendly is grammatically incorrect and this state has gone downhill ever since those signs appeared.

    Edited by Willfully Horn
    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Haha 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 12/21/2024 at 10:03 PM, Willfully Horn said:

    Drive Friendly is grammatically incorrect and this state has gone downhill ever since those signs appeared.

    I do get a kick out of the "Drive Friendly, the Texas way." signs.  High comedy. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    yeah, ngl... i've been bitching about Denver drivers but maybe the locals are right, it's all the Texas transplants driving like assholes in Colorado 😮 gotdamn some rude aggressive drivers, especially in Houston! and i think we were targeted at least once for our CO plates.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    1 hour ago, mchookem said:

    yeah, ngl... i've been bitching about Denver drivers but maybe the locals are right, it's all the Texas transplants driving like assholes in Colorado 😮 gotdamn some rude aggressive drivers, especially in Houston! and i think we were targeted at least once for our CO plates.

    Did you use your blinkers in Houston? If so, there's your answer.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 12/23/2024 at 7:58 AM, DigglerontheHoof said:

    I do get a kick out of the "Drive Friendly, the Texas way." signs.  High comedy. 

    On 12/23/2024 at 8:58 AM, mchookem said:

    yeah, ngl... i've been bitching about Denver drivers but maybe the locals are right, it's all the Texas transplants driving like assholes in Colorado 😮 gotdamn some rude aggressive drivers, especially in Houston! and i think we were targeted at least once for our CO plates.

    Probably already talked about, but I'll jump on the pile. Fuck all the left lane squatters. The single biggest thing we could do to improve traffic on our highways would be to crack down on these fuckers. I've driven in most states, and it's far worse here than any of those, minus that hellscape called I-10 in  Louisiana. Go north or west and it instantly improves. Get past Louisiana and it improves dramatically. There's a special place in hell for these self-important cocksuckers, and they can all go straight there as far as I'm concerned.. 

    Edited by wood
    • Hook 'Em 4
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    5 minutes ago, wood said:

    Probably already talked about, but if it has, I'll jump on the pile. Fuck all the left lane squatters. The single biggest thing we could do to improve traffic on our highways would be to crack down on these fuckers. I've driven in most states, and it's far worse here than any of those, minus that hellscape called I-10 in  Louisiana. Go north or west and it instantly improves. Get past Louisiana and it improves dramatically. There's a special place in hell for these self-important cocksuckers. 


    Houston is the de facto capital of Louisiana…. So this makes sense to some degree.

    Houston is always playing catch up, however. The dfw metroplex is divided into two TxDot districts. Houston is 1. This has allowed dfw to get far more $ than Houston even though their msa’s are of similar in size

    in addition, the hub and spoke network is actually a super poor design for an area with lax zoning and that has multiple employment centers that have developed post the advent of the interstate system.

    DFW as a whole has more of a grid network thanks to having both Fort Worth and Dallas requiring access to the interstate highway system when the system was being planned

    While north Texas folks would probably disagree, this has led to a better overall design for suburban growth / employment.

    And getting all that extra $ helps bigly

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    fucking hotwheels can't resist that tiny orange cock

     

    Governor Greg Abbott today ordered all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and all state buildings on January 20, 2025, in honor of Inauguration Day. Pursuant to federal statute, the U.S. flag should be displayed "especially on...Inauguration Day, January 20."
     
    “Texas continues to mourn with our fellow Americans across the country over the passing of former President Jimmy Carter,” said Governor Abbott. “President Carter’s steadfast leadership left a lasting legacy that will be felt for generations to come, which together as a nation we honor by displaying flags at half-staff for 30 days. On January 20, our great nation will celebrate our democratic tradition of transferring power to a new President by inaugurating the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. As we unite our country and usher in this new era of leadership, I ordered all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and all state buildings for the inauguration of President Trump. While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America.”

    • Rage+1 7
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    46 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

    fucking hotwheels can't resist that tiny orange cock

     

    Governor Greg Abbott today ordered all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and all state buildings on January 20, 2025, in honor of Inauguration Day. Pursuant to federal statute, the U.S. flag should be displayed "especially on...Inauguration Day, January 20."
     
    “Texas continues to mourn with our fellow Americans across the country over the passing of former President Jimmy Carter,” said Governor Abbott. “President Carter’s steadfast leadership left a lasting legacy that will be felt for generations to come, which together as a nation we honor by displaying flags at half-staff for 30 days. On January 20, our great nation will celebrate our democratic tradition of transferring power to a new President by inaugurating the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. As we unite our country and usher in this new era of leadership, I ordered all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and all state buildings for the inauguration of President Trump. While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America.”

    Yup, he just couldn't resist any opportunity to get the attention of the orange man even if/especially if it means shitting on a former president 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 12/13/2024 at 1:39 AM, naija said:

    what are the opinions on Texas' k-12 education. I see places like Frisco ISD, Plano ISD, Prosper ISD have good rankings, but I'm not certain how to interpret those findings. good according to whom? also are they actually curtailing what kids can learn in school?

    Frisco is great. I imagine Plano is still solid as is Prosper. 

    On 12/13/2024 at 10:07 AM, safe sex said:

    Every district in Texas is encouraged to teach the Bible, and they get money if they do so.

    I don’t know what you’re referencing but we successfully defeated this kind of shit infiltrating HPISD. This simply doesn’t happen here, or anywhere else with which I’m familiar. 

    On 12/19/2024 at 9:40 PM, Updawg said:

    114f1702063e80f95e130130e906f4a8.jpg
    0d89faff087d76b75dbfc32a4308705f.jpg



    Unreal and disgusting

    Being pro business is unreal and disgusting?  lol. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    1 hour ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

    Yup, he just couldn't resist any opportunity to get the attention of the orange man even if/especially if it means shitting on a former president 

    Got some more federal statute for you, cunt.  The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President;

    4 U.S.C. s. 7.  Note the mandatory language "shall."  And note that "display" in s. 5 does not specify full or half-staff, but only the display of the flag, with other details supplied by other statutes.  Good lawyering there hotwheels.

    Hopefully obviously directed at hotwheels not EBO'B.

    Edited by TwiceHorn
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    42 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

    Frisco is great. I imagine Plano is still solid as is Prosper. 

    I don’t know what you’re referencing but we successfully defeated this kind of shit infiltrating HPISD. This simply doesn’t happen here, or anywhere else with which I’m familiar. 

    Being pro business is unreal and disgusting?  lol. 

    https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/19/texas-sboe-bible-christianity-curriculum/

    Try to keep up with the Christofascist agenda.

    • Hook 'Em 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    46 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

    I don’t know what you’re referencing but we successfully defeated this kind of shit infiltrating HPISD. This simply doesn’t happen here, or anywhere else with which I’m familiar. 

    Need to go find it but defiantly read from either Texas Tribune or some other reputable source that the power brokers in Austin were going dangle the carrot of extra school funding to districts who added religious/biblical curriculum...which sounds about right for the current lot running the state and their christio-fascist big money donors in West Texas 

    Edited by Evil Bill Obrien
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    9 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    No I won’t. It’s not in my district, and if it becomes any part of their curriculum I’ll bitch. I have 10th, 8th and 6th graders. I’ve heard nobody speaking of this and I speak daily with a school board member. My kids certainly would mention it. 

    I’m not concerned about them because they’re largely past the indoctrination stage. It’s just a waste of time. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites




    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...