Abbott being Abbott

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2687]

51 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

Don Huffines interview with Mark Davis. We will build our own wall and Border Patrol will love us, and we’ll build it without any revenue from pesky property taxes.

https://omny.fm/shows/the-mark-davis-show/may-12-2021-8am-hour

Listening to even part of that smoothed my brain out. His answers about paying for the wall (with cringey pauses because he has no fucking idea) and ending property taxes are just embarrassing. 

He also sounds like a closet case afflicted with mental retardation. Why do so many of these tough R dudes sound gay as hell (rhetorical question)...my god. WTF is wrong with that family. My folks live next door to one of the Huffhines -- I don't know which-- but he's Aggy.

Edited May 13, 2021 by ChuckNorrisActionJeans

[atomheartbevo 90041]

HAHAH

 

[Pig Bellmont 8746]

Abbott: BiDeN iSnT dOiNg EnOuGh AbOuT iMmIgRaTiOn FaCiLiTiEs

[Js1 85744]

1 hour ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

Listening to even part of that smoothed my brain out. His answers about paying for the wall (with cringey pauses because he has no fucking idea) and ending property taxes are just embarrassing. 

He also sounds like a closet case afflicted with mental retardation. Why do so many of these tough R dudes sound gay as hell (rhetorical question)...my god. WTF is wrong with that family. My folks live next door to one of the Huffhines -- I don't know which-- but he's Aggy.

So it’s pure projection when they claim Dems can’t pay for their pie in the sky priorities. Then the GOP cuts itaxes and wants to abolish property taxes but build a big beautiful wall 

With what money??

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

6 minutes ago, Js1 said:

So it’s pure projection when they claim Dems can’t pay for their pie in the sky priorities. Then the GOP cuts itaxes and wants to abolish property taxes but build a big beautiful wall 

With what money??

A Go fund me? What could go wrong?

[TwiceHorn 31677]

On 5/10/2021 at 11:23 AM, elfenix said:

 

Less government leadership?  Yeah, sounds about right.

[Guest Lobo]

5 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

A Go fund me? What could go wrong?

Steve Bannon could siphon off both cash from the gofundme account as well as boost xylene solvent from the job site to fill in the gaps in his face and his soul.  

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Bannon is like Rush Limbaugh. You're going to be waiting forever for the news you most want to hear.

[Beau Vine 54834]

3 hours ago, Js1 said:

So it’s pure projection when they claim Dems can’t pay for their pie in the sky priorities. Then the GOP cuts itaxes and wants to abolish property taxes but build a big beautiful wall 

With what money??

Trickle down money.  Duh.  

[Bookman 4722]

Don’t worry! Mexico will pay for it!

[South Austin 52686]

10 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Bannon is like Rush Limbaugh. You're going to be waiting forever for the news you most want to hear.

Like the news of his death?

[Neonmoon 38130]

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

Like the news of his death?

[Longhorn_Fan68 33917]

TIL Texas is a very rich state where everyone is rich and over employed and no one needs anything.

What a fucking ghoul

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19276]

If it’s federal money I’m confused how these asshole republican governors have fuck all to do with it.

[mchookem 16514]

moments like these i'm extremely grateful that no one i love and care for is in such a difficult situation. 

[Js1 85744]

9 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

If it’s federal money I’m confused how these asshole republican governors have fuck all to do with it.

The federal government does not distribute UI. The federal money goes to the states to distribute by agreements between governors and the Secretary of Labor. 

[Neonmoon 38130]

You can’t have cheap products without slave labor. 

[WhatTheBuck 28825]

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19276]

19 minutes ago, Js1 said:

The federal government does not distribute UI. The federal money goes to the states to distribute by agreements between governors and the Secretary of Labor. 

Looks like the Feds should cut out the middle man.  No telling how much is being skimmed anyway.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

13 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

You can’t have cheap products without slave labor. 

The talking point about "tHe FeDs arE PAyiNG laZy pEOple" not to work was bugging me. It was a some people are saying mantra run wild. For example, the folks running on about this don't realize that if a parent has to stop working to take care of a child or family member in the state of Texas, they don't qualify for unemployment. In our area, most daycares are now open as are schools, but some of the cheaper ones closed and went out of business. So, as is usual, there is a shortage of good care placements. Makes it hard to work. If the family is fortunate enough to have two wage earners, then the lack of benefits will still hurt, but it doesn't make it easy to job hunt either.

That naturally feeds into the pro-life 'well if you can't take care of them then don't have them' narrative of course.

So, I got curious and went to the Texas Workforce Commission website. If one were making about ten dollars an hour (pre-tax) and worked a forty hour week and got let go during the pandemic, that person would receive (based on the estimator) about $208 per week in compensation if they qualified under their requirements. So that supplemental from the federal government would raise the amount to $508. If they earned $14/ hour, then they would perhaps qualify for $291 per week. Abbott said about 45% of the unfilled positions earned at least $15/hour and 70 something percent at least $11. (going off of memory so that may not be accurate).

Oh my god. The horror that someone could for a period of a few weeks actually not be impoverished and spend the time looking for a job that pays a little more than starvation wages is so on brand.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but for all the accusations that Biden and the Democratic party put their finger on the wage scale, I'd say there is ample proof that each accusation is a confession by the GQP.

[TwiceHorn 31677]

15 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

The talking point about "tHe FeDs arE PAyiNG laZy pEOple" not to work was bugging me. It was a some people are saying mantra run wild. For example, the folks running on about this don't realize that if a parent has to stop working to take care of a child or family member in the state of Texas, they don't qualify for unemployment. In our area, most daycares are now open as are schools, but some of the cheaper ones closed and went out of business. So, as is usual, there is a shortage of good care placements. Makes it hard to work. If the family is fortunate enough to have two wage earners, then the lack of benefits will still hurt, but it doesn't make it easy to job hunt either.

That naturally feeds into the pro-life 'well if you can't take care of them then don't have them' narrative of course.

So, I got curious and went to the Texas Workforce Commission website. If one were making about ten dollars an hour (pre-tax) and worked a forty hour week and got let go during the pandemic, that person would receive (based on the estimator) about $208 per week in compensation if they qualified under their requirements. So that supplemental from the federal government would raise the amount to $508. If they earned $14/ hour, then they would perhaps qualify for $291 per week. Abbott said about 45% of the unfilled positions earned at least $15/hour and 70 something percent at least $11. (going off of memory so that may not be accurate).

Oh my god. The horror that someone could for a period of a few weeks actually not be impoverished and spend the time looking for a job that pays a little more than starvation wages is so on brand.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but for all the accusations that Biden and the Democratic party put their finger on the wage scale, I'd say there is ample proof that each accusation is a confession by the GQP.

Perhaps it's a warmup for opposition to UBI.  

Unemployment benefits should be non-controversial.  They're temporary and "means tested."  A boost to the amount in extraordinary circumstances shouldn't be that big a deal.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Perhaps it's a warmup for opposition to UBI.  

Unemployment benefits should be non-controversial.  They're temporary and "means tested."  A boost to the amount in extraordinary circumstances shouldn't be that big a deal.

Agree. It's just mind numbingly stupid and no one bothers to ask questions or do the math.

As @RomaVicta says, 'Idiocy. We're surrounded.'

[Js1 85744]

Not to mention its set to run out right around the time kids go back to school in the fall.  Optimal time for a lot of people out of the workforce due to childcare to re-enter it. 

Like, Jesus - we have been cooped up in our homes for over a year and can finally go out.  Let people have their vaccine and extra $300/week and GO SPEND IT.  It's the summer- time to stimulate the fucking economy.  

Shit, I'm still surprised the idea of a one-time summer stimulus to travel domestically didn't take off.  Government gives you $750 or something to go see some national parks or monuments or visit some beach towns who got hit hard.  I'm more surprised Texas/Florida didn't offer folks from out of state to come in and hit the beaches and get paid to do it. 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Js1

[wildcat09 29453]

7 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Not to mention its set to run out right around the time kids go back to school in the fall.  Optimal time for a lot of people out of the workforce due to childcare to re-enter it. 

Like, Jesus - we have been cooped up in our homes for over a year and can finally go out.  Let people have their vaccine and extra $300/week and GO SPEND IT.  It's the summer- time to stimulate the fucking economy.  

Shit, I'm still surprised the idea of a one-time summer stimulus to travel domestically didn't take off.  Government gives you $750 or something to go see some national parks or monuments or visit some beach towns who got hit hard.  I'm more surprised Texas/Florida didn't offer folks from out of state to come in and hit the beaches and get paid to do it. 

Conservative "ideology" supersedes local interests for Republicans. 

[Js1 85744]

3 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Conservative "ideology" supersedes local interests for Republicans. 

Conservatives mock California - haha, your state is poorly run, look at how awesome we are.

Texas - $9.7b rainy day fund - nothing to nobody
Florida - $4.9b rainy day fund - nothing to nobody
California - hits a budget surplus, immediately puts money back into taxpayer pockets ($600 stimulus, back rent and future rent help, help for overdue utility bills) 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

21 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Not to mention its set to run out right around the time kids go back to school in the fall.  Optimal time for a lot of people out of the workforce due to childcare to re-enter it. 

Like, Jesus - we have been cooped up in our homes for over a year and can finally go out.  Let people have their vaccine and extra $300/week and GO SPEND IT.  It's the summer- time to stimulate the fucking economy.  

Shit, I'm still surprised the idea of a one-time summer stimulus to travel domestically didn't take off.  Government gives you $750 or something to go see some national parks or monuments or visit some beach towns who got hit hard.  I'm more surprised Texas/Florida didn't offer folks from out of state to come in and hit the beaches and get paid to do it. 

 

13 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Conservative "ideology" supersedes local interests for Republicans. 

I may be off base here, but it's not a surprise and it's really both, but only for the protected class that wants service.

The tourist economy in Texas is not something I'm super familiar with but from the outside, the workers like college/hs students work and then quit in the fall (no compensation there). But the people who live in the community year round (or are migratory seasonal tourist work) are the ones who do all the jobs at a 'park' or in a touristy town that you don't see. The people who pick up the trash, keep things running, and so on. So, Greg wants these people back at work so people who have the income to travel aren't underwhelmed by the service and condition and complain. Several years ago, the tourist lobby got Greg or maybe it was Rick to delay the start of schools because student workers returning to school and families not traveling because school was starting was putting a damper on their business. So, those folks that did the daily scut work were more likely to be actually 'laid off' than the other college/hs positions. And now, the tourist economy can't compete because some of them pay shitty wages, and the ones that didn't may not have survived. The answer would be to pay more, but that pesky conservative ideology says you'll be poor and grateful for it, you don't deserve better.

Edited May 18, 2021 by Mrs Whiggins
Not to mention--the tourist lobby winning out over education, that was a shocker...

[Skipper 6295]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Unemployment benefits should be non-controversial.  They're temporary and "means tested."  A boost to the amount in extraordinary circumstances shouldn't be that big a deal.

Is it really an extraordinary circumstance any longer?  Maybe I'm just bitter at the moment but there are absolutely people taking advantage of the system and I have tenants that are 2 of them.  They stopped paying rent in November after being constantly late (beginning March of 20 before COVID really started).  But I couldn't evict due to COVID restrictions (hopefully ending for good on 6/30).  I FINALLY got caught up in rent literally the end of last week via the Texas Rent Relief program after wasting hours upon hours of my time navigating the layers of governmental red tape to get landlords paid the past 3 months.   Now if this was a hard working family that was truly impacted by the pandemic and doing everything they could to find income I would have some sympathy.  But his R.E. broker business apparently went to shit pre-Covid, she is a "realtor" that apparently can't (or isn't actually trying) to get listings during this booming R.E. market and they have been sitting on their ass for over a year relying on govt dollars plus a rapidly depleting trust fund.   Oh, but they have managed to pay their daughters sorority dues + Mercedes lease while not paying a dime of rent for 6+ months (I'll give you one guess where the wife's entitled ass went to public school in Dallas).   These people are educated and qualified for all manners of jobs that I guess they view as "beneath them" so they have sat on their ass and relied on the govt for over a year while maintaining appearances.  It's pathetic.    So yeah, I'm no Abbot fan but if there are thousands upon thousands of available jobs, maybe it's time we stop incentivizing governmental reliance.  The pandemic flat out isn't impacting the ability for anyone to find employment right now in Texas so I don't see the need for additional pandemic specific aid.

[hobbes2702 13150]

14 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Is it really an extraordinary circumstance any longer?  Maybe I'm just bitter at the moment but there are absolutely people taking advantage of the system and I have tenants that are 2 of them.  They stopped paying rent in November after being constantly late (beginning March of 20 before COVID really started).  But I couldn't evict due to COVID restrictions (hopefully ending for good on 6/30).  I FINALLY got caught up in rent literally the end of last week via the Texas Rent Relief program after wasting hours upon hours of my time navigating the layers of governmental red tape to get landlords paid the past 3 months.   Now if this was a hard working family that was truly impacted by the pandemic and doing everything they could to find income I would have some sympathy.  But his R.E. broker business apparently went to shit pre-Covid, she is a "realtor" that apparently can't (or isn't actually trying) to get listings during this booming R.E. market and they have been sitting on their ass for over a year relying on govt dollars plus a rapidly depleting trust fund.   Oh, but they have managed to pay their daughters sorority dues + Mercedes lease while not paying a dime of rent for 6+ months (I'll give you one guess where the wife's entitled ass went to public school in Dallas).   These people are educated and qualified for all manners of jobs that I guess they view as "beneath them" so they have sat on their ass and relied on the govt for over a year while maintaining appearances.  It's pathetic.    So yeah, I'm no Abbot fan but if there are thousands upon thousands of available jobs, maybe it's time we stop incentivizing governmental reliance.  The pandemic flat out isn't impacting the ability for anyone to find employment right now in Texas so I don't see the need for additional pandemic specific aid.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

You're talking about someone taking advantage who has education and perhaps skills and equalizing it to all unemployed? That penalizes the workers at the lowest end of the spectrum, those who have fallen further behind in wealth inequality and were exposed to the most risk until they were let go/laid off. If you want to means test the supplement, then perhaps that would be a way, but if you want no aid due to fraud, then we need to have a conversation about labor and wages. And also corporations receiving plenty of aid due to fraudulent claims.

[RomaVicta 30072]

2 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

The talking point about "tHe FeDs arE PAyiNG laZy pEOple" not to work was bugging me. It was a some people are saying mantra run wild. For example, the folks running on about this don't realize that if a parent has to stop working to take care of a child or family member in the state of Texas, they don't qualify for unemployment. In our area, most daycares are now open as are schools, but some of the cheaper ones closed and went out of business. So, as is usual, there is a shortage of good care placements. Makes it hard to work. If the family is fortunate enough to have two wage earners, then the lack of benefits will still hurt, but it doesn't make it easy to job hunt either.

That naturally feeds into the pro-life 'well if you can't take care of them then don't have them' narrative of course.

So, I got curious and went to the Texas Workforce Commission website. If one were making about ten dollars an hour (pre-tax) and worked a forty hour week and got let go during the pandemic, that person would receive (based on the estimator) about $208 per week in compensation if they qualified under their requirements. So that supplemental from the federal government would raise the amount to $508. If they earned $14/ hour, then they would perhaps qualify for $291 per week. Abbott said about 45% of the unfilled positions earned at least $15/hour and 70 something percent at least $11. (going off of memory so that may not be accurate).

Oh my god. The horror that someone could for a period of a few weeks actually not be impoverished and spend the time looking for a job that pays a little more than starvation wages is so on brand.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but for all the accusations that Biden and the Democratic party put their finger on the wage scale, I'd say there is ample proof that each accusation is a confession by the GQP.

I've been on unemployment twice in the last ten years. I got the maximum amount ($400 a week?) based on my income prior to being laid off. I'm sort of ashamed that it didn't occur to me then that all workers laid off should get that amount. 

A person working at a minimum wage gets little reward for having put his share into the employment insurance pot. I was a single man living in a snug garage efficiency apartment and just scraped by. God help those with two children renting a little house in the cheapest neighborhoods of Austin.

When I was even younger, I was pursuing something of an artist' life. I had no dependents, and a spare existence. I got a ticket that I neglected to pay and got more fines that I couldn't afford. It occurred to me that the penalty for poverty is fines. Nice world. 

[RomaVicta 30072]

34 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Is it really an extraordinary circumstance any longer?  Maybe I'm just bitter at the moment but there are absolutely people taking advantage of the system and I have tenants that are 2 of them.  They stopped paying rent in November after being constantly late (beginning March of 20 before COVID really started).  But I couldn't evict due to COVID restrictions (hopefully ending for good on 6/30).  I FINALLY got caught up in rent literally the end of last week via the Texas Rent Relief program after wasting hours upon hours of my time navigating the layers of governmental red tape to get landlords paid the past 3 months.   Now if this was a hard working family that was truly impacted by the pandemic and doing everything they could to find income I would have some sympathy.  But his R.E. broker business apparently went to shit pre-Covid, she is a "realtor" that apparently can't (or isn't actually trying) to get listings during this booming R.E. market and they have been sitting on their ass for over a year relying on govt dollars plus a rapidly depleting trust fund.   Oh, but they have managed to pay their daughters sorority dues + Mercedes lease while not paying a dime of rent for 6+ months (I'll give you one guess where the wife's entitled ass went to public school in Dallas).   These people are educated and qualified for all manners of jobs that I guess they view as "beneath them" so they have sat on their ass and relied on the govt for over a year while maintaining appearances.  It's pathetic.    So yeah, I'm no Abbot fan but if there are thousands upon thousands of available jobs, maybe it's time we stop incentivizing governmental reliance.  The pandemic flat out isn't impacting the ability for anyone to find employment right now in Texas so I don't see the need for additional pandemic specific aid.

I think the problems for landlords, particularly those who rent out just a few properties for which they count on necessary income, have been very real during the pandemic. My beloved used to rent out her house when she was living with the man before me (so glad he had the innate stupidity to let her slip away!), she knows the difficulties of bad tennants and how difficult it can be when a few months go by with no rent. 

There should have been relief aimed at these types of landlords from the beginning.

However, using the example of individuals gaming the system or committing fraud to dismiss an entire program is the same strategy that convinced ivory tower GOPs to conclude that all persons receiving  even skinpy relief (mostly single mothers) were welfare queens driving Cadillacs back in the 70s and 80s.

Reagan told the tired story of someone using food stamps to by orange juice then using the cash given as change to buy a bottle of vodka at the same counter. Let 'em all starve if a single one of them is crooked! It's our hard earned tax dollars! This doesn't address how, at least in my opinion, that a food program in a country that produces a huge surplus of food helps food producers as much as it does those who consume that food. You know, demand for the supply that we subsidize to the point of excess (not a bad thing).

It's not right to piggyback a real complaint about poor policy for landlords as a reason to cancel a huge program that will pretty clearly benefit communities and the nation as a whole.

[mdmost 43294]

More from the party of local control:

 

[tx 3 putt 77920]

the party of small govt !!!!!!

[4th&Five 41701]

 

[gmr548 16635]

This state is such a shithole

[LABEVO 928]

it is like cruelty is the point for all R policies. 

[mchookem 16514]

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

19 minutes ago, LABEVO said:

it is like cruelty is the point for all R policies. 

When Glenn Elmers of the Claremont Institute wrote "only the minority of people who adhere to the country’s longstanding “principles, traditions, and ideals” should be considered Americans," he was talking about the people who administer the cruelty and not the objects of it. So yes, it is indeed the point. Because the GQP does not believe in anything but their will (behind the curtain, you have to pay to join this group) and emotions. Policy is only intended to support those. Surveillance, concentrated wealth, and control are behind the curtain while 'cancel culture,' racism, and evangelicalism are what they dangle in front of their supporters.

[GRHorn 105]

I agree that it should be left to local governments, where applicable. 
 

54 minutes ago, LABEVO said:

it is like cruelty is the point for all R policies. 

what’s cruel about this?

55 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

This state is such a shithole

Vote with your feet, boss

[Neonmoon 38130]

In 4 years, the Republicans have reversed all their core policies to own the libs. 

What a sad party of clown fuckery

 

[tx 3 putt 77920]

Why have any local govt when we have king Abbott ?

[Ag with kids 581]

3 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Why have any local govt when we have king Abbott ?

The local gov't only had the power to issue mandates because king Abbott granted it to them last year with his emergency EOs.

So, are you happy you have a king Abbott or mad you have a king Abbott?

[Beau Vine 54834]

13 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

The local gov't only had the power to issue mandates because king Abbott granted it to them last year with his emergency EOs.

[hobbes2702 13150]

17 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

The local gov't only had the power to issue mandates because king Abbott granted it to them last year with his emergency EOs.

So, are you happy you have a king Abbott or mad you have a king Abbott?

How are you this clueless about literally everything?

[HenryJames 66275]

[Js1 85744]

11 minutes ago, hobbes2702 said:

How are you this clueless about literally everything?

It's in his username.

[hookemATL 11973]

16 minutes ago, hobbes2702 said:

How are you this clueless about literally everything?

username bruh

Edited May 18, 2021 by hookemATL
fuck you js!!!

[Ag with kids 581]

26 minutes ago, hobbes2702 said:

How are you this clueless about literally everything?

Can you show me where these entities were granted the power to mandate masks?  It has to be codified somewhere, right?

Because, all the government entities are granted their powers from the state gov't in Texas...

[RomaVicta 30072]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

In 4 years, the Republicans have reversed all their core policies to own the libs. 

What a sad party of clown fuckery

 

The reversal came with Reagan, but they managed to keep it under wraps until 4 years ago when the Grand Dunce starting saying the secret part out loud. The curtain to which Mrs. Whiggins refers got caught on their shoe and they accidentally pulled it down themselves.

Now they're standing their in their boxers and garters trying to direct our attention to the threat of socialism and Alexandria Ocasio Cortes. The former doesn't exist and the latter is kicking their ass on the battlefields they choose.

I am heartened that Biden has a 63% approval rating. It speaks well of those who didn't vote for him that they are giving him a chance. The 36% forming Deadenders for Dunce represent a sizable plurality, but I expected it to be worse. 

Liz Cheney is making it safe to break with the power. Such an unlikely hero, but such are these days, my friends.

[Ag with kids 581]

BTW...

EVERYONE is FREE to wear a mask.  There is no mandate to NOT wear one.

Mask up to your heart's content!!!  I don't care and neither does anyone else.