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  • 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.

     

     


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    4 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

    Coming soon to Texas ….

    Republicans: Democrats are sex trafficking kids

    Republicans: Also, we think it should be legal for 12 year-old kids to marry adults.

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    i mean, when he said "the parents support it", that was pretty much the proof of the simulation.  Sadly, all through history the parents justifying the child-rape because it was a relative/clergy member/teacher/community elder/et. al. has been a huge enabler.  And the parents feel shame and then take it out on the kid of all people.  That's the whole fucking sadistic cycle right there in a nutshell, never mind the law itself.  it's this perpetuating cycle of "dammit Jimmy, respect the priest", "Come on Janie, you should marry old man Smithers from over the 'holler!"  or "Keep your mouth shut about this and quit tempting the coach with your cute smile and sassy curls young lady!"  

    The kind of parents that speak up for 12 year olds entering wedlock maybe, kinda, sorta should be investigated.  That's a whole other "To Catch a Predator" spinoff series right there.  If you have a child under 18 and are invited by someone who wishes to ask for your minor child's hand in marriage, you have seriously fucked up in life and I hope you walk in like Tommy in "Goodfellas" to a barren room with easy-to-clean tile

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    10 hours ago, YGIFS said:

    i mean, when he said "the parents support it", that was pretty much the proof of the simulation.  Sadly, all through history the parents justifying the child-rape because it was a relative/clergy member/teacher/community elder/et. al. has been a huge enabler.  And the parents feel shame and then take it out on the kid of all people.  That's the whole fucking sadistic cycle right there in a nutshell, never mind the law itself.  it's this perpetuating cycle of "dammit Jimmy, respect the priest", "Come on Janie, you should marry old man Smithers from over the 'holler!"  or "Keep your mouth shut about this and quit tempting the coach with your cute smile and sassy curls young lady!"  

    The kind of parents that speak up for 12 year olds entering wedlock maybe, kinda, sorta should be investigated.  That's a whole other "To Catch a Predator" spinoff series right there.  If you have a child under 18 and are invited by someone who wishes to ask for your minor child's hand in marriage, you have seriously fucked up in life and I hope you walk in like Tommy in "Goodfellas" to a barren room with easy-to-clean tile

    Is some of this coming from the "trad fam" types who want the young males to be paired off before the female has a chance to develop her own ideas, thoughts, and plans for her future? Between the Andrew Tate types and the evangelical dating = courtship to marriage, it seems to be some of the same backlash against educated females being able to leave unsatisfactory and/or abusive marriages w/o becoming destitute or when males decide to trade in first model for updated younger model, again, not plunging the first wife into disarray because she can advocate for herself. In our culture, there is still a fair amount of 'boys pursue sex' with no family/societal shame but girls are not "permitted" to admit to have desires period. (Eve in the garden syndrome). It's toxic for whatever gender to which it's applied.

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    1 hour ago, Bookman said:

    Contrived? Do you dispute that Texas state taxes are regressive by design? 

    I am not really disputing anything. I pointed out that the way the data in that tweet are cut and presented is contrived. Like if you look at that tweet and the first thing that enters your mind isn't "Why is 19% of the income distribution missing and why were those particular segments selected, in particular the combination of the middle 60%?", we can't be friends.

     

    Now, I can guess why those decisions were made, and I will probably be right. Thus my original comment.  

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    1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

    I am not really disputing anything. I pointed out that the way the data in that tweet are cut and presented is contrived. Like if you look at that tweet and the first thing that enters your mind isn't "Why is 19% of the income distribution missing and why were those particular segments selected, in particular the combination of the middle 60%?", we can't be friends.

     

    Now, I can guess why those decisions were made, and I will probably be right. Thus my original comment.  

    Don't think that's "contrived" but I see your point. 

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    2 hours ago, Anastasis said:

    I am not really disputing anything. I pointed out that the way the data in that tweet are cut and presented is contrived. Like if you look at that tweet and the first thing that enters your mind isn't "Why is 19% of the income distribution missing and why were those particular segments selected, in particular the combination of the middle 60%?", we can't be friends.

     

    Now, I can guess why those decisions were made, and I will probably be right. Thus my original comment.  

    Still doesn't change the top 1% or bottom 20%.  

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    1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:


    please do it, today

     

    harris, bexar, travis, el paso, fort bend, couple of dfw counties are fine staying in the US as the new Texas 

    Fuck Fort Bend. Montgomery and Fort Bend are aggy AF.

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    1 hour ago, Bookman said:

    Don't think that's "contrived" but I see your point. 

    "having an unnatural or false appearance or quality"

    I think that use fits the situation. The cut and presentation of those data are unnatural and create a false appearance, for the reasons that I pointed out previously.  But either way, not something to bog down on. The caption that accompanied the tweet was "Texans actually pay more in taxes than Californians do, unless those Texans are in the top one percent of all earners." That caption is objectively false, and that is obvious if you look at the full dataset (available at the ITEP website).  In fact if they cut the data differently and you could get at the median income level, I would bet a good sum of money that the data actually show that the majority of Texans pay a lower percentage in state taxes compared to CA.

     

    57 minutes ago, TDunk said:

    Still doesn't change the top 1% or bottom 20%.  

    Agree, I would also like to the see the bottom 20% broken down in 1, next 4, and next 15. Or even better, maybe the entire data set broken down by 5% intervals. 

     

    Edited by Anastasis
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    11 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

    *watches the Texas GOP wrestle with their angry Frankenstein base in the front yard*

    https://www.newsweek.com/texas-independence-republican-party-court-1856413

     

    I'm just guessing, but I assume the same sort of person who wants Texas to secede is also scared of Mexico. Do they think that the <50% of the population who'd stay, leaning heavy on goobers, nuts, and geezers, are going to stop La Marina if Mexico starts drinking tequila and says "Fuck eet?"

    Or is the play in their mental world that Texas just sorta pretends to be a country, all them libtards leave, everybody gets a deep voice again, and for some reason Big Daddy US Military still swoops in when commanded to because Lo, Behold How Big Our Cigars Are?

    Or have I already thought this through more than the secesh have?

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    2 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

    I'm just guessing, but I assume the same sort of person who wants Texas to secede is also scared of Mexico. Do they think that the <50% of the population who'd stay, leaning heavy on goobers, nuts, and geezers, are going to stop La Marina if Mexico starts drinking tequila and says "Fuck eet?"

    I've told all the secession types I know something along the lines of "Texas has 30 million people, more Hispanics than whites, far more Catholics than Baptists or any other group, and shares a 1,200-mile+ border with 127 million Catholic Mexicans with half-a-million active troops, and you think things are going to go well for Texas if we secede with our mighty 2,800 DPS troopers and our heavily gutted 19,000-member Texas national guard (which will lose all of its heavy gear to the feds, and a big chunk of the Guard will probably leave Texas as it is)????"

    None of these people ever stop to think about that. 

    These are the idiots who think that if shit hits the fan, the dozen or so deer that they think are on their property are going to keep their family fed, regardless of the dozen+ armed families that live within a few miles. I had this very conversation with a relative earlier, who tried to brag about the number of deer on their property and they seemed to think our ancestors lived off of deer.  I had to explain to them that deer was practically a delicacy back then and you were more likely to be eating fish, squirrels, and rabbits, especially if shit hit the fan in this day and age -half the deer population would probably be killed off in the first month or two.  People don't realize how much meat they eat.

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    12 hours ago, Anastasis said:

    "having an unnatural or false appearance or quality"

    I think that use fits the situation. The cut and presentation of those data are unnatural and create a false appearance, for the reasons that I pointed out previously.  But either way, not something to bog down on. The caption that accompanied the tweet was "Texans actually pay more in taxes than Californians do, unless those Texans are in the top one percent of all earners." That caption is objectively false, and that is obvious if you look at the full dataset (available at the ITEP website).  In fact if they cut the data differently and you could get at the median income level, I would bet a good sum of money that the data actually show that the majority of Texans pay a lower percentage in state taxes compared to CA.

     

    Agree, I would also like to the see the bottom 20% broken down in 1, next 4, and next 15. Or even better, maybe the entire data set broken down by 5% intervals. 

     

    Twenty percentage intervals. 
     

    image.png.12245f5c88695d1cdd14223c9650bde1.png
    https://itep.org/whopays/california/

    image.png.e728b0f037f334a1f2ec84918ff26504.png

    https://itep.org/whopays/texas/

    of course, I can’t read all of the image. I have no doubt you will correct my interpretation of these charts, which is the top 20% of income earners pay 15.9% of state expenses in Texas, and 31.7% of state expenses in CA.https://itep.org/whopays/california/ 

    Edited by Willfully Horn
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    6 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    None of these people ever stop to think about that.

    Long range planning, even for the off-the-grid types, still takes them by surprise because of the little details to which we've become accustomed. If, for example, secession was not a peaceful transfer of all the various entities, and even if they and their neighbors formed a little militia under some sort of agreement, one little siege would likely lead to capitulation. The reliance on so many things that we take for granted suddenly become evident. Safe water and food seem simple and yet...cell service and being able to travel to buy whatever seem simple and yet...to what lengths is one willing to go to survive? History and the past show us, when we aren't too blind to see it or illiterate to read it...

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    12 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:


     

     

     

    Thanks for posting. I’ve never read the full story. Truly amazing. “We don’t want someone who’s biased running our journalism department, unless they’re biased towards our politics.” 

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    6 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

    I have no doubt you will correct my interpretation of these charts, which is the top 20% of income earners pay 15.9% of state expenses in Texas, and 31.7% of state expenses in CA

    LOL. You’re trolling.  

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    1 hour ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

    Long range planning, even for the off-the-grid types, still takes them by surprise because of the little details to which we've become accustomed.

    Being cut off from SuperCuts and Chili’s during COVID 19 took a lot of these people by surprise and broke them.  

    Who knew a lack of access to cheap haircuts or shitty appetizers would cause panic attacks among the preppers?

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    14 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    Being cut off from SuperCuts and Chili’s during COVID 19 took a lot of these people by surprise and broke them.  

    Who knew a lack of access to cheap haircuts or shitty appetizers would cause panic attacks among the preppers?

    You’ll have to pry my southwest egg rolls from my cold, dead hands.

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    28 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    Being cut off from SuperCuts and Chili’s during COVID 19 took a lot of these people by surprise and broke them.  

    Who knew a lack of access to cheap haircuts or shitty appetizers would cause panic attacks among the preppers?


    they can just door dash 

     

    Cecily Strong Season 44 GIF by Saturday Night Live

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    8 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

    They realize all their govt benefits would end ?

    And the Republican Party nationally would never come close to winning another election.

    LFG.

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    Is some of this coming from the "trad fam" types who want the young males to be paired off before the female has a chance to develop her own ideas, thoughts, and plans for her future? Between the Andrew Tate types and the evangelical dating = courtship to marriage, it seems to be some of the same backlash against educated females being able to leave unsatisfactory and/or abusive marriages w/o becoming destitute or when males decide to trade in first model for updated younger model, again, not plunging the first wife into disarray because she can advocate for herself. In our culture, there is still a fair amount of 'boys pursue sex' with no family/societal shame but girls are not "permitted" to admit to have desires period. (Eve in the garden syndrome). It's toxic for whatever gender to which it's applied.

    Get them before their brain develops is also their education/religion policy.
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    I wonder how the "Come and Take It" crowd would react when they realize they'd have to stop at a border crossing and show their passport to visit the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles or when they get off the plane and go through Customs in Vegas, etc

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    3 hours ago, Macanudo said:

    I wonder how the "Come and Take It" crowd would react when they realize they'd have to stop at a border crossing and show their passport to visit the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles or when they get off the plane and go through Customs in Vegas, etc

    Laugh now, Libtard, but stand in front of a mirror so you can watch your own jaw drop when Louisiana, Vegas, and all the non-California Southwest join Tekshas after they secede too. They'll be sort of probationary Texans, or maybe separate-but-almost-equal Texans. They'll love it.

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    I wonder how the "Come and Take It" crowd would react when they realize they'd have to stop at a border crossing and show their passport to visit the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles or when they get off the plane and go through Customs in Vegas, etc

    I would just cut off Texans from traveling in the US for a decade following secession.
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    Any ut alumn that still supports or votes for the Texas maga gqp slate, should be repeatedly kicked in the balls 

    they’re on a mission To tear down the school and rebuild it as the university of trump at austin 

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    6 hours ago, CooterBrown said:


    I would just cut off Texans from traveling in the US for a decade following secession.

    Here’s what I would do:

    I would send in the First Army from the North and the Third Army from the east. Any service US service members in Texas that seceded and/or took up arms against the US would be summarily executed. The 2nd & 5th bomber wing would destroy any targets way before the armored divisions enter. 

    Any citizen that materially aided the secessionists would be tried and jailed.  

    Section 3 of the 14th Amendment would be sternly enforced, thus no Texan alive would be allowed to hold office until a Texan born after secession reaches age. 

    Guns would be banned in Texas. 

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    Short of brisket’s solution, should also immediately untether the 20-30% of Texas that doesn’t get power from ercot, or charge them extravagant tariffs for power. 
     

    make them tie in to ercot immediately. 

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    When the Cato Institute says your dead last in personal freedom

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/texas-rankings-last-dallas-personal-freedom-cato-institute/287-91807d11-1b84-4886-9482-e53096276558

    Quote

    Reality doesn’t live up to reputation when it comes to freedom in Texas.  The Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank, recently updated and expanded its comprehensive study “Freedom in the 50 States,” which measures economic, social and personal freedoms at the state level.

    And according to the study, Texas ranks dead last in personal freedom.

    Quote

    We define freedom in a very traditional American way, right? It’s the right to use your life, liberty and property as you see fit, consistent with the equal rights of others,” William Ruger told us on Y’all-itics. “And then we look at these policies and we, again, we call balls and strikes and this is where it ends up.”

    William Ruger, one of the study’s two authors, has been working on the freedom rankings for 15 years. This is the study’s seventh edition. Ruger, a one-time Texas resident himself, says many Texas leaders resist the notion that our state ranks last in any category, much less the freedom category. And he says they assume something is wrong with the study.

    Quote

    But Ruger says the study is sound as they look at more than 230 different policy issues, so he argues there’s too many for any one issue to push the state over the ledge.

    In the personal freedom category, those policy issues range from gambling and educational freedom to marijuana and alcohol freedom. They even look at incarcerations and arrests.

     

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