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  • 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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    Brisketexan

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Dickheads

     

    Alex, I'll take "campus groups that are against all variety of fun and whose full sexual repertoire consists of date rape and guilty crying/masturbating to interracial cuck porn in the dark" for $500.

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    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Dickheads

     

     

    Gordon Ramsay Hot Ones GIF by First We Feast

    Underdog

    Posted

    12 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

     

     

     

    Temu Joe Piscopo… without the steroids. 

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    Brisketexan

    Posted

    Just now, Underdog said:

    Temu Joe Piscopo… without the steroids. 

    If this isn't his campaign slogan, I don't want to live on this planet anymore:

    s-l400.png

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    Underdog

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    guilty crying/masturbating to interracial cuck porn in the dark"

    Let us not be too quick to judge others here on the Surl. 

    • Like 2
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    If this isn't his campaign slogan, I don't want to live on this planet anymore:

    s-l400.png

     

    drug testing should be mandatory 

    Nice Guy Eddie

    Posted

    19 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    this shit still.... SLAPS. watch this, you're gonna love my nuts

     

    Based on the world post-Trump, there is non-zero chance this guy is our future President. He has the gift of gab, and the Right could be convinced of anyone if the candidate falsely embraces Christianity and promises to punish others.

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    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Based on the world post-Trump, there is non-zero chance this guy is our future President. He has the gift of gab, and the Right could be convinced of anyone if the candidate falsely embraces Christianity and promises to punish others.

    All hail the nuts! Watch them!

    Valmy77

    Posted

    North of Austin? 

    Which Republican is he trying to unseat?

    Bozo_Casanova

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

    North of Austin? 

    Which Republican is he trying to unseat?

    Carter.

    Valmy77

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Carter.

    Damnit. Would it be better to have a conventionally worthless and incompetent rep or an actively insane one? I guess I should remember the law of Texas politics: it only ever gets worse.

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    Brisketexan

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Carter.

    To tell you how long that fucker has been around, I had my worst performance ever at a hearing in front of him as a judge as like a 3rd year lawyer (I stepped on my own dick for the entire hearing till I kinda saved a bit of it with a good closing).  And I've been practicing law for three fucking decades now.  Jesus, these fuckers just camp in the capitol now.

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    Valmy77

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    To tell you how long that fucker has been around, I had my worst performance ever at a hearing in front of him as a judge as like a 3rd year lawyer (I stepped on my own dick for the entire hearing till I kinda saved a bit of it with a good closing).  And I've been practicing law for three fucking decades now.  Jesus, these fuckers just camp in the capitol now.

    It is bizarre how unassailable he is in this district. For no reason at all. He does absolutely nothing and worse never even says anything or pretends to care about anything. All he does is put out a few 'John Carter' signs around election day and that is all it takes. The generally apathy and complacency of the voters is...frustrating. At least find somebody who gives a crap about central Texas.

    Some nutball Hollywood rapist who is just carpetbagging in to grift a few billion sure as fuck isn't going to care.

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    Cruz in Aledo

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Based on the world post-Trump, there is non-zero chance this guy is our future President. He has the gift of gab, and the Right could be convinced of anyone if the candidate falsely embraces Christianity and promises to punish others.

    I wonder when FitLump will reach out to him, or if she’s already been fucking him. 

    Bozo_Casanova

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

    Damnit. Would it be better to have a conventionally worthless and incompetent rep or an actively insane one? I guess I should remember the law of Texas politics: it only ever gets worse.

    Carter is like Temu Roger Williams

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    Valmy77

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Carter is like Temu Roger Williams

    Yep.

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    Just now, Valmy77 said:

    It is bizarre how unassailable he is in this district. For no reason at all. He does absolutely nothing and worse never even says anything or pretends to care about anything.

    I talked to him at a small presentation a few years back, and all he wanted to tout was his fun "cross-examination" of some witness for the MPAA appearing in front of some lame-ass committee.  And while the story was amusing, I found myself thinking "jesus, what an incredible waste of time and a position."  It sure seems like the sole reason he holds the office is so that when he makes a dinner reservation, he can say it's for "CONGRESSMAN John Carter."  

    • Like 1
    South Austin

    Posted

    24 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    It sure seems like the sole reason he holds the office is so that when he makes a dinner reservation, he can say it's for "CONGRESSMAN John Carter."  

    I just say it's for Abe Froman.  

    • Like 2
    Pato del Muerto

    Posted

    I do enjoy how word has been out for some time now that moving to Texas, affecting some sort of stereotypical Texan identity, and running for a random Congress seat is a good way to start your political career because it works so often. 

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    atomheartbevo

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    I do enjoy how word has been out for some time now that moving to Texas, affecting some sort of stereotypical Texan identity, and running for a random Congress seat is a good way to start your political career because it works so often. 

    What if I told you that Carter cared more about other planets…

    John_carter_of_mars_burroughs_cover.jpg
     

    And even had a family there

    Martian_Family_of_John_Carter_from_Edgar

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    Pato del Muerto

    Posted

    55 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    What if I told you that Carter cared more about other planets…

    John_carter_of_mars_burroughs_cover.jpg
     

    And even had a family there

    Martian_Family_of_John_Carter_from_Edgar

    This should be brought to trump’s attention immediately. 

    atomheartbevo

    Posted

    29 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    This should be brought to trump’s attention immediately. 

    “You know, giant strapping young men come up to me and they say “President Trump, why do they call you President, they should call you Warlord of America” and you know, they have tears in their eyes when they say it. And they tell me there is a warlord on Mars and I tell them “no, Leon has a lot of ideas, but he hasn’t gotten there yet.””

    HRSchenker

    Posted

    6 hours ago, South Austin said:

    I can't speak as intelligently on the THC debate, other than my continued view that our state leadership sucks donkey taint.

    But I do have personal experience with synthetically produced narcotics, namely Delta 9 and most recently, Kratom.  Not to hijack a thread with family trauma, but last year my stepson went into rehab after a Delta 9 addiction helped throw him off the rails his first year of college.  My wife and I read up on synthetic Delta 9, which for some kids with ADHD (like him) and other related mental developmental disorders, it can really fuck up your brain wiring in a way that natural pot does not.  And most recently, he relapsed with Kratom.  And what's the similarity with the two?  He was able to freely buy both in most convenience stores in town.  While Kratom, like THC, is a naturally-occurring plant, its synthetic derivatives can produce symptoms and resulting addiction very similar to opioids.  It's just bad bad shit, and reports of overdosing on Kratom are growing.  While my stepson has some personal accountability in all this, I have growing anger over the fact that stores can legally peddle this crap to 18-year-olds.  

    So as much as Dan Patrick's THC crusade may have been yet another annoying waste of time our MAGA controlled state government, I'm increasingly in favor of laws to curb or ban over-the-counter sales of this synthetic bullshit.

    tl;dr - Dan Patrick and Kratom can both get fucked.

    Do you mean delta 8? Delta 9 is the actual THC chemical defined by law as marijuana. 

    • Like 1
    scramblyn

    Posted

    12 hours ago, South Austin said:

    I can't speak as intelligently on the THC debate, other than my continued view that our state leadership sucks donkey taint.

    But I do have personal experience with synthetically produced narcotics, namely Delta 9 and most recently, Kratom.  Not to hijack a thread with family trauma, but last year my stepson went into rehab after a Delta 9 addiction helped throw him off the rails his first year of college.  My wife and I read up on synthetic Delta 9, which for some kids with ADHD (like him) and other related mental developmental disorders, it can really fuck up your brain wiring in a way that natural pot does not.  And most recently, he relapsed with Kratom.  And what's the similarity with the two?  He was able to freely buy both in most convenience stores in town.  While Kratom, like THC, is a naturally-occurring plant, its synthetic derivatives can produce symptoms and resulting addiction very similar to opioids.  It's just bad bad shit, and reports of overdosing on Kratom are growing.  While my stepson has some personal accountability in all this, I have growing anger over the fact that stores can legally peddle this crap to 18-year-olds.  

    So as much as Dan Patrick's THC crusade may have been yet another annoying waste of time our MAGA controlled state government, I'm increasingly in favor of laws to curb or ban over-the-counter sales of this synthetic bullshit.

    tl;dr - Dan Patrick and Kratom can both get fucked.

    Kratom is so bad.  I only found out about it researching natural remedies for some serious health issues to support traditional medicine, cbd, pure kava, valerian root were all very useful but adjacent to them is kratom and whoa I found a whole world of folks who’s lives have been destroyed by it. I immediately told my kids about it and how to read labels more carefully. I’m really sorry for your family’s troubles. 

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    Anastasis

    Posted

    Kratom and delta 8/9 are totally different discussion topics. But at least we have brisket here to divert to cuck porn.  

    South Austin

    Posted

    11 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

    Do you mean delta 8? Delta 9 is the actual THC chemical defined by law as marijuana. 

    Yes, I meant the synthetic version.

    Biff Tannen

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

    For those wondering whether our Great State was at risk of losing its position on the vanguard of modern stupidity, fear not: Texas is the first state to buy crypto

    We deserve everything that is coming.

    • Like 5
    scottsins

    Posted

    Kratom and delta 8/9 are totally different discussion topics. But at least we have brisket here to divert to cuck porn.  

    When I hear synthetic Delta-9, I think of K-2/Spice which is terrible shit.
    atomheartbevo

    Posted

    7 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

    For those wondering whether our Great State was at risk of losing its position on the vanguard of modern stupidity, fear not: Texas is the first state to buy crypto

    They are going to fuck over Texans to cover any losses.

    This state is just so fucking stupid.

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