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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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    Redneck Mutha

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Clearly ABC news has made a mistake here and used a photo of the people in front of Enchiladas Y Mas on a Saturday Afternoon 

    Suspicious Monkey GIF by MOODMAN

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
    Sawbonz

    Posted (edited)

    On 10/4/2025 at 2:42 PM, TwiceHorn said:

    I will have you know that I am licensed to practice before the USPTO, which I am entitled to do in all 50 states.

    Oh yeah how about in admiralty court?

     

     

    dammit @Macanudo

    Edited by Sawbonz
    • Haha 1
    BrazilHorn

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

    Well on the bright side if Gov. Pritzker wants to pull an Abbott and have Illinois Guard troops monitor "invading forces" like Abbott did during Jade Helm in 2015 he won't have to send anyone who can move that quickly...

    https://www.texasobserver.org/how-greg-abbott-got-played-by-the-russians-during-his-jade-helm-freakout/

    Welp you know Anitfa will be able to outrun these dudes. Damn. I guess their leader didn't go to "Heggy-baby's" big meeting about fitness and standards.

    That pic is great. Looks like cosplayers

    kevwun

    Posted

    After unloading from that truck, they went to the first fast food place they encountered and all ordered a liter of cola.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    Evil Bill Obrien

    Posted

    Guess I better go take a good picture of the newly repainted Houston Pride Crosswalk (Installed and upkept with private funds) before Gov. Sitler and Mayor Shitmire have it removed
     

     

    • Rage+1 3
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

    Guess I better go take a good picture of the newly repainted Houston Pride Crosswalk (Installed and upkept with private funds) before Gov. Sitler and Mayor Shitmire have it removed
     

     

    image.thumb.png.d2b888aa0cfd99ced2b3fc0ec71ea723.png

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    • Like 2
    CooterBrown

    Posted

    Guess I better go take a good picture of the newly repainted Houston Pride Crosswalk (Installed and upkept with private funds) before Gov. Sitler and Mayor Shitmire have it removed
     
     

    Being gay is a political ideology? Isn’t he the dumbass that named I-35 in Austin, Trump Highway?
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    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

    Guess I better go take a good picture of the newly repainted Houston Pride Crosswalk (Installed and upkept with private funds) before Gov. Sitler and Mayor Shitmire have it removed
     

     

     

    gone ...

     

    fuggled

    Posted (edited)

    On 10/18/2024 at 7:03 PM, atomheartbevo said:

    He's gotten another stay.  There was actually a surprising story on NPR (KERA) yesterday about multiple Texas conservatives getting on Ken Paxton directly about this.  It was nice to hear some people say "as supporters of the death penalty, it's our obligation to make absolutely sure it's only applied when 100% justified."

    Quote

    Texas’ highest criminal court on Thursday blocked Robert Roberson’s execution a week before it was set to take place, sending his case back to trial court.

    Roberson was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki, who was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. He has maintained his innocence over more than 20 years on death row, with his attorneys arguing that the science behind Nikki’s shaken baby diagnosis no longer held up. He was scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16.

    After previously denying his recent appeals, largely on procedural grounds, the all-Republican Court of Criminal Appeals granted Roberson’s request for a stay of execution under Texas’ groundbreaking 2013 junk science law, which provides for a second look when the science driving a conviction has since been debunked. The law has never been successfully used to secure a new trial for a death row inmate, though Roberson could be the first if the trial court in Anderson County finds that the evidence warrants one.

    In its order, the Court of Criminal Appeals cited its decision last year to overturn a shaken baby conviction out of Dallas based on the evolving medical research of the diagnosis.

    https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/09/robert-roberson-execution-blocked-texas-court-of-criminal-appeals/

     

    Edit: here's the radio story from yesterday: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-10-07/gop-death-penalty-supporters-question-robert-robersons-execution

    Edited by fuggled
    • Hook 'Em 6
    atomheartbevo

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, fuggled said:

    He's gotten another stay.  There was actually a surprising story on NPR (KERA) yesterday about multiple Texas conservatives getting on Ken Paxton directly about this.  It was nice to hear some people say "as supporters of the death penalty, it's our obligation to make absolutely sure it's only applied when 100% justified."

    The only problem is they aren’t doing it out of the kindness of their heart, but because these kinds of cases can lead to the end of the death penalty.

    • Hook 'Em 2
    fuggled

    Posted

    Welp, mark this down as one more way we're falling behind Oklahoma

     

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Rage+1 1
    BrickHorn

    Posted (edited)

    1 minute ago, fuggled said:

    Welp, mark this down as one more way we're falling behind Oklahoma

    I’m unfortunately prepared to mark down yet another one on Saturday afternoon. 

    Edited by BrickHorn
    • Hook 'Em 1
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    • Rage+1 2
    Brisketexan

    Posted

    Welp, mark this down as one more way we're falling behind Oklahoma
     

    Oh, I don’t think there’s any argument at this point that Oklahoma is better-led than Texas. And Oklahoma is a fucking clown show.
    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Rage+1 1
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    beeville is at stage 4 drought. entire area will soon follow 

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Beeville has issued a Local State Disaster Declaration as water levels at Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir, the city’s main water sources, continue to fall amid worsening drought conditions.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    DigglerontheHoof

    Posted

    On 10/7/2025 at 3:52 PM, tx 3 putt said:

     

    Greg Abbott is sending the Texas National Guard to blue states to help capture the migrants he illegally bussed to those states. He's a twisted piece of shit 

    Is it too much to ask that he gets trucked and more broken by a 350 lb tackle crushing his crippled as while he's scuming up the Texas sidelines? 

    GreenspointTexas

    Posted

    16 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

    Is it too much to ask that he gets trucked and more broken by a 350 lb tackle crushing his crippled as while he's scuming up the Texas sidelines? 

    The Colin Simmons/Abbott video after the game is kinda sickening

    • Hook 'Em 1
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    4th&Five

    Posted

    22 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

    The Colin Simmons/Abbott video after the game is kinda sickening

    Wife just sent it to me. The keep politics out of sports crowd sure is selective. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
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    MissingInAction

    Posted

    On 10/8/2025 at 1:44 PM, kevwun said:

    After unloading from that truck, they went to the first fast food place they encountered and all ordered a liter of cola.

    Fuck It Super Troopers GIF by Searchlight Pictures

    • Haha 1
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    abbott is not going to like this ...

    image.thumb.png.9f1f978e74f08b650c123e0213206652.png

    • Hook 'Em 4
    • Like 2
    Ghost of NMAS

    Posted

    Troops will be sent in to break up this violent Antifa riot

    • Rage+1 1
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Ghost of NMAS said:

    Troops will be sent in to break up this violent Antifa riot

     

    lot of people about to be shocked over being arrested 

    Biff Tannen

    Posted

    Well that was today so…

    • Haha 2
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    glad it was peaceful 




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