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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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MissingInAction

Certifiably Surly
15 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Not me.  I'm white.

aya cash gretchen cutler GIF by You're The Worst

Nice Guy Eddie

Certifiably Surly
1 hour ago, Willfully Horn said:

It’s been almost twenty years since a teacher in Texas was fired after bringing students to a museum where there were image of nude humans. Now, Republicans are targeting the museums? Fucking hell.

All while bending over to obscene wealth.

What could possibly go wrong if someone in a tiny, church-heavy town hears about "obscene" art 100s of miles away in Houston or Dallas so the museum needs to be punished.

Evil Bill Obrien

Full Members

Saw this yesterday:

 

IMG_1573.thumb.jpeg.dd75acc0d0a407fcd7d31f0ab3c98968.jpeg

weird thing for the Lt Gov of a “pro business” state to be bragging about, bullying a private company into pulling products off the shelves because of a potiental ban… but whatever I guess

so of course first thing I did after work was go to Specs…

 

IMG_1564.thumb.jpeg.2f4e9c0dfb77966fae3b276447bf481a.jpeg

 

Dr House Oops GIF
 

guessing they might not order any more stock but choosing to believe for now Specs just told Danny Goeb what he wanted to hear…

Brisketexan

Legacy Members
Just now, elfenix said:

And as all state workers are being ordered to come back to the office....where there is not even parking for all of those people (because TXDOT has had some workers working remotely for YEARS): https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/txdot-parking-austin-return-to-office-abbott-state-workers/269-dd7fbbb0-ed93-4233-8431-01f716c0980c

Captainant

Burnt Ends
11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

And as all state workers are being ordered to come back to the office....where there is not even parking for all of those people (because TXDOT has had some workers working remotely for YEARS): https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/txdot-parking-austin-return-to-office-abbott-state-workers/269-dd7fbbb0-ed93-4233-8431-01f716c0980c

"During planning for the site, TxDOT cited the ability for employees to work remotely as a reason to scale back plans for more parking."

Stick Around Bob Ross GIF by Originals

Pato del Muerto

Certifiably Surly
On 4/4/2025 at 8:20 AM, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Saw this yesterday:

 

IMG_1573.thumb.jpeg.dd75acc0d0a407fcd7d31f0ab3c98968.jpeg

weird thing for the Lt Gov of a “pro business” state to be bragging about, bullying a private company into pulling products off the shelves because of a potiental ban… but whatever I guess

so of course first thing I did after work was go to Specs…

 

IMG_1564.thumb.jpeg.2f4e9c0dfb77966fae3b276447bf481a.jpeg

 

Dr House Oops GIF
 

guessing they might not order any more stock but choosing to believe for now Specs just told Danny Goeb what he wanted to hear…

Well, at least nicotine products in all their forms are still widely available since they’re so much less dangerous than thc. 

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members
On 4/4/2025 at 10:20 AM, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Saw this yesterday:

 

IMG_1573.thumb.jpeg.dd75acc0d0a407fcd7d31f0ab3c98968.jpeg

weird thing for the Lt Gov of a “pro business” state to be bragging about, bullying a private company into pulling products off the shelves because of a potiental ban… but whatever I guess

so of course first thing I did after work was go to Specs…

 

IMG_1564.thumb.jpeg.2f4e9c0dfb77966fae3b276447bf481a.jpeg

 

Dr House Oops GIF
 

guessing they might not order any more stock but choosing to believe for now Specs just told Danny Goeb what he wanted to hear…

 

fuck spec's , it sucks

GreenspointTexas

Certifiably Surly

Banning lgbtq flags in schools because it “disrupts learning.”

sidis

Burnt Ends
11 minutes ago, C-Man said:

A Vibrator, Huh? Let's See Your ID.

Sen. Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton's wife, continues the Republican war against masturbation.

https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-lawmaker-wants-women-to-show-id-to-buy-sex-toys-22038057

surprising that a woman who was so publicly humiliated by her husband openly fucking around on her that they had to do a backroom deal to not let the mistress testify in his senate trial would want to keep other women from being able to have normal, healthy lives.

bolverk

Legacy Members
13 minutes ago, sidis said:

surprising that a woman who was so publicly humiliated by her husband openly fucking around on her that they had to do a backroom deal to not let the mistress testify in his senate trial would want to keep other women from being able to have normal, healthy lives.

So much of social conservatism is rooted in self-loathing.

Willfully Horn

Certifiably Surly

My wife is apoplectic. Tonight is the third night in a row Spectrum has engaged the emergency broadcast system almost the entire PBS News Hour. No broadcast audio, just the emergency alarm and the emergency message. Over and over. For an hour(?). (I don’t know, I’m just reporting what she says. I like to be in the studio after dinner). But, what she is apoplectic about is these Spectrum carpetbagging SPUTUMSUCKERS also ran the emergency broadcast inTo the ACL Celebrates 50 Years special.

YMMV. We live within pissing distance of Hays City, West of Buda. 

Satchel

Legacy Members
11 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/texas-senate-bill-37-governing-boards-faculty-senates/

Texas senators could vote this week on a bill that would drastically limit how the state's public universities teach students about history, race and inequality.

Senate Bill 37 would allow anyone to file complaints that could lead schools to lose funds.

 

Season 1 Lol GIF by NBC

 

 

texas universities will never be the same 

The bill does not say who gets to decide if the teaching is accurate or factual. That could be a problem.

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members
27 minutes ago, Satchel said:

The bill does not say who gets to decide if the teaching is accurate or factual. That could be a problem.

 

i believe, abbott's appointed board will have a sub board to review complaints that anyone can submit 

Ghost of NMAS

Certifiably Surly

Can we start filing complaints against Aggie yet?

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members
29 minutes ago, Ghost of NMAS said:

Can we start filing complaints against Aggie yet?

 

can sheep send emails ?

RDCanecutter

Certifiably Surly
On 4/8/2025 at 10:01 AM, GreenspointTexas said:

Banning lgbtq flags in schools because it “disrupts learning.”

At least 1/3 of my teachers in grades 7-12 disrupted learning. Luckily I was able to tune them out with library books.

Captainant

Burnt Ends
14 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

My wife is apoplectic. Tonight is the third night in a row Spectrum has engaged the emergency broadcast system almost the entire PBS News Hour. No broadcast audio, just the emergency alarm and the emergency message. Over and over. For an hour(?). (I don’t know, I’m just reporting what she says. I like to be in the studio after dinner). But, what she is apoplectic about is these Spectrum carpetbagging SPUTUMSUCKERS also ran the emergency broadcast inTo the ACL Celebrates 50 Years special.

YMMV. We live within pissing distance of Hays City, West of Buda. 

bro do you even antenna over-the-air?

sasquatch69

Legacy Members

This is interesting. 👀  The Quorum Report is well-sourced and pretty reliable (although I really wish they'd update their 1998-era website layout).

Quote

Some House Republicans support putting vouchers on the ballot this fall. QR has learned there may be as many as 85 R and D votes in the House for that; Abbott is privately telling members such a move would be unconstitutional, per sources. But there is precedent for it

Despite his public insistence that there are enough votes in the Texas House to pass “school choice,” Republican sources on Monday indicated Gov. Greg Abbott is privately furious with some GOP lawmakers who want to make changes to his signature initiative.

Those possible changes include a provision that, if adopted, could trigger a statewide vote of Texans on the issue of school vouchers. There’s also been more grumbling in the past couple weeks – even from some House GOP supporters of the voucher plan – who are argue this entire process so far should have been handled in a much more transparent way.

https://quorumreport.com/

sasquatch69

Legacy Members
On 4/10/2025 at 9:57 PM, Willfully Horn said:

My wife is apoplectic. Tonight is the third night in a row Spectrum has engaged the emergency broadcast system almost the entire PBS News Hour. No broadcast audio, just the emergency alarm and the emergency message. Over and over. For an hour(?). (I don’t know, I’m just reporting what she says. I like to be in the studio after dinner). But, what she is apoplectic about is these Spectrum carpetbagging SPUTUMSUCKERS also ran the emergency broadcast inTo the ACL Celebrates 50 Years special.

YMMV. We live within pissing distance of Hays City, West of Buda. 

Just now seeing this, but NewsHour streams each show live and keeps them available on-demand afterwards. https://www.youtube.com/@PBSNewsHour

Anastasis

Certifiably Surly
On 4/10/2025 at 9:57 PM, Willfully Horn said:

My wife is apoplectic. Tonight is the third night in a row Spectrum has engaged the emergency broadcast system almost the entire PBS News Hour.

Shit man, we all have problems. Sorry that this one is yours. 

LurkingHorn

Legacy Members
11 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

This is interesting. 👀  The Quorum Report is well-sourced and pretty reliable (although I really wish they'd update their 1998-era website layout).

https://quorumreport.com/

I've never heard of the Quruom Report, but if that's true, you have to think these reps are hearing it from their constituents and getting queezy. 

wildcat09

Full Members
On 4/8/2025 at 10:15 AM, bolverk said:

So much of social conservatism is rooted in self-loathing.

That’s funny.  None of the conservative posters we typically see around here seem to have any issues.

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members
14 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

This is interesting. 👀  The Quorum Report is well-sourced and pretty reliable (although I really wish they'd update their 1998-era website layout).

https://quorumreport.com/

 

abbott would never let this happen 

Updawg

Legacy Members
 
abbott would never let this happen 

Time to punish public schools

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members
3 minutes ago, Updawg said:


Time to punish public schools

bunch of lazy libs !!!

Valmy77

Full Members

Well why would Abbott fear having his wonderful proposal put before the people? Surely we would all line up to vote for it?

ChuckNorrisActionJeans

Certifiably Surly

Right... his stupid Facebook posts constantly crow about how Texans want vouchers. Put up or shut up! 

elfenix

Certifiably Surly
Quote

In July 2022, Lauralei Crouch searched the Internet for advice on how to report child abuse.

 

Her inquiries were not academic: Prosecutors say Crouch had for weeks been watching her boyfriend pummel his 2-year-old son, Wyatt, slapping and flinging him into tables and door jambs as punishment.

 

But Crouch never made that call. Later that month, Randall Pickett, 29, beat Wyatt so viciously that Crouch told police the boy appeared drunk. Rather than calling police or rendering aid, Crouch beat the toddler herself.

 

Horrible, awful story 

 

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-child-endangerment-dangerous-homes-safety-services-removal/

South Austin

Certifiably Surly
On 4/10/2025 at 9:57 PM, Willfully Horn said:

My wife is apoplectic. Tonight is the third night in a row Spectrum has engaged the emergency broadcast system almost the entire PBS News Hour. No broadcast audio, just the emergency alarm and the emergency message.

I can come over tonight to fix that for your wife.

spacer.png

Brisketexan

Legacy Members
1 minute ago, Sbbruin said:

Makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

You sound like a socialist.

The dead kids are what tells us the freedom is working.

sddefault.jpg

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members

4 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

Well why would Abbott fear having his wonderful proposal put before the people? Surely we would all line up to vote for it?

 

abbott is extremely modest and winning this vote 80/20 would just be too embarrassing for him 

RPM

Certifiably Surly
(edited)

Andy Hopper is dumber than a box of rocks, so of course he represents Wise County. He was trying to defund UT. Fortunately, Lauren Ashley Simmons was there. 

Andy, that's not true.

 

Edited by RPM

Valmy77

Full Members

Yes. Now we have to defend funding the UT system in the Lege.

The clown show gets more moronic every session.

Jive Turkey

Burnt Ends

Trump called in to rally the troops ahead of the vote on vouchers.

 

RPM

Certifiably Surly

tumblr_mvzl95sAid1s2gg27o1_400.gif

bluto

Certifiably Surly
(edited)

Scratch that, just the funding bill I guess passed 144-4. Voucher still to come. 

Edited by bluto

bluto

Certifiably Surly
(edited)

Amendment to put voucher up for statewide vote goes down in flames, 84 voted against it. All over but the crying and talarico (wasting everybody’s time) making them look foolish. 
 

will the dems have the balls to go nuclear the rest of this session

Edited by bluto

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