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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.

 

 

User Feedback

Recommended Comments

Biff Tannen

Burnt Ends
6 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

What could possibly go wrong?

 

 

Holy shit

Biff Tannen

Burnt Ends

Don’t worry. Our almost 70 year old Agricultural Commissioner says it’s ok because of the AI. 
 

Quote

Miller said technological advancements are bringing the state closer to being able to fully clean and reuse produced water. “I don’t know that we’re all the way there yet, but with the technology and AI and everything that we’ve got available to us now, we’re in the technology age, so it’s certainly doable and it’s, you know, probably doable pretty quick, I would think.”

 

Pato del Muerto

Certifiably Surly

In the name of recycling/reusing, I’d love to be able to clean up dirty water and use it for other purposes. It’s valuable.  And I’m sure the technology is available, but like desalination is too expensive to be profitable. So my guess is they’ll be setting cleanliness standards that the o&g boys choose based on cost, and the water won’t be very clean. 

Sawbonz

Certifiably Surly
On 6/3/2025 at 3:55 PM, StassneyHorn said:

36 and been posting since 04

image.gif.86d940c2bff4fcd2e20eb9b9747c5788.gif

MissingInAction

Certifiably Surly
(edited)
46 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

giphy.gif

Post of the monh. Its just so fucking perfect.

Will we at least get labels on our produce  telling us what it was watered with?

Meh, back to my morning bowl of paint chips.

Edited by MissingInAction

wildcat09

Full Members

It sure seems at this point that the Texas government is intentionally trying to kill us. 

Willfully Horn

Certifiably Surly
(edited)

Way back when, our CSA contract was with Carlos and Suzanne Santos, and their farm in Kyle. On one of my trips there, during the flow of a typical conversation, Suzanne told me I didn’t have to spend extra on organic milk, that HEB brand milk was equally organic, and that HEB had made the decision too not label their milk as organic. I had no reason to doubt her. You can’t make more money selling organic stuff if you are all in on selling as much stuff as possible, and selling HEB milk as organic at a lower price (to sell as much as possible) would kill that higher priced niche.

Suzanne later started and managed the Austin Farmer’s market.

All that to say, I have trusted HEB for forty years. But Republicans are so malevolently corrupt, they have given me reason to be start being suspicious of the food sold at HEB.

Edited by Willfully Horn

crash_davis

Legacy Members
(edited)

What an absolute piece of shit little bitch of a man. Tim O'Hare, Tarrant County Judge

edit: it gets better. He's a Texas alum.

 

Edited by crash_davis

Hugo Stiglitz

Legacy Members

Somebody’s gotta go back and get a shitload of dimes

Blotto

Certifiably Surly
39 minutes ago, speed817 said:

Should get all those guys that ICE is picking up to work on this wall.....

hell....make 'em pay for it while we're at it. 

Nice Guy Eddie

Certifiably Surly
On 6/16/2025 at 10:00 PM, wild_turkey said:


https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/abbott-signs-law-permitting-use-of-fracking-wastewater/287-89df9861-29c7-4faa-b658-d651f94013ae

So basically the TCEQ will be responsible for monitoring that the fracking water meets certain safety standards, and we just have to trust that this process is sound and that no one will cut corners or turn a blind eye, because oil companies and our state government have a long history of caring about public health and putting the public’s best interests ahead of profits.

And HB 49 apparently protects the oil companies, landowners, and water treatment companies in the event the water causes harm.

I also bet that the Texas Lege will eventually pass a law to prevent any restaurant/grocery store in providing information whether any food product is tied to fracking wastewater. This could be Dan Goeb's senate bill 1 in the next go-round.

bolverk

Legacy Members
7 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I also bet that the Texas Lege will eventually pass a law to prevent any restaurant/grocery store in providing information whether any food product is tied to fracking wastewater. This could be Dan Goeb's senate bill 1 in the next go-round.

Thanks for putting that out there in the universe, you twisted asshole. 

Longhorn_Fan68

Certifiably Surly
14 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Is this their photo op stage?

that's art. don't you like art?

sidis

Burnt Ends
(edited)
On 6/16/2025 at 10:26 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

In the name of recycling/reusing, I’d love to be able to clean up dirty water and use it for other purposes. It’s valuable.  And I’m sure the technology is available, but like desalination is too expensive to be profitable. So my guess is they’ll be setting cleanliness standards that the o&g boys choose based on cost, and the water won’t be very clean. 

It’s actually not available. Even when the expense was put forth. I was significantly involved in litigation between Antero and a French company called Veolia that spent a quarter billion building a “state of the art” facility in West Virginia called Clearwater to try and clean up all the saltwater typically disposed in disposal wells in Marcellus. The idea was to stop injecting and instead create river quality water. They spent a ton of money and then spent a ton more money…and then a ton more trying to make it work. It ultimately led to them just having to buy up the global supply of fly ash because the shit didn’t work. And even then they had to transport all the radioactive shit coming off the water (to Texas by the way). 

they put the money in, hired the global leading firm to build it for them, and it did not even come close to working. 

we are still not able to technologically achieve the processing of SWD water into river quality water. This bill is utterly fucking insane and will absolute make some lawyers rich after some people die. 

edit: if you want to read about it, long story here (as someone more than intimately familiar with the facts and issues of the case, I’d say this article gets it about 95% right which isn’t bad for these type of advocacy websites):

https://www.desmog.com/2023/09/19/radioactive-fracking-waste-west-virginia-veolia-antero-clearwater/

Edited by sidis

Blotto

Certifiably Surly

It is what it is. Cant really stop nobody from doing something. Especially a super star ....

 

White Guy Blinking GIFs | Tenor

Ghost of NMAS

Certifiably Surly

If this were Florida, people could have run them over

MissingInAction

Certifiably Surly

I'm just glad i have no idea what a shaboozey is.

 

Pescado_Rojo

Certifiably Surly
8 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I'm just glad i have no idea what a shaboozey is.

 

You do, but I'm not going to put that awful ear worm in anyone's head. 

royiv

Legacy Members
15 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I'm just glad i have no idea what a shaboozey is.

 

Are you at the bar getting tipsy?

MissingInAction

Certifiably Surly
1 minute ago, royiv said:

Are you at the bar getting tipsy?

I wish. Cant be in public until my wbc is normal next week.

royiv

Legacy Members
1 minute ago, MissingInAction said:

I wish. Cant be in public until my wbc is normal next week.

There’s a party downtown near 5th Street.

HenryJames

Certifiably Surly
21 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I'm just glad i have no idea what a shaboozey is.

 

image.jpeg.110ade61029b6dc4e76f6c8d0ac309ef.jpeg

HenryJames

Certifiably Surly

 

Chad Fuck

Legacy Members
Should get all those guys that ICE is picking up to work on this wall.....

They’d get it fucking done, that’s for sure.

crash_davis

Legacy Members
11 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

Great thing Mexico paid for it....

Nice Guy Eddie

Certifiably Surly

Sorry if I'm slow with my thoughts, but I'm going to assume that a law allowing wastewater to be reused is not really about finding a reuse of the water or frankly even disposing of it. If O&G can "safely" reuse wastewater for agriculture, then why not allow them more access to more groundwater. They'll return x% of it back to the river or agriculture canals at a later date. Let's face it, O&G wants 100% of Texas water so they need to identify how to sell that argument. 

In a way, it reminds me how the chemical industry came up with the idea of plastic recycling. Not because they wanted to reduce landfill waste or that they wanted to buy recycled plastic. They wanted to shift the blame of plastic waste in our environment away from them. Chemical companies aren't the bad guy, it's your neighbor who refuses to separate their trash. This gives the chemical companies more of a market because the consumer doesn't feel bad about choosing plastic.

tx 3 putt

Legacy Members
(edited)

that waste water it's being sold back, not given back 

Edited by tx 3 putt

Bozo_Casanova

Legacy Members

Still waiting for action on SB3. My prediction is that he doesn’t sign it, allows it to pass into law, and then calls a special session to “fix it” before it takes effect

SimonBolivar

Certifiably Surly
4 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Still waiting for action on SB3. My prediction is that he doesn’t sign it, allows it to pass into law, and then calls a special session to “fix it” before it takes effect

I bet he doesn't sign it in the next hour and then just washes his hands of it and say its Dan's fault if needed.

Anastasis

Certifiably Surly

What am I gonna do with this stock pile of gummies now?

Evil Bill Obrien

Full Members
1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

What am I gonna do with this stock pile of gummies now?

That 70S Show Reaction GIF

RPM

Certifiably Surly

 

BearSchlong

Legacy Members
What am I gonna do with this stock pile of gummies now?

Wait, you're not completely out by now? Color me impressed. I'll never underestimate you again.

Homercles

Certifiably Surly
(edited)

So…yesterday wake-up to see we may be at war with Iran (currently in the UK).  Today wake-up up to Abbott being sensible to kill SB3.  Welcome back to 2025.  
 

Gov statement, special session to apply common reasonable regulation (absolutely want child resistant packaging because even if we keep ours in a lockbox, many don’t)


https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/VETO_proclamation_SB_3_IMAGE_2025-06-22.pdf

Assume Abbott did this for his own political play as a Pub prez candidate, to extract money from the industry, or just put Patrick in his place as a preemptive maneuver.  Regardless of reasons:

image.jpeg.57db7b5ac38fe37ae280bc174cf20da6.jpeg

Edited by Homercles

Evil Bill Obrien

Full Members

Pretty interested to find out what the real reasons are that Abbott vetoed SB3 because the stated legality issues/because it was the right thing to do just don’t seem like something he would go to absolute war with Lt Dan over… gotta be more to the story

cactusflinthead

Burnt Ends

“Texas must enact a regulatory framework that protects public safety, aligns with federal law, has a fully funded enforcement structure and can take effect without delay,” Abbott said.

In a statement explaining his veto, Abbott argued that SB 3 would not have survived “valid constitutional challenges,” and that the bill’s total ban “puts federal and state law on a collision course,” noting that the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp products.

“Allowing Senate Bill 3 to become law — knowing that it faces a lengthy battle that will render it dead on arrival in court — would hinder rather than help us solve the public safety issues this bill seeks to contain,” Abbott said. “The current market is dangerously under-regulated, and children are paying the price. If Senate Bill 3 is swiftly enjoined by a court, our children will be no safer than if no law was passed, and the problems will only grow."

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-thc-ban-delta-8-9-vetoed-greg-abbott-special-session/287-cca31320-9394-470e-8e69-04477de760e6

 

tx ind

Legacy Members
1 hour ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Pretty interested to find out what the real reasons are that Abbott vetoed SB3 because the stated legality issues/because it was the right thing to do just don’t seem like something he would go to absolute war with Lt Dan over… gotta be more to the story

Real reason is even he thinks Dan Patrick is a clown

Bozo_Casanova

Legacy Members
1 hour ago, Homercles said:

Assume Abbott did this for his own political play as a Pub prez candidate

For the first time, we benefit from his delusional angling for a presidential run. 

Evil Bill Obrien

Full Members
19 minutes ago, tx ind said:

Real reason is even he thinks Dan Patrick is a clown

If this is true I may have to actually apologize for a small portion of the mean things I have said about Abbott...

small portion...
 

Larry T. Spider

Legacy Members
34 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

“Texas must enact a regulatory framework that protects public safety, aligns with federal law, has a fully funded enforcement structure and can take effect without delay,” Abbott said.

In a statement explaining his veto, Abbott argued that SB 3 would not have survived “valid constitutional challenges,” and that the bill’s total ban “puts federal and state law on a collision course,” noting that the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp products.

“Allowing Senate Bill 3 to become law — knowing that it faces a lengthy battle that will render it dead on arrival in court — would hinder rather than help us solve the public safety issues this bill seeks to contain,” Abbott said. “The current market is dangerously under-regulated, and children are paying the price. If Senate Bill 3 is swiftly enjoined by a court, our children will be no safer than if no law was passed, and the problems will only grow."

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-thc-ban-delta-8-9-vetoed-greg-abbott-special-session/287-cca31320-9394-470e-8e69-04477de760e6

 

You could make most of those same arguments against the 10 commandments law but here we are….

cactusflinthead

Burnt Ends
3 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

You could make most of those same arguments against the 10 commandments law but here we are….

He'll spend the money on that fight he's going to lose.

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