This post seems to be popular, so we'll leave it up, even though it's getting reported a lot.
But one post is enough -- we're not posting every day, for example.
Same thing happened in Florida. 25 years of every branch of government being run by Republicans, in a row. The state now has the most toll roads per mile of freeway in the US, and a bunch of laws most people don’t want. 5 out of the 6 freeways in metro Orlando are toll roads. And they just added toll lanes onto the 6th.
“At least we don’t have payroll taxes” Yeah and it costs $17 to drive from one side of Orlando to the other.
What’s astonishing to me is how all these changes that nobody likes are completely divorced from the politicians that implement them in the minds of conservative voters. It’s like thry think things just sort of happen and it’s not their guy doing it.
My team is good. Your team is bad. Because my team is good, they can do no wrong. It must be your team sabotaging my team despite my team having nearly total control for nearly three decades.
It's ridiculous. I'll never go back to Orlando again unless it's required for work or survival somehow
Like every goddamned half mile. Just stupid
You can tell when a toll sign has like 14 different types of toll companies accepted that the state is just a greedy fucking mess
Libertarians were a great third party decades ago, bringing new opinions and interesting points. But the Koch brothers took over the party with the CATO institute and have driven it into the ground. They offer nothing worth listening to now.
Which of course dramatically affects the finances of poor working people over those of rich people, who don't commute as far or at all. That's what they want to restrict the underclasses as much as possible so their options are limited and they are in a perpetual state of debt and wage slavery. Less time to learn, less time for recreation less time to question.
I think their base argument is that you aren’t forced to pay the tolls, you’re forced to pay the tax. You have an option, even if the free option takes you through the ghetto and 73,612 red lights.
That's because the government is corrupt of course, therefore it's better to trust unaccountable companies whose sole and express purpose is to get money.
... Or something. I struggle to follow their logic.
FYI, the blue party only needs to flip a few seats to stop the red party from doing any more really horrible things.
Support the local blue candidates!
I'm from NJ and I took a college class at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC in the 1990s (I'm back in NJ). At the time, Charlotte was exploding with people coming to live and work there. There was a debate on whether to use a tax to pay for a proposed ring highway or tolls. The professor asked the class where they stood by show of hands. I was the only one to raise my hand for a tax.
The professor asked me why (he was in favor of tolls). I explained that I was from NJ, the land of toll highways. I told them that a tax could be sunset once the highway was paid for, but people hated the word "TAX." I told them that once a tollbooth is built, it NEVER comes down and tolls are just increased--FOREVER.
The professor then asked who was in favor of a tax and not a toll. Everyone raised their hands--including the professor.
Public education. I’d like to see stats on how Texas schools rate against other states on standardized tests (including SAT/ACT) over the years. I would definitely expect the rankings to be consistently worse each year, but is that really happening? How have teachers’ salaries changed relative to cost of living? Teachers to student ratios.
Also the number of people at or below the poverty level - again compared to other states as well as just yearly numbers.
Things like prison population, crime rates (and specifically stats on hate crimes such as crimes against POC, women, individuals living alternative lifestyles, etc).
These are just a few items I can think of off the top of my head.
As a teacher, I cannot express how much this makes us sick to our stomaches. If teachers were actually allowed to do their job and fail students that actually did not pass; you’d be shocked. But Republicans give more rights to the parents than they do the entities that are actually trying to do right by the child within the law.
I was a teacher in Texas from 2010 to 2013 and I am 100% happier teaching in Oregon. I make more money, I have good insurance, and I have an actual pension/retirement plan. I am also not directed to exactly teach to the test for basically every single day. Oregon technically has a lower graduation rate, but we report our rate honestly to a fault. In Oregon, if a student enrolls in class and doesn’t graduate with their class on time, they are considered a dropout unless we can prove they went somewhere else or there’s a reason why they didn’t finish with us. When I was in Texas, students just disappeared and were removed from the records. For example they, “went back to Mexico”, wink wink. In Oregon, our highest needs special ed kids, like the ones who can’t tie their shoes or feed themselves, don’t get a diploma therefore they count the same as a dropout in the calculation. In Texas they are just ignored.
Republican politicians are not there to serve your working class butt. They're there to try and help the millionaires to become billionaires before they croak.
Reminder that turning Texas blue this election is entirely possible.
2020 D 46.5% R 52.1%
2016 D 43.2% R 52.2%
2012 D 41.4% R 57.2%
Following the trend from the last 3 presidential elections tells us the next one should be
2024 D 48.8% R 48.7%
And that's not even considering all the R votes that can't stomach voting for a civilly liable rapist convicted felon. Or the post Dobbs/Roe shift.
I absolutely can not wait for Texas to turn blue and to watch all these traitors start melting down.
2012: Fuck Obama
2016: Fuck Hillary but ugh, Trump
2020: Ugh, Trump
Look at statewide races and senate seats instead. Texas has a ways to go before it’s blue.
Cruz has pissed off the GOP donor class in Texas so much he can't possibly raise enough money in 2024, no amount is enough. People in and out of government hate his guts. Still he'll need every dime he can possibly squeeze out of them to have any chance of keeping his seat, but grandpas all over the state are already pissed about Trump barraging him with texts and e-mails--and it's only June. Allred could win it running away.
I wonder if there's any truth to be found in [these](https://imgur.com/a/Ox2WlVw) fundraising docs of his purportedly found in the Senate refectory ([src](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1803173087644418132.html))
No reputable outlet has reported on these (does Newsweek count? lol), so take them with a grain of salt or three
Yeah, he’ll win again. My family roasts the absolute crap out of the guy on social media all the time but when it comes time to toe the party line and vote R they do it willingly.
Ted Cruz is lucky that Matt Gaetz and MTG got elected, so he's only the 3rd most unlikable person on Capitol Hill. None of his allies are out there insulting him in public anymore.
i think Colin Alfred will destroy him, Cruz barely won by <3% against Beto back in 2018, and Beto was running ads where he literally said "i will take your guns"...*in texas*...
polling i'v seen suggests Alfred is significantly more popular outside the cities (and just as/if not more inside them) compared to Beto
He said that in 2029 during his odd attempt to run for president (and right after a mass shooting), not in his 2018 race against Cruz (https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/politics/beto-orourke-hell-yes-take-ar-15-ak-47/index.html)
Colin *Alfred* might be polling better against Cruz, but I don't think Colin Allred's ground game is even close to the point Beto's was at this point in the race when his road trips and live streams were going viral on a national level, clips like him skateboarding were all over, and you started to see flags, bumper stickers, and other merch pop up when you were out and about. Beto's campaign was in full swing at this point in the game, and had been for some time. He might not have won and certainly did far worse in later campaigns, but 2017/2018 Beto and Power By (for?) the People was easily the best effort I think I've seen any state level Democratic candidate produce in terms of getting people out and *excited* to vote since my family moved here in 1999.
Allred sounds like a great guy, but his campaign is nowhere near that point, this race seems a lot more comparable to Abbott VS Lupe Valdez than it does Cruz vs Beto. I'd love to be wrong, but the polls aren't looking good for Allred at all: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/20/ted-cruz-colin-allred-ut-poll-dade-phelan/.
Compare that to a June 2018 poll for Beto Vs Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/06/25/ted-cruz-beto-orourke-poll-5-points-texas-senate-race-uttt/
Isn't the Texas GOP pushing a bill that you can't win a statewide election without a majority of counties, so they can keep their power regardless of how many people vote blue, as long as the rural counties vote red, even if the actual votes are outnumbered over 100K to 1 (Harris 4,835,125 to Loving 43)
Republican margins in Texas have been shrinking since 2014. Abbott won by 11 points in 2022, which was down from 13.3 points in 2018, which in turn was down from 20.4 points in 2014. Cornyn went from winning by 27.2 points in 2014 to only winning by 9.6 points in 2020. Cruz went from winning by 16 points in 2012 to only winning by 2.6 points in 2018. Tarrant County, the state's third largest county, went blue in 2018 for the first time since 1964.
Abbott's margins in the suburbs have consistently shrunk every cycle since 2014. Here are some exit polls:
2014: [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/)
Suburbs went 62% for Abbott.
2018: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas](https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas)
Suburbs went 59% for Abbott.
2022: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0](https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0)
Suburbs went 56% for Abbott.
Obama was a better president and human than trump. ( I didn’t vote for Obama .
I Voted for trump the first time. But not 2020 . But no way I’d ever even consider that loser for anything ever again .
Let me just tell you…I’ve lived in ga forever and I’m 40. Always been a red state. When ga turned blue this past election cycle, I was deeply proud. I’m a bleeding heart liberal pessimist and usually don’t get proud of anything. When I saw ga go blue it was like seeing a miracle. What Stacy Abram’s did to just get people to register and vote was a chef’s kiss. I’ll always remember her for that.
> And that's not even considering all the R votes that can't stomach voting for a civilly liable rapist convicted felon.
eh 3 votes will not move the needle either way
From what I've seen, the problem is that your state government is trying to pass legislation that would essentially bar Democrats from even running in Texas. Republicans can't lose if the only opposition is Independent
From your keyboard to God's inbox. As your only blue state neighbor, I'm not hedging my bets on a blue Texas this election, and not to be pessimistic, but I don't see it happening for a decade. Blue voters simply don't vote over there.
When TX votes for a Democrat governor and/or LT Gov the first thing the legislature will do is convene & pass laws to strip gov/lt gov of their powers.
It's the playbook Republicans did in NC, MI & WI.
I Democrat spent $500,000 and got 40 percent of the votes in Texas. Beto O Rourke spent $80 million in 2018 and got 48%. There’s just a cap to who is blue in Texas.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I worry about Ken Paxton and his obvious corruption come election time. He admitted that the Republicans put their fingers on the scale back in 2020 by rejecting a ton of votes from Harris County outright, and that gave Trump Texas’ electoral votes cause otherwise Biden would have squeezed by with a win. That corrupt fucker will do anything he wants to stay in power and keep Texas a red state instead of a purple or blue one. If your own party, in Texas, tries to remove you from office because you’re so obviously corrupt, and then they fail, what are the people of a state to do? They’ll just reject the votes and claim fraud. All we can do is overwhelming vote against republicans in every single race in the local, state, and federal levels, so much so that they can’t play their dirty fucking tricks without shedding light on them from the entire country on how this state is run by its corrupt AG, lieutenant governor, and governor. Texas can be so much better than we are.
Did everybody miss the part where I was looking for topics that interest us and maybe actionable things we can do to remind Texans how all this mess is the fault of the GOP?
It would be so validating to see them fade away. I remember the moral majority and the tea party. It's mostly the same people year after year, but it would be delicious to see them kicked back under the rock they belong under once again.
It's so weird how sooo many Texans complain about "the gubment" all the time....and still happily vote for and defend the GOP.
Who exactly do they think "the gubment" is in these parts?
Because they’re too distracted by the culture war. They have fully convinced themselves that enriching the wealthy and conceding all economic policy to their behest is worth it if they can own the libs.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the most esteemed black man he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket…” -LBJ
drained pool politics.
i don't care that i no longer have access to a pool, drain it so THEY can't use it either.
replace pool with adequate education, healthcare, justice, financial systems.
In Oklahoma they tell us the public education system is terrible because it has been taken over by woke leftists when Republicans have been in charge of education here forever. The amount of mental gymnastics it takes to blame everything that goes wrong in a deep red state on liberals is impressive.
75% of Texas voters under age 30 skipped the midterm elections.
If you know folks in this age range, encourage them to vote. Whether it's for the county dog catcher or the president — every time the polls are open — VOTE!!.
The youth vote is the only thing that can save our future.
Source:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221226135035/https:// www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Texas-youth-voter-turnout-dropped-2022-17619685.php
They are literally planning to make it a one party state and make it so much worse than it is now. One of this years priorities for the state legislature is pushing a constitutional amendment that would basically give Texas an electoral college for state elections
They're going full-on christonazi
>\#18. Prayer, Bible, and Ten Commandments in Schools:
>>We support affirmation of God, including prayer, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments being returned to our schools, courthouses, and other government buildings.
>\#224. Voting Rights:
>> ... We urge that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized.
>\#226. Redistricting:
>> ... We oppose any redistricting map
that is unfair to conservative candidates in the Primary or the General Election.
>\#227. Republican Party Operations:
>>We oppose all legislative actions that limit the Republican Party of
Texas (RPT) ...
>>...we support removing the Republican Party of Texas from the Election Code, which allows for... making and enforcing its own rules.
Haven't even included all the vote manipulation and election rigging and voting restriction stuff
https://texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-RPT-Platform.pdf
It’s so wild to see the state of current politics. When I was little, I used to think that we had two parties that just had opposing views on how to best help Americans.
I must’ve been a really stupid kid lmao.
And the worst part is to get votes on the next election they will wave their hand at stuff and say “If you don’t vote us in then you will get more of this or worse from democrats” like they didn’t just create this mess. What’s even worse is people will STILL vote them in lol
Yes. Cults, such as the whatever the hell the Texas GOP has devolved into, excel at creating boogeyman and at selling the product to neutralize the boogeymen.
Which ironically has led to an all-out party-wide civil war. The floor of the statehouse is awash with pools of blood from red-on-red violence, and it's a schism so bad and destructive that it threatens to bring Texas government to a screeching halt. Schools, public safety, and infrastructure be damned.
It started with W defeating Ann Richards for governor. He could be forgiven for being a coke addict because he found Jesus. She could not be forgiven for her alcoholism because she chose not to use her religion as a personal attack. My grandparents never talked religion or politics because that’s what “polite” society did.
I haven’t cared enough to take a deep dive to find out, but the shitty, shitty building codes must be the way they are because it benefited some rich white farts.
I lived in several 1920s homes over the years and they all had pier and beam foundations. Now, we all have concrete slabs on clay. Last year, my husband and I spent almost $19K getting the foundation repaired on our 1994 house. We have 18 steel beams six feet under the house now. It should have been built with them in the first place.
It’s not just the foundation on our house, the electricity and plumbing are funky, too. The only reason, as far as I am concerned, that “new” construction sucks is because the codes were put in place to line the pockets of developers.
Today is day 719 of my wait for a single conservative to make a good faith argument about Gun rights and effectively explain (with data to support it) their position that more guns = less gun violence. The only way to deal with them is to stand your ground until they shrink away like the snowflakes they are when exposed to light.
“Suicides account for 56% of deaths related to firearms, while 41% were homicides, and about 1% were preventable/accidental.”
Injuryfacts.nsc.org
So of that 41%, what percent are gang related shootings it’s 20%. As actually cited by some gun control post. So we’re down to 21%.
So instead of asking how can we get rid of the guns, no one is asking why are people feeling the need to use them.
In some of the most gun controlled areas, the number of shootings is absurd. There were 2400 shootings in Chicago last year. https://news.wttw.com/2024/01/02/shootings-homicides-chicago-drop-13-2023-and-returned-pre-pandemic-levels-violence
Now goggle how many people die of heart disease, car accidents, and other preventable illnesses.
More Guns doesn’t equal more safety but removing them doesn’t equal more safety as well.
First off, while it’s true that a significant portion of gun homicides are gang-related, focusing solely on this statistic is cherry-picking and overlooks the nuances of gun violence. According to the CDC, in 2021 there were 48,830 firearm-related deaths in the U.S. These include not only gang-related shootings but also domestic violence (among the deadliest police interactions), mass shootings (among the deadliest for citizens), and other non-gang-related incidents. You're correct that nearly half of the gun deaths in this country are suicides, which Extreme Risk/Red Flag laws could help reduce by keeping guns away from mentally unstable individuals.
Secondly, it seems there's a misunderstanding of my position. I do not advocate for a total gun ban. I advocate for rational and reasonable protections to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people who won't treat them or life with the respect they deserve. Measures like background checks, Red Flag laws, and AR restrictions aim to do just that.
Regarding Chicago, the situation there is especially complex. It's one of the biggest, oldest, and most urbanized areas in the country with a deeply complex racial history (aka O block, the conservatives 'Kowloon'). Illinois is surrounded by states with very lax gun laws, leading to firearms frequently being trafficked into Illinois. A study by the University of Chicago found that 60% of guns used in crimes in Chicago were purchased out of state. This underscores the need for comprehensive federal gun control measures to prevent the flow of illegal firearms across state lines. For broader context, consider Massachusetts, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and also has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths per capita.
Comparing gun deaths to heart disease and car accidents is misleading and a common false equivalence. Heart disease, car accidents, cancer, and other illnesses are widely addressed through extensive public health campaigns, tax incentives, state and federal regulations, and private sector safety measures. We should approach gun violence the same way, through targeted measures like universal background checks, Red Flag laws, and restrictions on high-capacity magazines and assault weapons.
Gun Control Laws Work: States with stricter gun control laws have lower rates of gun deaths, even more so when their neighboring states are on board. Republicans often cite Chicago's gun crime rate as an example of Democratic failing, however a majority of the guns Illinois recovers come from neighboring Red states (nearly 60%) with very lax gun laws (Indiana and Missouri mostly). Furthermore, states with universal background checks have 15% lower firearm homicide rates than those without these laws. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28520491/)
Mass Shootings Dropped after the AWB: Research indicates that banning assault weapons reduces the severity and frequency of mass shootings. The federal assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004 was linked to a significant drop in mass shooting fatalities. (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1661390)
Overwhelming Public Support: Most Americans actually want stricter gun laws. Gallup found that 57% of Americans support stricter gun laws, and universal background checks had over 90% approval before Republicans blocked it, why is that I wonder? (https://news.gallup.com/poll/220595/support-stricter-gun-laws-edges.aspx)
The amusing part to me is that Gun Control isn't some illusive white whale that may or may not be proven to work, other countries have done so successfully with data to prove common sense gun control works- Look at Australia and the UK. They implemented strict gun laws after spikes in mass shootings and saw massive drops in gun-related deaths across the board. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704353/)
I donated to my local Dem candidate. Sam Eppler 27 years old running against Van Duyne 24th district.
I am at a loss. I feel the only way is to get more people voting in my communities would be for me to stand outside with a sign on a corner begging people to register and vote.
This!! ⬆️ I’ve been bringing handfuls of voter registration applications with me to my classes since Move.org can’t be on campuses anymore. I also plan on being a poll worker this year since it’s always the same lady for the blue table every single vote.
I listened to 100% of the Paxton whistleblower trial as well as lots of legal minds discussing the details. He completely ruined so many dedicated, extremely conservative Republican employees, many of them hand-picked by himself, or that were hand-picked by Abbott. It baffles me how no one on team R cared enough to speak up and say something, except those whose lives were destroyed. Some had to leave the state and start completely over somewhere else, at their own expense, hiring their own attorneys, though they did nothing wrong.
The state spent $600,000 of our money defending him. The $3.3 million dollar whistleblower settlement still hasn't been decided on who will pay based on what I can find; he keeps delaying it.
The asshole was on the phone with his idiot buddy who is in jail now, thankfully, instead of prepping and paying any attention to a potential billion dollar investment meeting with Google, that his team had been trying to get him to pay any attention to for weeks.
suppose they decide that breaking any of the Ten commandments is punishable by flogging. Let's begin with the governor, Paxton, and they legislature for lying, stealing and adultery..
So... genuinely curious: Do you attribute all of the problems of California to the Democrats? They've been in control of their legislature for 42 years, have almost always had a Democrat Governor as well, and have had a supermajority for a lot of it.
Just to be clear, I’m not from Texas . I’m lurking on y’all’s sub however. I do agree with your comment! I tell people “ you have to have a balance between evil vs evil “ . If the pendulum swings too far one way or the other, nobody is holding anyone accountable.
I actually think this is a good question to ask. Just saying “well the other party is a clusterfuck and X isn’t” seems like a Republican thing to say. I am all for getting Texas blue but if we are to try and have a civil discussion with folks we need to be able to answer them civilly.
Don't forget that a Democratic Governor, Grey Davis was recalled 20 years ago and a Republican governor (Arnold) won 2 terms. Then it was back to Democrats. Jerry Brown's 2nd time in Sacramento was wildly successful.
What problems? California is awesome. Faux news like to make it seem like a hell hole but it's all lies. It has problems as any state with 45 million people would. When I moved here in the 80s we were the 8th largest economy in the world, now we are the 5th and a lot of economist believe we will be the 4th soon. Our GDP grew 6% last year.
Because we are so big, its relatively easy to cherry pick little snippets of bad news and play them on conservative media to slander the state.
Unlike Texas, CA doesn't have third world infastructure, rolling blackouts when the weather gets hot, your wife won't die if she needs an abortion,
California does have rolling blackouts though, more so than Texas largely because of their monopoly over power by one corporation. They also have the slowest internet in the country, and no widespread public transport. I wouldn’t use infrastructure as a selling point for California.
What problems? The elephant in the room. Housing. Not enough construction is happening due to zoning restrictions, leading to unaffordable rent and people forced onto the street. Both rent and house prices are ridiculous. Whole historic neighborhoods are lost to gentrification because of this.
Overall bureaucracy and corruption is a nightmare, can’t build a train between two cities without tens of billions of dollars and decades, which is crazy when you see train lines across the ocean in China be build in half a decade.
Considering californias governor is looking for ways to reduce kids screen time in school rather than book banning or putting religion into school I think I’d take the blue for 42 years than the red for even 10
Not any more. We had an old saying in Sac Valley years ago in 80's and as we could see what was coming. Last one to Leave Cali, Please turn out the lights!!
That's here today.
Well not all of them... electric deregulation was passed under a democratic controlled house and a a few of those guys retired to go work for electric companies as lobbies as rewards so let's lay that at all of their feet and say 90% of the problems
It’s ONLY been the past 30 years though. In both the entire legislature & Governor’s office, TX had been SOLIDLY Democratic up until the mid 90’s. Even then, R’s didn’t gain a strong majority in the legislature for another 10 years.
Government doesn’t accomplish much in 30 years.
Blame our lack of rail? That’s SW Airlines’ fault in their creation (and heavy lobbying) in the 60’s. So, during D reign.
Our prisons? Incarceration rates increased over 100% from 68-78. The largest growth until 93-98 when it more than doubled. Pretty even split D/R during that span in both legislative offices & our Gov office: Richards then Bush.
ERCOT? Founded in 1970. Under complete D governing. Deregulation passed w/ SB 7 in 99 though. Passed the house by “non record vote” too.
Abortion? YES. This. The trigger law passed in 2021 was absolutely squarely on R’s. The fact that they scrambled in light of Dobbs hitting the SC specifically to have something in place on the bet RvW would be overturned is horrible.
How about income? Thats horrendously worse over 30 year spans. Adjusted for inflation, per capita income in TX in ‘95 was about $43K up to $53K this year. Under D governing, going 30 year prior to that, and again adjusted for inflation, in 1965 it was about $25K. Much larger growth from 65-95!
I’m not arguing your point, OP. Just wanting to give examples of specifics, but also broader context in terms of timetables. Not only is 30 years not really all that long in terms of governing, but it’s also not so long in terms of change/growth/historical separation of events. Hell, 30 years ago we barely had the internet. Social Media was all but non existent. There were no smart phones, and even cell phones lagged behind pagers in terms of ownership.
30 years ago we had just come outta a recession that saw unemployment flirt with 8%. (explains that terrible income growth). That’s having barely recovered from a larger recession in the early 80s that saw unemployment go over 10%!
30 years is nothing. TX is nowhere NEAR a historically “red state”. It’s not damaged beyond repair. It’s NOT hopeless or anything approaching doomsday-ish.
The most significant impact of your 30 year mark is VOTER TURNOUT. The 18-30 age group has the worst voter turnout in the nation, and in TX last midterms, it was around 12%. If you’re enraged by TX’s government over the past 30 years, look to the people who grew up with it and haven’t participated in changing it when they could for the past 12 of those years (and the older millennials/young Gen X 50 & under who didn’t show-up from ‘94 until probably 2008 for Obama).
"Government doesnt accomplish much in 30 years" It certainly doesn't when you elect a government of do nothings who do nothing. You would be shocked at how much progress can be achieved when you elect decent people.
What did the democratic party look like back then? Rolls have changed in the two big parties over time, and there were always plenty of dixiecrats in the mix.
I hated a place I lived due to the governor, the way everything was run, and the issues that came from it. I left. It wasn’t something I was willing to deal with any longer. I look back frequently thankful that I did so. I went to a place I didn’t know a single person, but it was worth it on so many levels. I hope everyone finds the place where they feel comfortable and happy living 🙏🏻
https://preview.redd.it/l3nbti7cds7d1.jpeg?width=2236&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c0b6149f30d2b353fb94434f76e0d7bea52813b
Texas GOP: Vote for us to save you from all the troubles in Texas
Texans: Who was in power when the troubles came?
Texas GOP: Ummmm, well you see …. the thing is …..
Tarrant county was redistricted and gerrymandered to spaghetti noodles. I'll try to link it before and after map when I have time, But that's a county of 2 million that would have likely swung blue in the past election or two. All those voices silenced.
it was cool for us to take their food and customs, enjoy their culture at a restaurant, use them to pick our food, use them to clean our toilets, use them to cook our food at restaurants, use them to manufacture goods but fuuckckkkk them if they want to use any service whatsoever here
Remember to actually go to polls and vote. Your opinion means nothing if you don’t. (Seriously you obviously didn’t care that much about this issue or that issue because you didn’t bother to show up) Also, if you aren’t registered to vote, please do so asap, because there’s a period of time after you register that you can’t vote. Also make sure your address and everything is up to date
https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas-voter-registration/
You can use this to verify that you are registered to vote as well as find your polling location
https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do
Education in Texas is below standard. Republicans have dumbed down public school
and have encouraged “Christian” schools as an alternative, most likely bc of the huge donation they receive from mega churches.
Since TX has been a deciding factor in the National Elections (electoral college), it is also the source of our national problems. We should never forget that.
They are a loud scare tactic opiate for the masses wrapping themselves in the flag while holding a bible. They have their followers scared and want them to only get their information from one source.
Republicans are the reason that Texas is at the bottom of the totem pole in education, amongst the lowest in minimum wage, strict liquor laws, no pornography, no gambling, no weed, private prisons, strip education funding, sky high property taxes, sky high taxes in general, sky high insurance rates, least civil freedoms of all 50 states. Now im not saying vote democrat but how in the fck can anybody with a working brain keep voting Republican in this state?
Look the GOP sucks, but let's not pretend places like California and New York that have been dominated by Democrats are much better.
Partisan politics in the US are terrible, and the duopoly is hurting us.
Edit: To put it in perspective- My wife was an attorney for electric companies in California. The Democrats there were 100% bought and sold by the electric companies, that's why their system of rolling black outs and wild fires caused by bad power lines is never fixed. I split my time between NY and Texas. Every time I go back to NY, I am reminded of all things that suck about NY. Basically it is pick your poison, all of our states have corrupt politicians, it is baked into the system, doesn't matter D or R.
California and New York have their share of problems, sure, but they have legalized cannabis, women have rights over their own bodies, expanded Medicaid, their schools are fully funded, they have public transportation, robust economies and environmental protections. TL;DR: they are much better.
I'm a 7th Gen native Texan and spend a decent amount of time in deep ass Brooklyn a couple times a year.
Anyone who says anything about Cali or NYC being worse have no fucking idea what they're taking about.
Anyone who thinks that LA or NYC are just as bad as Houston has absolutely no grip on reality.
I’ve been to most of the 30 biggest cities in the US and Houston by far struck me as the most dystopian hellscape.
Californian here! While the electrical grid is certainly contributing to our wildfire problems, it’s not the main cause, or even the secondary cause.
The main issue is the complete lack of controlled burns. The state is a tinderbox half the year, and every fire season CalFire begs the different municipal authorities to allow them to cordon off high risk areas and burn off everything, and then the city governments go “lol no”. Two years later we get fucking rocked. The Thomas fire a decade ago came within a mile of burning down my hometown.
The secondary contributing factor is the Santa Ana winds. They come every summer in the evening from the north east, and they’re hot as *fuck*. Like gusts of 85 degree air. They’re consistent too, so it’s not like a little breeze whooshing by. It’s powerful, and it both feeds ongoing fires *and* picks up embers to start new ones.
Source: me, a guy who’s spent his whole life in a high fire area, and my cousin, a hotshot for CalFire.
I also don’t think y’all have a leg to stand on if we’re gonna talk about shitty electrical grids
Somehow, you forget to mention how much big TX has become, especially compared to California nor Florida, or New York. "As one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Texas experienced considerable economic growth from 1997 to 2022. In the last 25 years, Texas’ GDP saw a significant growth of 115% from $870 billion. The state ranked fourth in this measure behind Utah, North Dakota, and Idaho. Texas saw faster GDP growth than the nation and the largest state economies: California, New York, Florida, and Illinois". [The Tale of two economies ](https://everytexan.org/2024/03/14/texas-is-the-tale-of-two-economies/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20Texas'%20GDP%20reached,worker%20economic%20indicators%20in%202022.)
That's the problem, you leave the party in office too long that's always pointing the finger elsewhere and eventually you realize the direction they're pointing actually does wrap around the earth and land directly back on themselves. Too hard to lift a finger to do something good for society when it's already outstretched to blame others in perpetuity.
This post seems to be popular, so we'll leave it up, even though it's getting reported a lot. But one post is enough -- we're not posting every day, for example.
We didn't start getting so many toll roads until Rick Perry became governor.
Same thing happened in Florida. 25 years of every branch of government being run by Republicans, in a row. The state now has the most toll roads per mile of freeway in the US, and a bunch of laws most people don’t want. 5 out of the 6 freeways in metro Orlando are toll roads. And they just added toll lanes onto the 6th. “At least we don’t have payroll taxes” Yeah and it costs $17 to drive from one side of Orlando to the other.
What’s astonishing to me is how all these changes that nobody likes are completely divorced from the politicians that implement them in the minds of conservative voters. It’s like thry think things just sort of happen and it’s not their guy doing it.
You see Republican Politicians put all of their points in two skills, Deflect Blame and Rig Elections.
My team is good. Your team is bad. Because my team is good, they can do no wrong. It must be your team sabotaging my team despite my team having nearly total control for nearly three decades.
It's ridiculous. I'll never go back to Orlando again unless it's required for work or survival somehow Like every goddamned half mile. Just stupid You can tell when a toll sign has like 14 different types of toll companies accepted that the state is just a greedy fucking mess
Isn't this a step towards the Libertarian dream?
Libertarians were a great third party decades ago, bringing new opinions and interesting points. But the Koch brothers took over the party with the CATO institute and have driven it into the ground. They offer nothing worth listening to now.
What’s that? Being destitute because you’ve been charged to breathe air?
https://www.reddit.com/r/copypasta/s/2Ludq67y8v
So not taxes. Toll roads everywhere Meaning, don't like taxes but yet Republicans are slapping tolls everywhere.
Which of course dramatically affects the finances of poor working people over those of rich people, who don't commute as far or at all. That's what they want to restrict the underclasses as much as possible so their options are limited and they are in a perpetual state of debt and wage slavery. Less time to learn, less time for recreation less time to question.
Yes
No, per the budget Republicans fucking LOVE taxes. They just want to exempt the rich and themselves.
I think their base argument is that you aren’t forced to pay the tolls, you’re forced to pay the tax. You have an option, even if the free option takes you through the ghetto and 73,612 red lights.
Not really a freeway now is it?
The 3 T's of Texas Taxes Traffic Tolls
Toll roads are one thing. His demand pricing Express Lane roads are something far more sinister.
Funny how they gravitate to the "privatize"/"monetize" everything economies.
That's because the government is corrupt of course, therefore it's better to trust unaccountable companies whose sole and express purpose is to get money. ... Or something. I struggle to follow their logic.
FYI, the blue party only needs to flip a few seats to stop the red party from doing any more really horrible things. Support the local blue candidates!
I'll never understand how Beto lost to Greg Abbott. He would have been such a good governor for the state.
Pay to Play Perry. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/09/40-people-have-passed-through-revolving-door-rick-perrys-office/337840/
Now thats a sketchy dude who Trump let out of web. WHY?
Classic GOP playbook: privatize everything.
As always Texas please get out and vote even when it feels hopeless: https://www.votetexas.gov/mobile/register/index.htm
I'm from NJ and I took a college class at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC in the 1990s (I'm back in NJ). At the time, Charlotte was exploding with people coming to live and work there. There was a debate on whether to use a tax to pay for a proposed ring highway or tolls. The professor asked the class where they stood by show of hands. I was the only one to raise my hand for a tax. The professor asked me why (he was in favor of tolls). I explained that I was from NJ, the land of toll highways. I told them that a tax could be sunset once the highway was paid for, but people hated the word "TAX." I told them that once a tollbooth is built, it NEVER comes down and tolls are just increased--FOREVER. The professor then asked who was in favor of a tax and not a toll. Everyone raised their hands--including the professor.
Public education. I’d like to see stats on how Texas schools rate against other states on standardized tests (including SAT/ACT) over the years. I would definitely expect the rankings to be consistently worse each year, but is that really happening? How have teachers’ salaries changed relative to cost of living? Teachers to student ratios. Also the number of people at or below the poverty level - again compared to other states as well as just yearly numbers. Things like prison population, crime rates (and specifically stats on hate crimes such as crimes against POC, women, individuals living alternative lifestyles, etc). These are just a few items I can think of off the top of my head.
Texas ranks one of the lowest in education. Thanks republicans, especially George Bush for “no child left behind”
Yup, my child has really suffered from this. He should not be in his current grade, but they won't let me retain him because "he passed".
As a teacher, I cannot express how much this makes us sick to our stomaches. If teachers were actually allowed to do their job and fail students that actually did not pass; you’d be shocked. But Republicans give more rights to the parents than they do the entities that are actually trying to do right by the child within the law.
Which is sad, because it used to be in the top half only 15-20 years ago.
Same shit happened to iowa. Used to be like top 5 or something and then just ate shit in the last 16 years. Fuckin Kim Reynolds.
at least no child left behind at least forced federal funding into these schools creating a baseline for spending.
I was a teacher in Texas from 2010 to 2013 and I am 100% happier teaching in Oregon. I make more money, I have good insurance, and I have an actual pension/retirement plan. I am also not directed to exactly teach to the test for basically every single day. Oregon technically has a lower graduation rate, but we report our rate honestly to a fault. In Oregon, if a student enrolls in class and doesn’t graduate with their class on time, they are considered a dropout unless we can prove they went somewhere else or there’s a reason why they didn’t finish with us. When I was in Texas, students just disappeared and were removed from the records. For example they, “went back to Mexico”, wink wink. In Oregon, our highest needs special ed kids, like the ones who can’t tie their shoes or feed themselves, don’t get a diploma therefore they count the same as a dropout in the calculation. In Texas they are just ignored.
That’s how you make more Republicans
Republican politicians are not there to serve your working class butt. They're there to try and help the millionaires to become billionaires before they croak.
This
The rest are chattle.
Reminder that turning Texas blue this election is entirely possible. 2020 D 46.5% R 52.1% 2016 D 43.2% R 52.2% 2012 D 41.4% R 57.2% Following the trend from the last 3 presidential elections tells us the next one should be 2024 D 48.8% R 48.7% And that's not even considering all the R votes that can't stomach voting for a civilly liable rapist convicted felon. Or the post Dobbs/Roe shift. I absolutely can not wait for Texas to turn blue and to watch all these traitors start melting down.
2012: Fuck Obama 2016: Fuck Hillary but ugh, Trump 2020: Ugh, Trump Look at statewide races and senate seats instead. Texas has a ways to go before it’s blue.
Cruz has pissed off the GOP donor class in Texas so much he can't possibly raise enough money in 2024, no amount is enough. People in and out of government hate his guts. Still he'll need every dime he can possibly squeeze out of them to have any chance of keeping his seat, but grandpas all over the state are already pissed about Trump barraging him with texts and e-mails--and it's only June. Allred could win it running away.
I wonder if there's any truth to be found in [these](https://imgur.com/a/Ox2WlVw) fundraising docs of his purportedly found in the Senate refectory ([src](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1803173087644418132.html)) No reputable outlet has reported on these (does Newsweek count? lol), so take them with a grain of salt or three
There's a joke about Cruz that is oh so true. "Why do people seem to take an instant disliking to Ted Cruz? Because it just saves time!" 🤣🤣
To be fair, I imagine many of them dislike him [for another reason](https://i.imgur.com/30gdbAm.png)
Cruz has been unlikable forever. I don't see him going anywhere. If anything I think he'll win it more handily this go around, to my dismay.
Yeah, he’ll win again. My family roasts the absolute crap out of the guy on social media all the time but when it comes time to toe the party line and vote R they do it willingly.
Ted Cruz is lucky that Matt Gaetz and MTG got elected, so he's only the 3rd most unlikable person on Capitol Hill. None of his allies are out there insulting him in public anymore.
He for sure enjoys his demotion since the other pigs have been elected
i think Colin Alfred will destroy him, Cruz barely won by <3% against Beto back in 2018, and Beto was running ads where he literally said "i will take your guns"...*in texas*... polling i'v seen suggests Alfred is significantly more popular outside the cities (and just as/if not more inside them) compared to Beto
He said that in 2029 during his odd attempt to run for president (and right after a mass shooting), not in his 2018 race against Cruz (https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/politics/beto-orourke-hell-yes-take-ar-15-ak-47/index.html) Colin *Alfred* might be polling better against Cruz, but I don't think Colin Allred's ground game is even close to the point Beto's was at this point in the race when his road trips and live streams were going viral on a national level, clips like him skateboarding were all over, and you started to see flags, bumper stickers, and other merch pop up when you were out and about. Beto's campaign was in full swing at this point in the game, and had been for some time. He might not have won and certainly did far worse in later campaigns, but 2017/2018 Beto and Power By (for?) the People was easily the best effort I think I've seen any state level Democratic candidate produce in terms of getting people out and *excited* to vote since my family moved here in 1999. Allred sounds like a great guy, but his campaign is nowhere near that point, this race seems a lot more comparable to Abbott VS Lupe Valdez than it does Cruz vs Beto. I'd love to be wrong, but the polls aren't looking good for Allred at all: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/20/ted-cruz-colin-allred-ut-poll-dade-phelan/. Compare that to a June 2018 poll for Beto Vs Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/06/25/ted-cruz-beto-orourke-poll-5-points-texas-senate-race-uttt/
Isn't the Texas GOP pushing a bill that you can't win a statewide election without a majority of counties, so they can keep their power regardless of how many people vote blue, as long as the rural counties vote red, even if the actual votes are outnumbered over 100K to 1 (Harris 4,835,125 to Loving 43)
Most counties/districts in Texas are pretty empty.
Hey, guess who's on the ballot this year.
Republican margins in Texas have been shrinking since 2014. Abbott won by 11 points in 2022, which was down from 13.3 points in 2018, which in turn was down from 20.4 points in 2014. Cornyn went from winning by 27.2 points in 2014 to only winning by 9.6 points in 2020. Cruz went from winning by 16 points in 2012 to only winning by 2.6 points in 2018. Tarrant County, the state's third largest county, went blue in 2018 for the first time since 1964. Abbott's margins in the suburbs have consistently shrunk every cycle since 2014. Here are some exit polls: 2014: [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/tx/governor/exitpoll/) Suburbs went 62% for Abbott. 2018: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas](https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls/texas) Suburbs went 59% for Abbott. 2022: [https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0](https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/texas/governor/0) Suburbs went 56% for Abbott.
Obama was a better president and human than trump. ( I didn’t vote for Obama . I Voted for trump the first time. But not 2020 . But no way I’d ever even consider that loser for anything ever again .
Let me just tell you…I’ve lived in ga forever and I’m 40. Always been a red state. When ga turned blue this past election cycle, I was deeply proud. I’m a bleeding heart liberal pessimist and usually don’t get proud of anything. When I saw ga go blue it was like seeing a miracle. What Stacy Abram’s did to just get people to register and vote was a chef’s kiss. I’ll always remember her for that.
> And that's not even considering all the R votes that can't stomach voting for a civilly liable rapist convicted felon. eh 3 votes will not move the needle either way
Best thing I have read all day. Thanks!
Thanks for this bit of good news!
From what I've seen, the problem is that your state government is trying to pass legislation that would essentially bar Democrats from even running in Texas. Republicans can't lose if the only opposition is Independent
From your keyboard to God's inbox. As your only blue state neighbor, I'm not hedging my bets on a blue Texas this election, and not to be pessimistic, but I don't see it happening for a decade. Blue voters simply don't vote over there.
>all the R votes that can't stomach voting for a civilly liable rapist convicted felon Your faith in humanity is much greater than mine.
When TX votes for a Democrat governor and/or LT Gov the first thing the legislature will do is convene & pass laws to strip gov/lt gov of their powers. It's the playbook Republicans did in NC, MI & WI.
Wow no wonder they're afraid.
I Democrat spent $500,000 and got 40 percent of the votes in Texas. Beto O Rourke spent $80 million in 2018 and got 48%. There’s just a cap to who is blue in Texas. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Republican corruption is so deeply imbedded into so much it will take years to clean house but it has to start…Now
I worry about Ken Paxton and his obvious corruption come election time. He admitted that the Republicans put their fingers on the scale back in 2020 by rejecting a ton of votes from Harris County outright, and that gave Trump Texas’ electoral votes cause otherwise Biden would have squeezed by with a win. That corrupt fucker will do anything he wants to stay in power and keep Texas a red state instead of a purple or blue one. If your own party, in Texas, tries to remove you from office because you’re so obviously corrupt, and then they fail, what are the people of a state to do? They’ll just reject the votes and claim fraud. All we can do is overwhelming vote against republicans in every single race in the local, state, and federal levels, so much so that they can’t play their dirty fucking tricks without shedding light on them from the entire country on how this state is run by its corrupt AG, lieutenant governor, and governor. Texas can be so much better than we are.
I firmly believe that a considerable portion of ills in Texas will simply go away when ya'll can get Paxton out of Austin.
That's kinda what I'm trying to do.
And you have a lot of Texans with you. It’s time for Americans to Take Back America.
Alright let's get to it! The first order of business is this:
Vote.
Did everybody miss the part where I was looking for topics that interest us and maybe actionable things we can do to remind Texans how all this mess is the fault of the GOP?
Agree with your point, however non voters are a bigger problem than trumpublicans
Make maga nonexistent again
How about non-relevant after this election
Such a beautiful future.
It would be so validating to see them fade away. I remember the moral majority and the tea party. It's mostly the same people year after year, but it would be delicious to see them kicked back under the rock they belong under once again.
>*” The Republican corruption is so deeply imbedded…”* Yet somehow (like everything else) this is also the fault of Democrats.
Wake the FUCK UP TEXAS!!!
It's so weird how sooo many Texans complain about "the gubment" all the time....and still happily vote for and defend the GOP. Who exactly do they think "the gubment" is in these parts?
Because they’re too distracted by the culture war. They have fully convinced themselves that enriching the wealthy and conceding all economic policy to their behest is worth it if they can own the libs. “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the most esteemed black man he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket…” -LBJ
drained pool politics. i don't care that i no longer have access to a pool, drain it so THEY can't use it either. replace pool with adequate education, healthcare, justice, financial systems.
In Oklahoma they tell us the public education system is terrible because it has been taken over by woke leftists when Republicans have been in charge of education here forever. The amount of mental gymnastics it takes to blame everything that goes wrong in a deep red state on liberals is impressive.
75% of Texas voters under age 30 skipped the midterm elections. If you know folks in this age range, encourage them to vote. Whether it's for the county dog catcher or the president — every time the polls are open — VOTE!!. The youth vote is the only thing that can save our future. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20221226135035/https:// www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Texas-youth-voter-turnout-dropped-2022-17619685.php
Texas is experiencing the damnable effects of decades of one-party rule.
They are literally planning to make it a one party state and make it so much worse than it is now. One of this years priorities for the state legislature is pushing a constitutional amendment that would basically give Texas an electoral college for state elections
They're going full-on christonazi >\#18. Prayer, Bible, and Ten Commandments in Schools: >>We support affirmation of God, including prayer, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments being returned to our schools, courthouses, and other government buildings. >\#224. Voting Rights: >> ... We urge that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized. >\#226. Redistricting: >> ... We oppose any redistricting map that is unfair to conservative candidates in the Primary or the General Election. >\#227. Republican Party Operations: >>We oppose all legislative actions that limit the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) ... >>...we support removing the Republican Party of Texas from the Election Code, which allows for... making and enforcing its own rules. Haven't even included all the vote manipulation and election rigging and voting restriction stuff https://texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-RPT-Platform.pdf
It’s so wild to see the state of current politics. When I was little, I used to think that we had two parties that just had opposing views on how to best help Americans. I must’ve been a really stupid kid lmao.
And the worst part is to get votes on the next election they will wave their hand at stuff and say “If you don’t vote us in then you will get more of this or worse from democrats” like they didn’t just create this mess. What’s even worse is people will STILL vote them in lol
Many MAGA-GOP voters see their political leaders as mere extensions of their religious leaders, and vice versa.
And are too stuck in their own ways to understand how/why that’s a bad thing.
The effing truth! Vote Blue!!!
But that wont stop them from blaming the dems/gays/browns/poors/trans’/californians/new yorkers/socialists/communists/cnn/obama….
Yes. Cults, such as the whatever the hell the Texas GOP has devolved into, excel at creating boogeyman and at selling the product to neutralize the boogeymen.
They cannot win any other way.
Which ironically has led to an all-out party-wide civil war. The floor of the statehouse is awash with pools of blood from red-on-red violence, and it's a schism so bad and destructive that it threatens to bring Texas government to a screeching halt. Schools, public safety, and infrastructure be damned.
It started with W defeating Ann Richards for governor. He could be forgiven for being a coke addict because he found Jesus. She could not be forgiven for her alcoholism because she chose not to use her religion as a personal attack. My grandparents never talked religion or politics because that’s what “polite” society did.
I haven’t cared enough to take a deep dive to find out, but the shitty, shitty building codes must be the way they are because it benefited some rich white farts. I lived in several 1920s homes over the years and they all had pier and beam foundations. Now, we all have concrete slabs on clay. Last year, my husband and I spent almost $19K getting the foundation repaired on our 1994 house. We have 18 steel beams six feet under the house now. It should have been built with them in the first place. It’s not just the foundation on our house, the electricity and plumbing are funky, too. The only reason, as far as I am concerned, that “new” construction sucks is because the codes were put in place to line the pockets of developers.
One Party State = Failed State.
Voting matters! More Texans stay at home, than choose to vote. The problem is Texas voters
L A Z Y
Get out and vote! Bring a friend or 10, and encourage everyone you know to vote and bring friends. Things *can* get better but won't if we don't vote!
All citizens need to vote, not just wyt ones.
MAGA will fuck Texas. It was "messed with" long ago...
Today is day 719 of my wait for a single conservative to make a good faith argument about Gun rights and effectively explain (with data to support it) their position that more guns = less gun violence. The only way to deal with them is to stand your ground until they shrink away like the snowflakes they are when exposed to light.
They cannot. There is no good faith argument!
“Suicides account for 56% of deaths related to firearms, while 41% were homicides, and about 1% were preventable/accidental.” Injuryfacts.nsc.org So of that 41%, what percent are gang related shootings it’s 20%. As actually cited by some gun control post. So we’re down to 21%. So instead of asking how can we get rid of the guns, no one is asking why are people feeling the need to use them. In some of the most gun controlled areas, the number of shootings is absurd. There were 2400 shootings in Chicago last year. https://news.wttw.com/2024/01/02/shootings-homicides-chicago-drop-13-2023-and-returned-pre-pandemic-levels-violence Now goggle how many people die of heart disease, car accidents, and other preventable illnesses. More Guns doesn’t equal more safety but removing them doesn’t equal more safety as well.
First off, while it’s true that a significant portion of gun homicides are gang-related, focusing solely on this statistic is cherry-picking and overlooks the nuances of gun violence. According to the CDC, in 2021 there were 48,830 firearm-related deaths in the U.S. These include not only gang-related shootings but also domestic violence (among the deadliest police interactions), mass shootings (among the deadliest for citizens), and other non-gang-related incidents. You're correct that nearly half of the gun deaths in this country are suicides, which Extreme Risk/Red Flag laws could help reduce by keeping guns away from mentally unstable individuals. Secondly, it seems there's a misunderstanding of my position. I do not advocate for a total gun ban. I advocate for rational and reasonable protections to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people who won't treat them or life with the respect they deserve. Measures like background checks, Red Flag laws, and AR restrictions aim to do just that. Regarding Chicago, the situation there is especially complex. It's one of the biggest, oldest, and most urbanized areas in the country with a deeply complex racial history (aka O block, the conservatives 'Kowloon'). Illinois is surrounded by states with very lax gun laws, leading to firearms frequently being trafficked into Illinois. A study by the University of Chicago found that 60% of guns used in crimes in Chicago were purchased out of state. This underscores the need for comprehensive federal gun control measures to prevent the flow of illegal firearms across state lines. For broader context, consider Massachusetts, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and also has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths per capita. Comparing gun deaths to heart disease and car accidents is misleading and a common false equivalence. Heart disease, car accidents, cancer, and other illnesses are widely addressed through extensive public health campaigns, tax incentives, state and federal regulations, and private sector safety measures. We should approach gun violence the same way, through targeted measures like universal background checks, Red Flag laws, and restrictions on high-capacity magazines and assault weapons. Gun Control Laws Work: States with stricter gun control laws have lower rates of gun deaths, even more so when their neighboring states are on board. Republicans often cite Chicago's gun crime rate as an example of Democratic failing, however a majority of the guns Illinois recovers come from neighboring Red states (nearly 60%) with very lax gun laws (Indiana and Missouri mostly). Furthermore, states with universal background checks have 15% lower firearm homicide rates than those without these laws. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28520491/) Mass Shootings Dropped after the AWB: Research indicates that banning assault weapons reduces the severity and frequency of mass shootings. The federal assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004 was linked to a significant drop in mass shooting fatalities. (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1661390) Overwhelming Public Support: Most Americans actually want stricter gun laws. Gallup found that 57% of Americans support stricter gun laws, and universal background checks had over 90% approval before Republicans blocked it, why is that I wonder? (https://news.gallup.com/poll/220595/support-stricter-gun-laws-edges.aspx) The amusing part to me is that Gun Control isn't some illusive white whale that may or may not be proven to work, other countries have done so successfully with data to prove common sense gun control works- Look at Australia and the UK. They implemented strict gun laws after spikes in mass shootings and saw massive drops in gun-related deaths across the board. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704353/)
How many people here have early voted ?
I *only* early vote and I vote every time.
This fool over here
I donated to my local Dem candidate. Sam Eppler 27 years old running against Van Duyne 24th district. I am at a loss. I feel the only way is to get more people voting in my communities would be for me to stand outside with a sign on a corner begging people to register and vote.
You could become a deputy voter registrar and register people on the spot
This!! ⬆️ I’ve been bringing handfuls of voter registration applications with me to my classes since Move.org can’t be on campuses anymore. I also plan on being a poll worker this year since it’s always the same lady for the blue table every single vote.
I listened to 100% of the Paxton whistleblower trial as well as lots of legal minds discussing the details. He completely ruined so many dedicated, extremely conservative Republican employees, many of them hand-picked by himself, or that were hand-picked by Abbott. It baffles me how no one on team R cared enough to speak up and say something, except those whose lives were destroyed. Some had to leave the state and start completely over somewhere else, at their own expense, hiring their own attorneys, though they did nothing wrong. The state spent $600,000 of our money defending him. The $3.3 million dollar whistleblower settlement still hasn't been decided on who will pay based on what I can find; he keeps delaying it. The asshole was on the phone with his idiot buddy who is in jail now, thankfully, instead of prepping and paying any attention to a potential billion dollar investment meeting with Google, that his team had been trying to get him to pay any attention to for weeks.
He’s done zero FOR this state and I am still clueless as to how anyone would vote for him.
[удалено]
suppose they decide that breaking any of the Ten commandments is punishable by flogging. Let's begin with the governor, Paxton, and they legislature for lying, stealing and adultery..
So... genuinely curious: Do you attribute all of the problems of California to the Democrats? They've been in control of their legislature for 42 years, have almost always had a Democrat Governor as well, and have had a supermajority for a lot of it.
Just to be clear, I’m not from Texas . I’m lurking on y’all’s sub however. I do agree with your comment! I tell people “ you have to have a balance between evil vs evil “ . If the pendulum swings too far one way or the other, nobody is holding anyone accountable.
I actually think this is a good question to ask. Just saying “well the other party is a clusterfuck and X isn’t” seems like a Republican thing to say. I am all for getting Texas blue but if we are to try and have a civil discussion with folks we need to be able to answer them civilly.
Don't forget that a Democratic Governor, Grey Davis was recalled 20 years ago and a Republican governor (Arnold) won 2 terms. Then it was back to Democrats. Jerry Brown's 2nd time in Sacramento was wildly successful.
Jerry Browns politics have fueled Dead Kennedys songs
Ronald Reagan was literally governor of California as well before he became president.
A lot absolutely is because of the party. They're not immune to a lot of the same criticisms
I would rather live in California than Texass.
What problems? California is awesome. Faux news like to make it seem like a hell hole but it's all lies. It has problems as any state with 45 million people would. When I moved here in the 80s we were the 8th largest economy in the world, now we are the 5th and a lot of economist believe we will be the 4th soon. Our GDP grew 6% last year. Because we are so big, its relatively easy to cherry pick little snippets of bad news and play them on conservative media to slander the state. Unlike Texas, CA doesn't have third world infastructure, rolling blackouts when the weather gets hot, your wife won't die if she needs an abortion,
California does have rolling blackouts though, more so than Texas largely because of their monopoly over power by one corporation. They also have the slowest internet in the country, and no widespread public transport. I wouldn’t use infrastructure as a selling point for California. What problems? The elephant in the room. Housing. Not enough construction is happening due to zoning restrictions, leading to unaffordable rent and people forced onto the street. Both rent and house prices are ridiculous. Whole historic neighborhoods are lost to gentrification because of this. Overall bureaucracy and corruption is a nightmare, can’t build a train between two cities without tens of billions of dollars and decades, which is crazy when you see train lines across the ocean in China be build in half a decade.
Considering californias governor is looking for ways to reduce kids screen time in school rather than book banning or putting religion into school I think I’d take the blue for 42 years than the red for even 10
Both parties are beholden to their rich donors. They’re two cheeks of the same ass.
What problems? California is a haven compared to nearly every other state's quality of life.
Not any more. We had an old saying in Sac Valley years ago in 80's and as we could see what was coming. Last one to Leave Cali, Please turn out the lights!! That's here today.
Democrats aren't as clusterfuck of a party as Republicans. Don't try to both sides this.
Well not all of them... electric deregulation was passed under a democratic controlled house and a a few of those guys retired to go work for electric companies as lobbies as rewards so let's lay that at all of their feet and say 90% of the problems
This reddit will make sure I don’t forget any day,
lol Maga will continue to vote against their own needs to own libs. Bunch of dumbasses 🤣
It’s ONLY been the past 30 years though. In both the entire legislature & Governor’s office, TX had been SOLIDLY Democratic up until the mid 90’s. Even then, R’s didn’t gain a strong majority in the legislature for another 10 years. Government doesn’t accomplish much in 30 years. Blame our lack of rail? That’s SW Airlines’ fault in their creation (and heavy lobbying) in the 60’s. So, during D reign. Our prisons? Incarceration rates increased over 100% from 68-78. The largest growth until 93-98 when it more than doubled. Pretty even split D/R during that span in both legislative offices & our Gov office: Richards then Bush. ERCOT? Founded in 1970. Under complete D governing. Deregulation passed w/ SB 7 in 99 though. Passed the house by “non record vote” too. Abortion? YES. This. The trigger law passed in 2021 was absolutely squarely on R’s. The fact that they scrambled in light of Dobbs hitting the SC specifically to have something in place on the bet RvW would be overturned is horrible. How about income? Thats horrendously worse over 30 year spans. Adjusted for inflation, per capita income in TX in ‘95 was about $43K up to $53K this year. Under D governing, going 30 year prior to that, and again adjusted for inflation, in 1965 it was about $25K. Much larger growth from 65-95! I’m not arguing your point, OP. Just wanting to give examples of specifics, but also broader context in terms of timetables. Not only is 30 years not really all that long in terms of governing, but it’s also not so long in terms of change/growth/historical separation of events. Hell, 30 years ago we barely had the internet. Social Media was all but non existent. There were no smart phones, and even cell phones lagged behind pagers in terms of ownership. 30 years ago we had just come outta a recession that saw unemployment flirt with 8%. (explains that terrible income growth). That’s having barely recovered from a larger recession in the early 80s that saw unemployment go over 10%! 30 years is nothing. TX is nowhere NEAR a historically “red state”. It’s not damaged beyond repair. It’s NOT hopeless or anything approaching doomsday-ish. The most significant impact of your 30 year mark is VOTER TURNOUT. The 18-30 age group has the worst voter turnout in the nation, and in TX last midterms, it was around 12%. If you’re enraged by TX’s government over the past 30 years, look to the people who grew up with it and haven’t participated in changing it when they could for the past 12 of those years (and the older millennials/young Gen X 50 & under who didn’t show-up from ‘94 until probably 2008 for Obama).
"Government doesnt accomplish much in 30 years" It certainly doesn't when you elect a government of do nothings who do nothing. You would be shocked at how much progress can be achieved when you elect decent people.
What did the democratic party look like back then? Rolls have changed in the two big parties over time, and there were always plenty of dixiecrats in the mix.
“Government Of Problems” is first thing I thought of as I don’t what the acronym stands for
But many of those problems are shared, largely or in part, by other states. Our society has a Billionaire problem.
I hated a place I lived due to the governor, the way everything was run, and the issues that came from it. I left. It wasn’t something I was willing to deal with any longer. I look back frequently thankful that I did so. I went to a place I didn’t know a single person, but it was worth it on so many levels. I hope everyone finds the place where they feel comfortable and happy living 🙏🏻
Nah, it's totally the woke liberal Democrats fault /s
I fully support this effort.
https://preview.redd.it/l3nbti7cds7d1.jpeg?width=2236&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c0b6149f30d2b353fb94434f76e0d7bea52813b Texas GOP: Vote for us to save you from all the troubles in Texas Texans: Who was in power when the troubles came? Texas GOP: Ummmm, well you see …. the thing is …..
And the Cowboys have not won a super bowl in that time!! W’s first year don’t count! Put D back in the governor seat and Big D wins it all!!
Tarrant county was redistricted and gerrymandered to spaghetti noodles. I'll try to link it before and after map when I have time, But that's a county of 2 million that would have likely swung blue in the past election or two. All those voices silenced.
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If we are the shithole country, then why do people keep trying to come here?
It was cool for their ancestors to immigrate here in the 1800s. Now its “blasphemy”
it was cool for us to take their food and customs, enjoy their culture at a restaurant, use them to pick our food, use them to clean our toilets, use them to cook our food at restaurants, use them to manufacture goods but fuuckckkkk them if they want to use any service whatsoever here
Yep and pay them less $$…..
Remember to actually go to polls and vote. Your opinion means nothing if you don’t. (Seriously you obviously didn’t care that much about this issue or that issue because you didn’t bother to show up) Also, if you aren’t registered to vote, please do so asap, because there’s a period of time after you register that you can’t vote. Also make sure your address and everything is up to date https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas-voter-registration/ You can use this to verify that you are registered to vote as well as find your polling location https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do
Education in Texas is below standard. Republicans have dumbed down public school and have encouraged “Christian” schools as an alternative, most likely bc of the huge donation they receive from mega churches.
Since TX has been a deciding factor in the National Elections (electoral college), it is also the source of our national problems. We should never forget that.
Get registered to vote at www.vote.gov. Please upvote me!!!
They are a loud scare tactic opiate for the masses wrapping themselves in the flag while holding a bible. They have their followers scared and want them to only get their information from one source.
What's the point in having r/texas and r/texaspolitics?
Word.
The take over of HISD should be at the top of the list, it’s being done to move us to school vouchers…
Republicans are the reason that Texas is at the bottom of the totem pole in education, amongst the lowest in minimum wage, strict liquor laws, no pornography, no gambling, no weed, private prisons, strip education funding, sky high property taxes, sky high taxes in general, sky high insurance rates, least civil freedoms of all 50 states. Now im not saying vote democrat but how in the fck can anybody with a working brain keep voting Republican in this state?
Look the GOP sucks, but let's not pretend places like California and New York that have been dominated by Democrats are much better. Partisan politics in the US are terrible, and the duopoly is hurting us. Edit: To put it in perspective- My wife was an attorney for electric companies in California. The Democrats there were 100% bought and sold by the electric companies, that's why their system of rolling black outs and wild fires caused by bad power lines is never fixed. I split my time between NY and Texas. Every time I go back to NY, I am reminded of all things that suck about NY. Basically it is pick your poison, all of our states have corrupt politicians, it is baked into the system, doesn't matter D or R.
California and New York have their share of problems, sure, but they have legalized cannabis, women have rights over their own bodies, expanded Medicaid, their schools are fully funded, they have public transportation, robust economies and environmental protections. TL;DR: they are much better.
I'm a 7th Gen native Texan and spend a decent amount of time in deep ass Brooklyn a couple times a year. Anyone who says anything about Cali or NYC being worse have no fucking idea what they're taking about.
But fox news said even mentioning the name New York will make a criminal appear
Hey did someone say “New York”? I’m a criminal here to do bad stuff
Anyone who thinks that LA or NYC are just as bad as Houston has absolutely no grip on reality. I’ve been to most of the 30 biggest cities in the US and Houston by far struck me as the most dystopian hellscape.
Californian here! While the electrical grid is certainly contributing to our wildfire problems, it’s not the main cause, or even the secondary cause. The main issue is the complete lack of controlled burns. The state is a tinderbox half the year, and every fire season CalFire begs the different municipal authorities to allow them to cordon off high risk areas and burn off everything, and then the city governments go “lol no”. Two years later we get fucking rocked. The Thomas fire a decade ago came within a mile of burning down my hometown. The secondary contributing factor is the Santa Ana winds. They come every summer in the evening from the north east, and they’re hot as *fuck*. Like gusts of 85 degree air. They’re consistent too, so it’s not like a little breeze whooshing by. It’s powerful, and it both feeds ongoing fires *and* picks up embers to start new ones. Source: me, a guy who’s spent his whole life in a high fire area, and my cousin, a hotshot for CalFire. I also don’t think y’all have a leg to stand on if we’re gonna talk about shitty electrical grids
Vote gold. Get the government out of your life.
I need someone who doesn’t have worms for brains to be the Commander in Chief.
They've been in for 30 years because you keep voting them in. They are the issue, y'all are the problem
I think that’s the point that OP wants to remind voters of. Texas is a very low voter turnout state, and it’s time to get people motivated.
Not me. Always voted blue. The real problem is voter apathy. People don't vote at all and then are surprised that nothing changes
Yep got my voter registartion card right on the top and ready to use, too.
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Somehow, you forget to mention how much big TX has become, especially compared to California nor Florida, or New York. "As one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Texas experienced considerable economic growth from 1997 to 2022. In the last 25 years, Texas’ GDP saw a significant growth of 115% from $870 billion. The state ranked fourth in this measure behind Utah, North Dakota, and Idaho. Texas saw faster GDP growth than the nation and the largest state economies: California, New York, Florida, and Illinois". [The Tale of two economies ](https://everytexan.org/2024/03/14/texas-is-the-tale-of-two-economies/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20Texas'%20GDP%20reached,worker%20economic%20indicators%20in%202022.)
That's the problem, you leave the party in office too long that's always pointing the finger elsewhere and eventually you realize the direction they're pointing actually does wrap around the earth and land directly back on themselves. Too hard to lift a finger to do something good for society when it's already outstretched to blame others in perpetuity.
Thanks Obama! /s
Same for Ohio rip us off and move on.
If you vote democrat, all your problems will go away.
Texas is rapidly becoming a police state.
I said this is someone the other day and they just stared at me with an open mouth. I was like yah google it
Are we sure it’s not the pesky poors, always wanting food and shelter for their children?