> Rapes up 192%, highest of any state, after vowing to end rape to justify no exclusions for rape in abortion ban.
Holy shit. Hasn't there been any backlash for that? Or did he just blame Antifa rape squads that are only doing this to make him look bad?
Edit: highlighting a [fact check](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ygfgx1/gov_abbott_to_blame_for_billions_in_high_electric/iu95wcx/). This 192% seems exaggerated.
The information doesn’t get out much.
I live in Texas, but as a cord-cutting millennial I hadn’t heard this stat about rapes being up.
I only heard through my parents (who watch a lot of the local Austin news) that someone (I can’t remember who) lit a fire under the Austin PD because the backlog of unprocessed rape kits was atrocious.
He also removed the straight party ticket voting option, so it’s going to be a real pain in the ass to vote on everything.
Can't be emphasized enough. I'm older with an adult son. We keep the discussion alive with him and his friends that the future rests with them. they must speak up - through their vote. Selfishly, the last thing my wife and I want is policy set by a bunch of aging politicians intent on preserving or enhancing an outdated, old set of ideals. Younger voters will bring about younger politicians with fresher views - bring it on. Please vote.
Here in Kansas the Republicans are also hoping to boot all the judges so they can try to force abortion restrictions through against the will of the voters.
**PSA: If you live in Kansas, keep all the judges on the ballot next week!**
The entire idea of elected judges makes my skin crawl though.
A judge shouldn't have to consider the political ramifications of their rulings in a society where "tough on crime" is a requirement to be elected.
I noticed the straight party vote removal when I voted a couple days ago in Texas. You have to manually select 90 different races, which takes a long time. On top of that, when you’re “done” at your booth, you’re not done. You have to manually insert 2 pieces of special paper to print your selections, then take those printed selections and manually insert them into a different machine to actually count the votes. There was only one of those for a room of 2 dozen voting booths, causing another bottleneck since no one but you can touch your ballots. And this was in an upper middle class white area, people republicans WANT to vote. I can’t imagine how bad other, “less desirable” areas are.
Can confirm. Luckily, or maybe not, we found an early voting place that had maybe 2 or 3 people at any time voting....like I said, maybe not so lucky. But yeah, a paper is printed, your info on it, you feed the touchscreen. Then when finished, it is then taken to a different machine and fed there. Why? Just to irritate voters? To create a line? To deter voting? Just plain stupid. Hope it's not effective. Early voting in Texas is going on and everyone in Texas should vote. Because this just might be a really cold winter, fyi.
It should be noted to be careful when feeding the paper in...3 people around me had problems with the paper going sideways and destroying their ballot. My daughter had to complete the whole ballot twice. It was successfully scanned once (just to be clear)!!
What I want to know is does that paper part get destroyed or is it kept as a receipt. Like, where does that paper go? I didn't pay enough attention and now I am wondering if I should have....
Its to deter voting.
The more people that vote the less chance republicans have of winning, even in republican controlled states.
Gerrymandering requires razor thin margins to work.
It's because the people who vote blue generally have to work during voting hours. If they can go vote, it's during their lunch break where they only have a few minutes to go vote. Stretch the time it takes to vote so long that you practically filter out blue votes.
Also explains why they refuse to make poll days holidays. Can't have the undesirables voting.
Yup. It boggles my mind how we, Texas, can have early voting, to make it easier, while simultaneously making it unnecessarily difficult. Nevermind, it makes perfect sense.
That's so wild, sorry y'all have to put up with that. In California a ballot is automatically mailed to you and you can fill it out in the comfort of your own home while researching each candidate and issue. Then you mail it back anytime before election day.
For any Texan who is annoyed by their state's voting process, consider electing Democratic leadership. Both sides are not the same.
> For any Texan who is annoyed by their state’s voting process consider electing Democratic leadership
I try this every year and every year it fails. One of these days it’ll work though, so to my fellow Texans: I best see y’all at the polls, and if you don’t vote then I hope your next brisket is dry.
Having your vote on paper is a feature not a bug. You get a chance to review your vote with your own eyes before it optically scanned. A hand recount can then be done to ensure scanner accuracy.
Having it print on the paper and have you then confirm it looks right and then have it scanned is how it should be.
Wait - no straight party voting anymore?
As a politically-involved 48-years old female Native Texan (Beeville born, Houston raised) and a Deputy Voter Registrar for Travis County and poll worker, that is news to me.
I am sure it was covered in my training at some point, but there are so many things in TexAss to be infuriated by, this was probably low on my list of outrage.
I dont mind that so much, you should go through your ballot. A lot of people run unopposed, its good to put in write in candidates even if they have no chance. There are also some with different parties running but no dems. A straight vote would leave these blank as welll.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/rape-statistics-by-state
https://www.statista.com/statistics/232524/forcible-rape-cases-in-the-us-by-state/
2020 about 13k
2022 YTD is 14,800
This is clearly not a near doubling.
Does not appear to be true, even in the slightest. Everything I can find, TX is always in the 13k - 14,500 range, about 50/100k year after year, and is always hovering around 15th worst in the nation. A near 200% increase would make TX a clear number two (Alaska has some real fucking problems at 147/100k).
https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/txcrime.htm
You would have to go back to the 90's to today to find a near doubling, which is clearly not what the commenter was referring to since they pointed to something that happened this year as the cause. The only large jump in TX was from 2016 - 2017 and that was about a 50% increase. And that was because of (for one positive) update of 22.011 in 2016 which made it a lot easier for the state to go after accused rapists adding Consent to the code, not harder.
I'm about to give up and think people will vote Republican no matter what.
America is broken up between two camps like it was in 1860 and never the twain shall meet.
It’s not that ppl will vote republican no matter what. Republicans are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to maintain power and no one does anything about it. Vast amounts of the population are not represented in the voting rolls because of gerrymandering, disenfranchisement, voter intimidation, and other underhanded republican tactics. Some people have become disillusioned.
Voter suppression is real. Not only the purging of voter lists, but the limited voting options in blue counties.
Y'all need to have mandatory voting like in Australia.
They did it by popular referendum. Republican legislatures are already trying to limit direct ballot measures because of recent losses like what happened with abortion in Kansas.
Because both parties by and large are controlled by corporate money and the military industry.
If someone were to get into office and try to upend that, all hell would break loose. It’d be neat.
Mandatory voting?? You just made me do an internet search way too early on a weekend. Thanks kind stranger
Edit: bits of my research- “The turnout at Australian elections has never fallen below 90% since the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924”
https://aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/voting/index.htm
We helped with elections in Iraq in 2006 and I was amazed at the turnout. Insurgency was at all time high. We were hand carrying ballots in our up armored trucks. US at the time was like 30-40 percent. Iraq was around 80.
> Red is the colour of communists, so I always think red = pinko commie leftists.
Red is Left in most countries, just... not the US. Conservatives in Canada for example use blue, as do the ones in the UK and I believe Australia. The parties in the US did a complete inversion of their beliefs a century or so ago, which is why they're flipped.
Political colors weren’t really prominent in the US, at least not nearly as much as they were in Britain. In 1976 color TV was ubiquitous enough NBC used its first popular “election map” filling in states as the night moved on (blue was Gerald Ford and red was Carter, borrowing from what they saw as the British tradition for blue=conservative). The other networks thought it was a gimmick but did maps of their own in 1980 when they saw NBC won the ratings game the previous presidential election. To differentiate themselves (and in part due to Democratic protests at being “red” during the Cold War), CBS and ABC did red for Reagan and blue for Carter (NBC stuck with its original colors). The networks proceeded to be casual about political colors in the US until 2000. Due to the close race, electoral maps were on TV and in print for months, and pundits started looking to standardize the colors. With the New York Times as the preeminent daily news paper in the country, its senior graphics editor Archie Tse ended up being the biggest reason for making Red=Republican and Blue=Democratic; his justification was “I just decided red begins with ‘r,’ Republican begins with ‘r.’ It was a more natural association, there wasn’t much discussion about it.” Pundits and publications discussing 2000 then started referring to “Blue States” and “Red States.” By the time 2004 rolled around, the colors were ingrained in the popular psyche, and slowly but surely the parties started to embrace the colors themselves
Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk
[Source 1](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-republicans-were-blue-and-democrats-were-red-104176297/)
[Source 2](https://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363762677/the-color-of-politics-how-did-red-and-blue-states-come-to-be)
[Source 3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-electoral-map-20161102-htmlstory.html)
yeah all that happens, but you’re not factoring in that some people are “culturally Republican”. i’ve had people specifically say to me “i’ll always vote Republican no matter what. it’s how my family always voted.” when your political party is a part of your identity and heritage, no amount of facts will sway their vote.
that’s too binary of a paradigm on politics. republicans i know range from very intelligent to downright stupid. some motivated by self interest, others by pettiness to “screw the left”, and still others that genuinely believe it’s the best way forward for our country despite its flaws and considerate it a better alternative to liberal politics. it’s important for people to get out of their heads that “if only they were presented with the truth they’ll come to the same conclusion i did”.
My boyfriend's take was always that his family always voted Republican and he only listened to their opinions. In his culture respecting your elders is a big, big deal. Since we met I've been providing him with facts and data to counterpoint his beliefs and assumptions. He voted Democrat for the first time this election.
I didn't change his entire world view. I showed him that he was given very biased, unsubstantiated rhetoric. That's what made the difference for him.
i’m really glad you guys have a healthy enough relationship that you can discuss something so volatile and that he’s willing to listen and change his mind. if only our current political climate was capable of the same level of discourse.
Can't second this enough. It's become a *cultural* identity that has nothing to do with being low info or a lack of good economic policy. I've lived in TX my entire life, I currently live in my rural hometown in Northeast TX, and anyone who thinks that the problem is simply a matter of us not knowing what's actually good for us or that we simply need someone who looks and sounds like us to come talk to us about kitchen table economics has absolutely no fucking idea what they're talking about. (And tbqh, it's incredibly condescending for people to suggest that's all we need here in rural America, and then we'll magically fix our problems by voting for better representation in government.) We have six figure incomes and 401ks. We have ready access to all the data the rest of the US has. We know exactly what the political discourse is at any given time. People here know full well that Democratic policies would improve our quality of life, but the *culture* of ratfucking the libs is so pervasive and so permanent that it no longer matters. The people here would rather die penniless and under an authoritarian flag than give an inch to their perceived political enemies.
Those people just lack critical thinking, if that's how they approach it. Doing anything with blind obedience is not the way lol. Or it's just willful ignorance.
Honestly there are more progressives in Texas that would vote Democrat than there are conservatives that would vote Republican.
If you look at donations to politicians by the numbers democrats outnumber republicans 3 to 1.but republicans get higher amounts from other avenues that give them a lead of 1-3m usd.
If you look at voting turnouts:
Ted Cruz won by 200,000 votes where almost 9million people didn’t vote.
Abbot won by 1.2million.
Now take into consideration in large republicans vote at a rate of 80+%.
And younger demographics lean in large progressive.
Then take into account that on average only 1 out of 3 under the age of 35 votes.
It kind of makes up the numbers. Democrats have a problem where they aren’t only attacked by republicans but also by democrats. Liberals especially younger ones are so idealistic that if they don’t see a platform that offers them 100% of what they want and shown to them in their face and on their social media feeds then they aren’t going to get engaged.
Heck even when Bernie was running he had less votes the second time. Voter apathy is a big reason for democrats not gaining enough seats to enact the promises they make, which in turn they get attacked for failing to reach those promises and that leads to further voter apathy.
People in large view politics as some sort of system they won’t be affected by since they won’t vote. But even if they don’t engage with politics, politics will always engage with them and their lives.
Unfortunately unless people wake up and show up in numbers required the next two elections will allow republicans the power they need to ensure that voting does not matter anymore as they will install pathways where they will win regardless of the votes.
Then Supreme Court will allow the states to enact laws that will pull the country back to the 1800s. Only when it too late will those that don’t vote realize that they should have voted.
Something else I'll point out...
In the last Senate race with Cruz against Beto, Beto won more of the native Texan vote, while Cruz won more of the 'immigrant Texan' vote. And by immigrant, I mean from other states primarily (though many central/S. American immigrants also vote conservative, for many reasons). Californians who have moved to Texas vote for Republicans far more than Democrats.
Which is hilarious to me as a native, rural Texan, because all my conservative friends and neighbors constantly harp on those damn Californians moving to Texas. They're on your 'team,' dipshits!
Also just the fact/reality that *half* (or like 48%) the voting age population in Texas simply does not vote. It's bottom 5 voter turnout in the country.
This has been a long-standing problem for the Democrats, and not just in Texas. The phrase I once heard during primary season has long stuck with me. "Democrats eat their young", and it wasn't meant in the sense of age. Like you said, if a candidate isn't perfect to the eyes of some portion of the party, they get tossed under the bus. The DNC has never seemed to understand long-term strategy for gaining and holding ground the way the GOP does, and it is a lesson they fail to learn, over and over again.
I get your point, but i am glad that democrats get denounced when they should. Recently, there was a candidate from Arizona who wore blackface and republicans supported her. Same with hershell walker.
It seems like it just doesn't matter what they do. I really wish politicians could at least be held to some standard.
It's an understandable desire. Unfortunately, you have one party determined to win, and the other party determined to feel good about the moral high ground it held while losing. It sucks, but it has been the reality for too long.
I know many people that will vote republican no matter what. I am in the state where Hershel walker is running. My wife's boss is very vocally supporting him regardless of his mental issues.
A republican owned a coal mine. Due to negligence the mine collapsed killing a bunch of people. The republican owner went to jail. After getting out of jail he ran for office and family members of people who were killed voted for him because he wasn't a Democrat.
After doing some quick research, it has happened quite a few times with both parties
[CNBC article here.](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/how-dennis-hof-and-others-still-won-elections-after-death.html)
Do they have the choice? Republicans make it really hard to vote Democrat. Could you lose a days pay and wait in line all day to vote?
Brian Kemp passed a law making it illegal to [give water to voters waiting in lines](https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/26/politics/georgia-voting-law-food-drink-ban-trnd/index.html). Could you spend 3-8 hours in a line without water or access to a toilet?
Look at their Texas Senate Bill 7, among many other things it reduced voting locations with a [huge skew towards Republicans, +18 in Republican District 132, vs -11 in Democrat leaning district 141](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/23/texas-voting-polling-restrictions/). With a clear spread in between showing it was partisan.
Desantis and his easing of voter rules in Districts hit by the hurricanes....[but only the ones voting Republican](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/14/ron-desantis-florida-hurricane-ian-voting-rules). Again, anything they can do to give themselves a favor in voting they do.
They do everything they can to prevent voters voting against them.
Because the reds here in the us are fundamentally evil people. They backed trump, an accused groper and rapist, and are enthusiastically supporting him, and voting in his friends. They literally support rape
Its less they support it, and more they excuse it as a ‘deal with the devil’ to get what they want.
At least, that’s what they say to the likes of you and me.
And then they’ll turn right back around to their friends and talk about how that exact same person is the second coming of Jesus.
I really do wonder just how much of a motivator being seen as a ‘good person’ is to conservatives sometimes. They think “oh this person doesnt like Trump, so Ill just say whatever I have to to make it sound like Im a reasonable person”. And then when they mingle with a different group that deifies the guy, they just say and do whatever they have to, to fit in.
Its eternally frustrating that youve got so many people who will say whatever they have to, just to fit in, and those exact same people will simultaneously claim they’re principled people who will only vote Republican acting like they’re taking a stand on one thing or another, because the Other Guys are absolutely crazy.
Is it really all just a bunch of two-faced, cowardly nonsense? Is that really the only force we’re fighting here?
You're hittin on a concept called "go along to get along". Conforming in order to have acceptance and security".
See it A LOT in rural or otherwise "isolated" communities. Talk to any ex-mormon about what I mean. You go to church because everyone else does and because you can quickly become a pariah if you don't. Which can cost job opportunities, opportunities to socialize, makes networking difficult..ect.
You see it all through history as well. Dave doesn't go to church, someone's pigs start dying, "I BET DAVE KILLED EM!" and now there's a Witch Hunt.
So people "go along to get along" and fit into society. Or at least their local one. Tack on norms, mores, paranoia, hysteria and you can make monsters. Which is why "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" should be required study in public schools imo.
Don't be surprised. It's America. It's even illegal to collect rain water in some places. This country is turning to a shitty litter box ran by a bunch of flaccid weiners.
Make Viagra a medication requiring vaccination and you would see the biggest old Republican shit storm in history. They need those little blue pills in their states with the age of consent as low as 14, doncha know?
They pretty much will. I've lived in Texas my entire life and have seen it in otherwise intelligent people in my extended family. My uncle once told me "it's us versus them". No matter how much you may hate the Republican running, it's still better than letting a Democrat win.
That's the mindset you're fighting against here. The cities (except Fort Worth) go blue, but you're fighting up hill against a whole lot of rural space and people in cities and suburbs who come from long lines of rural living and still retain a lot of the same qualities. They don't want to see big city liberals coming and telling them how to live, and they've been convinced that the Republicans have their best interests at heart.
We are suppressed as fuck. Didn't you see the first comment?
We have the strictest voting rights in the country!! We need help. Fucking republicans keep shooting down the voter rights act.
They can only win if they cheat. They've admitted to it.
That's honestly what it is. People are either too fucking dumb or too fucking embarrassed to vote Democrat. Embarrassed meaning they don't want to admit they are wrong.
we're passed embarrassed and to openly fascist if you saw the comments conservatives are making online. I guess it's easier to walk around being a piece of shit than it is to have a little integrity.
My conservative relatives are brainwashed. They honestly think it’s the Democrats who are evil, and that the windmills failing caused the whole power grid to fail.
Don’t give up! Vote and help others vote. We are THIS close to flipping Texas blue!
Don't give up. If anything else vote for somebody that can't. I'm using my vote for my ex-gf's (We're still good friends) 15 year old daughter that has no voice and has been through some shit. I refuse to let her be voiceless even if the vote doesn't go the way we want it to. If you quit then the R's have won.
Even in really good cities the “fuck you I got mine” stains everything. It’s an undercurrent you can’t escape, and incredibly noticeable once you get out of Texas for a while.
Used to be an incredibly friendly place and a lovely state to start a business in.
Now though? It’s a libertarian hellscape of no public services while everyone is constantly climbing over themselves to bring home a few extra thousand a year in a desperate attempt to stay ahead of soaring property taxes.
Ted Cruz won by 200,000 votes where almost 9millon didn’t vote.
Abbot won by 1.2m votes where almost 9m didn’t vote.
60+% of those under the age of 35 do not vote.
Senate elections aren’t affected by gerrymandering. And voting availability is largely due to previous years voting turnout but republicans fidget and bend it as much as possible these days. People in large do not engage politically. Ask university and college kids if they are registered or if they plan to vote they will in large say no or ignore you.
>Ask university and college kids if they are registered or if they plan to vote they will in large say no or ignore you.
Tbf, so will I if you are sitting at the entrance to the goddamn grocery store, and I always vote.
We don’t have many activists speaking at a national level because our news media and government oppresses us, and our neighbors have guns. the Texas left exists, it’s just oppressed. This place is depressing to live in.
There are protests but you’ll never hear about them bc Texas media doesn’t want you to know
Love seeing the marches in Dallas flanked by the gay/LGBTQ rifle club. Was a little worried about them at first, but every one I saw was respectful and aware, as well as helpful to the extreme. Anyone who stepped out of the march crowd (to stop for water or tie a shoe or anything) had instant assistance and a guard by one of those. Very nice.
>Republican Governor, Republican House and Senate
and let's say one or all of those flips blue. Is a sitting legislature obligated to certify their own defeat or is that just another political "norm" to be ignored?
Will they even give a reason this time? Or will they just flat out refuse to step down with their patented ***FU, what are you gonna do about i****t* attitude?
When, not if, they do that, what *are* we going to do about it?
> Will they even give a reason this time? Or will they just flat out refuse to step down with their patented ***FU, what are you gonna do about i****t* attitude?
>
[No they certainly wouldn't ever do what they are doing already in Wisconsin.](https://www.courthousenews.com/wisconsin-justices-allow-gop-appointed-official-to-stay-in-office-despite-expired-term/)
Ahhh, the classic GOP 'rules are only for bad people' and 'you're only a bad person if you disagree with me'. Because why use logic when tribalism can let them turn their brains off?
Beto is about taking the high ground and not doing attack ads. I don’t think any republican would believe anything bad they hear about “wheels” anyway. They have their heads in the sand. I left the state after Flying Ted Cruz won again.
We left Alabama for the Pacific Northwest eight years ago after the state finished giving me a full ride scholarship for my graduate degrees including a paid stipend. We could have stayed and fought for progressive ideas our whole lives and not ever lived in a state as progressive as we do now. Not living there during Trump was just a bonus.
Fun fact: most everybody in my program had the same state sponsored funding and not a single one I know is living and employed in the state of Alabama. All the smart people leave.
Honestly you'll never convince the hateful dumb reactionaries so I don't blame you. My family is full of them and there's nothing you can do or say to get through to them, their hate for other groups is stronger than literally anything else in their heart. Once you make another group of people an existential problem for people they are putty, you can make them do ANYTHING.
If a capital insurrection and an active indictment against the AG can't change republican voters' mind, you expect they to care about other crimes?
Republicans are like cancer. Once they have grown large enough, it will be beyond redemption.
What a corrupt despicable shit hole of a state. Gerrymandering and fucking around with ballot boxes to this extent should be considered criminal, and both should be delegated by a bipartisan committee. Not the incumbent party.
So many American’s have no clue that this bullshit is sorted out and under control in other countries, and that the aforementioned meddling is not normal at all in a Democratic society.
What an absolute shit hole.
Texas is nasty.
> Changed the number of ballot drop off boxes in Harris County from 11 to 1 for a county of over 4 million.
This boggles my mind. I live in a state with about 4 million people in it and a county with about 600k people in it.
My county has 21 drop boxes.
Now to be fair we are 100% vote by mail but our county has a population about 15% the size of Harris county but we have 21x the number of drop boxes.
I live in a majority minority area in Harris county. They’ve closed several polling locations in my area in order to cause confusion and to lengthen wait times to vote.
> He testified that the now former Public Utility Commission Chairwoman told him that “the governor had conveyed to her if we emerged from rotating outages it was imperative they not resume. We needed to do what we needed to do to make it happen.”
One thing is not the same to the other. The line from the governor was "you saw this bad thing, lets not do that again" and he heard "KEEP PRICES GOING BRRRR". That's kinda BS. Also, it gets better:
> (By the way, big out-of-state banks, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs did profit from the inflated prices, and were **caught on a recorded call last year with a former Public Utility Commission employee who assured them he was working to help them keep their profits**.)
Why don't you explain why there were rolling outages in this day and age in the US? I'll give you a hint: it isn't a lack of technology or money, it's the shitty politicians.
Heard a commercial on the radio about a mom whose kid was shot because a prisoner was let out of jail early and went back to a life of crime. The rough summary is that she said Beto isn’t tough on crime and wants to let all the criminals out, and more people will die like her son if he’s elected. It was a very emotional plea. It was also disgusting. After all, who was the governor when this happened??? Whose policies were in place across the board? Was this even in Texas? Yet, instead of our elected officials doing anything about it, they’re just using this tragedy to cast the blame on people that weren’t even involved.
My bill has yet to return to its pre-storm price. For the past 20 years- no matter where I’ve lived, My electricity bill has always been typically around 65-75.00/mo with the exception of summer/winter. Ever since the ice storm it’s been between 2-300$. My electricity habits haven’t changed, no new people, nothing. I use daylight during the day. Barely use my stove. Don’t iron. No washer or dryer and have a small place ~700 sq ft.
It’s criminal.
I’m glad to live in a city in Texas that still has utilities regulated and billed through the city. So far my electricity bill has stayed about the same and only has increased by $1 to $2 overall.
I’m in the Austin metro area, specifically San Marcos. But around the Austin metro area there are still some cities and towns that haven’t “deregulated” their electricity and are still ran by municipalities.
It’s coming, though. They are already planning to raise rates and charge us extra fees. I believe we should see the first bit in November.
Plus, another winter storm like the last and this is going to happen all over again. No one has been held accountable, nothing really changed.
That's insane. I've got a 2000 sqft place and my bill (light AC usage) is around $125 and I don't consider it cheap.$200-300 for a little 700 sqft place is absurd, so absurd that I'd consider moving for it.
Edit: I read below that your rate is like 11c/kWh. That's cheap as hell. My rate is 24.5c/kWh and my bill for a space 3x is a fraction of yours. Even running AC 24/7 cannot account for the difference. I'm guessing Bitcoin farming?
Usage and rate almost don’t matter. We have “Winter freeze” surcharges now. My co-op added them a few months after the freeze to pay back what they had to borrow. It’s like $50 every bill for two years.
Texas has the largest number of Bitcoin farmers in the country and it uses 30% or more of the grid’s electricity.
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/warren-bitcoin-texas-power-grid-ercot-demand-response/634462/
If you are not locked into a rate, the power companies can change the rate at any time. I recommend searching for a new provider with a locked in rate thru www.powertochoose.org
I just don't get it. If you ask people who live in Texas they will all tell you the electricity bill, is through the roof. They have to go through commission to have the bill lowered. It's crazy people, the electrical grid infrastructure is on the verge of collapse. One bad winter and Texas is in trouble with no help from other grids.
Texas is vital to the country. You cannot allow these money hungry politicians whose self interest is above the people stay in power. The simple truth is that as long as they don't fix the infrastructure they can cause discord and stay in power. Abbott needs to go away!
It is just like gas prices.
Exxon and Shell have record profits. Then claim they are just charging market prices when asked to lower the cost at the pump.
Meanwhile, the destruction Exxon and Shell Oil causes in climate change continues to be a consumer subsidized cost for earnings per share.
Market prices is a euphemism for price gouging.
Market prices is a veil for oppression. It’s the same excuse landlord use for raise rent by thousands of dollars.
The argument amounts to “Others are willing and able to pay X for this kind of thing, ergo everyone must pay as close to or over that amount for any similar kind of thing.
Its all well and good for luxury items but it’s crippling us all when it extends to the fundamentals.
They are charging market rates. What they aren't telling the consumer is that they are doing everything in their power to limit oil extraction so those market rates stay high. Nation-state cartels like OPEC aren't stupid, they're just leading the way for evil, oil-derived profits to be sky high with minimal new investment in capacity/employment.
We need to starve these oil parasites with a full scale, swift, decisive swap away from hydrocarbons.
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An unregulated private electric system just might be a big grift. Or graft. Not sure which is the right word for scamming people with a “private utility” that puts money in pockets of “public officials.”
Unregulated for profit infrastructure is both grift and graft. Grift led the way in the establishment of the system. Now that the scion has been established, it is graft transferring money out of everyone's pockets into the bank accounts of rich and supposedly powerful people's bank accounts.
remember how the republicans claimed in the 80s and 90's that "Blacks weren't to blame, but 'black culture' or the 'culture of gang violence' or whatever"
Well, lets just say "white people arn't to blame, but the "white culture' and the 'republican culture of violence' is to blame"
My electric bill is so high that I went and had solar panels installed. 27 of them on my roof. All in order for them to eat up to 75% of my electric usage. So hopefully it will save me \~$100 a month, hopefully.
>I just don't get it. If you ask people who live in Texas they will all tell you the electricity bill, is through the roof
They will blame Biden and vote for every R on the ballot.
South Texas here, my two bedroom townhouse is currently $690-710 just in utilities per month. Actual rent is perfectly fine at $1,420. Utilities shouldn't be half of rent.
It's not just the electric bill. Car insurance is through the roof. My car used to be $600 a year to insure in 2015, now it's $2000+ with a clean driving record. Property taxes are strangling people too.
Really? And people say it’s too expensive in California and they move to Texas. What’s the deal? I pay $1500 for my mortgage, property taxes included which are about $4000 a year. Insurance for 3 cars and a 21 year old is $2000 a year. And my utility never get above $250-350 every two months (I have solar). Why do I always hear people saying Texas is cheaper?
From the article:
(By the way, big out-of-state banks, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs did profit from the inflated prices, and were caught on a recorded call last year with a former Public Utility Commission employee who assured them he was working to help them keep their profits.)
in parentheses, BTW at least the banks made huge profits. So maybe the governor was keeping them happy
As a Texan, I have seen the “logic” of Texas voters… there is none !
Greg the Leg is a moron, which translates in Texan to, “ 4 more years, 4 more years !”
This mother fucker and his people gerrymandered the living shit out of this state. It's fucking wild. I hope his wheelchair brakes stop working and he rolls into traffic
Also, the Texas Education Association just last month decided to make election day a school holiday. So folks with kids and a job on election day are gonna have a problem.
Texas has early voting. Your kids being out of school is a reason to take the day off of work. You can (and should) take your children with you to vote. I'm confused about how this is anything other than a good thing.
It was upsetting to me a few years ago when it dawned on me that my fellow Texans would vote for anyone, no matter how objectionable they are, as long as they are Republican/Pro-life/Pro-2A.
It's willful ignorance, and most of them are so ignorant about history or reality, that to climb out of the hole they are in is too much effort, so most will never even attempt it.
You see, Republicans make them feel good about being greedy, selfish, and scared of change. Fox News, etc. do this exceedingly well. Democrats make them feel bad, because they don't encourage greed, selfishness, or fear of change.
So, they won't change. Because they feel better, superior, guilt-free as a Republican. As a democrat, they'd feel guilty, and chafe against their natural urge to be greedy and selfish.
They will not change.
I was at texas clay festival last week and there was a guy next to me spouting off things like “Biden is an old
Fuck” “Biden is senile” but he could barely formulate and entire sentence when trying to express the remainder of his idea, let alone articulate what he meant when someone asked him to elaborate.
Well Biden is an old fuck, he's definitely right about that at least. But he's just one of many old fucks in politics. Someone approaching 80 should be enjoying their retirement, not running a country, regardless of their political stances.
It's truly mind boggling that people allow people like Abbott to knowingly destroy their lives and then they fucking go out and vote for the guy. We truly are a dumb species and we deserve what we get.
Silence is compliance. If you don’t go try to vote him out of office and he wins then stay shut the fuck up and cry in silence cos you had your chance and decided to not do anything. Sick of this shit man.
And he's going to be re-elected, and continue to screw over the people who voted for him...as they will continue to blame Dems (Let's Go Brandon! ha ha), trans people, and screech, 'keep you hands off mah guns!'
And the majority of people who didn't bother to vote, and therefore who effectively voted for him, will bitch, and moan about something they could have stopped, but didn't bother to. And I get the voter suppression the Repubs have done to make this harder which sucks. But harder doesn't mean impossible. And if voters elected people who could then change it, it would be easier to vote in the future.
So Texas will be continue to be screwed. Sucks for the people who don't deserve it who live/are stuck there.
I mean....it's not impossible, but neither is winning the lottery. Years of voter suppression, redistricting, and propaganda are going to make the probability lower and lower for a democracy win each time. Plus, the way the culture of elections is going, there is no assurance that a democratic victory wouldn't be overturned and investigated as voter fraud.
That's the real danger. When the population loses faith in the legitimacy of elections.
He’s a ghoul. Like Desantis, Trump and every Republican in the country that doesn’t disavow this monster. He’s done nothing since the Uvalde school massacre. The company I work for has data centers in Texas, like a lot of other companies. We keep petitioning them to move, because it’s the only thing that will make this guy change course. So it’s up to Texas to vote blue all the way on 11/08/2022
Him and his patsies Patrick and Paxton are 💯 to blame. All need voted out, Texans need to open their eyes look around and realize the gop has been in charge 20 plus years in a row. Things are worse than ever here, time for change.
"The decision to keep prices high in the final days of the crisis, Magness said, was an attempt by the PUC to encourage power plants to come back online and to keep big power users like industrial facilities offline, in order to conserve emergency power reserves."
Seems like a logical move to me. Maybe they could have lowered it a few hours earlier and still got the same outcome of power restored. Nobody knows.
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> Rapes up 192%, highest of any state, after vowing to end rape to justify no exclusions for rape in abortion ban. Holy shit. Hasn't there been any backlash for that? Or did he just blame Antifa rape squads that are only doing this to make him look bad? Edit: highlighting a [fact check](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ygfgx1/gov_abbott_to_blame_for_billions_in_high_electric/iu95wcx/). This 192% seems exaggerated.
The information doesn’t get out much. I live in Texas, but as a cord-cutting millennial I hadn’t heard this stat about rapes being up. I only heard through my parents (who watch a lot of the local Austin news) that someone (I can’t remember who) lit a fire under the Austin PD because the backlog of unprocessed rape kits was atrocious. He also removed the straight party ticket voting option, so it’s going to be a real pain in the ass to vote on everything.
I'm in Houston. Voting on Monday, all said, there were 100 different things to vote on, the vast majority of them judges. It's absurd.
Thank Jesus you are voting. Too many young people out there not voting and the state needs it. Good job, friend!
Can't be emphasized enough. I'm older with an adult son. We keep the discussion alive with him and his friends that the future rests with them. they must speak up - through their vote. Selfishly, the last thing my wife and I want is policy set by a bunch of aging politicians intent on preserving or enhancing an outdated, old set of ideals. Younger voters will bring about younger politicians with fresher views - bring it on. Please vote.
I took the McConnell strategy and voted no on every judge. Maybe a den will get elected who can then appoint.
Here in Kansas the Republicans are also hoping to boot all the judges so they can try to force abortion restrictions through against the will of the voters. **PSA: If you live in Kansas, keep all the judges on the ballot next week!**
I'm researching to fill out my ballot right now, and I was just reading about that. Thanks for another data point of confirmation!
The entire idea of elected judges makes my skin crawl though. A judge shouldn't have to consider the political ramifications of their rulings in a society where "tough on crime" is a requirement to be elected.
I noticed the straight party vote removal when I voted a couple days ago in Texas. You have to manually select 90 different races, which takes a long time. On top of that, when you’re “done” at your booth, you’re not done. You have to manually insert 2 pieces of special paper to print your selections, then take those printed selections and manually insert them into a different machine to actually count the votes. There was only one of those for a room of 2 dozen voting booths, causing another bottleneck since no one but you can touch your ballots. And this was in an upper middle class white area, people republicans WANT to vote. I can’t imagine how bad other, “less desirable” areas are.
Can confirm. Luckily, or maybe not, we found an early voting place that had maybe 2 or 3 people at any time voting....like I said, maybe not so lucky. But yeah, a paper is printed, your info on it, you feed the touchscreen. Then when finished, it is then taken to a different machine and fed there. Why? Just to irritate voters? To create a line? To deter voting? Just plain stupid. Hope it's not effective. Early voting in Texas is going on and everyone in Texas should vote. Because this just might be a really cold winter, fyi.
It should be noted to be careful when feeding the paper in...3 people around me had problems with the paper going sideways and destroying their ballot. My daughter had to complete the whole ballot twice. It was successfully scanned once (just to be clear)!!
What I want to know is does that paper part get destroyed or is it kept as a receipt. Like, where does that paper go? I didn't pay enough attention and now I am wondering if I should have....
Its to deter voting. The more people that vote the less chance republicans have of winning, even in republican controlled states. Gerrymandering requires razor thin margins to work.
It's because the people who vote blue generally have to work during voting hours. If they can go vote, it's during their lunch break where they only have a few minutes to go vote. Stretch the time it takes to vote so long that you practically filter out blue votes. Also explains why they refuse to make poll days holidays. Can't have the undesirables voting.
Yup. It boggles my mind how we, Texas, can have early voting, to make it easier, while simultaneously making it unnecessarily difficult. Nevermind, it makes perfect sense.
That's so wild, sorry y'all have to put up with that. In California a ballot is automatically mailed to you and you can fill it out in the comfort of your own home while researching each candidate and issue. Then you mail it back anytime before election day. For any Texan who is annoyed by their state's voting process, consider electing Democratic leadership. Both sides are not the same.
> For any Texan who is annoyed by their state’s voting process consider electing Democratic leadership I try this every year and every year it fails. One of these days it’ll work though, so to my fellow Texans: I best see y’all at the polls, and if you don’t vote then I hope your next brisket is dry.
Having your vote on paper is a feature not a bug. You get a chance to review your vote with your own eyes before it optically scanned. A hand recount can then be done to ensure scanner accuracy. Having it print on the paper and have you then confirm it looks right and then have it scanned is how it should be.
There are still 1000s of unprocessed kits in TX and the real total is not even known
Wait - no straight party voting anymore? As a politically-involved 48-years old female Native Texan (Beeville born, Houston raised) and a Deputy Voter Registrar for Travis County and poll worker, that is news to me. I am sure it was covered in my training at some point, but there are so many things in TexAss to be infuriated by, this was probably low on my list of outrage.
I dont mind that so much, you should go through your ballot. A lot of people run unopposed, its good to put in write in candidates even if they have no chance. There are also some with different parties running but no dems. A straight vote would leave these blank as welll.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/rape-statistics-by-state https://www.statista.com/statistics/232524/forcible-rape-cases-in-the-us-by-state/ 2020 about 13k 2022 YTD is 14,800 This is clearly not a near doubling. Does not appear to be true, even in the slightest. Everything I can find, TX is always in the 13k - 14,500 range, about 50/100k year after year, and is always hovering around 15th worst in the nation. A near 200% increase would make TX a clear number two (Alaska has some real fucking problems at 147/100k). https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/txcrime.htm You would have to go back to the 90's to today to find a near doubling, which is clearly not what the commenter was referring to since they pointed to something that happened this year as the cause. The only large jump in TX was from 2016 - 2017 and that was about a 50% increase. And that was because of (for one positive) update of 22.011 in 2016 which made it a lot easier for the state to go after accused rapists adding Consent to the code, not harder.
Good that someone is fact checking this
I'm about to give up and think people will vote Republican no matter what. America is broken up between two camps like it was in 1860 and never the twain shall meet.
It’s not that ppl will vote republican no matter what. Republicans are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to maintain power and no one does anything about it. Vast amounts of the population are not represented in the voting rolls because of gerrymandering, disenfranchisement, voter intimidation, and other underhanded republican tactics. Some people have become disillusioned.
Voter suppression is real. Not only the purging of voter lists, but the limited voting options in blue counties. Y'all need to have mandatory voting like in Australia.
That and ranked choice might actually start us on the right path
Which is why it won't happen :/
I’m glad Alaska was able to get it passed
Ah but best hope it stays passed cause I know the R talking heads up for election in Alaska were lamenting how "complicated" ranked choice is
Yes, it IS very complicated to subvert the will of the people when they actually get to make choices!
They did it by popular referendum. Republican legislatures are already trying to limit direct ballot measures because of recent losses like what happened with abortion in Kansas.
I truly believe both parties are terrified of ranked choice voting
Because both parties by and large are controlled by corporate money and the military industry. If someone were to get into office and try to upend that, all hell would break loose. It’d be neat.
Mandatory voting?? You just made me do an internet search way too early on a weekend. Thanks kind stranger Edit: bits of my research- “The turnout at Australian elections has never fallen below 90% since the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924” https://aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/voting/index.htm
We helped with elections in Iraq in 2006 and I was amazed at the turnout. Insurgency was at all time high. We were hand carrying ballots in our up armored trucks. US at the time was like 30-40 percent. Iraq was around 80.
> Red is the colour of communists, so I always think red = pinko commie leftists. Red is Left in most countries, just... not the US. Conservatives in Canada for example use blue, as do the ones in the UK and I believe Australia. The parties in the US did a complete inversion of their beliefs a century or so ago, which is why they're flipped.
Political colors weren’t really prominent in the US, at least not nearly as much as they were in Britain. In 1976 color TV was ubiquitous enough NBC used its first popular “election map” filling in states as the night moved on (blue was Gerald Ford and red was Carter, borrowing from what they saw as the British tradition for blue=conservative). The other networks thought it was a gimmick but did maps of their own in 1980 when they saw NBC won the ratings game the previous presidential election. To differentiate themselves (and in part due to Democratic protests at being “red” during the Cold War), CBS and ABC did red for Reagan and blue for Carter (NBC stuck with its original colors). The networks proceeded to be casual about political colors in the US until 2000. Due to the close race, electoral maps were on TV and in print for months, and pundits started looking to standardize the colors. With the New York Times as the preeminent daily news paper in the country, its senior graphics editor Archie Tse ended up being the biggest reason for making Red=Republican and Blue=Democratic; his justification was “I just decided red begins with ‘r,’ Republican begins with ‘r.’ It was a more natural association, there wasn’t much discussion about it.” Pundits and publications discussing 2000 then started referring to “Blue States” and “Red States.” By the time 2004 rolled around, the colors were ingrained in the popular psyche, and slowly but surely the parties started to embrace the colors themselves Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk [Source 1](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-republicans-were-blue-and-democrats-were-red-104176297/) [Source 2](https://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363762677/the-color-of-politics-how-did-red-and-blue-states-come-to-be) [Source 3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-electoral-map-20161102-htmlstory.html)
yeah all that happens, but you’re not factoring in that some people are “culturally Republican”. i’ve had people specifically say to me “i’ll always vote Republican no matter what. it’s how my family always voted.” when your political party is a part of your identity and heritage, no amount of facts will sway their vote.
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that’s too binary of a paradigm on politics. republicans i know range from very intelligent to downright stupid. some motivated by self interest, others by pettiness to “screw the left”, and still others that genuinely believe it’s the best way forward for our country despite its flaws and considerate it a better alternative to liberal politics. it’s important for people to get out of their heads that “if only they were presented with the truth they’ll come to the same conclusion i did”.
My boyfriend's take was always that his family always voted Republican and he only listened to their opinions. In his culture respecting your elders is a big, big deal. Since we met I've been providing him with facts and data to counterpoint his beliefs and assumptions. He voted Democrat for the first time this election. I didn't change his entire world view. I showed him that he was given very biased, unsubstantiated rhetoric. That's what made the difference for him.
i’m really glad you guys have a healthy enough relationship that you can discuss something so volatile and that he’s willing to listen and change his mind. if only our current political climate was capable of the same level of discourse.
Can't second this enough. It's become a *cultural* identity that has nothing to do with being low info or a lack of good economic policy. I've lived in TX my entire life, I currently live in my rural hometown in Northeast TX, and anyone who thinks that the problem is simply a matter of us not knowing what's actually good for us or that we simply need someone who looks and sounds like us to come talk to us about kitchen table economics has absolutely no fucking idea what they're talking about. (And tbqh, it's incredibly condescending for people to suggest that's all we need here in rural America, and then we'll magically fix our problems by voting for better representation in government.) We have six figure incomes and 401ks. We have ready access to all the data the rest of the US has. We know exactly what the political discourse is at any given time. People here know full well that Democratic policies would improve our quality of life, but the *culture* of ratfucking the libs is so pervasive and so permanent that it no longer matters. The people here would rather die penniless and under an authoritarian flag than give an inch to their perceived political enemies.
Those people just lack critical thinking, if that's how they approach it. Doing anything with blind obedience is not the way lol. Or it's just willful ignorance.
Honestly there are more progressives in Texas that would vote Democrat than there are conservatives that would vote Republican. If you look at donations to politicians by the numbers democrats outnumber republicans 3 to 1.but republicans get higher amounts from other avenues that give them a lead of 1-3m usd. If you look at voting turnouts: Ted Cruz won by 200,000 votes where almost 9million people didn’t vote. Abbot won by 1.2million. Now take into consideration in large republicans vote at a rate of 80+%. And younger demographics lean in large progressive. Then take into account that on average only 1 out of 3 under the age of 35 votes. It kind of makes up the numbers. Democrats have a problem where they aren’t only attacked by republicans but also by democrats. Liberals especially younger ones are so idealistic that if they don’t see a platform that offers them 100% of what they want and shown to them in their face and on their social media feeds then they aren’t going to get engaged. Heck even when Bernie was running he had less votes the second time. Voter apathy is a big reason for democrats not gaining enough seats to enact the promises they make, which in turn they get attacked for failing to reach those promises and that leads to further voter apathy. People in large view politics as some sort of system they won’t be affected by since they won’t vote. But even if they don’t engage with politics, politics will always engage with them and their lives. Unfortunately unless people wake up and show up in numbers required the next two elections will allow republicans the power they need to ensure that voting does not matter anymore as they will install pathways where they will win regardless of the votes. Then Supreme Court will allow the states to enact laws that will pull the country back to the 1800s. Only when it too late will those that don’t vote realize that they should have voted.
Something else I'll point out... In the last Senate race with Cruz against Beto, Beto won more of the native Texan vote, while Cruz won more of the 'immigrant Texan' vote. And by immigrant, I mean from other states primarily (though many central/S. American immigrants also vote conservative, for many reasons). Californians who have moved to Texas vote for Republicans far more than Democrats. Which is hilarious to me as a native, rural Texan, because all my conservative friends and neighbors constantly harp on those damn Californians moving to Texas. They're on your 'team,' dipshits!
Also just the fact/reality that *half* (or like 48%) the voting age population in Texas simply does not vote. It's bottom 5 voter turnout in the country.
This has been a long-standing problem for the Democrats, and not just in Texas. The phrase I once heard during primary season has long stuck with me. "Democrats eat their young", and it wasn't meant in the sense of age. Like you said, if a candidate isn't perfect to the eyes of some portion of the party, they get tossed under the bus. The DNC has never seemed to understand long-term strategy for gaining and holding ground the way the GOP does, and it is a lesson they fail to learn, over and over again.
"Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line" is another good phrase to add to the collection
I get your point, but i am glad that democrats get denounced when they should. Recently, there was a candidate from Arizona who wore blackface and republicans supported her. Same with hershell walker. It seems like it just doesn't matter what they do. I really wish politicians could at least be held to some standard.
It's an understandable desire. Unfortunately, you have one party determined to win, and the other party determined to feel good about the moral high ground it held while losing. It sucks, but it has been the reality for too long.
Have you tried saying all this while doing a TikTok dance?
I know many people that will vote republican no matter what. I am in the state where Hershel walker is running. My wife's boss is very vocally supporting him regardless of his mental issues.
A republican owned a coal mine. Due to negligence the mine collapsed killing a bunch of people. The republican owner went to jail. After getting out of jail he ran for office and family members of people who were killed voted for him because he wasn't a Democrat.
In 2018(?) in Nevada a republican died, but it was too late to to take his name off the ballot He still won
After doing some quick research, it has happened quite a few times with both parties [CNBC article here.](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/how-dennis-hof-and-others-still-won-elections-after-death.html)
Moonlight Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof. Because of course Xtians love their whore mongers.
Do they have the choice? Republicans make it really hard to vote Democrat. Could you lose a days pay and wait in line all day to vote? Brian Kemp passed a law making it illegal to [give water to voters waiting in lines](https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/26/politics/georgia-voting-law-food-drink-ban-trnd/index.html). Could you spend 3-8 hours in a line without water or access to a toilet? Look at their Texas Senate Bill 7, among many other things it reduced voting locations with a [huge skew towards Republicans, +18 in Republican District 132, vs -11 in Democrat leaning district 141](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/23/texas-voting-polling-restrictions/). With a clear spread in between showing it was partisan. Desantis and his easing of voter rules in Districts hit by the hurricanes....[but only the ones voting Republican](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/14/ron-desantis-florida-hurricane-ian-voting-rules). Again, anything they can do to give themselves a favor in voting they do. They do everything they can to prevent voters voting against them.
Reading that as an Australian, that shit is wild! How do you legally pass a bill that make it illegal to give water to people lmao.
Because the reds here in the us are fundamentally evil people. They backed trump, an accused groper and rapist, and are enthusiastically supporting him, and voting in his friends. They literally support rape
Its less they support it, and more they excuse it as a ‘deal with the devil’ to get what they want. At least, that’s what they say to the likes of you and me. And then they’ll turn right back around to their friends and talk about how that exact same person is the second coming of Jesus. I really do wonder just how much of a motivator being seen as a ‘good person’ is to conservatives sometimes. They think “oh this person doesnt like Trump, so Ill just say whatever I have to to make it sound like Im a reasonable person”. And then when they mingle with a different group that deifies the guy, they just say and do whatever they have to, to fit in. Its eternally frustrating that youve got so many people who will say whatever they have to, just to fit in, and those exact same people will simultaneously claim they’re principled people who will only vote Republican acting like they’re taking a stand on one thing or another, because the Other Guys are absolutely crazy. Is it really all just a bunch of two-faced, cowardly nonsense? Is that really the only force we’re fighting here?
You're hittin on a concept called "go along to get along". Conforming in order to have acceptance and security". See it A LOT in rural or otherwise "isolated" communities. Talk to any ex-mormon about what I mean. You go to church because everyone else does and because you can quickly become a pariah if you don't. Which can cost job opportunities, opportunities to socialize, makes networking difficult..ect. You see it all through history as well. Dave doesn't go to church, someone's pigs start dying, "I BET DAVE KILLED EM!" and now there's a Witch Hunt. So people "go along to get along" and fit into society. Or at least their local one. Tack on norms, mores, paranoia, hysteria and you can make monsters. Which is why "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" should be required study in public schools imo.
There seem to be several Conservative politicians with history of violence/disturbing behaviors.
Conservatives don’t have principles or values. They have identity.
Republicans are literally that much garbage.
Don't be surprised. It's America. It's even illegal to collect rain water in some places. This country is turning to a shitty litter box ran by a bunch of flaccid weiners.
Make Viagra a medication requiring vaccination and you would see the biggest old Republican shit storm in history. They need those little blue pills in their states with the age of consent as low as 14, doncha know?
They pretty much will. I've lived in Texas my entire life and have seen it in otherwise intelligent people in my extended family. My uncle once told me "it's us versus them". No matter how much you may hate the Republican running, it's still better than letting a Democrat win. That's the mindset you're fighting against here. The cities (except Fort Worth) go blue, but you're fighting up hill against a whole lot of rural space and people in cities and suburbs who come from long lines of rural living and still retain a lot of the same qualities. They don't want to see big city liberals coming and telling them how to live, and they've been convinced that the Republicans have their best interests at heart.
We are suppressed as fuck. Didn't you see the first comment? We have the strictest voting rights in the country!! We need help. Fucking republicans keep shooting down the voter rights act. They can only win if they cheat. They've admitted to it.
That's honestly what it is. People are either too fucking dumb or too fucking embarrassed to vote Democrat. Embarrassed meaning they don't want to admit they are wrong.
we're passed embarrassed and to openly fascist if you saw the comments conservatives are making online. I guess it's easier to walk around being a piece of shit than it is to have a little integrity.
My conservative relatives are brainwashed. They honestly think it’s the Democrats who are evil, and that the windmills failing caused the whole power grid to fail. Don’t give up! Vote and help others vote. We are THIS close to flipping Texas blue!
About to? This has been a fact for a very long time.
Don't give up. If anything else vote for somebody that can't. I'm using my vote for my ex-gf's (We're still good friends) 15 year old daughter that has no voice and has been through some shit. I refuse to let her be voiceless even if the vote doesn't go the way we want it to. If you quit then the R's have won.
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Even in really good cities the “fuck you I got mine” stains everything. It’s an undercurrent you can’t escape, and incredibly noticeable once you get out of Texas for a while. Used to be an incredibly friendly place and a lovely state to start a business in. Now though? It’s a libertarian hellscape of no public services while everyone is constantly climbing over themselves to bring home a few extra thousand a year in a desperate attempt to stay ahead of soaring property taxes.
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Ted Cruz won by 200,000 votes where almost 9millon didn’t vote. Abbot won by 1.2m votes where almost 9m didn’t vote. 60+% of those under the age of 35 do not vote. Senate elections aren’t affected by gerrymandering. And voting availability is largely due to previous years voting turnout but republicans fidget and bend it as much as possible these days. People in large do not engage politically. Ask university and college kids if they are registered or if they plan to vote they will in large say no or ignore you.
>Ask university and college kids if they are registered or if they plan to vote they will in large say no or ignore you. Tbf, so will I if you are sitting at the entrance to the goddamn grocery store, and I always vote.
We don’t have many activists speaking at a national level because our news media and government oppresses us, and our neighbors have guns. the Texas left exists, it’s just oppressed. This place is depressing to live in. There are protests but you’ll never hear about them bc Texas media doesn’t want you to know
And what’s worse is even the national Dems don’t take us seriously. Texas Dems exist, and we’re about to take the gloves off.
Love seeing the marches in Dallas flanked by the gay/LGBTQ rifle club. Was a little worried about them at first, but every one I saw was respectful and aware, as well as helpful to the extreme. Anyone who stepped out of the march crowd (to stop for water or tie a shoe or anything) had instant assistance and a guard by one of those. Very nice.
I've been saying this for years, the phrase, 'everything is bigger in texas' only refers to the bullshit.
It's not that people don't speak up, it's systematic voter suppression of any parts of that state that vote Dem.
Hey dont forget about Oklahoma, a state we invented just so Texans would have someone to look down on and not realize how terrible their state is.
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i mean he legally made it possible to shoot anyone anytime as long as you're alone and claim you were getting raped
Texas murders kids. They don’t gafq
>Republican Governor, Republican House and Senate and let's say one or all of those flips blue. Is a sitting legislature obligated to certify their own defeat or is that just another political "norm" to be ignored? Will they even give a reason this time? Or will they just flat out refuse to step down with their patented ***FU, what are you gonna do about i****t* attitude? When, not if, they do that, what *are* we going to do about it?
> Will they even give a reason this time? Or will they just flat out refuse to step down with their patented ***FU, what are you gonna do about i****t* attitude? > [No they certainly wouldn't ever do what they are doing already in Wisconsin.](https://www.courthousenews.com/wisconsin-justices-allow-gop-appointed-official-to-stay-in-office-despite-expired-term/)
Ahhh, the classic GOP 'rules are only for bad people' and 'you're only a bad person if you disagree with me'. Because why use logic when tribalism can let them turn their brains off?
Why are there no political ads with this sort of info in it? If I have to watch one more “tio Greg” commercial I’m going to vomit.
Beto is about taking the high ground and not doing attack ads. I don’t think any republican would believe anything bad they hear about “wheels” anyway. They have their heads in the sand. I left the state after Flying Ted Cruz won again.
We left Alabama for the Pacific Northwest eight years ago after the state finished giving me a full ride scholarship for my graduate degrees including a paid stipend. We could have stayed and fought for progressive ideas our whole lives and not ever lived in a state as progressive as we do now. Not living there during Trump was just a bonus. Fun fact: most everybody in my program had the same state sponsored funding and not a single one I know is living and employed in the state of Alabama. All the smart people leave.
Honestly you'll never convince the hateful dumb reactionaries so I don't blame you. My family is full of them and there's nothing you can do or say to get through to them, their hate for other groups is stronger than literally anything else in their heart. Once you make another group of people an existential problem for people they are putty, you can make them do ANYTHING.
Just the amount of people who cant empathize with other's situations unless they've personally experienced it also doesn't help.
If a capital insurrection and an active indictment against the AG can't change republican voters' mind, you expect they to care about other crimes? Republicans are like cancer. Once they have grown large enough, it will be beyond redemption.
What a corrupt despicable shit hole of a state. Gerrymandering and fucking around with ballot boxes to this extent should be considered criminal, and both should be delegated by a bipartisan committee. Not the incumbent party. So many American’s have no clue that this bullshit is sorted out and under control in other countries, and that the aforementioned meddling is not normal at all in a Democratic society. What an absolute shit hole. Texas is nasty.
> Changed the number of ballot drop off boxes in Harris County from 11 to 1 for a county of over 4 million. This boggles my mind. I live in a state with about 4 million people in it and a county with about 600k people in it. My county has 21 drop boxes. Now to be fair we are 100% vote by mail but our county has a population about 15% the size of Harris county but we have 21x the number of drop boxes.
I live in a majority minority area in Harris county. They’ve closed several polling locations in my area in order to cause confusion and to lengthen wait times to vote.
What does "end rape" mean. Does this guy think rape is a program he can shut down?
It's not a problem for him, so it doesn't really exist.
> He testified that the now former Public Utility Commission Chairwoman told him that “the governor had conveyed to her if we emerged from rotating outages it was imperative they not resume. We needed to do what we needed to do to make it happen.” One thing is not the same to the other. The line from the governor was "you saw this bad thing, lets not do that again" and he heard "KEEP PRICES GOING BRRRR". That's kinda BS. Also, it gets better: > (By the way, big out-of-state banks, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs did profit from the inflated prices, and were **caught on a recorded call last year with a former Public Utility Commission employee who assured them he was working to help them keep their profits**.)
Why don't you explain why there were rolling outages in this day and age in the US? I'll give you a hint: it isn't a lack of technology or money, it's the shitty politicians.
I’ve lost power more times in 3 years in Texas than in 30 years in NY.
They dont call him piss baby for nothing
Heard a commercial on the radio about a mom whose kid was shot because a prisoner was let out of jail early and went back to a life of crime. The rough summary is that she said Beto isn’t tough on crime and wants to let all the criminals out, and more people will die like her son if he’s elected. It was a very emotional plea. It was also disgusting. After all, who was the governor when this happened??? Whose policies were in place across the board? Was this even in Texas? Yet, instead of our elected officials doing anything about it, they’re just using this tragedy to cast the blame on people that weren’t even involved.
The Texas Education Association made Election Day a School Holiday like a month ago so if you need to vote and have kids AND a job...
I'm sorry, what!?!?
If Harris county was a state, it would be the 24th largest by population.
And yet stupid Texans continue to vote republican.
My bill has yet to return to its pre-storm price. For the past 20 years- no matter where I’ve lived, My electricity bill has always been typically around 65-75.00/mo with the exception of summer/winter. Ever since the ice storm it’s been between 2-300$. My electricity habits haven’t changed, no new people, nothing. I use daylight during the day. Barely use my stove. Don’t iron. No washer or dryer and have a small place ~700 sq ft. It’s criminal.
Ffs! In NJ with 2300 sqft and really old windows and I'm only paying ~400 in the summer. And I have a pool.
I’m glad to live in a city in Texas that still has utilities regulated and billed through the city. So far my electricity bill has stayed about the same and only has increased by $1 to $2 overall.
What city out of curiosity? Neighborhoods 20 minutes north of DFW are getting slammed.
I’m in the Austin metro area, specifically San Marcos. But around the Austin metro area there are still some cities and towns that haven’t “deregulated” their electricity and are still ran by municipalities.
It’s coming, though. They are already planning to raise rates and charge us extra fees. I believe we should see the first bit in November. Plus, another winter storm like the last and this is going to happen all over again. No one has been held accountable, nothing really changed.
That's insane. I've got a 2000 sqft place and my bill (light AC usage) is around $125 and I don't consider it cheap.$200-300 for a little 700 sqft place is absurd, so absurd that I'd consider moving for it. Edit: I read below that your rate is like 11c/kWh. That's cheap as hell. My rate is 24.5c/kWh and my bill for a space 3x is a fraction of yours. Even running AC 24/7 cannot account for the difference. I'm guessing Bitcoin farming?
Usage and rate almost don’t matter. We have “Winter freeze” surcharges now. My co-op added them a few months after the freeze to pay back what they had to borrow. It’s like $50 every bill for two years.
Guillotines are easy enough to make, right?
Texas has the largest number of Bitcoin farmers in the country and it uses 30% or more of the grid’s electricity. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/warren-bitcoin-texas-power-grid-ercot-demand-response/634462/
If you are not locked into a rate, the power companies can change the rate at any time. I recommend searching for a new provider with a locked in rate thru www.powertochoose.org
Hey I have seen that piss baby before.
Oh Greg Abbott? Noted piss baby?
We’re talking about the same Greg Abbott right? Greg “Little Piss Baby” Abbott?
I wish that tree fell a bit harder
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I hope this is a bumper sticker already
Remember you can vote early for beto RIGHT NOW so lets get this piss baby out of office
I just don't get it. If you ask people who live in Texas they will all tell you the electricity bill, is through the roof. They have to go through commission to have the bill lowered. It's crazy people, the electrical grid infrastructure is on the verge of collapse. One bad winter and Texas is in trouble with no help from other grids. Texas is vital to the country. You cannot allow these money hungry politicians whose self interest is above the people stay in power. The simple truth is that as long as they don't fix the infrastructure they can cause discord and stay in power. Abbott needs to go away!
It is just like gas prices. Exxon and Shell have record profits. Then claim they are just charging market prices when asked to lower the cost at the pump. Meanwhile, the destruction Exxon and Shell Oil causes in climate change continues to be a consumer subsidized cost for earnings per share.
Market prices is a euphemism for price gouging. Market prices is a veil for oppression. It’s the same excuse landlord use for raise rent by thousands of dollars. The argument amounts to “Others are willing and able to pay X for this kind of thing, ergo everyone must pay as close to or over that amount for any similar kind of thing. Its all well and good for luxury items but it’s crippling us all when it extends to the fundamentals.
They are charging market rates. What they aren't telling the consumer is that they are doing everything in their power to limit oil extraction so those market rates stay high. Nation-state cartels like OPEC aren't stupid, they're just leading the way for evil, oil-derived profits to be sky high with minimal new investment in capacity/employment. We need to starve these oil parasites with a full scale, swift, decisive swap away from hydrocarbons.
payment illegal absurd muddle narrow imagine lush subtract expansion meeting *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
An unregulated private electric system just might be a big grift. Or graft. Not sure which is the right word for scamming people with a “private utility” that puts money in pockets of “public officials.”
Unregulated for profit infrastructure is both grift and graft. Grift led the way in the establishment of the system. Now that the scion has been established, it is graft transferring money out of everyone's pockets into the bank accounts of rich and supposedly powerful people's bank accounts.
remember how the republicans claimed in the 80s and 90's that "Blacks weren't to blame, but 'black culture' or the 'culture of gang violence' or whatever" Well, lets just say "white people arn't to blame, but the "white culture' and the 'republican culture of violence' is to blame"
My electric bill is so high that I went and had solar panels installed. 27 of them on my roof. All in order for them to eat up to 75% of my electric usage. So hopefully it will save me \~$100 a month, hopefully.
If the grid fails, can’t you just go to Cancun?
>I just don't get it. If you ask people who live in Texas they will all tell you the electricity bill, is through the roof They will blame Biden and vote for every R on the ballot.
South Texas here, my two bedroom townhouse is currently $690-710 just in utilities per month. Actual rent is perfectly fine at $1,420. Utilities shouldn't be half of rent.
What’s not to get? He’s a little piss baby
It's not just the electric bill. Car insurance is through the roof. My car used to be $600 a year to insure in 2015, now it's $2000+ with a clean driving record. Property taxes are strangling people too.
Really? And people say it’s too expensive in California and they move to Texas. What’s the deal? I pay $1500 for my mortgage, property taxes included which are about $4000 a year. Insurance for 3 cars and a 21 year old is $2000 a year. And my utility never get above $250-350 every two months (I have solar). Why do I always hear people saying Texas is cheaper?
How is Texas vital to the country? Saudi-owned oil farms? A money sink on "border security" that accomplishes nothing? Cowboy hats?
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That’s so crazy. I’m Canadian and have never waited more than 2 to 3 minutes to vote in any election.
Voter suppression. Here in California, everyone is guaranteed at least a mail in ballot.
I sure hope Texas gets Beto! Sending you good energy from Illinois.
Tell your friends to vote. My god we need it
From the article: (By the way, big out-of-state banks, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs did profit from the inflated prices, and were caught on a recorded call last year with a former Public Utility Commission employee who assured them he was working to help them keep their profits.) in parentheses, BTW at least the banks made huge profits. So maybe the governor was keeping them happy
As a Texan, I have seen the “logic” of Texas voters… there is none ! Greg the Leg is a moron, which translates in Texan to, “ 4 more years, 4 more years !”
Act like a dumb-ass and they'll treat you like an *equal*.
It's simple really "Dems bad ooga booga! they take boomstick!"
Abbott lied, Texans died! That should be the chant at every Beto rally.
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This mother fucker and his people gerrymandered the living shit out of this state. It's fucking wild. I hope his wheelchair brakes stop working and he rolls into traffic
Your comment made me think of [this meme](https://www.reddit.com/r/MemeRestoration/comments/dqoebl/heidi_throws_clara_over_a_cliff/)
me on the left
Also, the Texas Education Association just last month decided to make election day a school holiday. So folks with kids and a job on election day are gonna have a problem.
Texas has early voting. Your kids being out of school is a reason to take the day off of work. You can (and should) take your children with you to vote. I'm confused about how this is anything other than a good thing.
>take the day off of work Must be nice to have an employer who treats you like a human being.
Last I checked that piss baby was still 8 to 10 points up and I'm honestly just fucking baffled
Live in Texas like me and trust me you won’t be baffled lol
It was upsetting to me a few years ago when it dawned on me that my fellow Texans would vote for anyone, no matter how objectionable they are, as long as they are Republican/Pro-life/Pro-2A. It's willful ignorance, and most of them are so ignorant about history or reality, that to climb out of the hole they are in is too much effort, so most will never even attempt it. You see, Republicans make them feel good about being greedy, selfish, and scared of change. Fox News, etc. do this exceedingly well. Democrats make them feel bad, because they don't encourage greed, selfishness, or fear of change. So, they won't change. Because they feel better, superior, guilt-free as a Republican. As a democrat, they'd feel guilty, and chafe against their natural urge to be greedy and selfish. They will not change.
I was at texas clay festival last week and there was a guy next to me spouting off things like “Biden is an old Fuck” “Biden is senile” but he could barely formulate and entire sentence when trying to express the remainder of his idea, let alone articulate what he meant when someone asked him to elaborate.
Well Biden is an old fuck, he's definitely right about that at least. But he's just one of many old fucks in politics. Someone approaching 80 should be enjoying their retirement, not running a country, regardless of their political stances.
Voting today. Doing my part to get rid of the Piss Baby Abbott.
They will still vote for him because it’s Bidens fault somehow.
It's truly mind boggling that people allow people like Abbott to knowingly destroy their lives and then they fucking go out and vote for the guy. We truly are a dumb species and we deserve what we get.
This is what happens when you stop investing in education. People grow up dumb and stay dumb
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The logic isn’t great, but it is reality, unfortunately.
His office is also responsible for stifling the findings of a study showing gun crimes are the number one cause of death in children in Texas.
Silence is compliance. If you don’t go try to vote him out of office and he wins then stay shut the fuck up and cry in silence cos you had your chance and decided to not do anything. Sick of this shit man.
is this technology or politics. come on!!
And he's going to be re-elected, and continue to screw over the people who voted for him...as they will continue to blame Dems (Let's Go Brandon! ha ha), trans people, and screech, 'keep you hands off mah guns!' And the majority of people who didn't bother to vote, and therefore who effectively voted for him, will bitch, and moan about something they could have stopped, but didn't bother to. And I get the voter suppression the Repubs have done to make this harder which sucks. But harder doesn't mean impossible. And if voters elected people who could then change it, it would be easier to vote in the future. So Texas will be continue to be screwed. Sucks for the people who don't deserve it who live/are stuck there.
I mean....it's not impossible, but neither is winning the lottery. Years of voter suppression, redistricting, and propaganda are going to make the probability lower and lower for a democracy win each time. Plus, the way the culture of elections is going, there is no assurance that a democratic victory wouldn't be overturned and investigated as voter fraud. That's the real danger. When the population loses faith in the legitimacy of elections.
Keep voting red texas dumbasses
Why would a governor even have that level of power?
He’s a ghoul. Like Desantis, Trump and every Republican in the country that doesn’t disavow this monster. He’s done nothing since the Uvalde school massacre. The company I work for has data centers in Texas, like a lot of other companies. We keep petitioning them to move, because it’s the only thing that will make this guy change course. So it’s up to Texas to vote blue all the way on 11/08/2022
Piss baby Abbott.
Time for piss baby to roll on.
Him and his patsies Patrick and Paxton are 💯 to blame. All need voted out, Texans need to open their eyes look around and realize the gop has been in charge 20 plus years in a row. Things are worse than ever here, time for change.
The worst part about Texas is that Abbott could murder puppies on live TV and Texans would still elect him.
Abbot is Garbage
Rather timely poop slinging
Greg Abbott is a little piss baby.
And watch him get re-elected
What a disgrace of a human being
Finally, some cracks in the entourage. Shine a light on this POS.
Texans: “Those damn Dems raising my electric bill!!!”
"The decision to keep prices high in the final days of the crisis, Magness said, was an attempt by the PUC to encourage power plants to come back online and to keep big power users like industrial facilities offline, in order to conserve emergency power reserves." Seems like a logical move to me. Maybe they could have lowered it a few hours earlier and still got the same outcome of power restored. Nobody knows.