You know they know how guilty they are by how loudly they scream that this should not be politicized. Musk and Trump gutted NOAA and NWS. Kerr County refused to pay for a $50,000 engineering study. That failure was used by the Texas Legislature's Republicans to deny a $1M grant to build an alert system. Bottom line - children and adults are dead because Republicans refused to do what was necessary to prevent those deaths. There should be criminal prosecutions. There will not be.
The children killed were Christian white children whose parents could afford a steep fee (almost $5000 for the month) for them to attend a high end camp.
The children, of course, are entirely without fault and deserved better from the adults around them
Hoping that the parents ,along with relatives of other victims and survivors who must have been terrified, will not let this rest and push and push and push for a full investigation, blame laying with consequences and finally a solution
Note that Texas has no personal income tax. Lots of room to raise money if that is the excuse.
Texas has really high property taxes. People moving here from out-of-state who think they are moving to a no tax nirvana are often shocked by how high property taxes are. Most Texans would be better off with lower property taxes and an income tax. Property taxes do not go down when your income goes down.
Property taxes are loosely related to ability to pay and a really good way to keep your money close to home. Keeps poor counties poor and rich ones well serviced.
Property taxes are about the worst way to raise revenues. Income taxes, particularly the graduated income tax is the best and fairest way. There's very little real dispute about that.
Piketty, who has the data, says a combination of both graduated income taxes and (smaller, by percentage) graduated wealth taxes stabilizes a capitalistic system. So, yes on property taxes, with rates that increase with property value.
Indeed, but the US and Canada have moved away from a progressive taxation system over the last 40 years, giving the urber wealthy tax breaks. In the post war period up to the early 1970's, the top income tax bracket was over 85%, and the economy boomed. Today, flat taxes are regressive taxes. We need to return to a progressive taxation system.
Graduated income tax, graduated property tax and include other assets such as stocks and bonds as property to be taxed, get rid of the income cap on Social Security contributions, lower the retirement age and have everybody regardless of wealth collect Social Security, nationalize all health insurance companies and consolidate into a government run single payer insurance.
For a lot of older citizens, that's not the case. Past the prime earning years; in a home they can afford; yet property taxes keep increasing way past their ability to pay.
Wealth taxes sometimes have to be paid by selling some property. That’s the point. People living in houses with below-median value would have low property taxes in a fair system of wealth taxation. Residential real estate tax tables could go down to zero at the median, for example. The scare-tactic of threats to poor, elderly home-owners is part of what has kept the odious Proposition 13 in the constitution of California all these many years. It’s just one more example of the wealthy bamboozling the voters. I don’t think this lets the people being bamboozled off the hook, but it’s what happens, anyway.
If the only property a person has is the house they own and live in full time and they can't afford to buy in that same area, or anywhere else for that matter, then it's a real problem. Another problem is that whole "fair system" that isn't fair.
This is the law of the jungle. It is the law of the greedy. Don't give anything to anyone but yourself. To hell with the rest. They deserve it. This is the law of the south before and after the Civil War. Well, people do deserve what they make into the law of their land and what they impose upon everyone else, as if only the rich have done anything for society, and no one else has done anything but live the life of the privileged rich, doing whatever they want whenever they want. This is the worst kind of fantasy. It results in the constant wars and destruction which have plagued this entire planet for as long as we have records. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. FDR tried to evolve past this. Mr. Lincoln was killed for his many trials and attempts. Mr. FDR's work is being destroyed right now by the Trump administration and those who support him: the US Supreme Court conservatives, the entire GOP/MAGA, most of the industrialists (Thiel, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg) and all their voters. The other man killed to support the will of the old south was JFK. He was for Civil Rights. Anathema to the south, old and new. Two Presidents, and how many Civil Rights People dead to keep the old south way in place? Loads. A technical term. You can add the dead due to destruction of the weather reporting facilities of FDR's government to the list of the dead. The south loves this. Just listen to the words of Vought and other Trumpers. They seriously love it. The more dead the better. It doesn't matter who. All that matters is that they die. They are. We haven't mentioned the dead and disabled from measles yet. What about all other deaths and disabilities due to the withdrawl of all vaccines and most healthcare from the US populace? There will be other deaths. Many. Can you hear the south cheering. Just listen to those in Florida and Texas for beginners. There are many other states joining them. Politicize all you like. You would be right, but it doesn't matter to such states. They applaud your being right. As for death--here it comes. Here it comes.
I live in Houston where property taxes are currently very low. The reason is that property tax revenue is no longer used to support the Houston public schools.
Wait'll you hit 65. If you were planning to move when you retire, do it before 65 or you'll never want to move again in your life. (I'm talking roughly $1100 on a $350K house.)
I looked up the average property tax on a home like mine in Texas. While higher than where I live now, it is lower than what I paid in the Northeast over 11 years ago. Perhaps income tax is a better solution, but it will not be popular. My state has both.
I think that a poster by the name of Kevin here in this thread states he pays 1100 on 350K in TX at age over 65. Are you calling that high property tax??
Christian children died at the Covenant School in Nashville. Their mothers and classmates and their classmates' mothers, as well as long-time activists, have worked ever since to get nominally Christian Republican legislators to legislate some sort of common sense gun control in TN. Nevertheless, these legislators doubled down on the NRA's agenda of guns everywhere.
The demographic here seems to be producing at least some crocodile tears on the part of Abbot, which contrasts with Uvalde. Children are children, and adults should govern to protect all of them.
Texas has had repeated chances to kick these incompetents out, yet Abbot and Cruz were both re-elected after the winter electrical grid failure that caused people to freeze to death (while Cruz went to Cancun) and after more than one mass shooting. I don't know what it will take for the majority of voting Texans to wake up.
I think some Texans need to wake up, but the rest need to deal with rigged elections, starting with but by no means limited to gerrymandering and other electoral shenanigans.
The fact that these were Christian children should have no bearing on an emergency warning system and early evacuation. No child deserves to die such a horrible death.
These days, lamestream media seems to just accept what Goebbels in Drag says as though it were, yes, a message from God. Trumpkopf is attempting to transition from convincing his cult that he's "God sent" to convincing them that he's God himself. And they'll swallow it, at least the most hardcore ones will.
So Trump’s PS is so anti-G-d that she believes the almighty decided (his will) to destroy so much and kill so many, including the innocent children. Why aren’t the Christian Nationalists complaining about such an anti-G-d spokesperson?
The cognitive dissonance will momentarily cause some initial disorientation, but then they'll pull themselves together and confidently lie through their teeth, as usual.
There's also just something preposterous about *conservatives*, of *all* people, whining that anything shouldn't be "politicized."
These people have politicized women's uteruses, politicized LGBT people's sexuality, politicized *straight* people's sexuality, politicized the religion of anybody who isn't a Southern Baptist or an Opus Dei affiliated Catholic, politicized disaster relief by deciding that it should vary depending on how the affected county voted, politicized children's education by deciding that science can only be taught when it doesn't make televangelists upset, politicized the civil service by deciding that people should be hired based on their personal loyalty to Trump, and politicized pandemic response because they decided high numbers of infected people would make people like Trump and DeSantis look bad. There is literally nothing in this country that isn't poisoned by an intense pressure to demonstrate its - to coin a term - "political correctness." I can't even look through current movie reviews anymore without having to wade through a cesspool of conservative political activists review-bombing every movie with a lead that's not white or male with wails about how everything sucks because it's Woke.
It's a bit late to decide that "politicizing" things is a bad thing.
Which makes me wonder about how much construction on the river flood plain correlated with the fatalities. Real estate developers--who tend to be a staunchly Republican constituency--simply love building on flood plains, because they're flat and the land cheap. Then pass the buck when the inevitable flooding damages/destroys the new subdivision.
My wife still jokes about how Trump blamed a famous CA wildfire on us "Not raking our trees." or somesuch. What a moron. And never mind that 80% of forest in CA is federal, and under his jurisdiction.
Yes, God forbid they should spend taxpayer money on making taxpayers safer. But fine to spend it on bussing immigrants to New York and other blue states. And setting up Barb wire and National Guard on border.
An excerpt from a 2006 article about conservative governance holds more truth today than when it was written:
"Contemporary conservatism is first and foremost about shrinking the size and reach of the federal government. This mission, let us be clear, is an ideological one. It does not emerge out of an attempt to solve real-world problems, such as managing increasing deficits or finding revenue to pay for entitlements built into the structure of federal legislation. It stems, rather, from the libertarian conviction, repeated endlessly by George W. Bush, that the money government collects in order to carry out its business properly belongs to the people themselves. One thought, and one thought only, guided Bush and his Republican allies since they assumed power in the wake of Bush vs. Gore: taxes must be cut, and the more they are cut–especially in ways benefiting the rich–the better.
But like all politicians, conservatives, once in office, find themselves under constant pressure from constituents to use government to improve their lives. This puts conservatives in the awkward position of managing government agencies whose missions–indeed, whose very existence–they believe to be illegitimate. Contemporary conservatism is a walking contradiction. Unable to shrink government but unwilling to improve it, conservatives attempt to split the difference, expanding government for political gain, but always in ways that validate their disregard for the very thing they are expanding. The end result is not just bigger government, but more incompetent government."
“It stems, rather, from the libertarian conviction, repeated endlessly by George W. Bush, that the money government collects in order to carry out its business properly belongs to the people themselves.”
A lot of people are against MY money being taxed and used for the common welfare, but don’t seem to realize that currency was originally created by the federal government before it ended up in their pocket. They seem to think money is a natural resource, like water, that exists independent of the national government. So they rail against the very entity that provided the currency in the first place. It’s ridiculous.
In practice, what conservatives - and centrists - end up settling for is an endless series of public-private partnerships in which government doesn't shrink, it even expands, but everything it provides is run through a private-sector middleman who gets to skim off the top.
This is an excellent description of neoliberal governance. One pretends “government” is being cut when it is instead being converted into a profit-generating “service”. Health insurance is the poster child for neoliberal destruction of services while the railroads are correctly perceived as victims of neoliberalism in the UK.
This true, but it really predates Dubya. St. Reagan once famously (infamously) said something along the lines of "Government isn't the solution, government is the problem. The scariest words in the English language are 'I'm with the government, and I'm here to help'" It was BS then, it's BS now.
And so along comes Trump, Project 2025, DOGE and Musk with the solution to the conundrum - just cut those agencies conservatives have never liked, fire the employees, cancel expenditures that don't match the ideological agenda, etc. and cast about for scapegoats when the shit hits the fan.
But notice no DOGE cuts to Dept of the Interior--which issues mining and grazing permits, mainly to GOP-affiliated concerns. And no ICE raids in FL & TX--where GOP donor-owned farms and businesses would be economically harmed.
DailyKos reports that Abbott is focused on bring the legislature back to further gerrymander the congressional maps under orders from Trump. I guess they can see the blue tsunami coming and want to try to build a safeguard or backstop.
Seeing as how this critically vital alert system is actually an INSIDIOUS PLOT by evil Dems to "codify climate change(sic)", and that some people of color might inadvertently be protected by this system...
Criminal prosecutions? More likely a medal for "defying the libs!" (Can we maybe keep Austin and wall-off the rest?)
Apparently, Austin is now overbuilt, with intense road traffic--and lousy public transport options--impacting QOL. It was once thought to be a viable economic alternative to Silicon Valley; but GOP urban planning design has proved extremely flawed.
I highly doubt whether the failure of government officials to take necessary actions are crimes, no matter how many people die as a result. Legislatures enact criminal laws, and they are not about to risk making themselves or other government officials criminals.
No. For the executive to impound congressionally appropriated funds violates the Constitution, but it is not a crime. The remedy is for a court to issue an injunction against the impoundment (which the current Supreme Court will overturn) or impeachment and conviction.
(A peeve of mine is that blatant constitutional violations are not crimes. When someone violates a clearly established constitutional right -- for example, when a public school principal suspends a student for not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance -- the violator gets away with it. The worst that can happen to him is that a court will tell him to stop violating the Constitution.)
Actually, violating the Constitution is crime. Impeachment is the only remedy currently available. That could potentially happen post 2026. For now, as you point out, the worst that can happen to him right now is a weak slap on the wrist. For now.
We have different definitions of "crime." A crime to me is an act for which one can be arrested and prosecuted, and for which one can be convicted only by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. There are two types of crimes: felonies and misdemeanors.
Violating the Constitution is neither, though in some cases violating the Constitution might also violate a criminal law and therefore be a crime. For example, if a state or local police officer shoots you for no reason other than that you are Black, he has violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment, and he has also committed the crime of murder. But they are separate violations, even though they stem from the same act -- the shooting. The police officer can go to prison only for the murder, not for the constitutional violation.
I lived in a small rural town in Oklahoma, known as Tornado Alley. We had a siren system. One whistle meant there was a tornado in the area, two whistles meant 'take cover', and 3 whistles 'it's on us'. Our children grew up knowing this and how to protect themselves (many times). I now live in the area of Flash Flood Alley, over 118 souls lost because Kerrville voted down or ignored installing an alert system, but Texas has always been 'late to the party', or at the wrong one.
I agree with your sentiments, but righteous indignation has its limits. The fact that local officials refused to raise taxes to address the needs for a siren warning system is grounds for potentially voting them out of office but not for their criminal prosecution. Any attempt to do so would be dismissed in court and properly so. Ostracism and political pressure are the major tools at hand. And ostracism can and eventually should filter down to the camp officials for past decisions about where to locate cabins, an inadequate evacuation plan and possible failure to have battery-operated radio connection to emergency weather news.
The coda was first written by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy about the 1929 Mississippi flood. We have been dealing with this insouciance concerning the downtrodden since then. A state as rich as Texas saying that they did not have funds for an updated warning system is rich.
Thank you for the steer. The contrast between the two versions is almost astounding; I take your point about 'British Guys" and 'pilfering.' It put me in mind it's been 70+ years (!) since the decade I'd played drums in dance, Dixie, and marching bands and my eldest son is professionally associated with acoustical engineering and music. I'm still almost daily reminded how rich, worldwide, is musical diversity, as the comparison between Krugman's coda and Memphis Minnie's original demonstrates. My day's treat continued! Thank you!.
Indeed, he could. Thank you for continuing our spare but informative conversation. A wonderful side benefit of the Substack capability for multi-faceted discourse -- who'd have thunk it -- Krugman, Hooker. Minnie, the 'British guys' and freebird, LHS, you, and me all singin' a tune of another kind altogether . . .
When there were fires in California, Trump was Jonny-on-the-spot with criticism of the state government. He said that the state should have been raking the forest floor (even though the feds owned most of the forest land). And he released water from upstate dams claiming there was not enough water to put out the fires. In short he politicized the disasters ASAP.
And he continues to reference his greattt sucesss in "turning the spigot on". And ppl follow this ahole? I can't. Even. But here we are. So we have to respond to political firehoses designed to distract. The more we fight about who is responsible for a flood (act of god /cough ppl who don't want to use taxes /cough) the less we talk about the militarization of our prisons and the concentration camps being funded. Focus, ppl.
This was a disastrous act and it should be considered criminal and prosecuted. But alas, the corrupt #SCOTUS gives him "immunity"! OK, so then, WHEN DOES CONGRESS START THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS?!
What about the general dismantling of the independent federal agencies (including FEMA) — Do we even have a Legislative Branch anymore? The agencies are responsible for turning statutes into regulations, policies, and enforcement mechanisms.
The Republicans in Congress have abdicated their Constitutional responsibilities to this demented and incompetent fascist dictator. For this, they should all be impeached and removed!
"The rule of law is not a given in this nation, nor any other. It is a precept of our democracy that will endure only if those brave enough in every branch fight for its survival. Today, the Court abdicates its vital role in that effort. With the stroke of a pen, the President has made a 'solemn mockery' of our Constitution. Peters, 5 Cranch, at 136."
Refreshing to see someone cut through the noise and ask the real questions when emotions are raw and accountability is still possible. Politicising a tragedy isn’t about point-scoring, it’s about prevention and frankly, if we don’t have the conversation while it’s still burning in people’s minds, we’re only paving the road to the next avoidable disaster.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, nondefense discretionary spending is projected to fall to its lowest level in decades by 2033: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58848. That’s the very pool funding things like flood response and weather alerts...
Huge floods, the eventual obliteration of Miami by hurricanes, it's all an "act of God", like school shootings. Nothing can be done about it. After all, governments can never do anything good, which is why things worked so much better without them. A life " nasty, brutish, and short" is much preferable to one with a functioning, adequately funded government.
Chris, the apologist appeals to acts of God really demonstrates the how powerful the grip of Theocracy is on the Evangelical Trump base. That the slaughter of little children by man made far right policies surrounding guns and the destruction of all government functions that are not focused on guns and deaths raises one question. Why would you worship a God who does these things?
Interesting how virtually all decent Americans see this grift so clearly, yet no amount of truth seems to budge the Christo Fascist Trumpistas an inch.
Identity politics, once again. If I have to admit I'm wrong (or worse, that you're right,) it will completely destroy my sense of self. The story I've lived with for years is that the libs have ruined my life, and if it turns out that isn't true, I won't know what to do.
Just as we have become, as a nation, desensitized to school shootings and children’s’ deaths, so it will be with the deaths resulting from “natural disasters” that at this point are man made as well.
This is just the beginning. SCOTUS has handed him the machete to destroy the rest of the federal government and his minions are eager to do so. The dreams of the GOP have come true in a way they hoped and planned decades ago.
Considering what scared, spoiled, entitled children Americans are, just how well are they going to handle the deprivation? Poor people have been forced to do so for years, from working several jobs to shared childcare to bad mass transportation. Now it’s the rest of America’s turn. Except for the super rich of course.
Its because of magats/christards beliefs as you described is why China will surpass America as the global superpower for at least a generation or more.
The problem is not that China may well surpass the US and EU in economic size, they're on their way to doing this now. The problem is that China, for various historical and cultural reasons, may not really want to deal with foreign "barbarians", and may simply let the world collapse into anarchy when the US craters, instead of trying to replace Pax Americana with Pax China.
The US hegemony really started after WW II, when the victory over nazism, the rivalry with the USSR and the collapse of Europe profiled the US as the guardian of liberal democracy.
And, as Prof. Krugman opined in a text some time ago, for all its faults and crimes, the US has been a rather positive hegemon. Compare with some empires of the past and you may concur...
But if or when China takes the scepter of world main superpower, I also expect the kind of future that you describe, Chris: A strong hand inside their territorial empire and a cynical laissez-faire outside, in the world of barbarians.
As an European, I hope that my civilization will never again nourish imperial dreams. And that, with other well intentioned partners, we create an alternative based on cooperation and agreement.
Hard to disagree and the blame lies with xtian magats and the billionaire/donor parasite class. America used to be able to build everything that China is now. However because of the rightoids, its currently impossible.
China has 46,000 kilometers of High Speed Rail. America has barely over 700. They are testing two new fighter jets. The Pentagon can't get force the corpos to get one into the air. China has made three new aircraft carriers in ten years. America has only built the Ford in the same timeframe.
Whats worse is the Secretary Durnknrapey is cutting NOAA and NWS off from needed satellites. So more people will die for no reason. Pathetic.
Blue states are better off creating their own country or joining Canada after the inevitable collapse.
As far as fighter jets is concerned, the Pentagon is the problem. You reeeaaallllyy need different planes for the Navy as you do for the Air Force, but the Pentagon insists on fighter planes that can be used for just about every task by both services. See the book "Boyd", by Robert Coram for more details.
I already know enough about that. The Pentagon has too many corpo morons among the brass and they just made tech bros LtCols. Who have a high chance of being spies without any training less than a month ago.
The reason the USAF force was forced to adopt the F4 Phantom, a Navy plane. Was because the Century Series were POSs proven to be inferior to Orc( Ukraine slang for the Ruzzians) and Chinese fighter jets. The idiot flyboys have sworn to never allow that happen again. I wouldnt be surprised the 47 pos is going to end up as the next F-111 that they push on the Navy.
Governments can never do anything good, unless we're talking about the military, the police, or the intelligence community, at which point the government is suddenly the most morally infallible and technically efficient institution in the entire universe, and nobody must ever question anything they've ever done.
I have to hope that even MAGAts have enough...something individually unique, to feel at least slightly distanced by the multitudes of absolute superlatives.
Every MAGAt can't have ABSOLUTE belief in EVERYTHING.
Dump only seems to speak in superlatives. At the very least, his base must be getting to the point where it's getting old. Any human knows success in life in hard to come by, so to hear this clown constantly use phrases such as "like never before" or "the greatest in history" or "the best the world has ever seen" has to be wearing thin.
It >might< be in our lifetime. I hope it is. But at this stage, I'll settle for moving the needle >any< amount back in the right direction while I'm still around. The GOP's been playing the long game for decades. We need to do the same.
Maybe we should convince Trump to spend the remainder of his life focusing on a 100-part documentary of his life? Remember, he gave up a far larger fortune because of his preference for the fame of having TRUMP plastered on every gaudy surface on Earth, so he may be talked out of focusing as heavily on grift. And make sure he knows that he's CERTAIN to get an EMMY, even over Jimmy Kimmel!!
(Obviously, we'll have to get Ken Burns out of the country before the announcement is made.)
The Southern Strategy may be long considered to be THE vital strategy for manipulating large, established populations. Not the only way democracy lost ground by far, but a very effective one. I predict a future where EVERYONE in the GOP claims to have been the originator. (Of COURSE it started with Trump, as did EVERY good idea in history.)
America isn't even doing will on the Defense side either. China has caught up to the the US militarily. Hell the newest weapons America has isn't even designed at home anymore. Their created by European firms. Sad isn't it?
Shouldn't have stuck with the Direct Impingement and modified Garand POS for over 50 years either (Mshitteen and mshit14 are among the worst rifles ever). The F-15EX(Eagle II is a stupid name) is the only success story the Pentagon has since Biden left office.
The line we kept hearing all through the war in Afghanistan... and Iraq... and Vietnam... is that the U.S. military is the greatest military power in the world when it's a *conventional* war, it's just really bad at counterinsurgency.
I've suspected for a long time that if the U.S. military actually did have to fight a WWII type conventional war against a peer competitor, though, we'd quickly find out that it's nowhere near what we were all told it was - maybe not as badly as the Russians in Ukraine, but not unlike them. I just don't see how you can run the Defense Department as such a corrupt, unaccountable, politicized, for-profit boondoggle for so many decades without it affecting the bottom line, even at things it's supposed to be good at.
The US Military is quite competent. However, the DOD and military industrial complex have created a force structure which is heinously expensive. The current US military is 1/3 the size it was in 1968, but in inflation adjusted dollars, costs just as much. The US had more troops just in Vietnam in 1968, than the Army currently has active duty troops.
Yet Ukraine is having little problem dealing with Orc insurgents trying to run into their cities with bikes and golfcarts. (I prefer the terms Ukraine uses for the Muscovite savages) Why? Because they invested in first person drones. While the illegal regime cut the Pentagon's own FPV acquisition because it's a "Biden program".
Not only that. They also cut new tanks, APCs and IFVs in favor of aircraft. If that sounds a repeat of the Vietnam War. That's because it is. Rightoids want Americans to believe the boondoggle was winnable despite history and reality saying otherwise
Unlike America. China doesn't have cooperate idiots redesigning military and civie vehicles that are already successfully used by our allies. For no reason other than to get a a cut of the profit while ending up inferior to the original. The Pentagon is going to have buy directly from Europe if the US wants to restore their military after the orange traitor is removed from office.
Speaking of civilian technology. I already told this to another poster this but China has 46,000 kilometers of high speed rail. While America only has 735. While a smaller country like Germany has 1,658 km. For refence, China and American only only small amount of square kilos in difference.
The country cant build anything good anymore because it doesn't allow billionaires too mooch off American taxpayers.
Won't it be funny when (not if) a Category 5 smacks into Mar-a-Lardo while The Orange Scourge is lounging around - and gets swept away in the massive storm surge?
But I fear that if the JDs are there, Usha would immediately be thrown as a life preserver. (I'm ignoring the question of how TRUMP would immediately perceive/receive her: MAGA fakefist or "grabby" hand.)
Hmmm. Finally starting to freak myself out a little...
That whole "act of God" rings so hollow. (And I actually do believe in an omniscient greater power. Just not theirs...)
Anyone, even atheists, surely know that, any actual "capital-G God" controls EVERYTHING. All actions and events, without exception, would be "acts of God."
This sounds like someone with so little faith that they actually believe their deity needs constant begging from them to know what's best.
Please don't give them any ideas. If everything without exception is an "act of God", then they'll just say everything Trumpkopf does is an act of God! They're already saying that.
Do we have the right to politicize the catastrophe? Yes. Texas is a majority Republican state at a state and federal level. They are doing nothing to protect their own people. It’s painful to watch. It’s the job of government to do the best it can to protect their people it serves. What makes it concerning is that the grid is yet to be fixed. Not everyone can head for Cancun.
"StayAway-cation" Ted is the best Texas has to offer, apparently...
If we learned ANYTHING from Covid (and measles, and BBB, and...), it's that these morons consider it an honor to throw family members (or themselves) on any number of sequential Trump Sacrificial Pyres.
I live in the rural Deep South, and I've yet to hear a word against Trump for all the family they lost in his "honor". (Perhaps Trump's most effective move was to swear his love for the same multitudinous people he now considers "low IQ".)
Paul, I really appreciate your sayin' what needs to be said. In plain terms. An economist with a beating heart and social conscience. You are special, thank you.
Amen to that! Paul exemplifies the 'conscience of a liberal' with honor, integrity, caring and compassion for his fellow 'man'. A society without empathy is not a viable society, much less a viable nation.
Thank you for elucidating the actual considerations needed by the people of Texas and their government to understand this tragedy and to help prevent future ones. This stands in sharp contradistinction to the idiocy of Governor Abbott’s comments. He said that only losing teams point fingers and that winning teams don’t. Really? Over 100 deaths and 160 missing? And Abbott claims that Texas was the winning team?
All these hard right wing 'republican' politicians are complaining as tough guys now that MAGA controls the Federal government. As it is the HARD right controls EVERY aspect of Texas government.. Texas is NOT a safe place to live.
Also, article written by a Texas meteorologist explaining why thunderstorms and floods are currently impossible to predict In more than general terms in Texas.
Kerr County sought funding from the federal government and the state for years for a flood warning system, and they never got it. But they didn't want sirens, which are the only thing that could be effective for all citizens. Now they'll get sirens! If I lived there, I want sirens!
they sought funding from the federal government and the state but did not choose to raise their own taxes from their own tax base to pay to protect themselves.
Yes, and trying to politicize state and local government non-action from outside is pointless. The culture of indifference or hostility toward public safety is strong in Texas and older than MAGA. When I was a child there, it was legal to drink and drive. I doubt Kerr county will get sirens, though good for them if they do.
The gutting of federal agencies on which all our safety depends is the political meat of the matter.
Musk "assumed that the budget was full of fat that could be cut away without doing any harm."
To say that is to imply that Musk was well intentioned. I am deeply suspicious of whether he cared whether the budget was full of fat or how much harm he would do. He (with the approval of Trump and every congressional Republican) did it because of mindless anti-government ideology. We should never take MAGAts' words at face value.
Musk is notoriously self-serving, which may be an understatement. This is who he is, who he always has been.
The implication that he was well-intentioned and that he and his feral child hackers were knowledgeable on any topic was always a question for many looking at "DOGE" - starting with their forcing their way into offices.
If there were budget issues, wouldn't some forensic accounting be a good first step? < rhetorical question as their behavior coincided with and furthered the goals and objectives for Project2025.
Those taking any of MAGA's words at face value were lied to and accepted those lies.
Meanwhile, there are people in TX (some friends of mine who run search and rescue, cadaver dogs) working to help those devastated.
ISTM Musk had two objectives. One, to cripple the agencies he had fallen afoul of. Two, to further the Project 2025 agenda. It calls for the eviseration of NOAA and FEMA.
MeidasTouch network reported that Noem waited 72 hours before okaying support for search (by which time Mexico had sent in helpers). Noem was busy posting instagram pics of herself asking which should be her official govt portrait.
Let's just get real about Texas, ok? I moved to Houston shortly after Hurricane Harvey and lived through COVID plus the great freeze. One night I was awakened by a tremendous noise, which turned out to be a chemical plant explosion miles away in a residential neighborhood -- because the small government geniuses don't have zoning. So yeah, your condo next to a refinery might be collateral damage but who cares, we are MAGA. The roads were cratered. I couldn't find a library within driving distance. Power out in 12 degree weather and no one to call because it's all deregulated. This didn't happen because of the NWS or cuts or DOGE. People who are adults thought it was a good idea to put cabins on a riverfront where little kids would sleep. Where RVs would be parked. You know, because nobody in government is ever going to tell Texans what to do. I feel lucky every day that I got out of there alive.
Could not agree more with this. Many Americans openly despise the cost and intrusion of government in their lives and only consider the benefits (low taxes, loose regulations) until they are faced with the costs when a disaster strikes (like a flood, a fire or a cancer diagnosis). And, as you say, this defiance to anyone telling them what they can or can't do infects their own decision making so, for example, they don't consider the risks inherent in a campsite situated in 'flash flood alley' during hurricane season.
CNN profiled a woman who lost everything in the flood while knowingly refusing to purchase flood insurance. The kicker is that she is ANGRY. Not at the government, nor at herself for her decision to forego insurance, but at the insurer for not covering her flood losses even though she did not pay for coverage.
There's no reaching people like this who rebel against the very thing that will help them and then blame that thing when they are hurt.
Charlie Kirk, racist extronair, is blaming a black fire chief from Austin, approximately 100 miles away, Because OF COURSE HE IS. No way it is the white male Texas government
Yes, his "all we know to do is pray" was enraging - seems that there had been agencies that did know how to do 'more'. Reports on other platforms (Marisa Kabas, The Handbasket, as one source) note that as of Sunday FEMA had deployed 89 people to Texas for flood assistance. Seems too few people? (yes, that's sarcasm)
Absolutely agree. Seems the right wing is a bit touchy on this. They don’t like it when we point out that their policies actually do harm and even kill people. If we had an opposition party that wasn’t feeble, inept, and stupid, there would be aggressive TV ads, billboards, print material - everything possible - proclaiming that Trump, the GOP, and DOGE, just killed a lot of people in Texas. Attack the horrible bastards, dammit!
You know they know how guilty they are by how loudly they scream that this should not be politicized. Musk and Trump gutted NOAA and NWS. Kerr County refused to pay for a $50,000 engineering study. That failure was used by the Texas Legislature's Republicans to deny a $1M grant to build an alert system. Bottom line - children and adults are dead because Republicans refused to do what was necessary to prevent those deaths. There should be criminal prosecutions. There will not be.
The children killed were Christian white children whose parents could afford a steep fee (almost $5000 for the month) for them to attend a high end camp.
The children, of course, are entirely without fault and deserved better from the adults around them
Hoping that the parents ,along with relatives of other victims and survivors who must have been terrified, will not let this rest and push and push and push for a full investigation, blame laying with consequences and finally a solution
Note that Texas has no personal income tax. Lots of room to raise money if that is the excuse.
Texas has really high property taxes. People moving here from out-of-state who think they are moving to a no tax nirvana are often shocked by how high property taxes are. Most Texans would be better off with lower property taxes and an income tax. Property taxes do not go down when your income goes down.
Property taxes are loosely related to ability to pay and a really good way to keep your money close to home. Keeps poor counties poor and rich ones well serviced.
Property taxes are about the worst way to raise revenues. Income taxes, particularly the graduated income tax is the best and fairest way. There's very little real dispute about that.
Piketty, who has the data, says a combination of both graduated income taxes and (smaller, by percentage) graduated wealth taxes stabilizes a capitalistic system. So, yes on property taxes, with rates that increase with property value.
Indeed, but the US and Canada have moved away from a progressive taxation system over the last 40 years, giving the urber wealthy tax breaks. In the post war period up to the early 1970's, the top income tax bracket was over 85%, and the economy boomed. Today, flat taxes are regressive taxes. We need to return to a progressive taxation system.
Graduated income tax, graduated property tax and include other assets such as stocks and bonds as property to be taxed, get rid of the income cap on Social Security contributions, lower the retirement age and have everybody regardless of wealth collect Social Security, nationalize all health insurance companies and consolidate into a government run single payer insurance.
No end in sight to this spam bot. Reported again.
For a lot of older citizens, that's not the case. Past the prime earning years; in a home they can afford; yet property taxes keep increasing way past their ability to pay.
Wealth taxes sometimes have to be paid by selling some property. That’s the point. People living in houses with below-median value would have low property taxes in a fair system of wealth taxation. Residential real estate tax tables could go down to zero at the median, for example. The scare-tactic of threats to poor, elderly home-owners is part of what has kept the odious Proposition 13 in the constitution of California all these many years. It’s just one more example of the wealthy bamboozling the voters. I don’t think this lets the people being bamboozled off the hook, but it’s what happens, anyway.
If the only property a person has is the house they own and live in full time and they can't afford to buy in that same area, or anywhere else for that matter, then it's a real problem. Another problem is that whole "fair system" that isn't fair.
That puts the dollar in the place it belongs, with those who have.
This is the law of the jungle. It is the law of the greedy. Don't give anything to anyone but yourself. To hell with the rest. They deserve it. This is the law of the south before and after the Civil War. Well, people do deserve what they make into the law of their land and what they impose upon everyone else, as if only the rich have done anything for society, and no one else has done anything but live the life of the privileged rich, doing whatever they want whenever they want. This is the worst kind of fantasy. It results in the constant wars and destruction which have plagued this entire planet for as long as we have records. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. FDR tried to evolve past this. Mr. Lincoln was killed for his many trials and attempts. Mr. FDR's work is being destroyed right now by the Trump administration and those who support him: the US Supreme Court conservatives, the entire GOP/MAGA, most of the industrialists (Thiel, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg) and all their voters. The other man killed to support the will of the old south was JFK. He was for Civil Rights. Anathema to the south, old and new. Two Presidents, and how many Civil Rights People dead to keep the old south way in place? Loads. A technical term. You can add the dead due to destruction of the weather reporting facilities of FDR's government to the list of the dead. The south loves this. Just listen to the words of Vought and other Trumpers. They seriously love it. The more dead the better. It doesn't matter who. All that matters is that they die. They are. We haven't mentioned the dead and disabled from measles yet. What about all other deaths and disabilities due to the withdrawl of all vaccines and most healthcare from the US populace? There will be other deaths. Many. Can you hear the south cheering. Just listen to those in Florida and Texas for beginners. There are many other states joining them. Politicize all you like. You would be right, but it doesn't matter to such states. They applaud your being right. As for death--here it comes. Here it comes.
Agreed, Veblin's Theory of the Leisure Class. One interesting note re Camp Mystic. Monthly camper rate $5,000.00.
High rate, low prices, and in most counties significant exemptions. By state law, the first $100,000 of house value is not taxed.
What state has that?
Texas. And just wait til you hit 65!
Good point.
Whacked-the-spam-mole again.
There's a surplus - why isn't it being spent? Or: what is it being spent on?
Golf trips.
And rallies, hats and strippers.
Yeah, and he likes them "young".
Paxtons divorce
I live in Houston where property taxes are currently very low. The reason is that property tax revenue is no longer used to support the Houston public schools.
How are the schools supported?
Wait'll you hit 65. If you were planning to move when you retire, do it before 65 or you'll never want to move again in your life. (I'm talking roughly $1100 on a $350K house.)
I looked up the average property tax on a home like mine in Texas. While higher than where I live now, it is lower than what I paid in the Northeast over 11 years ago. Perhaps income tax is a better solution, but it will not be popular. My state has both.
I think that a poster by the name of Kevin here in this thread states he pays 1100 on 350K in TX at age over 65. Are you calling that high property tax??
Christian children died at the Covenant School in Nashville. Their mothers and classmates and their classmates' mothers, as well as long-time activists, have worked ever since to get nominally Christian Republican legislators to legislate some sort of common sense gun control in TN. Nevertheless, these legislators doubled down on the NRA's agenda of guns everywhere.
and the NRA has always used the "Now is not the time ..." line.
There's a profit to be made. They have their priorities.
The American infatuation with firearms has always puzzled this Canadian.
The demographic here seems to be producing at least some crocodile tears on the part of Abbot, which contrasts with Uvalde. Children are children, and adults should govern to protect all of them.
Abbot's not an adult. Beto for Texas Governor!
Texas has had repeated chances to kick these incompetents out, yet Abbot and Cruz were both re-elected after the winter electrical grid failure that caused people to freeze to death (while Cruz went to Cancun) and after more than one mass shooting. I don't know what it will take for the majority of voting Texans to wake up.
I think some Texans need to wake up, but the rest need to deal with rigged elections, starting with but by no means limited to gerrymandering and other electoral shenanigans.
Im hoping he jumps in the Senate race
I'm fine with either one. Abbot and Cruz both need to be given the boot.
The fact that these were Christian children should have no bearing on an emergency warning system and early evacuation. No child deserves to die such a horrible death.
You're absolutely right, as the OP explicitly stated:
"The children, of course, are entirely without fault and deserved better from the adults around them"
Karoline Levitt has already stated that President Trump is not at fault and this was "God's will." I'm amazed the press did not run with that.
These days, lamestream media seems to just accept what Goebbels in Drag says as though it were, yes, a message from God. Trumpkopf is attempting to transition from convincing his cult that he's "God sent" to convincing them that he's God himself. And they'll swallow it, at least the most hardcore ones will.
So Trump’s PS is so anti-G-d that she believes the almighty decided (his will) to destroy so much and kill so many, including the innocent children. Why aren’t the Christian Nationalists complaining about such an anti-G-d spokesperson?
The cognitive dissonance will momentarily cause some initial disorientation, but then they'll pull themselves together and confidently lie through their teeth, as usual.
For those who believe in "fate." I believe we were given free will.
How silly. I'm talking about "G-d's Plan" not rebellion against parents.
Re: no or low taxes
“Nothing ain’t worth nothing, but it’s free….”
It's a choice.
I keep wondering how a children’s camp was built in the floodplain of a river known for its flash floods?
"You know they know how guilty they are by how loudly they scream that this should not be politicized. "
--------
See also: Civilian death tolls from people* using combat weapons.
____________
*Many of whom wouldn't pass a serious background check.
The parents may nag to get warning sirens installed if that’s the case.
There's also just something preposterous about *conservatives*, of *all* people, whining that anything shouldn't be "politicized."
These people have politicized women's uteruses, politicized LGBT people's sexuality, politicized *straight* people's sexuality, politicized the religion of anybody who isn't a Southern Baptist or an Opus Dei affiliated Catholic, politicized disaster relief by deciding that it should vary depending on how the affected county voted, politicized children's education by deciding that science can only be taught when it doesn't make televangelists upset, politicized the civil service by deciding that people should be hired based on their personal loyalty to Trump, and politicized pandemic response because they decided high numbers of infected people would make people like Trump and DeSantis look bad. There is literally nothing in this country that isn't poisoned by an intense pressure to demonstrate its - to coin a term - "political correctness." I can't even look through current movie reviews anymore without having to wade through a cesspool of conservative political activists review-bombing every movie with a lead that's not white or male with wails about how everything sucks because it's Woke.
It's a bit late to decide that "politicizing" things is a bad thing.
conservatives only get upset about politicizing an issue when doing so raises questions about them.
Or worse yet, the answers to those questions. That could mean not only losing the next election but possible prison time as well.
Which makes me wonder about how much construction on the river flood plain correlated with the fatalities. Real estate developers--who tend to be a staunchly Republican constituency--simply love building on flood plains, because they're flat and the land cheap. Then pass the buck when the inevitable flooding damages/destroys the new subdivision.
It wouldn't surprise me. And in particular, they like to locate affordable housing in flood plains. Let them eat cake, then let 'em drown.
BINGO!
Did the Rs ever politicize the California wildfires. Trump got into big time, IIRC.
My wife still jokes about how Trump blamed a famous CA wildfire on us "Not raking our trees." or somesuch. What a moron. And never mind that 80% of forest in CA is federal, and under his jurisdiction.
Not to mention how ridiculous the idea of raking entire forests is. to begin with.
You mean they're hypocrites. Yes, they are.
Yes, God forbid they should spend taxpayer money on making taxpayers safer. But fine to spend it on bussing immigrants to New York and other blue states. And setting up Barb wire and National Guard on border.
Testify, brother!
An excerpt from a 2006 article about conservative governance holds more truth today than when it was written:
"Contemporary conservatism is first and foremost about shrinking the size and reach of the federal government. This mission, let us be clear, is an ideological one. It does not emerge out of an attempt to solve real-world problems, such as managing increasing deficits or finding revenue to pay for entitlements built into the structure of federal legislation. It stems, rather, from the libertarian conviction, repeated endlessly by George W. Bush, that the money government collects in order to carry out its business properly belongs to the people themselves. One thought, and one thought only, guided Bush and his Republican allies since they assumed power in the wake of Bush vs. Gore: taxes must be cut, and the more they are cut–especially in ways benefiting the rich–the better.
But like all politicians, conservatives, once in office, find themselves under constant pressure from constituents to use government to improve their lives. This puts conservatives in the awkward position of managing government agencies whose missions–indeed, whose very existence–they believe to be illegitimate. Contemporary conservatism is a walking contradiction. Unable to shrink government but unwilling to improve it, conservatives attempt to split the difference, expanding government for political gain, but always in ways that validate their disregard for the very thing they are expanding. The end result is not just bigger government, but more incompetent government."
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2006/07/01/why-conservatives-cant-govern/
“It stems, rather, from the libertarian conviction, repeated endlessly by George W. Bush, that the money government collects in order to carry out its business properly belongs to the people themselves.”
A lot of people are against MY money being taxed and used for the common welfare, but don’t seem to realize that currency was originally created by the federal government before it ended up in their pocket. They seem to think money is a natural resource, like water, that exists independent of the national government. So they rail against the very entity that provided the currency in the first place. It’s ridiculous.
In practice, what conservatives - and centrists - end up settling for is an endless series of public-private partnerships in which government doesn't shrink, it even expands, but everything it provides is run through a private-sector middleman who gets to skim off the top.
This is an excellent description of neoliberal governance. One pretends “government” is being cut when it is instead being converted into a profit-generating “service”. Health insurance is the poster child for neoliberal destruction of services while the railroads are correctly perceived as victims of neoliberalism in the UK.
This true, but it really predates Dubya. St. Reagan once famously (infamously) said something along the lines of "Government isn't the solution, government is the problem. The scariest words in the English language are 'I'm with the government, and I'm here to help'" It was BS then, it's BS now.
And so along comes Trump, Project 2025, DOGE and Musk with the solution to the conundrum - just cut those agencies conservatives have never liked, fire the employees, cancel expenditures that don't match the ideological agenda, etc. and cast about for scapegoats when the shit hits the fan.
BINGO. Summarized perfectly
But notice no DOGE cuts to Dept of the Interior--which issues mining and grazing permits, mainly to GOP-affiliated concerns. And no ICE raids in FL & TX--where GOP donor-owned farms and businesses would be economically harmed.
Not much casting about when the first choice is always democrats, Biden, socialism (all treated as merely synonyms for bad).
Texas touts how vigorous its economy is (so lots of growth) but they refuse to care about the people.
They generally use the money to fatten the wallets of oil barons, corporations and greedy hogs like Elon Musk.
You just know that Abbot's gotta be getting a cut.
DailyKos reports that Abbott is focused on bring the legislature back to further gerrymander the congressional maps under orders from Trump. I guess they can see the blue tsunami coming and want to try to build a safeguard or backstop.
Oh yeah, they're scared!
All Republicans are on the payroll, at least through campaign funding.
Or, more accurately, on the payola.
Seeing as how this critically vital alert system is actually an INSIDIOUS PLOT by evil Dems to "codify climate change(sic)", and that some people of color might inadvertently be protected by this system...
Criminal prosecutions? More likely a medal for "defying the libs!" (Can we maybe keep Austin and wall-off the rest?)
I expect an eventual brain drain from Austin (and Houston) as life in the red spithole of Texass becomes more and more MAGAfied.
Sadly, already starting.
Apparently, Austin is now overbuilt, with intense road traffic--and lousy public transport options--impacting QOL. It was once thought to be a viable economic alternative to Silicon Valley; but GOP urban planning design has proved extremely flawed.
I highly doubt whether the failure of government officials to take necessary actions are crimes, no matter how many people die as a result. Legislatures enact criminal laws, and they are not about to risk making themselves or other government officials criminals.
True, but indiscriminate cuts - especially without the explicit approval of congress - are criminal.
No. For the executive to impound congressionally appropriated funds violates the Constitution, but it is not a crime. The remedy is for a court to issue an injunction against the impoundment (which the current Supreme Court will overturn) or impeachment and conviction.
(A peeve of mine is that blatant constitutional violations are not crimes. When someone violates a clearly established constitutional right -- for example, when a public school principal suspends a student for not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance -- the violator gets away with it. The worst that can happen to him is that a court will tell him to stop violating the Constitution.)
Actually, violating the Constitution is crime. Impeachment is the only remedy currently available. That could potentially happen post 2026. For now, as you point out, the worst that can happen to him right now is a weak slap on the wrist. For now.
We have different definitions of "crime." A crime to me is an act for which one can be arrested and prosecuted, and for which one can be convicted only by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. There are two types of crimes: felonies and misdemeanors.
Violating the Constitution is neither, though in some cases violating the Constitution might also violate a criminal law and therefore be a crime. For example, if a state or local police officer shoots you for no reason other than that you are Black, he has violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment, and he has also committed the crime of murder. But they are separate violations, even though they stem from the same act -- the shooting. The police officer can go to prison only for the murder, not for the constitutional violation.
Treason is a felony.
I lived in a small rural town in Oklahoma, known as Tornado Alley. We had a siren system. One whistle meant there was a tornado in the area, two whistles meant 'take cover', and 3 whistles 'it's on us'. Our children grew up knowing this and how to protect themselves (many times). I now live in the area of Flash Flood Alley, over 118 souls lost because Kerrville voted down or ignored installing an alert system, but Texas has always been 'late to the party', or at the wrong one.
“climate change is raising the risks of disaster — a fact acknowledged by the insurance industry, whatever politicians may say.”
Who you gonna believe—climate catastrophe deniers or the insurance industry?
Death by policy.
Death is policy.
Yes, what you said… I just wrote my own rage about it. Comfort, Texas has a warning system and nobody died there.
No, the people of Kerr County made a choice. Kerr County did not pay because there was no will for them to pay. NOBODY was voted out for that choice.
I agree with your sentiments, but righteous indignation has its limits. The fact that local officials refused to raise taxes to address the needs for a siren warning system is grounds for potentially voting them out of office but not for their criminal prosecution. Any attempt to do so would be dismissed in court and properly so. Ostracism and political pressure are the major tools at hand. And ostracism can and eventually should filter down to the camp officials for past decisions about where to locate cabins, an inadequate evacuation plan and possible failure to have battery-operated radio connection to emergency weather news.
Sigh
Shakespeare's Hamlet: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
The coda was first written by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy about the 1929 Mississippi flood. We have been dealing with this insouciance concerning the downtrodden since then. A state as rich as Texas saying that they did not have funds for an updated warning system is rich.
And Krugman's choice of the coda was a creative master stroke . . .
Here's the original, done by Memphis Minnie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSlt8-fmvas&list=RDWSlt8-fmvas&start_radio=1 As a lifetime Blues fan, I was always kind of weirded out by the British Guys more or less pilfering that song. At the same time, I admired what Zep did with the song! 🤷♀️
Thank you for the steer. The contrast between the two versions is almost astounding; I take your point about 'British Guys" and 'pilfering.' It put me in mind it's been 70+ years (!) since the decade I'd played drums in dance, Dixie, and marching bands and my eldest son is professionally associated with acoustical engineering and music. I'm still almost daily reminded how rich, worldwide, is musical diversity, as the comparison between Krugman's coda and Memphis Minnie's original demonstrates. My day's treat continued! Thank you!.
“Cryin’ won’t help, prayin’ won’t do ya no good!”
He could've used this one too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yyWvUTsBsE
Indeed, he could. Thank you for continuing our spare but informative conversation. A wonderful side benefit of the Substack capability for multi-faceted discourse -- who'd have thunk it -- Krugman, Hooker. Minnie, the 'British guys' and freebird, LHS, you, and me all singin' a tune of another kind altogether . . .
$30 billion in the rainy day fund
And not used to prepare for a "rainy day."
It is a sin fed on greed and corruption.
And demonstrably criminal!
When there were fires in California, Trump was Jonny-on-the-spot with criticism of the state government. He said that the state should have been raking the forest floor (even though the feds owned most of the forest land). And he released water from upstate dams claiming there was not enough water to put out the fires. In short he politicized the disasters ASAP.
And absolutely wasted that enormous water storage which could not, and did not, reach the fires!
And he continues to reference his greattt sucesss in "turning the spigot on". And ppl follow this ahole? I can't. Even. But here we are. So we have to respond to political firehoses designed to distract. The more we fight about who is responsible for a flood (act of god /cough ppl who don't want to use taxes /cough) the less we talk about the militarization of our prisons and the concentration camps being funded. Focus, ppl.
"I turned on the FORCETS!" His base doesn't know how things work, so they cheer for his imaginary victories
https://theflaw.org/articles/publicly-traded-private-prisons/ And they're making money off ice. We all need to check our mutual funds and make sure they're not investing in ice private prisons.
Absolutely!
And which wasn’t needed in the first place, given that Los Angeles reservoirs were over capacity and has had plenty of water for several years.
This was a disastrous act and it should be considered criminal and prosecuted. But alas, the corrupt #SCOTUS gives him "immunity"! OK, so then, WHEN DOES CONGRESS START THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS?!
He sure did! But Republicans have lost all their shame about hypocrisy.
What about the general dismantling of the independent federal agencies (including FEMA) — Do we even have a Legislative Branch anymore? The agencies are responsible for turning statutes into regulations, policies, and enforcement mechanisms.
https://open.substack.com/pub/republia/p/with-good-along-the-path-to-a-better?r=4ucf6d&utm_medium=ios
I once jokingly suggested that DOGE should get rid of Congress since it's redundant, doing nothing but rubber stamping Trump.
The Republicans in Congress have abdicated their Constitutional responsibilities to this demented and incompetent fascist dictator. For this, they should all be impeached and removed!
"The rule of law is not a given in this nation, nor any other. It is a precept of our democracy that will endure only if those brave enough in every branch fight for its survival. Today, the Court abdicates its vital role in that effort. With the stroke of a pen, the President has made a 'solemn mockery' of our Constitution. Peters, 5 Cranch, at 136."
Sotomayor, J., dissenting. Trump v. Casa, Inc., 606 U. S. ____ (2025), "https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf (accessed 12JUL2025).
She agrees with you!
Refreshing to see someone cut through the noise and ask the real questions when emotions are raw and accountability is still possible. Politicising a tragedy isn’t about point-scoring, it’s about prevention and frankly, if we don’t have the conversation while it’s still burning in people’s minds, we’re only paving the road to the next avoidable disaster.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, nondefense discretionary spending is projected to fall to its lowest level in decades by 2033: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58848. That’s the very pool funding things like flood response and weather alerts...
They need the money to fund Der Neu Gestapo, aka ICE.
Huge floods, the eventual obliteration of Miami by hurricanes, it's all an "act of God", like school shootings. Nothing can be done about it. After all, governments can never do anything good, which is why things worked so much better without them. A life " nasty, brutish, and short" is much preferable to one with a functioning, adequately funded government.
Chris, the apologist appeals to acts of God really demonstrates the how powerful the grip of Theocracy is on the Evangelical Trump base. That the slaughter of little children by man made far right policies surrounding guns and the destruction of all government functions that are not focused on guns and deaths raises one question. Why would you worship a God who does these things?
You’re right about theocracy. And the cynical leaders at the top don’t believe any of this pseudo-pious bullshit. They’re just here for the steal.
Interesting how virtually all decent Americans see this grift so clearly, yet no amount of truth seems to budge the Christo Fascist Trumpistas an inch.
Their only truth is their desire to "own the libs". Even when it means catastrophe for them. You can't fix stupid.
Identity politics, once again. If I have to admit I'm wrong (or worse, that you're right,) it will completely destroy my sense of self. The story I've lived with for years is that the libs have ruined my life, and if it turns out that isn't true, I won't know what to do.
And of course it's exacerbated by reichwing media heavily promoting it.
Just as we have become, as a nation, desensitized to school shootings and children’s’ deaths, so it will be with the deaths resulting from “natural disasters” that at this point are man made as well.
This is just the beginning. SCOTUS has handed him the machete to destroy the rest of the federal government and his minions are eager to do so. The dreams of the GOP have come true in a way they hoped and planned decades ago.
Considering what scared, spoiled, entitled children Americans are, just how well are they going to handle the deprivation? Poor people have been forced to do so for years, from working several jobs to shared childcare to bad mass transportation. Now it’s the rest of America’s turn. Except for the super rich of course.
They're indoctrinated from birth.
Its because of magats/christards beliefs as you described is why China will surpass America as the global superpower for at least a generation or more.
The problem is not that China may well surpass the US and EU in economic size, they're on their way to doing this now. The problem is that China, for various historical and cultural reasons, may not really want to deal with foreign "barbarians", and may simply let the world collapse into anarchy when the US craters, instead of trying to replace Pax Americana with Pax China.
You may be right
The US hegemony really started after WW II, when the victory over nazism, the rivalry with the USSR and the collapse of Europe profiled the US as the guardian of liberal democracy.
And, as Prof. Krugman opined in a text some time ago, for all its faults and crimes, the US has been a rather positive hegemon. Compare with some empires of the past and you may concur...
But if or when China takes the scepter of world main superpower, I also expect the kind of future that you describe, Chris: A strong hand inside their territorial empire and a cynical laissez-faire outside, in the world of barbarians.
As an European, I hope that my civilization will never again nourish imperial dreams. And that, with other well intentioned partners, we create an alternative based on cooperation and agreement.
Hard to disagree and the blame lies with xtian magats and the billionaire/donor parasite class. America used to be able to build everything that China is now. However because of the rightoids, its currently impossible.
China has 46,000 kilometers of High Speed Rail. America has barely over 700. They are testing two new fighter jets. The Pentagon can't get force the corpos to get one into the air. China has made three new aircraft carriers in ten years. America has only built the Ford in the same timeframe.
Whats worse is the Secretary Durnknrapey is cutting NOAA and NWS off from needed satellites. So more people will die for no reason. Pathetic.
Blue states are better off creating their own country or joining Canada after the inevitable collapse.
As far as fighter jets is concerned, the Pentagon is the problem. You reeeaaallllyy need different planes for the Navy as you do for the Air Force, but the Pentagon insists on fighter planes that can be used for just about every task by both services. See the book "Boyd", by Robert Coram for more details.
I already know enough about that. The Pentagon has too many corpo morons among the brass and they just made tech bros LtCols. Who have a high chance of being spies without any training less than a month ago.
The reason the USAF force was forced to adopt the F4 Phantom, a Navy plane. Was because the Century Series were POSs proven to be inferior to Orc( Ukraine slang for the Ruzzians) and Chinese fighter jets. The idiot flyboys have sworn to never allow that happen again. I wouldnt be surprised the 47 pos is going to end up as the next F-111 that they push on the Navy.
Governments can never do anything good, unless we're talking about the military, the police, or the intelligence community, at which point the government is suddenly the most morally infallible and technically efficient institution in the entire universe, and nobody must ever question anything they've ever done.
I have to hope that even MAGAts have enough...something individually unique, to feel at least slightly distanced by the multitudes of absolute superlatives.
Every MAGAt can't have ABSOLUTE belief in EVERYTHING.
Can they?
Dump only seems to speak in superlatives. At the very least, his base must be getting to the point where it's getting old. Any human knows success in life in hard to come by, so to hear this clown constantly use phrases such as "like never before" or "the greatest in history" or "the best the world has ever seen" has to be wearing thin.
I really hope so.
Since some of these people watch him a lot, we're likely talking of people with many thousands more hours than we have, and we're already sick of it.
It may be interesting to watch what may happen when people celebrated for being stupid realize they are not actually the stupid ones.
We can only hope. The ones at the periphery of the cult >might< be persuadable.
Sounds at best like...
"SUCCESS...but not in our lifetime."
I'll settle. Far better than the next placement.
It >might< be in our lifetime. I hope it is. But at this stage, I'll settle for moving the needle >any< amount back in the right direction while I'm still around. The GOP's been playing the long game for decades. We need to do the same.
We really do need effective ideas...
Maybe we should convince Trump to spend the remainder of his life focusing on a 100-part documentary of his life? Remember, he gave up a far larger fortune because of his preference for the fame of having TRUMP plastered on every gaudy surface on Earth, so he may be talked out of focusing as heavily on grift. And make sure he knows that he's CERTAIN to get an EMMY, even over Jimmy Kimmel!!
(Obviously, we'll have to get Ken Burns out of the country before the announcement is made.)
Indeed.
The Southern Strategy may be long considered to be THE vital strategy for manipulating large, established populations. Not the only way democracy lost ground by far, but a very effective one. I predict a future where EVERYONE in the GOP claims to have been the originator. (Of COURSE it started with Trump, as did EVERY good idea in history.)
America isn't even doing will on the Defense side either. China has caught up to the the US militarily. Hell the newest weapons America has isn't even designed at home anymore. Their created by European firms. Sad isn't it?
Shouldn't have stuck with the Direct Impingement and modified Garand POS for over 50 years either (Mshitteen and mshit14 are among the worst rifles ever). The F-15EX(Eagle II is a stupid name) is the only success story the Pentagon has since Biden left office.
The line we kept hearing all through the war in Afghanistan... and Iraq... and Vietnam... is that the U.S. military is the greatest military power in the world when it's a *conventional* war, it's just really bad at counterinsurgency.
I've suspected for a long time that if the U.S. military actually did have to fight a WWII type conventional war against a peer competitor, though, we'd quickly find out that it's nowhere near what we were all told it was - maybe not as badly as the Russians in Ukraine, but not unlike them. I just don't see how you can run the Defense Department as such a corrupt, unaccountable, politicized, for-profit boondoggle for so many decades without it affecting the bottom line, even at things it's supposed to be good at.
The US Military is quite competent. However, the DOD and military industrial complex have created a force structure which is heinously expensive. The current US military is 1/3 the size it was in 1968, but in inflation adjusted dollars, costs just as much. The US had more troops just in Vietnam in 1968, than the Army currently has active duty troops.
Yet Ukraine is having little problem dealing with Orc insurgents trying to run into their cities with bikes and golfcarts. (I prefer the terms Ukraine uses for the Muscovite savages) Why? Because they invested in first person drones. While the illegal regime cut the Pentagon's own FPV acquisition because it's a "Biden program".
Not only that. They also cut new tanks, APCs and IFVs in favor of aircraft. If that sounds a repeat of the Vietnam War. That's because it is. Rightoids want Americans to believe the boondoggle was winnable despite history and reality saying otherwise
Unlike America. China doesn't have cooperate idiots redesigning military and civie vehicles that are already successfully used by our allies. For no reason other than to get a a cut of the profit while ending up inferior to the original. The Pentagon is going to have buy directly from Europe if the US wants to restore their military after the orange traitor is removed from office.
Speaking of civilian technology. I already told this to another poster this but China has 46,000 kilometers of high speed rail. While America only has 735. While a smaller country like Germany has 1,658 km. For refence, China and American only only small amount of square kilos in difference.
The country cant build anything good anymore because it doesn't allow billionaires too mooch off American taxpayers.
Won't it be funny when (not if) a Category 5 smacks into Mar-a-Lardo while The Orange Scourge is lounging around - and gets swept away in the massive storm surge?
Sure, Winston!
But I fear that if the JDs are there, Usha would immediately be thrown as a life preserver. (I'm ignoring the question of how TRUMP would immediately perceive/receive her: MAGA fakefist or "grabby" hand.)
Hmmm. Finally starting to freak myself out a little...
Don't worry about JD. He has all the charisma of a wet seaweed noodle.
That whole "act of God" rings so hollow. (And I actually do believe in an omniscient greater power. Just not theirs...)
Anyone, even atheists, surely know that, any actual "capital-G God" controls EVERYTHING. All actions and events, without exception, would be "acts of God."
This sounds like someone with so little faith that they actually believe their deity needs constant begging from them to know what's best.
Please don't give them any ideas. If everything without exception is an "act of God", then they'll just say everything Trumpkopf does is an act of God! They're already saying that.
Unfunny!
If this had happened in a Blue State, we'd be constantly bombarded with, "Gawd's wrath on Democrat(sic) sinners!"
Because it's Texas, we instead get, "Biden, the man we claim is never awake, has FULL CONTROL over the weather!"
Fair game, I say!
Do we have the right to politicize the catastrophe? Yes. Texas is a majority Republican state at a state and federal level. They are doing nothing to protect their own people. It’s painful to watch. It’s the job of government to do the best it can to protect their people it serves. What makes it concerning is that the grid is yet to be fixed. Not everyone can head for Cancun.
"StayAway-cation" Ted is the best Texas has to offer, apparently...
If we learned ANYTHING from Covid (and measles, and BBB, and...), it's that these morons consider it an honor to throw family members (or themselves) on any number of sequential Trump Sacrificial Pyres.
I live in the rural Deep South, and I've yet to hear a word against Trump for all the family they lost in his "honor". (Perhaps Trump's most effective move was to swear his love for the same multitudinous people he now considers "low IQ".)
Or to Greece like a certain senator..
Paul, I really appreciate your sayin' what needs to be said. In plain terms. An economist with a beating heart and social conscience. You are special, thank you.
Amen to that! Paul exemplifies the 'conscience of a liberal' with honor, integrity, caring and compassion for his fellow 'man'. A society without empathy is not a viable society, much less a viable nation.
Thank you for elucidating the actual considerations needed by the people of Texas and their government to understand this tragedy and to help prevent future ones. This stands in sharp contradistinction to the idiocy of Governor Abbott’s comments. He said that only losing teams point fingers and that winning teams don’t. Really? Over 100 deaths and 160 missing? And Abbott claims that Texas was the winning team?
All these hard right wing 'republican' politicians are complaining as tough guys now that MAGA controls the Federal government. As it is the HARD right controls EVERY aspect of Texas government.. Texas is NOT a safe place to live.
💥💥💥 DONT MISS THIS!!! ⛈️⛈️⛈️
Actual video showing flash flood hit in a Texas river, video worth a thousand words. What a horror!
https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2025/07/06/g-s1-76298/video-timelapse-texas-llano-river-flood-minutes?jwsource=cl
Also, article written by a Texas meteorologist explaining why thunderstorms and floods are currently impossible to predict In more than general terms in Texas.
https://kathleenweber.substack.com/p/see-texas-flash-flood-happen
Kerr County sought funding from the federal government and the state for years for a flood warning system, and they never got it. But they didn't want sirens, which are the only thing that could be effective for all citizens. Now they'll get sirens! If I lived there, I want sirens!
they sought funding from the federal government and the state but did not choose to raise their own taxes from their own tax base to pay to protect themselves.
Yes, and trying to politicize state and local government non-action from outside is pointless. The culture of indifference or hostility toward public safety is strong in Texas and older than MAGA. When I was a child there, it was legal to drink and drive. I doubt Kerr county will get sirens, though good for them if they do.
The gutting of federal agencies on which all our safety depends is the political meat of the matter.
Musk "assumed that the budget was full of fat that could be cut away without doing any harm."
To say that is to imply that Musk was well intentioned. I am deeply suspicious of whether he cared whether the budget was full of fat or how much harm he would do. He (with the approval of Trump and every congressional Republican) did it because of mindless anti-government ideology. We should never take MAGAts' words at face value.
Musk is notoriously self-serving, which may be an understatement. This is who he is, who he always has been.
The implication that he was well-intentioned and that he and his feral child hackers were knowledgeable on any topic was always a question for many looking at "DOGE" - starting with their forcing their way into offices.
If there were budget issues, wouldn't some forensic accounting be a good first step? < rhetorical question as their behavior coincided with and furthered the goals and objectives for Project2025.
Those taking any of MAGA's words at face value were lied to and accepted those lies.
Meanwhile, there are people in TX (some friends of mine who run search and rescue, cadaver dogs) working to help those devastated.
Exactly right, especially regarding the forensic accounting and sinister Project 2025.
ISTM Musk had two objectives. One, to cripple the agencies he had fallen afoul of. Two, to further the Project 2025 agenda. It calls for the eviseration of NOAA and FEMA.
OK, maybe it wasn't mindless. Just evil.
Occam's Razor?
Evil
- with intent - and hacking skills
I agree 100%! I do not believe Musk or Trump cares in the least. In fact, I suspect it was intentional.
MeidasTouch network reported that Noem waited 72 hours before okaying support for search (by which time Mexico had sent in helpers). Noem was busy posting instagram pics of herself asking which should be her official govt portrait.
https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/fema-response-deadly-texas-floods-delayed-deficient-noem
Let's just get real about Texas, ok? I moved to Houston shortly after Hurricane Harvey and lived through COVID plus the great freeze. One night I was awakened by a tremendous noise, which turned out to be a chemical plant explosion miles away in a residential neighborhood -- because the small government geniuses don't have zoning. So yeah, your condo next to a refinery might be collateral damage but who cares, we are MAGA. The roads were cratered. I couldn't find a library within driving distance. Power out in 12 degree weather and no one to call because it's all deregulated. This didn't happen because of the NWS or cuts or DOGE. People who are adults thought it was a good idea to put cabins on a riverfront where little kids would sleep. Where RVs would be parked. You know, because nobody in government is ever going to tell Texans what to do. I feel lucky every day that I got out of there alive.
Could not agree more with this. Many Americans openly despise the cost and intrusion of government in their lives and only consider the benefits (low taxes, loose regulations) until they are faced with the costs when a disaster strikes (like a flood, a fire or a cancer diagnosis). And, as you say, this defiance to anyone telling them what they can or can't do infects their own decision making so, for example, they don't consider the risks inherent in a campsite situated in 'flash flood alley' during hurricane season.
CNN profiled a woman who lost everything in the flood while knowingly refusing to purchase flood insurance. The kicker is that she is ANGRY. Not at the government, nor at herself for her decision to forego insurance, but at the insurer for not covering her flood losses even though she did not pay for coverage.
There's no reaching people like this who rebel against the very thing that will help them and then blame that thing when they are hurt.
Here's a link to the story:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/10/business/texas-flooding-victims-lack-flood-insurance
Charlie Kirk, racist extronair, is blaming a black fire chief from Austin, approximately 100 miles away, Because OF COURSE HE IS. No way it is the white male Texas government
Aren't they also blaming cloud seeding? Government control of the weather?
The wingnut conspiracy theorists have been busy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/maga-influencer-charlie-kirk-claims-texas-flood-death-toll-would-not-have-been-as-high-if-it-wasn-t-for-dei/ar-AA1Iia3c?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=86010955c6e840f9b874e8f3d3438e65&ei=13#comments&commentId=38a0f59b-3094-46fe-b3eb-02bd79aa2286
well... of course... DEI
Isn't it time for "thoughts and prayers" considering the success they've produced with gun violence?
Holier-than-thou Mike Johnson was out with thoughts and prayers and nothing else that very day.
Yes, his "all we know to do is pray" was enraging - seems that there had been agencies that did know how to do 'more'. Reports on other platforms (Marisa Kabas, The Handbasket, as one source) note that as of Sunday FEMA had deployed 89 people to Texas for flood assistance. Seems too few people? (yes, that's sarcasm)
link here:
https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/fema-response-deadly-texas-floods-delayed-deficient-noem
Absolutely agree. Seems the right wing is a bit touchy on this. They don’t like it when we point out that their policies actually do harm and even kill people. If we had an opposition party that wasn’t feeble, inept, and stupid, there would be aggressive TV ads, billboards, print material - everything possible - proclaiming that Trump, the GOP, and DOGE, just killed a lot of people in Texas. Attack the horrible bastards, dammit!