Texas in Major Trouble (real estate, rent, insurance)

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by catman

I live in Texas and I very much care about natural beauty. I actually liked your post until I got to the slam at Texas. There are many attractive natural settings in Texas. My favorite is the area around McDonald Observatory.

The problem is that any area of Texas that you can argue has some natural appeal is out in the middle of nowhere, not anywhere near a major city, which is where the jobs are.

[neddy]

Hmmm, the Hill Country is very pretty and Austin and San Antonio are on the edges of it and between the two cities there seems to be a job to fit each type of worker from low end to the high end...

[sxrckr]

Drastic cuts to education.... meanwhile, the TDHCA continues developer hand-outs! Even more the last few years, using the excuse of "Ike-funding" (hurricane Ike).

The TDHCA needs to be completely overhauled (stop all the handouts to developers to get millions to build brand-new way out on open land in the boonies, encouraging sprawl.... instead must only re-hab already existing low-income apartments). Or, TDHCA should be dismantled/de-funded altogether. The way it is now (and has been since 1989), developers get to build their money-makers (and neighborhood-destroyers) off the backs of taxpayers.

[plwhit]

Can someone explain to me how a thread on Texas finances morphs into a kiddie finger pointing/name calling contest on natural beauty?

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

The problem is that any area of Texas that you can argue has some natural appeal is out in the middle of nowhere, not anywhere near a major city, which is where the jobs are.

That's exactly why those places have remained beautiful/appealing because they aren't near large cities.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by plwhit

Can someone explain to me how a thread on Texas finances morphs into a kiddie finger pointing/name calling contest on natural beauty?

Your guess is as good as mine.

[crbcrbrgv]

Originally Posted by plwhit

Ahhh, this article is as partisan as it gets.....

I am so sick of these doom & gloom politicians and their FUD:



Why is it the Democrats see these "ominous trends" and never see anything good unless it's a tax hike?

Maybe because Perry is proposing to cut 5 billion from education while swearing up and down he will never touch the rainy day fund? I bet you could count the states that would agree with this thinking on one hand.

[jbiggs]

Originally Posted by ETex2

OK - let's pull a quote directly out of the linked article:

“This report makes for some interesting trivia. But if Texas is such a horrible place, why have 4.5 million people moved here in the last decade?” asked Wohlgemuth, executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which advocates for smaller government. “What people care most about are jobs, and on that measurement, Texas ranks first.”

The reason 4.5M people moved here in the last decade is that they were fed the line that Texas is the land of milk and honey. During the start of the economic crisis Texas government did a good job of covering up the state of the Texas economy which was only lagging behind (in negative conditions) of the remainder of the US. Now the truth is out and Texas can no longer cover anything up.

Interesting though that people are still flocking here in numbers, without jobs, without real plans, and still can not see the light! Apparently they are the ones that do little reading or research before they act.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by jbiggs

The reason 4.5M people moved here in the last decade is that they were fed the line that Texas is the land of milk and honey. During the start of the economic crisis Texas government did a good job of covering up the state of the Texas economy which was only lagging behind (in negative conditions) of the remainder of the US. Now the truth is out and Texas can no longer cover anything up.

Interesting though that people are still flocking here in numbers, without jobs, without real plans, and still can not see the light! Apparently they are the ones that do little reading or research before they act.

I don't really think it's a "line". We do have a very low unemployment rate. But the simple fact is - most of the people moving here are Latinos. And I'd also venture to say that a huge percentage of them are illegal. Heard on the news just this morning that white people are now in the minority with only 45% of the population here, and hispanics now make up 38%. This is an astronomical increase from just 10 years ago.

They don't have to have a job when they move here. Just start helping your cousin doing some type of construction work or semi-skilled labor. Then put your own ad on craigslist and you're suddenly in business for yourself. And no tax to pay since you have no SS no.

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by ETex2

I don't really think it's a "line". We do have a very low unemployment rate. But the simple fact is - most of the people moving here are Latinos. And I'd also venture to say that a huge percentage of them are illegal. Heard on the news just this morning that white people are now in the minority with only 45% of the population here, and hispanics now make up 38%. This is an astronomical increase from just 10 years ago.

They don't have to have a job when they move here. Just start helping your cousin doing some type of construction work or semi-skilled labor. Then put your own ad on craigslist and you're suddenly in business for yourself. And no tax to pay since you have no SS no.

That's quite a lot of racist assumptions in one post.