I would like to see a Purple Texas...NOT Blue, NOT red (Houston: crime, school district)

[JJG]

Originally Posted by little elmer

but... I'm not willing to kill babies, let men into girl's restrooms, dismantle ICE, tax the working to give it away, eliminate the 2nd Amendment, teach kindergartners to change sexes, open our borders to everyone, or impeach the president to get it. (Red)

All of that is just ridiculous stereotyping from 24/7 cable news networks...

[dollaztx]

To the OP: Yes, you are absolutely right! I've been hoping for this for a long time. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a Democratic Texas, I don't want a Republican Texas. I would like to see a purple Texas. When elections are in the pocket, it leads to an unaccountable government. An unaccountable government doesn't work hard, turns unproductive, is corrupt, doesn't account to the people, etc. Competition is healthy. If Texas was an independent nation (as we like to tell people we could be), we would be a one-party run state like Russia, China, or North Korea.

[MarshaBrady1968]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

Your argument does not make sense. The wealthy will always benefit form a balanced tax cut since they pay most of the taxes by far. So when they reorganize the tax code they will benefit. Now the president wants to cut taxes further for the middle class even if that raises them on the Uber wealthy but the dems won’t agree.

May or may not be the best example, I was just trying to say there are certain issues that are "untouchable" pieces of ideology that define the side of the aisle one leans to.
Just so my own stance is clear, I care about one thing: health. Guns are not healthy, they kill (whether people or animals, there is no other reason for a gun to exist). Not having enough money to see a doctor may kill, or at least keep ill. Sitting in front of my computer for 9 hours a day with no movement and straining my eyes is taking years off my life (sitting is the new smoking), yet I have to BEG for the like 10 days of vacation I get. Our food is so f***ed up by the changes implemented to it to make the almighty dollar that it is killing us. Our values are very skewed toward money. And yet, when I happened upon Ted Cruz' acceptance speech the other night, every single solitary word of it was in relation to money, not people, money. I just feel our values are in the wrong place.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Originally Posted by dollaztx

To the OP: Yes, you are absolutely right! I've been hoping for this for a long time. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a Democratic Texas, I don't want a Republican Texas. I would like to see a purple Texas. When elections are in the pocket, it leads to an unaccountable government. An unaccountable government doesn't work hard, turns unproductive, is corrupt, doesn't account to the people, etc. Competition is healthy. If Texas was an independent nation (as we like to tell people we could be), we would be a one-party run state like Russia, China, or North Korea.

So you specifically don't want what Democrats have created in Washington State and California?

[NorthTexasGuy]

Texas is already very diverse socially. If you come to the big metro areas, I don't believe you will feel out of place if you lean left. Small towns may be different, but that's not where people are moving to as a general rule.


Economically, despite its imperfection in policies, the conservative politics of the state has allowed the state to prosper tremendously over the last 20 plus years.


However, realistically speaking I believe as the urban centers grow they will become more and more blue as the big cities already are. This will mean a push for more social services to accommodate growing urban needs like public transportation and the enviable public housing and other related topics commonly pushed by democrats.


Someone said to me once they noticed the big cities in Texas didn't seam to have as many people using public transportation as compared to other large cities in the west and east coast. I said of coarse, our form of government allows more people to afford their own transportation. Becoming a purple or blue state will start to change that for many.

[Kthnry]

Originally Posted by NorthTexasGuy

Someone said to me once they noticed the big cities in Texas didn't seam to have as many people using public transportation as compared to other large cities in the west and east coast. I said of coarse, our form of government allows more people to afford their own transportation. Becoming a purple or blue state will start to change that for many.

Are you saying that as Texas becomes more blue, fewer Texans will be able to afford cars? Hmmm. Interesting perspective.

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by NorthTexasGuy

Economically, despite its imperfection in policies, the conservative politics of the state has allowed the state to prosper tremendously over the last 20 plus years.

This is the reason to keep Texas red. There are already enough blue in Texas.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by NorthTexasGuy

However, realistically speaking I believe as the urban centers grow they will become more and more blue as the big cities already are. This will mean a push for more social services to accommodate growing urban needs like public transportation and the enviable public housing and other related topics commonly pushed by democrats.

Someone said to me once they noticed the big cities in Texas didn't seam to have as many people using public transportation as compared to other large cities in the west and east coast. I said of coarse, our form of government allows more people to afford their own transportation. Becoming a purple or blue state will start to change that for many.

It has little to do with red vs. blue and more to do with practicality. You simply don't get much use owning a car when you live in a dense, walkable city center. It becomes more of a burden and hassle at that point. You have the freedom to not have to deal with parking or traffic. This type of freedom is a foreign concept to those that have been conditioned from birth to equate driving cars with freedom.

That so-called freedom comes with enormous costs and hurdles. First, roadways are NOT free. They are paid for via taxpayer $$ just like sidewalks and public transit. Second, you must be qualified by the government in order to legally operate a vehicle. Driving is not a right, it's a privilege. And third, you'll be required to spend a lot of your income on insurance, maintenance, and fuel costs. You don't need to go through such hurdles to hop on a train, ride a bike, or walk down the street.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by NorthTexasGuy

Someone said to me once they noticed the big cities in Texas didn't seam to have as many people using public transportation as compared to other large cities in the west and east coast. I said of coarse, our form of government allows more people to afford their own transportation.

I really HATE that way of thinking.

The need for public transportation isn't just for people who can't afford cars, it's used to get a large number of people from one place to another in a highly (and most times, densely) populated area. It's also used to alleviate some traffic or give more people the option of not having to drive. Having more people afford cars isn't exactly what I would call a "good" reason.

A prime example is Arlington, the largest city in America with NO public transportation whatsoever. It has over 400,000 residents, is located in between two of the Top 20 largest cities in America, has two major pro sports teams with several entertainment venues, theme parks, some major corporations/distribution centers, and an FBS level college. It would be so much better for people to have public access to those places, but the city has voted against it several times... not because of how the local government works, but rather that they don't want "bad characters" that comes with public transportation. Generally, they think they're too good for it. It's even worse knowing that the city is perfectly fine with the high speed rail that's supposed to run from Houston to Dallas, and possibly Ft. Worth... but they expect Dallas and Fort Worth to fit the bill for their portion of the line and station.

Fort Worth had arguably the worst public transportation system for any major city. But even our stuck-in-the-70s city council saw this as a problem and made steps to fix and advance what is now called Trinity Metro (formerly "The T") and now we have a commuter rail line running from Downtown to DFW Int'l, set to open next month. It's a decade overdue, but at least they're realizing it's time to accommodate the growth of the area.

[MarshaBrady1968]

I am one of those horrible people very attached to my car. My main reason is that I go from one job to another and then also move kids around from activity to activity. There is simply not a moment to spare (in reality I probably do about 35 hours of stuff in each 24 hour period). However, I must admit some ignorance at the level of quality and patronage of the DART rail. I ended up riding it to Klyde Warren a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic! Highly recommend for those who can.