Texas, Government Power and Hurricane Harvey

The state of Texas is the land of weak government. I don't mean this as demeaning at all, it is merely a statement of fact that most Texans would agree with. They like their government weak. Their state legislators are part-time and are paid very little. They usually have other means of employment, because you couldn't live on what they make. The Governorship is not officially part-time, but as designed, they have very little power. Unlike the President and other executors like Governors in others state, the cabinet does not report to him/her. They work in conjunction with the Governor not at the Governor's pleasure. The strongest power the Texas governor has is the bully pulpit. This is something to consider the next time a Texas governor runs for President. When someone says "they run the second most populous state," you can say, "um not really." This isn't necessarily a problem, just an observation. The state seems to be run well. It has low corruption and a high standard of living. I spent a week there and I liked it. They might be the best drivers I've seen anywhere in the US. San Antonio was gorgeous, Austin was funky and they have great bacon.

Their approach of low government spending and involvement is extended into local government and urban planning. The city of Houston was built on a bogs and prairies 80 feet above sea level. They have no centralized zoning or urban planning, but they have unfettered development and capitalism which has resulted in unprecedented growth in the last 50 years. If you are looking for a good example of why Libertarianism is joke, look no further. They paved over their pastures and floodplains, which are the sponges that absorb rainwater, to build tenements and parking lots. Their success has been based on unchecked growth to the point where they are the fourth largest city in the country. Over 4,000 residential and commercial structures have been built in their 100 year floodplain since 2010. Both of their hypocritical US Senators have voted against relief for Sandy victims a few years ago. It devastated New Jersey and other parts of the East Coast calling it pork. They also supported cutting funding for FEMA for the same reason, now have their hands out for Federal funds to support their people after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston. The people in Texas voted for them. I realize not everyone in Texas voted for them, yet it still makes me a little bitter when my Federal tax dollars are going to a city that has done all the wrong things based on a outdated ideology and greed. Poor planning on their part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine. You want Federal relief, Texas? Stop voting for out of touch whack jobs like Ted Cruz.

This flood isn't an anomaly. It is much larger than their earlier floods, but they have had three 500 year floods in the last three years. So expect another next year and the year after etc. The water temperature of the Gulf of Mexico did not go below 73 degrees this winter which causes more storms in the area. This is a new record. Imagine that, a new records in the era of global warming, but yet the people of Texas keep electing global warming deniers into congress. Both Cruz and John Cornyn were among the 22 senators to urge Trump to pull out of the Paris Accord. They also consistently support the political party, Republicans, that hasn't made global climate change a priority. Most of their representatives in Congress are Republicans. They have 32 Congressional districts, and all but 11 of their Representative are deniers. Even those 11, the Democrats included, have awful environmental records. They have no interest in resolving their flood problem.

Since President Obama was elected in 2008, a steady rise of anti-government militia groups around the country has been apparent. The number of these groups in Texas, as reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is 17. Texas is second only to Michigan in this category. Since they hate government so much, why must we send billions of our Federal tax dollar to them? I won't be donating any money to the relief since I have already given with my taxes. I know this sounds harsh, but to me this seems like a financial sink hole. I see nothing that tells me they will rebuild in a responsible way. Since they hate government so much, lets see how well they rebuild without Federal tax payer money.