Texas - Last Bastion of Freedom Giving in To Collectivist Malcontents

As Californians flood to Texas to escape the out-of-control taxes/regulations/government, they bring their stink with them!

They wander in here from Colorado too, and Florida, and New York, attracted by the free way of life lived for generations of Texans. And yet they bring their stink with them.

Just like the illegal aliens who flee poverty and a failed culture in their own land, and as soon as they get here they try to remake our land into what they left.

People that don't know how to be Texans come here and want to remake Texas like the state they left. Oh they preach against regulation and big government, but out of the other side of their face they want the regulations that helps them make up for their lack of ability to compete. They sell their bunk as protecting the innocent property owner, but nobody who is paying attention is buying.

So, I'm back. Just spent 5 days on the run down there , being a malcontent. 2 days in Galveston, a road trip to Fort Worth and a day in Brazos Bend State Park. One thing about Texas (I think), don't waste your energy assuming anything. Public radio. Wide open spaces. Lots of water, and skyscrapers too. My favorite places were the old stockyards area of Fort Worth (u can have downtown) searching for the ever elusive PBR longneck and Galveston Island. A pleasant surprise there was a tour of the Energy Star oil rig. I got to visit the texas city dike , go to Pelican Island for 1st time and see how much the area has changed.....either newly built up, re built from Ike or just destroyed by Ikes storm surge. Hung with fisherman for a while and chatted.

I know I'm on vacation when I walk up to strangers and ask "whats going on?" B)

As a homegrown Texan reading this thread was a hoot!

Have fun in our state. I'm headed to Vegas in the morning to SHOT Show. Mecca for gun guys.

I particularly enjoy each year watching the anti-gun protesters outside the Sands Expo convention center. Silly people.

Bullshit's fine Tim. it's believing it that's the problem :laugh: i met many different kinds of people when I lived there for 2.5 yrs. Some Yankees. Some Rednecks. Some Desperate people. Some Mexicans. A few stout Texans. Coonasses.

No Big deal. I'll be there tommorrow BTW :laugh: Gonna see an old friend in Alvin and my Crazy Brother near Dallas.

I'll check out some old haunts, like the Texas City Dike and see if anyone is left around that I used to know. I always liked Galveston.

I'll get away from winter weather for a week or so and just clear my head. I'm sure Texas will help.

So just where is Armpit of Texas? Folks in Houston said it was El Paso. All the other Texans said it was Houston :laugh: Or did they really mean Beaumont?

Sometimes I'm a poor representative of Texas. We boast but we're usually just having fun. Humbleness may not be a Texan virtue, but you won't find more loyal and decent people anywhere in the world:

http://www.theshootershangout.com/chris-was-the-american-sniper/

In 2008 I had a contractor who was in the restoration business and was overloaded with the current Hurricane that went thru the state and caused considerable damages, I was very fortunate that I was familiar with the Insurance software that all of the companies were using. Since I was from Florida I was quite familiar with strict building codes and product approvals, however while working in Texas I discovered that the building codes were very lax and the and the product approvals were non existent,,After review of the Insurance company surveys on damaged property I came to the conclusion that the Insurance adjusters did not understand basic construction I reviewed over 100 insurance surveys and had the same amount of insurance company protests, it was a disaster for the contractors since the insurance companies brought in hundreds od of South of the Border labors to do the specific work, the quality of workmanship did not exist and what they did do would not pass any inspection in the State of Florida, but as they say when in Rome do as ghey do, so after battling with he insurance companies and their allies the building department I decided to leave after working for 18 months Yep Texas was a joke in my opinion

Tim you are correct about roofing being a zero sum game. I've thought of that before. I just could not put a 3 word tag on it. Thanks!

Seems like most of the real economic activities are zero sum....put the roof on. Build the roads. Take out the trash. Pump the gas. blah blah blah.

A $40 billion service to catch a ride (Uber)? not so much

Egg, agreed.

Twill, agreed.

Austin is a liberal place, no doubt about that. I lived in nearby Liberty Hill when Kold Kings were built in a downtown Austin former Coke plant. I stayed just 6 months coz I realized that if I had to deal with those drivers on Research and I-35 every day for very long, surely I'd shoot one of them.

Tim....I have not received that multi million dollar check from the taxpayers yet for my part in the zero sum game. Who do I call? Where's my lobbyist?

I believe that it was the Pres. of GM who said a 1/2 century ago: "The business of America, is the business of ripping off the government". No?

Anyway, kill education, innovation, infrastructure and investment, (whatever else) and resort to bribes ....that's not just a dig at Texas. As I said, it is "business" everywhere, politically speaking. We have this nonsense in Indiana too (Illinois makes an easy target).

The ultimate result: Low wage workers pay hefty taxes to have a job. That's not a theory ....it is playing out before our very eyes.

Andy,

I have not. Though I understand the premise of the book. I did however read "Noble House" in high school, feel it had a real impact on me, and created a longing for the kind of free-market that once was Hong Kong. My desire for such however is not due to a desire for cut-throat business, but rather a strong belief that it is man that must regulate himself, for the more government dictates acceptable morality, the lower our moral standards seem to become. When I look in the mirror for guidance it just seems to project a much clearer path than does government.

egg, " it would be possible to find abundant evidence of fornication. That's just the way people are."

I laughed.

You do live amidst the most beautiful place mine eyes have beheld. Wish I could have seen it when it was what it was.

And here I thought it was Austin that was a California suburb. Y'all better take care now if you start seeing everything in creation being turned into grape vines. Grapevines, haute cuisine, and people who wear cowboy boots with no dirt on them. These are just a few of the more obvious signs that things aren't going well. Oh yeah, and an unending torrent of tour buses filled with camera-packing Asians. Get out, mill around, click click click, get back in, gone.

Sheesh, lighten up, Francises. Y'all are taking this way too personal. We talk about other states in Texas, that's what we do. It's all in good fun.

Egg, facts are facts: Texas created 90,000 more jobs that California did in 2014, the most in the nation, second to ND in percentage growth.

And Twill, it's been a very long time since someone called me boy. It's usually a sign that I've hit pretty close to an uncomfy truism. The rest of your theories about Texas aren't sober thoughts. It's typical of the irrational thought process of someone trying to bluff a losing hand. So Texas created the most jobs, and yor answer to that is that we stole them? C'mon, that's silly. It's especially silly coming from a man who makes his living in pretty close to a zero-sum industry, where you pretty much have to "steal" a customer from someone else in order to grow. Competition for jobs is no less ethical than competing for roof jobs.

Wywoody, we don't claim Amarillo as Texas. It's Southern Oklahoma.

Agreed! That fits.

Mike H Said: Tom,

Actually, its just the opposite, in my stance.

Its the established old-guard that is promoting this garbage. I am a free market, buyer beware, do your homework mentality, that believes anyone that wants to try their hand at the trade should be able to do so without intrusion from the government. I applaud the entrepreneurial spirit, and welcome the competition.

I cannot compete on price with the newbie. I will sell my company and my service and my history. If an upstart can convince a customer to part with their money over me, then kudos to them. I hope its successful for the customer, and if its not, then I hope they got what they paid for.

What I dont want is the inept government handing the upstart a piece of paper that will read to the ignorant as XYZ is just as qualified as HRI. Thats BS, and an injustice to the consumer.

Mike, I believe you missed your calling as a preacher. Very well said. You MUST have read Atlas Shrugged . . .

Early in my career, I got around quite a bit. I have done work in 9 western states and two Canadian Provinces.

Two things I noticed. One, for some reason people in lots of different places think that they live in the windiest spot on earth. And two, people (or at least the people that buy tile roofs)tend to live right where they want to be and love the place they live.

My son married a girl from Amarillo and for the reception, I rented a big van and hauled a load of inlaws down there. I recall a conversation I had with a couple of the locals that marveled at the length of the trip. I told them it was a scenic trip, I had been through the Columbia River Gorge, through the granite canyons of the Wasatch mountains, past the red rocks fantasyland around Moab and the desert monuments of New Mexico. But one of the locals piped in that the most beautiful part had to be from the Texas border to Amarillo. "Yeah, those nose-down Cadillac's in the dirt sure are Purdy."