So…a state that denies climate change wants twenty billion of federal tax money (60 billion+ before its finished) to protect the tax exempt industry most responsible for climate change from the destruction is brings that they deny is real….all on taxpayer money, not a bit industry funded.

I grew up in Houston/Galveston. This is stupidity. There’s no way in hell they’ll ever stop hurricane flooding. The barriers would need to be 30 ft tall, not 5. They would also need to redirect numerous rivers that outflow through the coast, and find a way to remove unfathomable amounts of flood waters coming from land. I was there for Alicia, a relatively small hurricane in the 80’s, and all of Houston was 5 ft under water, with the bayous 40ft above their channels. That water flows into the Galveston area….behind these barriers.

This is a massive boondoggle that will never be built for dozens of reasons, but will still make numerous politicians and their families disgustingly rich, and may eventually partially protect some high value real estate, but never the entire coast. That’s today’s Texas. It bears noting, Texas is nearly $50 billion in debt with a crumbling electric grid, failing water system, no social services, and likely still $10 billion away from finishing their useless failed border fence….but plan to spend at least another $10 billion of state funds on this. How, exactly?

Catherine Leavy, hard core Trumpist, arrested after she called in a bomb threat to Boston Children’s hospital based on the lie that young children were having hysterectomies as part of sex reassignment and were being mutilated intentionally under the assumption that every child born is trans….all nonsense bullshit spouted by right wing talking heads like Carlson…forcing the rapid evacuation of critically ill children. Over a dozen distinct threats against this hospital based on idiotic stupidity your ilk are all too happy to believe without a second thought.

More terrorism, destruction, and death threats against children by the right….the same people who are trying to make it legal to marry 9 year old girls then have sex with them.

Edit: I’m going to guess that you support DeSantis trafficking illegals at insane costs, $12 million of taxpayer money to ship 50 deep into the US as a political stunt/advertisement….how many could have been caught and deported with $12 million? Proof it’s all politics, not about solving the problem at all. Also proof of the unChristian, uncaring, thoughtlessness of the right now, this was an evil ploy to use children as political pawns by attempting to dump them, at night, in residential areas with no social services in the hopes that, out of desperation, one would commit some crime….backfired big time, liberals stood up and took care of these people the right had lied to and abused.
Odd, I thought the right said it dislikes human trafficking, but clearly that’s a lie since you applaud it. Now both the Senator and Governor of Florida are caught red handed child trafficking. Lock them up? Wrong is wrong….child trafficking is wrong….come on friendo, call it wrong AND DENOUNCE THE PERPS, permanently, not for 3 days.

Wasn’t the wall, that Trump said was finished, supposed to slow immigration? Seems like it failed 100%.

I suppose blue city mayors should send bus loads of recently released gang members to San Antonio and Houston….to share the pain…since Texas is sending what it claims are all drug smugglers.

It’s not the numbers, it’s the intentional disruption of services by dumping them without notice in large groups to intentionally overwhelm social services. It’s a stunt with meaningless results that’s costing Texas money much better spent on border security. For the money, they could have stopped ten times as many from entering (but not been a snide dick to NEW YORK CITY! (somebody get a rope).

Texas is incapable of doing anything meaningful about immigration or smuggling because they’re a failed bankrupt state with ethically bankrupt leadership that do nothing useful, only exorbitant stunts costing billions for zero results, so they want to share their failure. Turnabout is fair play, send 6000 MS13 members to Houston and ask “why are you complaining?”, or how about 10000 Afghan refugees in trade? Hilarious that a state that prides itself on standing on its own two feet, never wanting any federal involvement, pawns 100% of blame on the fed for not fixing their failure to secure their border.

I like how the theory is “one day when they have all the levers of power the left will make the illegal immigrants into voting citizens to grab the levers of power”, not realizing the mistake in the “logic”.

@bobknight33, with the exception of the crime of illegal entry, undocumented immigrants commit crimes at levels much lower than citizens. This is historical and statistical fact. Why isn’t Fox screaming bloody murder about the white gangs selling fentenal, or their own members sex trafficking, hiring illegals, and organ harvesting!?

Yeah. Exactly.


ONE OF THE WAYS we spend "foolishly" is by giving tax breaks to billionaires so they can spend part of it convincing dumb shetts like you that it's all the people who are workin three jobs and can't barely scrape by - convincin people like you that THOSE people are the problem
-=and=-
------------------->here's the rub
--------------------------------------->

They gotta new plan!
This could be the one that could fix all the problems!

-->Step 1. Spend less on social services
--->Step 2. Give Billionaires EVEN MORE MONEY!

I think, for humanity's sake, especially since WWI, no war is really that "necessary", there are ample ways for countries to file their grivances and seek restitution. War propaganda is the age old version of "toxic masculinity" politicians & the MIC love to impressed upon easily persuaded youths & the gullibles to fight for heir own political & financial agenda.

Every tax dollar going into the military is a dollar taken away from other social services. People have to decide what's the balance. But name me the last year that the US gov't have decreased military spending and upped social services (or lower taxes)?

"Thank you for your service".... ha! Easily said than done. Just look at how much governments reaaaaaally put their moeny into VA services to help the Vets in need.

yeah, social services are generally cheaper than the alternatives.

Crime stems from poverty and deprivation (and greed, but those aren't the sorts of criminals Rand McRandface is talking about).

Poverty and deprivation can be addressed through social services.

Republicans typically gut social services.

I know in my state we'd be much better off with more useful social services and better-funded schools, but every damn time republicans get control of the Governor's office or the legislature, they cut social services statewide. So the areas that most need those services suffer regardless of who they may have elected to local leadership. When dems manage to get back into control they reform things a bit to provide extra funding to social services, and things improve for a bit. Then republicans get back in, etc yadda wash rinse repeat.

So yeah, democrats tend to be elected in population centers, because for the most part they seem to actually want to help people. The current Republican philosophy seems to be "lol shutup poor people are stupid figure it out fuckers." I'm perfectly happy to examine any evidence to the contrary (by which I mean policy positions advanced by republicans that actually help improve the lives of most people).

Had he said anti fascist, he would have gotten 1/5.
To be honest, 1.5/5 because I do support some level of socialism, but I know he's talking the failed Venezuela style of absolutist dictatorial socialism where a totally corrupt government simply nationalized industry then mismanaged the nation into bankruptcy, not the kind we already enjoy in America that creates and funds our infrastructure, social services, military, and in fact our government that rarely converts private holdings to government property (stealing people's land for Trump's fence notwithstanding), that coincidentally is also leading the nation into bankruptcy due to criminal mismanagement.

Antifa is not really the same thing, it's barely a thing, and exactly what it is or isn't isn't a game I'm getting sucked into, it's a trap.

People can claim it's anything and pretend it's your (or my) responsibility to prove them wrong, but antifa as a movement (there is no organization by that name) is so open, disparate, unfocused, and undefined (imo all by design) that saying you stand with or against them only opens yourself to accusations of supporting anything under the sun (including the multiple acts of terrorism perpetrated by right wing extremists masquerading as antifa) with no clear defense. I'm not playing that game.

I am definitely anti fascist. I reserve my opinion on antifa until it's properly defined, which is likely never.

@Mordhaus I agree with you, and I didn't mean to say that was the ONLY pinpoint that was worth noting. But as someone who graduated in 2002, I've seen a steady gradation of change over the past 16 years that can in a large part be traced back to those policy changes.

I'm also not blaming the textbook companies for being for-profit companies. But, much like healthcare in this country, education is something people NEED. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. I'm of the opinion that it should be treated like the social service that it is and the blame rests with lawmakers that force schools into patronage of testing producers with little or no oversight written into the law.

On your 1-5 list:

1) That can be a difficult subject, you're oftentimes doubling the cost of wardrobes for poor families, and it's the kid who can only afford 1 uniform that's full of tatters that gets bullied anyway.

2) I'm not anti-standards, but the way that those standards are assessed are not reflected in the tests the students take. Moreover, VERY FEW jobs (if any) require a person to answer A B C D over and over as a way to make a living. In other words, answering multiple choice questions is not a skill most people need.

3) Yes. My average classroom size is 28. 50 minutes with 28 kids in a room, you do the math on the individualized attention they get.

4) I've seen some counties near my locale that have instituted a no cell phone ordinance, banning them from the campus. It's possible, but one needs the support of the community.

5) Send your kid where you want, but I don't think my tax dollars should go to pay for Johnny to go to religious institutions. It feels, in that circumstance, that the government is endorsing a particular religious viewpoint to do so.

That site is conservative run and compiled, and even so, just do the math, divide by population. Start with Alaska, firmly red.
But, much better, look at REAL numbers instead of that rabid Trump supporter's totally unverified numbers, these with the math already done for you at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_taxation_and_spending_by_state
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_tax_revenue_by_state

California spends $8,967 per person while taxing $7690 (honestly worse than I thought),
New York spends $9,940 and taxes $10,279.27,

Alabama spends $11,743 taxes $4,330,
Alaska spends $14,375 taxes $6,697 (I think only DC is worse),
Arizona spends $10,157 taxes $5,318,
Arkansas spends $9,635 taxes $8,578
(and because you mentioned them, Texas which spends $8,865 and taxes $8,421.59, not so bad)

....and that's just comparing the A's to what you would expect to be the most social service friendly firmly democrat states. Clearly, looked at per capita (the only way it makes sense) red states take far more than they give on average, then complain that they're supporting the inner city with their farm taxes, it's just not correct.

EDIT: and as mentioned above, I also know Texas, and the country folk are just as big welfare queens as the city folk, they just convince themselves that a corn subsidy isn't welfare, putting some pet goats on the property so you don't pay taxes isn't welfare, getting free water for their crops paid for by the government isn't welfare....it's just bullshit. If you take what you don't need, or don't pay your fair share, you're a taker, and that describes a HUGE portion of the right....largely your country folks.

I don't like Trump. Yet with all that's known about Hillary's corruption, there is no way I could vote for her in good conscience. The democratic party had the opportunity to push forward a fantastic candidate with a spotless record in his public service. Instead, they used backroom deals and underhanded means to thwart democracy. I see no reason to reward such behavior.

As president, Hillary would likely get one or two bills passed improving some kind of social service-improved access to healthcare, or healthy foods or something like that. And the rest of her time will be devoted to enhancing the corporatist agendas of her owners. She is a puppet to those donors.

If I lived the the US (and I don't) I would be deciding between Stein and Johnson.

I see no reason to reward Hillary's corruption with a mandate.

@lawdeelaw, my main problem with libertarians is two fold.

First, they're a fucking disaster for the environment. Did you hear that moron on climate change? "If it exists, the government should stay out of it"
Really?? I cannot even begin to comprehend the stupidity of such an argument.

Second, they're zealots. They ignore the fact that some things actually work in government because it doesn't suit their ideology. Did you actually watch the video? They wanted people to be able to drive on roads without a licence....that's just fucking nuts. Never mind things like public healthcare, social services, etc; all of which work perfectly well in plenty of countries around the world.

I agree with a lot of libertarian policy, but it how they arrived at that policy.

Fundamentally, they're children. They're selfish, short-sighted and convinced they're right.

I don't trust anyone who thinks they have a simple answer to the worlds problems. The world is complex and sometimes it needs complex solutions. Sometimes, it's private industry (look at how Tesla is slowly fixing transport emissions) and sometimes it's government based (look at the absolute disaster that is privately run prisons).

Well, if the parents let the children play outside, then a neighbor will call the cops, the parents will get arrested, and the will get kids put in the care of "Social Services."

Jesus, fucking hostile much? Thanks for posting a proper news link which this thread was lacking, but I'm not sure you read it thoroughly. "Parks shall not be used for business or social services." Nobody can sell or give away food there, to rich people or to homeless people. No hot dog stands unless they get a letter from the city.

The fact that the mayor amended his statement from "feeding the homeless just enables them" to "you can feed the homeless, but only indoors" belies his real feelings on the matter, but his excuse does have lots of precedent behind it. Cities mandate permits for all kinds of stuff, especially on public land. Not only that, but if you serve the food closer to the kitchen it stays hotter longer which reduces the risk of food poisoning. So, food safety? Technically yes. Not making the occasional exception for charity? Pretty shitty. I wonder what would happen if they asked for a permit.

And "catered food" describes how it was prepared, not how it is served. It is purchased from a business with inspected kitchens and health ratings, not from some person's back room where they leave the chicken out unrefrigerated covered in rat shit. It also usually comes in identical bins like that, whereas a randomized tupperware collection would look more like something privately prepared. It was just an observation which could indicate (or preclude) more food safety issues.

Do church kitchens have health inspections since they are not restaurants? Maybe that's the next thing the mayor can crack down on to keep the homeless hungry so they learn to get a job.

In conclusion, I hate writing follow-ups to internet comments, because now I know there's going to be another round to which I will probably not respond. Don't be offended.

So the fact that the Red Cross had to go to the reserves and declare an emergency means that it's better for the First Nations people? How about all the missing indigenous women that have had little attempts to figure out what's happening to them, or where they could possibly be?

Have you been on any of the reservations in the past few years? Have you talked to anyone about the conditions? You think they'd really fight any kind of change to improve the health and social services on the reserves? Most of the water services are worse quality than Walkerton, when the water was filled with bacteria.

Is it better than the small pox blankets, murder, and "correctional schools" we sent them to? Yes, but it's still substandard living on a lot of the reserves. Is it all of them? No, some are doing quite well, but those are the minority.

Let's also look at the prison population in Canada, where around 30% is First Nations. There's something rotten in the Dominion of Canada when it comes to living standards and treatment of Aboriginals.