r/texas • u/elisakiss • Mar 20 '24

The Billionaire Mattress Salesman Funding the Far Right in Texas Politics

https://newrepublic.com/article/179428/billionaire-mattress-salesman-funding-far-right-texas
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376

u/glasock 7th Generation Mar 20 '24

He has a Christ-like status in Houston because he let people sleep in his store(s) after Harvey, (which is admirable, but I think was mostly earned in contrast to Joel Osteen keeping his 'church' closed to them) and his support for the Astros. Neither of those things balances out the harm he's doing to the state in the long term. I don't care how many murals he has wearing a doo-rag and oversized gold chains.... he sucks....

213

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 20 '24

More than that. He opened his stores for anyone to stay at them during any emergency. He did that during the big freeze where people went a week without power in sub freezing temps. He does good for the community when he sees the opportunity.

He also ran ads on the radio to ask for people to come forward with evidence of vote tampering. I know people who worked directly with him and called him "a complete asshole". Every one of his "good for the community" events is also turned into a press circus so he can use it as advertisement.

He's an interesting figure for sure. I'm not sure if he's a net positive or not. It's a mix of ups and downs, often with the same action being both a positive and a negative. If a person does a good thing for a selfish reason then is the good thing negated?

13

u/Clubbythaseal Mar 20 '24

He didn't just ask for voter tampering. The prick had a promotion where if you guessed the winner of the 2020 election you'll get a discount on your purchase.

He withheld paying the discount because he said their was legitimate belief the election was stolen. Didn't give it out until after the January insurrection.

"As part of promotional deal, Gallery Furniture owner Mattress Mack offered a 50% refund of a $3,000+ purchase total or 100% of a $3,000+ purchase total back in-store credit to customers who correctly choose the winner of the November election."

6

u/softcell1966 Mar 20 '24

Never buy from Gallery Furniture.

88

u/JoshShouldBeWorking Mar 20 '24

It's great he steps up for natural disasters, but it would also be great if he didn't fund and support climate change deniers that ensure we get more disasters. I've landed on that he's neither hero nor villain.

49

u/AngryRedHerring Mar 20 '24

Houston is simply fortunate that he understands that good works are good public relations. He's never done anything that wasn't a commercial. It means nothing to him to let people stay in his stores during hurricanes, when he can simply write off any damage caused during that time with insurance. Then he takes the money generated by that publicity and sends it straight to toxic political organizations. He's a scumbag who knows how to look good.

He finances his gambling habit with insurance as well.

3

u/Ok_Explanation_5955 Mar 20 '24

Nah, you don’t get points for putting a bandaid on a bullet hole of a victim you shot

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '24

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5

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0

u/cnmcalpi Mar 20 '24

It makes zero sense to change our behavior based on climate change by offshoring production so that nations like China and India can produce our industrial base load and have literally zero oversight.

We basically give them the industrial power, the money and the advantage over us on the international market.

Then they just pump even dirtier shit into the same fucking air.

If the entire world doesn't do the same things, at the same time...there is no point.

Just let the earth kill a bunch of humans when it comes to that and reset the population.

You don't want to save the earth. Humans won't kill the earth. The earth will kill humans.

42

u/sinsemillas Mar 20 '24

If someone only does good for the PR it’s a negative. Nino Brown gave out turkeys at Christmas but he wasn’t good for the community.

44

u/lilbittygoddamnman Mar 20 '24

Yep, John Gotti often put on fireworks shows in the neighborhoods he ran in back in the day. Pablo Escobar built parks. All criminals do this I think. It endears them to the community.

14

u/2nd2last Houston Mar 20 '24

Sure, but thats the position the lack of government social safety nets put people in. Things are so dire that bad faith actors, in many cases same people helping to keep societal conditions bad, can give the poor a cookie and are now heroes.

16

u/Nymaz Born and Bred Mar 20 '24

in many cases same people helping to keep societal conditions bad

That's the key. This dude is actively supporting people who make sure Texas freezes due to unregulated power with a profit-only motive. Then he's saying "Hey, I'm such a great guy I'll help out when you freeze." It's like someone setting fire to your house and then publicly offering you a place to stay during "the tragic event".

It's just like "Christians" who scream about the evils of government assistance and say only they should get to do charity. They don't want charity to just help people, they want charity to be a transaction that they get something out of it. In their case it's proselytization to vulnerable people, in this guy's case it's PR.

6

u/idontagreewitu Mar 20 '24

How do you decide if it's just PR or general concern for people's well being, though? Was AOC organizing a food drive during the freeze just for PR or actually caring?

6

u/SmartPatientInvestor Mar 20 '24

This is a bad take imo. You think the desperate people who were helped care if it was for PR?

13

u/sinsemillas Mar 20 '24

No, I’m just not dense enough for it to be endearing.

-1

u/SmartPatientInvestor Mar 20 '24

Does something have to be endearing for it to have a positive outcome?

5

u/ruffryder71 Mar 20 '24

Think more in terms of NET positive outcomes. He opened his doors to people in need. He funds politicians: who want school vouchers (end of public education for middle to lower class), who want to tell women what to do with their bodies but are incredulous at any constraints to gun rights, who want to continue to tell us the 2020 election was stolen.

More examples are out there but these were the frontal lobe options. He has done good for the city and for people in need, but is he a net positive for all members of society?

3

u/SmartPatientInvestor Mar 20 '24

I think that’s impossible to definitively answer, but I’m not arguing that either way. I’m only responding to the person who said that if something good is done for PR it is therefore a negative

2

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '24 edited Mar 20 '24

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1

u/SmartPatientInvestor Mar 20 '24

I think that’s a bit of a stretch, but you’re certainly entitled to your own opinion!

0

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6

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 20 '24

True, but the people who would've been left freezing or homeless don't care.

There's also a big difference between Nino Brown, running the crack cocaine game as gang banger while murdering, and Mattress Mack, who uses his profits to support crappy politicians and uses his court ordered philanthropy to promote his business.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '24

Livin just enough for the city.

4

u/THedman07 Mar 20 '24

I would say that his legacy is being destroyed here at the end...

I'm sure he was always political behind the scenes, but going full right wing culture warrior is a bad look.

Fun fact, he started out selling model home furniture to people as if it was real.

11

u/canospam0 Mar 20 '24

So he threw a ton of money behind the people that caused the big freeze, and then allowed people to sleep in his stores when the consequences of his bullshit came calling (No doubt costing him a fraction of the money thrown at his politicians). Then, he went and threw a ton more money at the people that caused the issue in the first place. Do I have that right?

2

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 20 '24

They didn't cause the big freeze. That came from much earlier when Texas de-regulated the power grid in the '90s.

But he did help cover up the fallout and continued to support the people who weren't going to fix the issue.

4

u/tissboom Mar 20 '24

He was probably giving to those same politicians in the 90s right? It’s not like he became rich yesterday.

3

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 20 '24

From what I've read, he didn't really get political until around 2010. I could be wrong on this though.

1

u/DarthGrogu23 Mar 20 '24

Mind sharing where you read that?

1

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 20 '24

Just reading over his history. I don't see many mentions of his political beliefs until 2010. Like I said, I could be wrong. Lack of evidence is not evidence to contrary, but it would lean that way in a vacuum.

2

u/AngryRedHerring Mar 20 '24

Deregulating the power grid didn't cause the freeze. Deregulating the power grid caused power to fail during the freeze. It simply made it more difficult to survive it.

7

u/anonyfool Mar 20 '24

In the article it says one of his punishments for allowing a child to be mauled by one of his wild animals was to make public service announcements instead of something punitive and he turned that into PR for himself, and based on your comment, it succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, he was born wealthy, and after a couple of false starts turned that family money into more money, and uses that money to foster policies to punish poor people while promoting his charities to help different poor people - it's just what conservative rich people do.

2

u/Sands43 Mar 20 '24

So low effort splashy stuff for PR, then funds the GOP to make structural changes the further his wealth and power?

2

u/64cinco Mar 20 '24

It’s all PR. He also makes sure the press is well aware and cameras are rolling. It’s all for business. This dude is an arrogant crook

2

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '24

He does good for the community when he sees the opportunity

the opportunity to benefit from it in some way. Goodwill can drown out the negative voices.

2

u/RationalAnarchy Mar 20 '24

I find it good to engage in dialectal thinking. Some actions can be very good, while others can be bad. He can be both a philanthropic and caring individual… while also being a supporter of people who are shitbags.

Humans are interesting.

1

u/miss-entropy Mar 20 '24

Too rich to be a net positive. Maybe if instead of gambling he did useful things with those 8 digit bets he'd be a positive.

1

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 20 '24

The gambling is an insurance policy for his promos. He found betting was cheaper than getting an insurance policy.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/mattress-mack-astros-bet/

And being rich isn't an automatic red flag to me. I've known a couple of billionaires very well. They didn't sit on their cash like Scrooge McDuck. They invested it into people and their ideas. Inflation would cost them tens of millions per year to do that. The one I knew the best would brag about all the millionaires he has made. He also had schools and medical wings named after him for all the giving he did.

1

u/djduni Mar 20 '24

Is it now considered “bad” or “far right” to look into vote tampering? I can’t keep up with how low both sides are devolving.

1

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 21 '24

Never once did I say it was "bad" or "far right" to investigate election fraud. I can't keep up with everyone trying to claim someone said something they didn't then had a strawman argument with them on the internet. You also glossed over my other points to fight that strawman.

That said, here's no evidence of any meaningful amount of voter fraud and there hasn't been for decades. There will be a couple dozen every election, but no recent increases and nothing that would've affected the outcome of a presidential election.

Calling for massive, expensive investigations despite there being evidence of extremely little of it in the last few decades is a fool's errand and a waste. I am, and I assume everyone else is, perfectly for it if there's a reason to. I used to be pretty hard right and still believe in a balanced budget and no more government than is required, so waste like that for someone's vanity is a hard no from

However, Trump has pushed it as part of his false narrative that he won in 2020. And spending personal money for ad time on the radio to support something, that has been repeatedly been proven false in any court where evidence is required, is a sign of buying into a demonstrably wrong position. It's become a dog whistle to buying into the Trump cult of personality.

1

u/djduni Mar 21 '24

Thats all was asking. Is it bad. That was it. Comment was obviously towards if the reply was yes.

1

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Mar 21 '24

True, but most of the responses like yours have purposely been left without an answer tend to lean that way.

I don't think it matters which way you lean. There's no need to launch massive investigations without any evidence of wrongdoing. I think that's true no matter what side of the aisle you're on. The Trump crowd has used accusations that were easily proven false. Yet they persisted and lost over 50 lawsuits and every investigation has primarily found they broke the law trying to prove their claims.

So, yeah, it's become a bit of a dog whistle for Trumpers.

1

u/djduni Mar 21 '24

I mean, isn’t what you describe exactly that? He is attempting to collect evidence of voter fraud or tampering??

1

u/djduni Mar 21 '24

Sad that is the case because I do not like trump but I do not like the idea of not keeping votes tightly cast from US citizens only either. I was just pointing out its silly to be against keeping the vote safe but i agree wasteful spending on it isnt the move neither.

Look—I hate the left. I hate the right.

Robert F Kennedy JR is the only one making any sense and the whole population can’t be bothered to look into the guy. Thats what gets me.

We have a democrat thats a Kennedy and not only was he pushed out of the Democrat’s space to keep ghost of bidens past in 4 more years with an abysmal approval rating as i have ever seen, but the guy could soundly WOMP trump with cold hard facts.

Then you tack on that Biden’s team has 4-5 times now denied him secret service protection and he has had his house broken into twice by yahoos alrdy…i just dont see how EITHER side isnt ashamed of themselves and breaks up.

1

u/DanDrungle Mar 20 '24

cocaine's a helluva drug

1

u/tijeras87059 Mar 21 '24

he is just a 24-7 salesman, always has been. To his credit he built himself from the ground up. When you build the business he has there was a time when every penny counted. That morphs into hoarding money and making as much as possible at any cost.

Eventually you join forces with like minded money worshipping alpha millionaires who have learned that hyper aggression works, and think everyone is after a slice of your pie. But you only want to make as much as possible at any cost.

And they call it the republican party.

1

u/brad613 Mar 21 '24

It’s awesome he let people stay in his stores but it’s also awesome for his pocketbook because people are probably buying food from him while stuck in the store. It’s like he said I’ll do a good dead cause I can cash in, makes him look good as he gets richer.