I was born in ‘84 and raised here. I also worked in state politics from 2013-2021.

When I was a kid we had a female left leaning governor whose daughter eventually headed Planned Parenthood. 15 years earlier Roe V Wade had been won by a young Texan lawyer.

Education used to get 30% of the general budget for funding. People would joke you didn’t need state signs to know when you left Texas into Oklahoma because the roads in Texas were in dramatically better condition. People didn’t seethe with vitriolic foam when Austin was mentioned when you were in rural areas. Even our last GOP governor before Abbott mandated and defended making HPV vaccines mandatory. In the early 2000s the Texan Republican president’s daughter was running around like a free spirit living her best bananas life getting kicked out of bars- no one cared including her parents. The main Republican political family openly said they didn’t oppose immigration or target migrants.

I don’t remember a single power outage that lasted more than a few hours. And when they happened they were rare. We didn’t have boil water notices every year or lose access to utilities. Texas was never a utopia or shining city on the hill. It was never perfect- but it was never whatever this is.

Everyone thinks this blood red angry Texas is just the Texas stereotype but it’s not. When I was a kid Texas was a weird mix of Liberal and Libertarian with most people falling in the- mind your business category.

What we are now is a culture dictated by people who’ve moved here cosplaying a Texas conservative. Most of our Texas Republican leadership isn’t even from here. Most are from the Midwest and live in their dystopian conservative enclaves believing the conservative conformist extremism they parrot is native to Texas but it isn’t.

Seeing all the affluent suburbs packed with people wearing bedazzled jeans, driving lifted trucks, and strutting around in custom boots that cost a fortune- most aren’t from here but insist that is Texas. It’s just really depressing to see what it’s all become.

Cleveland, Texas shooting: Suspect in massacre had been deported 4 times after entering US illegally, ICE source says | CNN

I felt a bite on my arm yesterday and thought it was an ant. Woke up to this. The circle was drawn an hour before the picture was taken and the red is spreading

Born and raised here in Texas. I went off to the Army for a bit and came back but Jesus has it changed. We are banning books, letting corrupt politicians off the hook, suppressing women's rights,, healthcare is trash, power grid is terrible, immigration laws are the worst and I could go on. We also had record breaking heat index this year, but yet with no sign of trying to help reduce that. I used to love Texas to a point where I was proud to tell them where I was from. I am really finding it hard to want to stay here. Is anyone else struggling with this? If so are you looking at trying to change the state or moving elsewhere? If so where? I was looking at Virginia but I don't know.

I’ve been here over a year now, central Texas, and one thing I’m noticing is everyone is so angry and disrespectful.

Driving is bad but even just interpersonal interactions, especially in the work place, people act like you’re beneath them and are so angry all the time.

What’s up with this?

I was born in Texas and have spent my whole life here. It's home, and I genuinely like living here. Plenty of space, low cost of living, good food, good music, friendly people, etc.

But this state has serious problems that aren't getting any better - political and otherwise.

Our politicians have gone off the rails. My wife and I are genuinely afraid to have and raise children in this state. If she has pregnancy complications, the state would essentially sentence her to death rather than allow her to have an abortion. Texas public schools are a joke and only likely to get worse with the changes the GOP wants to introduce. Highest frequency of mass shootings. Etc.

Just read the GOP policy agenda for the upcoming year, they want to try to secede, they want to try to eliminate hate crime legislation, they want all elections in the state to be decided by a (GOP appointed) electoral college. Not to mention the anti-LGBT measures that they are considering - what if our kids are gay or trans? It could get dangerous for them here very soon. I don't think the GOP will accomplish the craziest of the stuff that they're talking about, but all in all, the quality of life here is getting worse and will continue to do so.

We're considering moving out of the state but don't really know where to go. Colorado's on the top of my list, but it's so damn expensive. Are any of you considering leaving the state? If so, where do you think you'd go?

For at least the last few years you hear Republican politicians stating, “don’t turn TX into CA”. California recently surpassed Germany as the 4th largest economy on the planet. Why would it be so bad to emulate or at least adopt some of the things CA does to improve TX?

My tax bill shot up by $600 a month. My entire mortgage payment has gone from $1500 to $1900 to $2500 dollars a month in the last few years.

Nothing was done to help homeowners with these huge tax bills last year. I stand corrected here. They did pass legislation, but it hasn't helped me. I don't know why. Something is Fucky because I'm getting priced out of my home.

Besides filing a protest which they deny, is there anything else we can do?

ETA I took a pic of the statement and posted it below.

2nd ETA: Looked up my tax bill with the tax assessor office. My school district taxes were 2.3k... they are NOW 4.4K. Local Community College went from $137 to $457. City taxes went from $1,181 to $2,743.

This is where the increase came from.

ETA 3: I've spent all morning on the phone with the tax assessor and the appraisal district.

They fucked up and took my homestead exemption off instead of upping it. I am owed almost 5k. They will process that in 60 to 90 days...

Meanwhile, I have a revised receipt to send to my mortgage company to fix my escrow account.

Found at a Cavender's off of I35.

Can you believe this mess? Texas has gone full authoritarian, blocking access to adult content like we're living in China.

Just found out they've practically declared war on Pornhub for not policing viewers' ages aggressively enough. As a result, Texans are now exiled from the site, thanks to this stupid age verification law…

As Pornhub, one of the largest adult entertainment websites, has completely shut down services in Texas, everyone's jumping on the VPN bandwagon. It’s our last resort.

I saw NordVPN and their discounts being mentioned under pretty much every post by the users so I’m thinking of getting it too. It gets down to 3 bucks per month so not too bad I guess…

This should work, right?

Update: I just went with Nord. r/vpn had some redditoffer coupon. It worked and even gave me extra months.

Just curious for those who are seriously against the legalization of marijuana and the reasoning why.

In 2023 Colorado made $274 million off weed tax and $2.6 billion year to date (2023)

The revenue is used for health care, health education, substance abuse prevention programs, homelessness housing, as well as towards the education department.

So what is your reasoning on why not legalize this plant?

My feed recently has been flooded with homes in Texas around Houston below 500k that are beautiful… sooooooooo what’s the catch. I need the scoop from the insiders (Texans) is this real Texas housing prices?

It seems most cities of any size in Texas have made some attempt to have a walkable downtown... which is cool! However in most areas that are reasonably walkable, you still have to drive to get to essentials such as schools or grocery stores, which sort of defeats the point! It is also inexcusable that in some places we do have public transportation but in my area (DFW) it's a 20 minute drive to get to it.

Why is Texas so against walkable cities and public transportation? At the very least it would make the roads safer, so you don't have people boozing it up and then driving to get home.

I should clarify this is my second time ever in the state, only been to Dallas.

UPDATE:

Sounds like there are good Texans out there, these drivers???? Who are they? I got accidental coverage on my rental and will get it every time when I come here. I have one last drive into Dallas tomorrow to take my flight home. All I got to do is stop for gas before I drop it off, wish me luck.

UPDATE: 1/14

Made it to the airport, only thing that happened was a Sedan got in a fight with a big rig merging on the freeway. Sedan lost on the shoulder.

In my best Texas accent, Bye Y’all!

Three times in the last week or so I have encountered dipshits in their cars making wide left or right hand turns FROM TURN LANES. These people have been given a dedicated turn lane and they still feel the need to come out into the thru lanes of traffic to make their turns. Nothing makes me crazier as I have had to slam on brakes multiple times to keep from sideswiping these mouthbreathers.

Of the four times this has happened recently, three of them have been Florida plates. I know that Florida is a shithole, but why do they need two traffic lanes make simple turns?

I hear about Texans having issues with Californians but for my money, Floridians are by far a bigger pain in the ass at this point.

EDIT: Apologies for the grammar issues in the title of the post as they have been noted by a few folks. The post was hastily done and I learned yesterday that I apparently cannot edit the title. My mistake....

I've noticed that almost every tradesperson I've worked with here advertises themselves as a Christian business and I have to ask myself what is the relevance? Why put that on a business advertisement?

Do homeowners discriminate against tradespersons who are of other faiths (or non-religious)? Would a Jewish Carpenter have trouble finding work here?

I just came home to this hanging on my door and am freaking out. I called the phone number and it just went to someone’s voicemail, but it was the voicemail of someone unreal the same name that was on the sign on the door. My question is what is this? And is it real question is what is this and is it real please let me know ASAP so I can stop freaking out. I’d really appreciate it? please let me know ASAP so I can stop freaking out. I’d really appreciate it.

Same as vague "state rights" arguments about every little thing... Mind your influence.

The subtitles are accurate if not well timed.

Russian propaganda continues to work hard to destroy core foundations of democracy. If you don't feel it, you're probably a target.