9 Reasons Why Texas Is The Worst State In The Nation

[MechAg94]

http://www.pixable.com/article/9-reasons-texas-worst-state-nation-29300?tracksrc=SMFANON1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=fbus

I thought this was entertaining so I figured I would post it here.  Some of you have probably posted better reasons than this before.  I am sure you can guess the viewpoint of the writer.  Much of this stuff makes me happy to live here.  

I have heard comments about #9 before.  I sort of surprises me that so many see setting minimum medical standards for abortion clinics is such a bad thing.  I guess it is the same viewpoint that hates voter ID laws.

(edit:  The link wouldn't work in the version of explorer 8 I am using now.  Had to open it in Chrome.)

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Keep improving you will get 10 reasons


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[Firethorn]

1.  CCW licenses are fine, college IDs are not:  If it's like my college ID, it's routinely issued to foreign students and doesn't have much of an ID requirement to get.
2.  Constitution:  We all know that:
a: The requirement would be shot down in federal court post-haste
b: Most candidates would lie(you can't test them, remember?)
c: 'Fixing' the state constitution would be an uphill battle where 'uphill' looks like a cliff.  Texas requires house, senate, and a 2/3rds general election vote.  Unlike California's simple majority in a general election.
3. Medicaid expansion:  Not accepting federal money for healthcare seems somewhat stupid.  Keep in mind that many are ineligible for the assistance in the exchanges because their income is too low - federally they're supposed to be under medicaid if their income is that low, but the state is refusing them.
4. Textbooks:  Yeah, this seems odd...  Is it all schools using these books, or just a few select districts?
5. Anti-sodomy laws used against gays:  Libertarian tendencies means 'Don't stick your nose into people's bedrooms(1)'  Victimless crimes shouldn't be crimes.
6. Pot arrests - See #5.  If they're driving under the influence(2), sure, bust them, but if not, don't worry about it.
7. Immigration checkpoint?  Wouldn't that be a federal thing?
8. Executes more people - as long as they're guilty, meh.  I probably would slightly cut down on the number.
9. Stupid rules are stupid rules.

MechAg94,

On the abortion clinic rules - if you do some searching on the internet for the requirements, you'll see that the rules for abortion clinics went way above and beyond any requirements for things like any other medical facility, including stupid things like mandating the size and stocking of the janitor's closet, requiring they keep drugs stocked that would be more useful in a GP office or hospital than a clinic(3), .  They were clearly designed to shut down as many clinics as possible without explicitly shutting them down, trying to work their way around Roe v. Wade.

Whatever your stance on the issue, I think it should be clear that pro-lifers are using the same tactics of gradual escalation as the anti-gunners are in order to reach their goal.  How would you react if you were told that in order to CCW you'd have to take, and pass, an air-marshal shooting qualification course?  In order to be able to own a firearm you need a safe proof against forced entry for at least 30 minutes and a home alarm system?

(1)So long as everybody's a consenting, informed, competent adult, of course.
(2)Though some studies show that regular users are generally safer drivers while stoned.
(3) - Remember, they'd also have to replace said drugs on a regular basis as they expire.

[MechAg94]

Working on it.  Maybe we can also decriminalize marijuana and really get their heads spinning.  (that has some support, but I don't know how much)

I have looked a couple of the articles linked.  The one on the death penalty spends a lot of time saying very little.  I guess when your view are squishy, you have a hard time getting to the point.  

the judges that oversee the system in Texas are typically hostile to claims raised by death row inmates, and that hostility increases dramatically as the scheduled execution date approaches.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/texas-death-penalty-106736_Page3.html#ixzz3M65N6TMO

Maybe that is because the the claims get more wild and desperate.  

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Which of these rules are objectionable? Are more stringent for an abortion clinic than a similar surgery center!
http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=5&ti=25&pt=1&ch=139&sch=D&rl=Y


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[MechAg94]

I didn't say I agreed with all of it 100%.
#2 will only make it to federal court if anyone bothers to try to enforce it which they haven't to my knowledge.  That is how the sodomy laws ended up in court.  Texas wasn't the only state with those laws.
The medicaid expansion was part of Obamacare and would have cost the state more in the long run.  Typical federal program that kicks in some money initially then dumps it on the state. 
I agree that marijuana should be legal.  You don't have to argue that one with me. 
Yes, as long as they are guilty, I would expand what is eligible for the death penalty at least under certain circumstances. 
On the last, I heard a lot of arguments on that one, never once heard that mentioned which is surprising if true.  My understanding is it simply made them follow rules already set up for surgical clinics which might also be screwed up for all I know.  Roe vs Wade was a bad ruling and should be done away with.

1.  CCW licenses are fine, college IDs are not:  If it's like my college ID, it's routinely issued to foreign students and doesn't have much of an ID requirement to get.
2.  Constitution:  We all know that:
a: The requirement would be shot down in federal court post-haste
b: Most candidates would lie(you can't test them, remember?)
c: 'Fixing' the state constitution would be an uphill battle where 'uphill' looks like a cliff.  Texas requires house, senate, and a 2/3rds general election vote.  Unlike California's simple majority in a general election.
3. Medicaid expansion:  Not accepting federal money for healthcare seems somewhat stupid.  Keep in mind that many are ineligible for the assistance in the exchanges because their income is too low - federally they're supposed to be under medicaid if their income is that low, but the state is refusing them.
4. Textbooks:  Yeah, this seems odd...  Is it all schools using these books, or just a few select districts?
5. Anti-sodomy laws used against gays:  Libertarian tendencies means 'Don't stick your nose into people's bedrooms(1)'  Victimless crimes shouldn't be crimes.
6. Pot arrests - See #5.  If they're driving under the influence(2), sure, bust them, but if not, don't worry about it.
7. Immigration checkpoint?  Wouldn't that be a federal thing?
8. Executes more people - as long as they're guilty, meh.  I probably would slightly cut down on the number.
9. Stupid rules are stupid rules.

MechAg94,

On the abortion clinic rules - if you do some searching on the internet for the requirements, you'll see that the rules for abortion clinics went way above and beyond any requirements for things like any other medical facility, including stupid things like mandating the size and stocking of the janitor's closet, requiring they keep drugs stocked that would be more useful in a GP office or hospital than a clinic(3), .  They were clearly designed to shut down as many clinics as possible without explicitly shutting them down, trying to work their way around Roe v. Wade.

Whatever your stance on the issue, I think it should be clear that pro-lifers are using the same tactics of gradual escalation as the anti-gunners are in order to reach their goal.  How would you react if you were told that in order to CCW you'd have to take, and pass, an air-marshal shooting qualification course?  In order to be able to own a firearm you need a safe proof against forced entry for at least 30 minutes and a home alarm system?

(1)So long as everybody's a consenting, informed, competent adult, of course.
(2)Though some studies show that regular users are generally safer drivers while stoned.
(3) - Remember, they'd also have to replace said drugs on a regular basis as they expire.

[MechAg94]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/27/texas-medicaid_n_3341034.html
Here is the linked article about #3 above Firethorn.  This is an obamacare issue.  

If you want to cover free govt managed health care for everyone you know, go ahead.  I don't want to play.  

[zxcvbob]

How did Sheila Jackson-Lee not make the list?   

[Firethorn]

Yeah, #2 will only make it into court if somebody tries to enforce it.  Some jackasses have in the recent past, hell I read a couple weeks ago about a police department running gay sting operations - routinely arresting gay people who attempt to 'pick up' their bait, but the prosecution keeps dropping the charges(after arrest, mug shots, bail hearings, etc...) when no evidence of prostitution(paying or being paid) comes up, so all they have is the anti-gay law...

If the medicaid thing is true(states will have to pick up funding soon enough), that makes sense.  I had forgotten about it, thought they had fixed that 'problem'.  It being an 'obamacare' issue seems to me to be a bit like setting the tent provided by an aid service on fire because it wasn't the right color then complaining about how the aid company isn't providing functional tents.

For the abortion clinics - I only know what I had heard.  Wouldn't a surgical clinic capable of doing a vast range of surgeries be a bit overkill for one that does a relative small variety of operations?

Also, back to the libertarian standpoint:  Where's the negative outcomes, that would be avoided with the additional requirements, to justify the additional rules?  Like I said earlier, this is a philosophical viewpoint, irregardless of your standpoint on abortion.

If you want to cover free govt managed health care for everyone you know, go ahead.  I don't want to play.

Most of those I know are already covered by at least one such program.  Called 'Tricare'.  My Grandparents are covered by medicare, my unemployed brother(now a stay at home dad, mom works) and dependents by the state of Florida due to various reasons.  Though I wonder how their healthcare works now that mom's graduated college and found a job.

Factoid:  If we were paying the median amount for European healthcare per individual, the federal government already spends 90% of what would be necessary to cover the entire nation.  Despite paying so much more, our heath care outcomes are not measurably worse.

What you save in not paying for preventative care for these people you end up more than spending in emergency care, as that jacks up your medical bills otherwise.  I'm not saying single payer is the best solution, merely that our current situation is so FUBAR that it would probably be better.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

The pro "choice" folks peddled the same line of bull in va. It does not hold up under examination. Barring someone showing me the rules i call bull. The statutes i linked to are pretty clear.


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[Scout26]

3. Medicaid expansion:  Not accepting federal money for healthcare seems somewhat stupid.  Keep in mind that many are ineligible for the assistance in the exchanges because their income is too low - federally they're supposed to be under medicaid if their income is that low, but the state is refusing them.

At first, Obamacare picks up the first three years of benefit costs for expansion. But in 2017 states begin to shoulder a larger and larger share of these benefit costs, maxing out at 10 percent by 2020.  So consider that for Texas Medicaid is already 20% of the state budget, where do you think the other money is going to come from?  It's much like any other federal mandate, it looks good at first, but then your stuck with it, and they offload the costs onto the states.  Why do you think Illinois is going broke and Texas isn't?

TANSTAAFL.

[Perd Hapley]

On the abortion clinic rules - if you do some searching on the internet for the requirements, you'll see that the rules for abortion clinics went way above and beyond any requirements for things like any other medical facility, including stupid things like mandating the size and stocking of the janitor's closet, requiring they keep drugs stocked that would be more useful in a GP office or hospital than a clinic(3), .  They were clearly designed to shut down as many clinics as possible without explicitly shutting them down, trying to work their way around Roe v. Wade.

Awesome. A lot of states are reducing, eliminating, or harassing abortion clinics in this way. We just passed one such law in Missouri. And Republicans now own the legislatures in most states, so one may hope this trend continues.

Whatever your stance on the issue, I think it should be clear that pro-lifers are using the same tactics of gradual escalation as the anti-gunners are in order to reach their goal.  How would you react if you were told that in order to CCW you'd have to take, and pass, an air-marshal shooting qualification course?  In order to be able to own a firearm you need a safe proof against forced entry for at least 30 minutes and a home alarm system?

Currently, I'm told that if I kill someone, I must prove self-defense. Pity that Texas can't just come right out and require that "stupid little rule" in their abortion clinics. 'Cause that would be a war against women, or something.

[zxcvbob]

Currently, I'm told that if I kill someone, I must prove self-defense. Pity that Texas can't just come right out and require that "stupid little rule" in their abortion clinics. 'Cause that would be a war against women, or something.

That just means they'll get cops to perform abortions.  ("I feared for my life".  Get it?  yuk, yuk.)

[MechAg94]

That just means they'll get cops to perform abortions.  ("I feared for my life".  Get it?  yuk, yuk.)

I am trying to figure how they would plant a pre-natal pistol or bag of weed..............nevermind.  

[Ron]

For the abortion clinics - I only know what I had heard.  Wouldn't a surgical clinic capable of doing a vast range of surgeries be a bit overkill for one that does a relative small variety of operations?

Also, back to the libertarian standpoint:  Where's the negative outcomes, that would be avoided with the additional requirements, to justify the additional rules?  Like I said earlier, this is a philosophical viewpoint, irregardless of your standpoint on abortion.

Facilities performing invasive surgical procedures should have requirements commensurate with the potential dangers/risks (see Joan Rivers).

The inalienable right of a human being to their life is more important than your mere philosophical viewpoint; regardless of your position on the terminating the life of an unborn human being.

[Firethorn]

The inalienable right of a human being to their life is more important than your mere philosophical viewpoint

You're talking about the mother?  Like I said, where's the deaths/complications that would be ameliorated by the more extensive equipment?

I'll be honest here, trying to be polite.  I'm pro-choice, as are my parents.  They chose to have me. 

I'd prefer that abortions be rarer, but I also don't want the situation like down in South America where women are being put in prison, sometimes for life, because there's a suspicion that they deliberately miscarried.  Where there have been a number of deaths - of both woman and child, when the doctors say that an abortion is medically necessary to save the life of the mother when the fetus doesn't have a chance at all.  I also don't want the return of 'back alley abortions'.

I also get irked when those that claim to be pro-life lobby and vote for defunding programs that actually decrease the number of abortions, like effective sex ed.  Yes, 'abstinence only' sex ed has been shown to be mostly effective at increasing the teen pregnancy rate.

[roo_ster]

The place that did my colonoscopy had to meet ambulatory surgical center regs.  Abortion is a lot riskier than a doc stuffing a camera up my butt and the texas requirements brought abortion clinics in line with other establishments that also performed surgery.

[roo_ster]

Abstinence only sex ed at govt schools coincided with a reduction in teen pregnancy rates.  I went to hs just before the introduction of ao curricula and at the peak of teen pregnancy rates.

I read some of the textbook exerpts that the loony lefties found objectionable.   The big deal is mostly not referring to global warmening as unquestioned fact.  Same thing with tens.

[MechAg94]

You're talking about the mother?  Like I said, where's the deaths/complications that would be ameliorated by the more extensive equipment?

Yes, they should be able to react to and handle the most common or likely complications without having to call the hospital.  They should not be able to meet lower standards just because abortion is a political football. 

[Firethorn]

Abstinence only sex ed at govt schools coincided with a reduction in teen pregnancy rates.  I went to hs just before the introduction of ao curricula and at the peak of teen pregnancy rates.

Study:
"Adolescents who received comprehensive sex education had a lower risk of pregnancy than adolescents who received abstinence-only or no sex education."

I read some of the textbook exerpts that the loony lefties found objectionable.   The big deal is mostly not referring to global warmening as unquestioned fact.  Same thing with tens.

Huh, I had heard it was things like teaching creationism and disparaging evolution as a theory.

Yes, they should be able to react to and handle the most common or likely complications without having to call the hospital.  They should not be able to meet lower standards just because abortion is a political football.

Certainly.  However, did they already have that ability, and the extra requirements would be for extremely unlikely complications?

[vaskidmark]

Textbooks approved for Texas carry so much clout because of the sheer number of them printed.  Printer is geared up for the Texas version and is willing to sell it to somewhere else at a cost well below another textbook or even modifications to the Texas version.

Which, in this day of digital printing, confuses the hek out of me.

stay safe.

[MillCreek]

^^^My wife the teacher tells me that California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois essentially control the textbook market because a majority of textbook sales are to those states. 

[Brad Johnson]

Finally got around to reading the link. It's the same tired, context-bereft pseudo-facts liberals have been spouting for years. Not worth dwelling on.

Brad