SmashMouth

1 hour ago, Big girl said:

Also, I asked if Trump should grant amnesty to illegals like Reagan did.

Blanket asylum at the current levels our buddy Biden brought us too? No... Not no, but Hell no.

18 hours ago, CardinalBacker said:

Thanks for asking. I’m opposed to doing away with property taxes for a few reasons- primarily, in regards to “how will we replace this tax revenue?” If you normally pay $3k per year in property taxes, you’d just expect to pick it up elsewhere, through sales tax or an excise (vat) tax. The only problem is that the redistribution of that burden won’t be passed down evenly. Parkdale Mall Will no longer pay property taxes, but WILL pay a higher sales tax on the lightbulbs and toilet paper that they buy. They’re going to pay way less.  
 

A guy that owns a dozen rent houses will see his property tax bill shrink dramatically. Will he pass the savings on to his tenants? Of course not. The people renting won’t see any change at all in their cost of living.  But the average Joe Homeowner who’s already having trouble making ends meet will surely see an increase in the cost of everything he buys to survive.  It’s been proven that increases in sales taxes hurt lower income people worse than wealthy people. A larger percentage of their income will be spent on taxes, while people with multiple properties see their tax liability decrease.  
 

Another HUGE problem is that money won’t be collected locally. Your sales tax dollars will be collected by an agency of the state that will then redistribute the funds as they see fit. Good luck getting those hairy-legged women in the Peoples’ Republic of Austin to send anything back our way. How well can rural counties lobby against the Harris, Bexar, Dallas, and Tarrant counties? We’ll all be sucking hind teat, if you know what I mean. 
 

The cost of education is high. Right now the average annual spending per student in Texas is almost $10k/year. Assuming you had three kids at home, could you afford to educate them at a cost of $30k per year? I sure couldn’t.  Most people who have kids in school simply can’t afford to shoulder the cost of educating them by themselves.   That’s how we ended up spreading the cost of their education among all property owners.  
 

I’m not saying that property taxes are fair, but it’s the most fair system that we’ve got. And to be frank, the voting public will vote against their own interests when instructed to. I’d be amazed if you didn’t just vote for politicians here in Texas that were in favor of giving tax dollars to rich parents to offset the cost of private education for their spoiled brats. Not necessarily you personally, but Texans as a group just sent their legislators to Austin with a mandate to make vouchers for private school for rich kids a public responsibility, while simultaneously arguing that “taxation is theft.”

 

It’s bananas. 

I agree with the better part of your post...especially the part of the ridiculous short-sighted mandate for school vouchers which I feel will cost all of us Texans in the long run. The property tax system is far from perfect, but it's definitely better than a state withholding tax in my opinion.

One of my biggest issues with the property tax system (which is a whole 'nother topic altogether) is the property valuation process. For instance, certain aspects of your property are not taken into account when appraising its market value. My driveway was all but destroyed from hurricane Harvey. I appealed my valuation to the appraisal district, and I was told driveways were not considered when appraising the FMV. So if I have a $500,000 house, but no way to drive to the house, don't you think that has a bearing on the property valuation? Same goes for the land. Much of it damaged by the flooding, but according to them, it is inconsequential to the appraisal. 

I could list examples all day, but I'll stop there for now.

On 5/6/2025 at 2:34 PM, 89Falcon said:

My apologies. Feel free to delete the posts. I struggle with knowing when to comment or not comment. 

Good rule of thumb. If it's a Silsbee post, specifically, you will hear about it if you stray... Otherwise, feel free to post whatever. Lol.

2 hours ago, bullets13 said:

I spend lots of time on sabine, but I'm perfectly content to drive through PA without stopping on my way. I did probably 50+ ridealongs with @tvc184 back in the day and didn't see a single neighborhood that I thought i'd want to live in.

Yep. I lived in some of those neighborhoods close enough to walk to Edison Middle School. They were pretty bad then. Now it's even worse...

On 5/1/2025 at 8:21 PM, BMTSoulja1 said:

You really want to do this here?

Please. Please do it here.

41 minutes ago, Goslin said:

Gov Abbott signed it into law last Saturday.  Done deal.  
 

 

What a bad move...

1 hour ago, UT alum said:

I have watched him on the public stage for 40+ years. He has been a privileged Weasel for as long as I remember. As for accusing me of only being interested in the blame game, that should have choked you.

Wrong answer bud. I don’t do that. 

13 minutes ago, UT alum said:

You don’t see he is blaming others? Except for the “walk back”, which is no admission of anything except he lied, his mistakes are the people he chose. They made the bad decisions, not him.

The unfortunate thing here is I am keeping an open mind, and you are only interested in playing the blame game. You have more in common with Trump than you realize. Lol.

34 minutes ago, UT alum said:

Put that first sentence back in. My post stands as written.

NBC News: Trump Admits Mistake: Donald Trump appears to have walked back his claim that he saw a video of cash being transferred to Iran.

Newsweek: "He valued the apartment at $327 million in 2015 and 2016 financial statements based on claims it was 30,000 square feet in size. However, the triplex was 10,996 square feet. The only thing they have, Trump concedes, is the triplex, which was a mistake."

NBC News: "On June 23, 2019, Trump discussed the border, why he stopped a planned military strike on Iran and what he called his “biggest mistake” as president: appointing Jeff Sessions as attorney general."

Joe Rogan Podcast: "I will say it always comes back to the same answer, the biggest mistake I made...I picked some people that I shouldn't have picked."

Try again partner. I can look up more if you'd like... Took about 2 minutes to look these up.

15 hours ago, UT alum said:

I want someone who takes accountability for their actions, good or bad. To take credit for every success and blame someone else for every failure is not normal. Today, for instance. First quarterly shrinkage in GDP since ‘22 and he blames Biden. True leaders don’t do that. 
 

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Please sir, name me a true leader that does that. On the federal level. I agree with your premise, but that doesn't happen on either side of the aisle. Hence my disdain for most politicians. And if you're gonna bitch about it when "our" guy does it, you got a bitch about it when "your" guy does it too... Didn't hear much of this talk from '21 to '24.

1 hour ago, CardinalBacker said:

This. 

If you truly believed that, I’d respect your answer more. 

8 minutes ago, DCT said:

I have no problem with the way you voted. I just wish a Republican would have won.

Fair enough. Just be happy the Democrat didn’t. 

1 hour ago, DCT said:

You didn’t have to settle for Trump or Kamala.  You had Desantis and others whom baby trump would not even debate.   You chose an elderly con man who ran on a con job.

I guess you’re ASSUMING I voted for Trump in the primary? Trump got 76.42% of the primary vote. Haley only 19.68%. DeSantis just over 1.5%. 
 

Trump vs Kamala was the final choice. Everything else was a wasted vote. My vote counted and won by the way.

2 hours ago, BEARCPA said:

Shoutout to the April babies - I turned 35 earlier this month.

Still a cub!

I don't agree with everything DJT does. If I did, then I would be a mindless automaton like many people seem to be. But I can tell you right now, between DJT and Crazy Uncle Joe or Kamala the Ho, the choice is simple and crystal clear. Those were the choices. I made mine, and I'm happy with it.

The choice to me was to go in the exact opposite direction of where I thought we should be headed (Biden/Harris) or head in the right direction with a few roadblocks and detours to navigate (Trump). It may take longer than I'd like, and the detours may be a little bumpy, but I'm gonna have a better chance at getting where I want to go with DJT. The alternative choice (ultra-progressive) was not only never going to even get me in the vicinity of where I wanted to be, it was going to put ALL of us in a bad place.

Piss...moan... do whatever you like, but we will be in a better position when this is all said & done.

59 minutes ago, Big girl said:

I didn't say I was owed anything. I just wish that my dad could've looked back fondly on those times like you all did

I grew up in Tyrrell Park - a predominantly black neighborhood. Those stories I told about looking back on the good times were with both my white & black friends. No matter the color - WE ALL SHARED THOSE GOOD TIMES!

Sometimes, life is what you make of it. We were on the poorer side than most. I never knew it though. I said this about my Mom at her funeral. "She made EVERYTHING out of NOTHING".

You can't tell me your Dad never laughed, never smiled, never enjoyed anything when he was young. YOU have chosen to spotlight the difficulties in his life instead of the shining points, though they may be few. Try reversing your approach, and I guarantee you'll be a better person for it.

On 4/26/2025 at 8:51 PM, UT alum said:

I’ve been hearing this “make America great again” mess ‘til I’m about sick. America has never been not great in my opinion. I’d like some of the faithful to give their opinions on when, before Trump,  the last time America was great.

Once again, I find myself sharing common ground with you. I wish more on here and in the mainstream would reach across when it's fitting.

Although we've definitely been through trying times, embarrassing times and downright treacherous times, I can't imagine a better country at any point in time than the United States of America.

18 hours ago, bullets13 said:

trying to buy us off, but also a different bill. I'd love a nice raise, but it doesn't change how terrible school vouchers will be. Also, I'm fairly certain I read somewhere that the state funding for teacher raises would be temporary, although maybe I'm wrong. If it is, how will my fairly poor district come up with that extra million or so a year to maintain those salaries? 

We like to call that a "tax increase".

Damn women drivers...

5 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

Pretty sure he won.

Which, by definition, makes him a winner, right?

1 hour ago, Big girl said:

How many years ago was that? My DAD was not allowed to ride in the front of the bus, and two of my uncles were lynched in the 60s.

So what? Sounds like you came out of it pretty clean. Concentrate on that, maybe?

I still don't understand the proponents of this legislation or the gain they really hope to achieve...

58 as of December. For some reason, I still think I’m 27.

2 hours ago, LumRaiderFan said:

Riding in the family car road yacht, no seat belts, seeing how many kids would fit in the back windshield area.

Yeah, we had a green Matador station wagon, hopping between the back seat and the “back back seat”, as we called it, with Mama smoking up front with the window rolled up because of the rain. Heading to Showtown Drive-In which is now a driving range on the North end of Beaumont. Tuesday nights were $1 per car night. We didn’t have a lot, so mom cut corners where she could. She would pop a huge paper grocery bag full of popcorn, and bring a pitcher of Kool-Aid. My son, who didn’t grow up in such a less fortunate household, doesn’t believe all of the stories I tell him. Sometimes I wonder who was really more fortunate though, him or me. I wouldn’t trade those days for anything.

15 minutes ago, baddog said:

Back then, a kid could buy packs of cigarettes for their parents. It was legal and the store clerk probably knew the parents.

I lived 5 houses down from O'Bannions on 124 near Tyrrell Park in the early to mid-70's. My neighbor, Judy, would give me money to walk to the store, buy her a pack of Eve's Menthols, a Tab (remember, the diet drink in the pink can that tasted like cat piss), and I could have a nickel or so to buy some candy for my troubles. All of that was less than a dollar. I was seven buying smokes... Lol.