Friday, February 19, 2021

BIG Grain of Salt?

This is the pinch point for the state, frankly.

It could leave a lasting bruise on the Texas exceptionalism political and business leaders like to brag about. What happened over the last four or five days, as the state became the subject of national and international pity and head-shaking, could undo years of economic development promotion, corporate relocation work and tourism campaigns.

It makes it a lot easier on the competition. Who wants to go to a failed state? Sure, there is no income tax. But we're rationing gas, turning off electricity for millions of households and boiling water so it doesn't poison us. Austin even closed a hospital and moved the patients when they couldn't rely on heat or water.

In a hospital.

The light regulation here has been a key part of the business pitch. But the dark side was showing this week in the failures of our basic infrastructure.

Electricity here is cheaper than many other places, and it works, most of the time. But at some point, the corners we cut to keep electricity prices low turn into reliability problems. The cost-cutting shows up in the quality of the product. And the product, when it comes to infrastructure, is critical to the quality of life and the economy.

It's a great state with a faltering state government. The political people running things too often worry more about their popularity than about their work. Too many of them are better at politics than they are at governing. And governing is the only real reason any of the rest of us have any interest in them.

I'm old enough to remember when Elon Musk predicted Austin would be a boom-town.  Now....? 

 
I would point out this apocalyptic vision of what-could-have-been is coming from the same people being blamed, rightly or wrongly, for what did happen. Funny how this version makes them the heroes instead of the goats.

Grain of salt, 's all I'm sayin'....
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