Wednesday, December 22, 2021

The Real Question Is: When Does The State Start Condemning Private Property?

On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled nearly 900 feet of newly constructed border barrier on state-owned land near the Rio Grande in Starr County, six months after he promised to finish what President Donald Trump started.

It was the first section of what’s expected to be a nearly 2-mile stretch of wall, and it followed a series of smaller-scale state attempts to block immigrants with chain-link fences, a row of shipping containers and even a boat blockade on the river.

But after the Trump administration managed to build just 21 miles of new border barrier on the 1,254-mile Texas-Mexico border over four years (and also replaced 34 miles of older barrier), the state hasn’t publicly disclosed some basic information about Abbott’s wall-building plans.

Texas has set aside $1.05 billion for border barriers but hasn’t revealed where it plans to build them, how much each mile will cost or how it’s addressing the challenge of acquiring enough private land to fulfill Abbott’s promise.

“We’re going to spend as much as it takes to build as much wall as we possibly can,” Abbott said at his Saturday press conference in Starr County.

The hustler running a three-card monte game is more honest than this. 

I know the border is supposed to be the only issue Texans care about, but I think that's only in very conservative circles in big-city Texas. Are they equally concerned with issues like internet access in rural areas? I kinda doubt it. And rural Texas might appreciate the attention: Meanwhile, good sense continues to lead the state to glory: Mostly local residents who couldn't find their local public library without Google and GPS.

1 comment:

  1. From the Texas Tribune article, "In that same Irving City Council meeting, Flory Malloy, a self-described mother of seven with a doctorate in biblical studies, told council members she felt the library system and its appeal process seemed pointless because in the end, books that are challenged remain on the shelves."

    I think this sums up a lot of where we are in the country at the moment. I have always like, "In a democracy everyone gets their say, but not everyone gets their way." We clearly have a group that is they aren't completely getting their way then the system is failing and it isn't "democracy". Of there has always been this attitude, but it is having a moment of ascendency.

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