2018 Senate (& House)

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Facilities ,buildings etc have to be paid for through bonds? right? Not by budgets.
Several years ago I started looking at districts make up. They break employees into IIRC teachers and administrators. I was surprised at the number of administrators compared to teachers. There are 3 on your list I researched.
 
TASBO has some documentation on what school boards can budget in terms of construction costs and things like that. I'll try to find it.

I think another thing that these districts wouldn't be able to afford are the paraprofessionals that are typically just hired at the campus level. Receptionists, office managers, cafeteria staff, etc. I'm not sure what they're counted as in terms of recapture. And, if we're being "real," these districts that get the recapture money probably have needs well beyond what districts like Plano, Highland Park, and Eanes need.

My issue is that property-rich districts with really poor neighborhoods (Austin, Houston, Galveston) have massive wish lists that can't ever be met because of recapture. I'd hate to turn Robin Hood into a "zip code" thing instead of an entire ISD thing, but that would help out the big districts that have diverse needs. You could take money from West Plano and send it to East Plano and give less to the state.
 
Yeah Dallas is on the list as a first time giver but their total shared amount is far less than Austin (the biggest giver by a landslide) and Houston. Dallas kind of loses out on the Highland Park property taxes, and so while there are wealthy areas that fall in the ISD boundary, it's nothing compared to the values of Austin properties that don't "retreat" to places like Westlake.

I live in Collin County, so I'm a little bitter about places like Frisco which have yet to contribute.
 
When Thomas Perez was Asst. Attorney Gen. for Civil Rights, he used to extort money out of banks by threatening them with a civil rights lawsuit. They could avoid the lawsuit by donating to whatever far Left, liberal charity that Perez named.

I can't imagine what mischief Waters can do if she heads the Finance Committee.
 
bystander said:
Can I write you in for any particular office next time around (I voted early)?
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LOL. Thanks, but no. Back in 2006 (when I was 30), I walked away from politics and almost surely for good. I realized that I could never win a Republican primary because of my stance on civil justice issues. I'm a believer in the right to a trial by jury like others believe in the Second Amendment. Plenty would say I only take those stances out of self-interest, but the bottom line is that I'm a true believer and at least in terms of political ambitions, it's totally against my interests. If I got elected, not only would I not vote with the tort reform lobby, I'd be a very outspoken, unapologetic, and sharp critic - more so than most Democrats, and I have no price. I'd grill their filthy lobbyists in committee hearings, and when they put their ******** on the floor, I'd take the back mic and bludgeon the crooked legislators who do their dirty work. The insurance lobby got a feel for that when I embarrassed and exposed some of their surrogates who had targeted some Republicans who wouldn't carry their water, so I know I'm on their **** list. A Republican simply can't be in that position and win a primary election.

And of course, I'm a low-tax, pro-voucher, pro-life conservative, which means I could never win a Democratic primary, so there went my political career.

bystander said:
Do you think any Republican could politically survive with that kind of a proposal?
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No. A large number of Republicans would never support someone who would tolerate a state income tax in any form. They wouldn't even listen to such a proposal. In addition, the Republican donor class wouldn't like it. They don't like property taxes, but a state income tax would hit them harder, especially if it didn't give them any loopholes. And of course, Democrats wouldn't support it, because they couldn't play the shenanigans we play with the federal income tax, and it would hit the lower income earners.

bystander said:
I am really big on liquidity. If you receive the cash from your income then you have the money to pay your taxes.
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I agree.
 
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Trying to decide whether I should put in a "sell" order on my 401K tonight if the Dems take the house. Not for all of it, just for the amount I made in the past year or so (which was a lot even after the stupid correction.) I'm tempted...
 
Horns11 said:
I didn't say "only," but I see what you did there.

Like I said, I'd love for a new school finance system.
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I would too, but I'm not optimistic. For years, I heard Republicans bellyache about how awful the system was and how terrible the Edgewood decision was. The GOP is in total control in Austin now. They could get rid of Robin Hood, but they haven't. They've tinkered, but they haven't done anything major. The Texas Supreme Court could fully overturn Edgewood and get out of the school finance business, but it doesn't want to give up the power.

The bottom line is that it's a very hard system to fix. Most fair-minded people understand that people in poor districts shouldn't have to just attend crappy schools while people in wealthier districts go to palatial schools, so if we fully overturn Edgewood and repeal Robin Hood, money would have to found to help out the poorer districts. The fairest thing to do would be to get it through state taxes so the load isn't carried solely by wealthy districts. However, that means a broad tax increase, and that would go over like a fart in an elevator.

In a way, the current system is politically perfect as messed up as it is. The poor districts get their money, and the tax burden to support them is narrow enough that the people getting hosed won't wield a lot of political power.
 
Phil Elliott said:
There is a way to fix the "renting your home from the government" thing without a state income tax. It was proposed by state rep Rick Green about 15 years ago. You replace the current property tax setup with a sales tax on homes. You roll that into the price of the home and into your mortgage and pay it in your PITI like most do today. The difference is that, when you pay off your house, you are done paying taxes on it. It never went anywhere because, as Rick told me when I told him I love it, "The Real Estate lobby hates it, so it won't pass."
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That's not bad. When I worked at the Capitol, Rep. Talmadge Heflin proposed this. No property taxes. No franchise taxes. The state can impose a sales tax of up to 9 percent. The maximum sales tax (including local governments) can go no higher than 11 percent. In Deezestan (the hypothetical nation in which I am the benevolent dictator), I'd go with this.
 
All of MSNBC polls show total democrat sweep. This bodes well for Republicans.

I have never been polled in more than 32 years of voting. If I was, I would refuse. I think most conservatives and independents would do the same. Am I totally off base?
 
Garmel said:
It's being called now by the networks that Democrats take the House.
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Not that this changes anything, but nothing will get done now and everything will be about getting rid of Trump (I am not a huge Trump fan).

Guess the blue wave came but it was more of a blue ripple.
 
militaryhorn said:
Not that this changes anything, but nothing will get done now and everything will be about getting rid of Trump (I am not a huge Trump fan).

Guess the blue wave came but it was more of a blue ripple.
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My guess it increases chance that Trump wins re-election and flip the house.
 
Horns11 said:
I didn't say "only," but I see what you did there.

Like I said, I'd love for a new school finance system.
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I wasn’t being sarcastic toward you . I was correcting my seeming exaggeration, but still lamenting the 59% you quoted.
 
Got up at about 7:30 my time and checked the returns. Looks like the House is gone. Looks like Cruz is going to hold on against Beta, albeit closely. Several other races in Texas don't look so good. Culberson and Sessions are gone. Will Hurd might be gone too, though that one is extremely close. Two Dallas-area state senators flipped to the Democrats. Significant losses in the Texas House. Austin, Houston, and Dallas Courts of Appeals all had big losses for the GOP.

Bottom line is that the GOP is throwing away the suburbs. Not good.
 
Looks like Republicans will build off their Senate majority. Big mistake not to address healthcare this session. I think this will be a driving issue in 2020 and the Reps have no credibility to run on.
 
I don't think GOP is throwing away the suburbs (at least I hope not) I think this has been "the 2 years of the pissed off women with education", starting with the marches, the pink hats, metoo, and Kavanaugh, and of course absolute loathing of Trump.
These women have been chomping at the bit to unleash their mighty anger toward Trump, and white men, and Republicans for a long time. Payback for Hillary.
I may be wrong, but I think this election was a perfect gathering of that force, and a force we probably won't see again. Maybe Skateboard losing will take some wind out of their sails.
I know I had real friends, and Facebook friends, canvassing, texting, and registering voters for the first time since I have known them, and doing so for a solid 1-2 months at least. Also, from states all around the country.
I don't see that kind of enthusiasm coming together again all at once.

On the other hand, as current college aged kids grow up, and teach their kids their "values" I foresee a very different political landscape in a couple of generations.
It astonishes me that we could vote for a guy like Skateboard, who is a downright socialist, and squeak out a win. I am attributing that to the overwhelming amount of money, free press, athlete/Hollywood support, and general dislike of Cruz for that this one time. (and the angry women of Texas) But, sadly, I believe it won't be long before the America where I grew up is gone.

Also, if anyone thinks this election was a repudiation of Trump, all they need to do is check the states where he campaigned. Like him or not, his stamina and appeal to his base is remarkable.
 
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