Perfect Metaphor For Texas GOP's Failure

The above picture (from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission) shows what the roads looked like in many rural areas of the state more than 70 years ago. If the residents of the area was lucky, they would get some gravel spread on the road (which worked pretty well unless a good rain came and washed much of it away). But paved asphalt roads were still just a dream.

And if the Republican state government gets its way, a good portion of rural Texas will return to those bad old days. Those Republicans have been so stingy with state funds in recent years (so they could give the rich and the corporations unneeded tax cuts) that most state agencies are now underfunded, and unable to adequately meet the needs of Texas citizens -- from education to medical care to mental health to help for the poor and disadvantaged, and in many other areas.

And the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has not been immune to the cuts. This agency, responsible for the upkeep and building of roads and bridges in the state, doesn't have the money to adequately complete its mission. So, to save money, they are now preparing to remove the asphalt paving from many rural roads, and replace it with a layer of gravel. They say they just can't afford to fix the potholes in those roads.

Currently the plan is to turn 80 miles of paved roads in six Texas counties (Live Oak, Dimmit, LaSalle, Zavala, Reeves, and Culberson) into gravel topped roads. But if they get away with that (without too much political flack), you can bet the plan will soon involve many more counties and many more miles of rural Texas roads.

Much of the damage to these roads (which the state says it can't afford to fix) is being done by the movement of heavy oil and gas equipment. These oil and gas companies should be paying to fix some of the damage they are causing, but the very thought of that is anathema to the Republicans in state government. They believe taxes should be paid by working folks -- not by corporations or rich people. And they would rather tear up paved roads (and deny other services) than make the rich and the corporations pay an adequate share of state taxes.

The Republicans claim that Texas is an economic "miracle", but that is far from the truth. It leads the nation in the number and percentage of minimum wage no-benefit jobs, the number and percentage of uninsured people, the number of high school drop-outs, and the lack of adequate services for its citizens -- so corporations and the rich won't have to pay taxes. Texas is really an economic disaster -- and the TxDOT plan to turn paved roads into gravel roads is a perfect metaphor for that.