Zip For The Lone Star State

From the reports I'm reading, it looks like Hurricane Rita has been downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane. That's good news, though apparently, it is still causing extensive damage, primarily in Beaumont, TX and other areas along the Texas/Louisiana border.

We can all only hope that Rita does not lead to more loss of life, though it has caused more flooding in New Orleans, having broken a levee just when the city was trying to get itself back together from Katrina.

All the same, it looks like there won't be any telethons to collect money for Hurricane Rita victims and there won't be anything like the fallout there was after Katrina.

But in case somebody does comes around looking for assistance for Rita's victims, here is what I will say to them (and by the way, I wonder how much dough from their outrageous salaries some of these NFL guys decided to give to help Katrina's victims while they were putting the bite on us Monday night?).

If I can help people in Louisiana, I will. But I'm not giving a dime to Texas.

Realistically, I don't know if I can earmark any donation in that way, but if it comes to that, I'll try. Also, I know this isn't the right attitude coming from a self-proclaimed Roman Catholic. However, please allow me to explain.

For starters, you know the paycheck you collect every week or two weeks? Of course you do. Have you wondered why your withholding has climbed and your compensation has shrunk? Part of the reason is that the tax laws have been rewritten and legislation ramroded through the Repug congress that gives obscenely huge tax breaks to Bushco's acolytes in the business world, many of whom reside in Texas, and the burden to make up the difference has fallen on the shoulders of people in this country who work for a living, which to my knowledge covers just about everyone else.

Also, the legislature of Texas has passed budgets chock full of tax cuts to its benefactors in business while letting the poor, including single mothers and kids, fend for themselves. If you don't want to believe me, fine. Just read Molly Ivins, Lou Dubose and Jim Hightower then. They've documented this more thoroughly than I ever could.

Here's something else: do you remember the power outage in the Northeast about a year or two ago (it didn't affect us in this area as much as it could have because a very wise individual in the Valley Forge, PA area saw that there was a major fault across the grids affecting the Northeast and rust belt states and rerouted our juice). Well, the state of Texas HAS ITS OWN POWER GRID. Am I the only one who is wondering how the hell they managed to pull that off?

I know I'm mixing apples and oranges a bit here, but this is my point. Now, thanks to Dubya's nightmare of a presidency, the state of Texas has had EVERYTHING GOING ITS WAY for the last five years or so. To me, they officially have NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for not being able to provide for their people in times of need.

Yeah, you guys - take that damn "yellow rose" of yours and stick it in a derrick somewhere. And I hope y'all know how to swim.