6 ms·

I love how Texas, of all places, puts up the most regulatory hurdles against a new technology and business model.

taeric 13y ago
I'm not sure I understand the apparent surprise here. Firstly, there is a reason why, when driving through small towns, the names you see on the car dealerships are among the richest (if not the richest) around. Further, it is far from shocking that they have leveraged the power they have to entrench themselves. What is so special about Texas that you would think they would be unique?
- jonknee 13y ago
  Texas likes to boast about smaller government and more personal freedom. Except with cars apparently. If the tea party were a state it would be Texas and Austin would be forced out.
  - cobrausn 13y ago
    Austin is not near as special and 'weird' as it thinks it is. I say this living in the largest city in the U.S. with a gay mayor, also located in Texas. You know nothing jon knee.
    - theevocater 13y ago
      Yeah Houston (I'm assuming you are talking about Houston) is a really progressive place. I do love Austin (its a young city and I'm a young person) but its not some shining light in the center of Texas. It's really not that different than any other big city in Texas.
      - jonknee 13y ago
        Houston was just about split in the last election (Obama won Harris County by 585 votes). Austin went heavy for Obama (60.2% to 36.2% or just under 100k votes). Houston has quite a ways to go before being liberal. The hispanic vote makes Texas as a whole pretty interesting though.
        cobrausn 13y ago
        I don't care if Houston is 'Liberal'. I prefer pragmatic and reasonable. If the two go hand and hand, so be it, but I don't think that's always the case.
        jff 13y ago
        "Liberal", "good", and "Democrat" are not necessarily synonyms.
  - Daniel_Newby 13y ago
    > If the tea party were a state it would be Texas ... You appear to have internalized the meme that Tea Party is a synonym for Country Club Republican. This is probably not accurate.
    - revscat 13y ago
      But the Venn Diagrams for the two have significant overlap.
    - jonknee 13y ago
      No, the tea party as a group lines up with Texas on immigration, guns, taxes, gays, science, religion, etc etc. Country Club Republicans stay in the enclaves.
      - cobrausn 13y ago
        I still can't figure out why you think 'lives in Texas' means something other than 'Texan', other than successful left-wing advertising and right-wing propaganda. Texas is pretty much a microcosm of the US with an independent streak and a strong geographical affinity.
    - onedognight 13y ago
      > You appear to have internalized the meme that Tea Party is a synonym for Country Club Republican. What does "Country Club Republican" mean to you? To me it means one who goes against their core values for the sake of a rich special interest at the expense of the masses. Here[0] every single House Tea Party member votes to protect oil subsidies despite this contradicting their core beliefs[1] in: "Protecting Free Markets", "Eliminating Excessive Taxes" and "Eliminating the Deficit Spending". In this case using taxes and/or debt to fund a non-free market. [0] http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/01/147597/house-gop-oil-subsidies http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/01/147597/house-go... [1] http://www.teaparty-platform.com/ http://www.teaparty-platform.com/
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I am guessing because Texas is infamously a red state, and Republicans are perceived as claiming to be against government regulation.
  - warfangle 13y ago
    Probably. Family was surprised that the anti-Tesla legislation in NC was spearheaded by some R's. Hasn't stopped 'em from voting red, though.
    - sdfaf 13y ago
      Stupid is as stupid does.
      - warfangle 13y ago
        Hey.. they's my family. This is what HN sinks to?
        sdfaf 13y ago
        Sorry. I would delete it if I could.
nostromo 13y ago
I grew up in Idaho. People there will talk about how important limited government is... until you mention farm subsidies. Suddenly they'll speak convincingly about the benefits of centralized markets, price controls and protectionist trade policies with no sense of irony.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- nazgulnarsil 13y ago
  Corn pone pinions.
- pkulak 13y ago
  Kind of like how republicans are all anti-gay until their first kid comes out?
- fennecfoxen 13y ago
  And Democratic partisans will attack regulation when Republicans are making it, and many Republicans are perfectly glad to use the power of the state regulatory agencies to stymie abortion clinics in any way they can get away with. Everyone and their dog makes an exception for whatever's expedient; bottom story of the day, honestly. If you want something _notable_, get me a politician standing up for principles which may be against their immediate self-interest (e.g. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, on recent IRS shenanigans).
- pnathan 13y ago
  > Suddenly they'll speak convincingly about the benefits of centralized markets, price controls and protectionist trade policies with no sense of irony. Well, maybe a farmer. This Idahoan doesn't hold with the farm subsidy system currently going.

I'm not sure I understand the apparent surprise here. Firstly, there is a reason why, when driving through small towns, the names you see on the car dealerships are among the richest (if not the richest) around. Further, it is far from shocking that they have leveraged the power they have to entrench themselves. What is so special about Texas that you would think they would be unique?

jonknee 13y ago
Texas likes to boast about smaller government and more personal freedom. Except with cars apparently. If the tea party were a state it would be Texas and Austin would be forced out.
- cobrausn 13y ago
  Austin is not near as special and 'weird' as it thinks it is. I say this living in the largest city in the U.S. with a gay mayor, also located in Texas. You know nothing jon knee.
  - theevocater 13y ago
    Yeah Houston (I'm assuming you are talking about Houston) is a really progressive place. I do love Austin (its a young city and I'm a young person) but its not some shining light in the center of Texas. It's really not that different than any other big city in Texas.
    - jonknee 13y ago
      Houston was just about split in the last election (Obama won Harris County by 585 votes). Austin went heavy for Obama (60.2% to 36.2% or just under 100k votes). Houston has quite a ways to go before being liberal. The hispanic vote makes Texas as a whole pretty interesting though.
      - cobrausn 13y ago
        I don't care if Houston is 'Liberal'. I prefer pragmatic and reasonable. If the two go hand and hand, so be it, but I don't think that's always the case.
      - jff 13y ago
        "Liberal", "good", and "Democrat" are not necessarily synonyms.
- Daniel_Newby 13y ago
  > If the tea party were a state it would be Texas ... You appear to have internalized the meme that Tea Party is a synonym for Country Club Republican. This is probably not accurate.
  - revscat 13y ago
    But the Venn Diagrams for the two have significant overlap.
  - jonknee 13y ago
    No, the tea party as a group lines up with Texas on immigration, guns, taxes, gays, science, religion, etc etc. Country Club Republicans stay in the enclaves.
    - cobrausn 13y ago
      I still can't figure out why you think 'lives in Texas' means something other than 'Texan', other than successful left-wing advertising and right-wing propaganda. Texas is pretty much a microcosm of the US with an independent streak and a strong geographical affinity.
  - onedognight 13y ago
    > You appear to have internalized the meme that Tea Party is a synonym for Country Club Republican. What does "Country Club Republican" mean to you? To me it means one who goes against their core values for the sake of a rich special interest at the expense of the masses. Here[0] every single House Tea Party member votes to protect oil subsidies despite this contradicting their core beliefs[1] in: "Protecting Free Markets", "Eliminating Excessive Taxes" and "Eliminating the Deficit Spending". In this case using taxes and/or debt to fund a non-free market. [0] http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/01/147597/house-gop-oil-subsidies http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/01/147597/house-go... [1] http://www.teaparty-platform.com/ http://www.teaparty-platform.com/
jlgreco 13y ago
I am guessing because Texas is infamously a red state, and Republicans are perceived as claiming to be against government regulation.
- warfangle 13y ago
  Probably. Family was surprised that the anti-Tesla legislation in NC was spearheaded by some R's. Hasn't stopped 'em from voting red, though.
  - sdfaf 13y ago
    Stupid is as stupid does.
    - warfangle 13y ago
      Hey.. they's my family. This is what HN sinks to?
      - sdfaf 13y ago
        Sorry. I would delete it if I could.

nostromo 13y ago

I grew up in Idaho. People there will talk about how important limited government is... until you mention farm subsidies. Suddenly they'll speak convincingly about the benefits of centralized markets, price controls and protectionist trade policies with no sense of irony.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
nazgulnarsil 13y ago
Corn pone pinions.
pkulak 13y ago
Kind of like how republicans are all anti-gay until their first kid comes out?
fennecfoxen 13y ago
And Democratic partisans will attack regulation when Republicans are making it, and many Republicans are perfectly glad to use the power of the state regulatory agencies to stymie abortion clinics in any way they can get away with. Everyone and their dog makes an exception for whatever's expedient; bottom story of the day, honestly. If you want something _notable_, get me a politician standing up for principles which may be against their immediate self-interest (e.g. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, on recent IRS shenanigans).
pnathan 13y ago
> Suddenly they'll speak convincingly about the benefits of centralized markets, price controls and protectionist trade policies with no sense of irony. Well, maybe a farmer. This Idahoan doesn't hold with the farm subsidy system currently going.