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# "It's all gonna end and it might as well be my fault"
- URL: https://bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io/its-all-gonna-end-and-it-might-as/
- Published: 2025-04-12T04:37:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-07T22:47:48.000Z
- Description: I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes.
- Author: Sara Cress
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1794091451356, #Import 2026-11-07 22:47

I’m not even sure where to start with this one. Simply: the Texas House passed its budget last night, but not without some fascinating arguments. Watching Texas Democrats actually fighting for Texans is really compelling, particularly when the other side is so often smug whiny babies like Brian Harrison and Nate Schatzline (pictured.)

![Texas Rep. Nate Schatzline details in our Elected Officials Directory](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/51/6d51d957-e70d-452f-8661-3823af319edd/content/images/2026/11/97bb4b9b-fcb2-407d-8047-46baa07c4543_468x480-jpeg-1.jpg)

Why you always look wet, bro?

I can’t unpack all of what happened yesterday, but [Lone Star Left](https://open.substack.com/users/1220969) has a great wrap-up, as does the [Texas Tribune](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/texas-house-budget-day/?utm%5Fsource=liveblogshare&utm%5Fmedium=social#d958a291-069a-458d-be6b-e3e2492b45cd):

> Representatives approved the state budget and wrapped up consideration of amendments just after 3 a.m. Friday after several points of order stalled discussion and pushed the hearing into night.  
>  
> Ultimately, 35 amendments were approved, with 53 considered and hundreds placed on suspension or moved to Article XI, where measures are often sent to die if they lack enough floor support. Many of the amendments later in the night were less controversial, including studies on desalination, a name change from the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and a study into child abuse committed by religious leaders.  
>  
> In final floor discussions, Rep. Mike Olcott, R-Fort Worth, spoke in opposition against the budget as a whole, claiming more of the $24 billion surplus should have been put toward property tax cuts, a concern echoed by Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian. The proposed budget currently provides a total of $51 billion for property tax relief.

There’s a bit to say about this chunk. Right before I went to bed last night around 12:30, this Gulf of America amendment by Rep. Janis Holt (R-Liberty) reared its stupid head, and I really FEEL Rep. Erin Zweiner’s (D-Driftwood) response.

I just don’t get it. I will never get it. It’s a cult. I’ve watched enough cult documentaries (some women love true crime, I love cult documentaries) to know that you cannot penetrate the way a cult thinks because they create their own rules and realities.

And I wouldn’t call a study into child abuse committed by religious leaders not controversial. Texas has [what one can only call an epidemic](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/abuse-of-faith/?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) of child abuse and sexual abuse committed by church leaders. Though it passed (good!), it was opposed by 42 members, including our Houston-area reps Briscoe Cain, Terri Leo Wilson, Tom Oliverson and good ol’ Steve Toth.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/51/6d51d957-e70d-452f-8661-3823af319edd/content/images/2026/11/8a94639c-fbe1-4fe8-96b7-fbb444b3936b_703x384.png)

Speaking of Steve Toth:

Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid. Moving on.

I hope you’re aware that Texas is only one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which subsidizes the state’s implementation of Medicaid at 90 percent, so the state chips in only 10 percent of the cost. This has left 1.4 million Texans that could be insured uninsured, and has put rural healthcare in crisis. The thing is, though, that Texans are already paying into the federal plan and getting nothing from it because Texas Republicans believe that at its heart, Medicaid is a welfare program for lazy people and it’s filled with fraud.

I found this exchange between Rep. Eddie Morales (D-Del Rio) and the aforementioned Schatzline (R-reverse raccoon) interesting:

I want to point out a couple of things. First, my family has had experience with what was probably Medicare fraud when one of my parents was sent home with some oxygen equipment after a hospital stay. The company was super shady, didn’t seem to know what they were doing, was terrible at communicating, and kept their stuff at my parent’s apartment for too long, the whole while billing Medicare. I have no doubt that this is the same fraud that happens in Medicaid. This is NOT the fault of the program recipients. And, yeah, I believe in oversight and regulation. That’s sort of my whole thing. If you were as mad about air quality as you were Medicaid fraud, maybe I’d take you a little more seriously.

What’s more, I don’t believe that the average Texan cares this much about property taxes. One-third of Texans do not own property, to begin with. In Schatzline’s District 93, [here are some of the demographics](https://censusreporter.org/profiles/62000US48093-state-house-district-93-tx/?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io):

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/51/6d51d957-e70d-452f-8661-3823af319edd/content/images/2026/11/7e19a694-ae36-4821-b780-f2ab94644ffa_451x191.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/51/6d51d957-e70d-452f-8661-3823af319edd/content/images/2026/11/ad1bb7c1-8300-4117-8a9e-cd0e8dcaf334_574x215.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/51/6d51d957-e70d-452f-8661-3823af319edd/content/images/2026/11/381e77dd-d2ee-4e01-b1c7-4fa0de20422b_814x250.png)

This man doesn’t know shit about being poor, and has no concrete examples of why he’s railing about property taxes when so many Texans are suffering because Republicans won’t do a very simple fix: expanding Medicaid. I can find no evidence that this man [has ever held a real job](https://www.natefortexas.com/about?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io). And he’s crying about property taxes being the reason a mom can’t put gas in her car?

![On a compté : en quatre saisons, les personnages de "Succession" ont dit " fuck" toutes les 45 secondes | France Inter](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/51/6d51d957-e70d-452f-8661-3823af319edd/content/images/2026/11/1dc41931-06ee-4006-b0f4-29bfa0f62600_1200x680-jpeg.jpg)

This is all a performance.

And, as an encore to the entire performative ordeal, 26 representatives who spent the whole 17-hour day dragging out arguments voted against the whole thing. Here’s former labradoodle breeder Rep. Brian Harrison to take us out. This is only lightly edited.

Well, anyway, this whole budget debate isn’t over, nor is the legislative session. Now, behind closed doors (?!?!?), legislators try to make the Senate and House budget bills kiss and see what comes of it. And there are plenty of bills yet to be heard.

For now, here are Three. Good. Things.

1. I’m proud of myself for the Matchbox 20 reference in the headline. 3 a.m. You know. That one song.
2. Did a full leg day today. Get out there and do some weighted barbell squats, ladies.
3. I adore the beautiful, entertainting Miss [Suzie Toot](https://www.instagram.com/suzie.toot?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io).

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