TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK BLAMES CONSTITUENTS FOR GIANT ELECTRIC BILLS: “READ THE FINE PRINT”

[MTAtech]

Directly from the Department of Tone Deafness:
TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK BLAMES CONSTITUENTS FOR GIANT ELECTRIC BILLS: “READ THE FINE PRINT”
According to Patrick, people who were hit with $17,000 electric bills last week have only themselves to blame.
=====
One thing that has always struck me is how liberals are accused of elitist disdain for ordinary Americans, yet conservatives get away with blatant contempt. Consider Dan Patrick. They should have read the fine print and what, moved if they didn’t like what they read?

 

[Greenbeard]

Before that, he famously suggested, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, that seniors should volunteer to die to save the economy, claiming that “lots of grandparents” were willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause.

No better spokesman for the contemporary GOP.

 

[Antiwar]

Yeehaw!

 

[W_Heisenberg]

This sounds like a really good wedge issue the GOP can use to turn Texas blue in the span of one election cycle.

 

[Nickyjo]

This sounds like a really good wedge issue the GOP can use to turn Texas blue in the span of one election cycle.

Yes, “Read the fine print” will soon get the Let Them Eat Cake Award, Insensitive Asshole category.

 

[Mongidig]

He said that the people shouldn't panic about it and that they are going to figure this out. He also said that for future reference people should read the fine print. I think this is a good learning moment. I don't think what he said was bad at all.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

He said that the people shouldn't panic about it and that they are going to figure this out. He also said that for future reference people should read the fine print. I think this is a good learning moment. I don't think what he said was bad at all.

I doubt the fine print mentioned anything about electrical bills 100 times higher than normal

 

[Mongidig]

I doubt the fine print mentioned anything about electrical bills 100 times higher than normal

I agree. I doubt they will end up having to pay the full cost of those bills. This was a freakish outlier event. I don't blame Patrick for trying to explain what happened. If you just read the headlines you would think they aren't gonna do anything about it. Also, You might think that this affected folks on fix rate plans.

 

[CaughtInThe]

Which government is gonna bail them out?

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

I agree. I doubt they will end up having to pay the full cost of those bills. This was a freakish outlier event. I don't blame Patrick for trying to explain what happened. If you just read the headlines you would think they aren't gonna do anything about it. Also, You might think that this affected folks on fix rate plans.

I don't go go with variable rate electric bills because i like the stability of a fixed rate, and having to cut back just when you probably need it the most is a bad idea

. But this is the guy who thought the elderly should sacrifice themselves to covid for the economy if I am not mistaken.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

Which government is gonna bail them out?

Texas will beg for the Fed to do it

 

[Aunt Antifa]

Directly from the Department of Tone Deafness:
TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK BLAMES CONSTITUENTS FOR GIANT ELECTRIC BILLS: “READ THE FINE PRINT”
According to Patrick, people who were hit with $17,000 electric bills last week have only themselves to blame.
=====
One thing that has always struck me is how liberals are accused of elitist disdain for ordinary Americans, yet conservatives get away with blatant contempt. Consider Dan Patrick. They should have read the fine print and what, moved if they didn’t like what they read?

This is the same guy who told everyone to sacrifice their grandparents for covid last summer. No idea why this person even went into public service. He doesn’t seem terribly interested in the public.

 

[Variant]

This is the same guy who told everyone to sacrifice their grandparents for covid last summer. No idea why this person even went into public service. He doesn’t seem terribly interested in the public.

It's not about public service.

Some anarchists find themselves in government because they deeply care about sabotaging it.

The right wing version of this has been very popular over the last 40 years or so, and it's a wonder that people still vote for them in droves.

 

[Aunt Antifa]

It's not about public service.

Some anarchists find themselves in government because they deeply care about sabotaging it.

The right wing version of this has been very popular over the last 40 years or so, and it's a wonder that people still vote for them in droves.

They tell us government doesn’t work, and then do everything they can to prove it.

 

[Tbird19482]

Texas will beg for the Fed to do it

And the Fed . should tell them they have to join the rest of the country on the main grid or no way
as it is the higher taxed Blue states will be the ones paying the bill
I personally say the state of TX should do it NOBODY else
they got what they wanted now suffer
Have a nice day

 

[BlueTex]

Electric firm Griddy loses access to Texas grid, customers shifted to rivals

Texas's grid operator on Friday shut Griddy Energy LLC's access to the state's power network for unpaid bills and shifted its 10,000 customers to other utilities, as new signs of a financial crisis rose after a state-wide blackout. Griddy was the power marketer that sold consumers electricity...

news.yahoo.com

 

[noonereal]

One thing that has always struck me is how liberals are accused of elitist disdain for ordinary Americans, yet conservatives get away with blatant contempt. Consider Dan Patrick. They should have read the fine print and what, moved if they didn’t like what they read?

and how is he wrong?

 

[Variant]

And the Fed . should tell them they have to join the rest of the country on the main grid or no way
as it is the higher taxed Blue states will be the ones paying the bill
I personally say the state of TX should do it NOBODY else
they got what they wanted now suffer
Have a nice day

The help should definitely come with a stipulation that they do something to fix the systemic problems that caused the failure. It's not like they don't know how to mandate winterization.

 

[prometeus]

Directly from the Department of Tone Deafness:
TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK BLAMES CONSTITUENTS FOR GIANT ELECTRIC BILLS: “READ THE FINE PRINT”
According to Patrick, people who were hit with $17,000 electric bills last week have only themselves to blame.
=====
One thing that has always struck me is how liberals are accused of elitist disdain for ordinary Americans, yet conservatives get away with blatant contempt. Consider Dan Patrick. They should have read the fine print and what, moved if they didn’t like what they read?

Part of me says **** them all if they elect assholes that do this to them.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Directly from the Department of Tone Deafness:
TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK BLAMES CONSTITUENTS FOR GIANT ELECTRIC BILLS: “READ THE FINE PRINT”
According to Patrick, people who were hit with $17,000 electric bills last week have only themselves to blame.
=====
One thing that has always struck me is how liberals are accused of elitist disdain for ordinary Americans, yet conservatives get away with blatant contempt. Consider Dan Patrick. They should have read the fine print and what, moved if they didn’t like what they read?

Two things can be true at once. It is absolutely true the left holds disdain for ordinary people. There is no denying it.
It is also true that many on the right have an unhealthy market obsession from over reading Rand.

 

[ElChupacabra]

He said that the people shouldn't panic about it and that they are going to figure this out. He also said that for future reference people should read the fine print. I think this is a good learning moment. I don't think what he said was bad at all.

Having seen the interview, it's less of a "let them eat cake" moment than the headline suggests. Caveat emptor is a good personal policy to apply to everything, but one which isn't implemented as often as it should. He's right about the choices available to Texans regarding energy policies, but something as volatile as a variable rate is something that shouldn't be in the fine print. I think back to the ARMs at the height of the housing bubble as a good example of people not understanding the potential consequences. While it is up to consumers to pay what they agreed to, in a case like this, it becomes a much bigger problem when many who opt for the lower rate due to economic reasons won't have the money to pay those high bills. Now the government has to step in, which raises the question how viable this kind of energy plan is in the long run.

 

[MTAtech]

Two things can be true at once. It is absolutely true the left holds disdain for ordinary people. There is no denying it.
It is also true that many on the right have an unhealthy market obsession from over reading Rand.

Well, I deny that the "left holds distain for ordinary Americans." What do we see in Congress? We see Democrats trying to get Covid relief to ordinary Americans while also trying to get the minimum wage raised for ordinary Americans. What are Republicans doing? They are opposing both.

When Republicans controlled the government in 2017, they gave huge tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Ordinary Americans got crumbs -- unless they lived in blue states, then they got less of a deduction on their property taxes, raising their taxes.

This is no different than it has been in history. Liberal politicians help ordinary Americans while Republicans stand in the way. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals created Medicare and Medicaid, so the elderly and poor had health care insurance. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, so ordinary Americans had clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. What did conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things every one.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Well, I deny that the "left holds distain for ordinary Americans." What do we see in Congress? We see Democrats trying to get Covid relief to ordinary Americans while also trying to get the minimum wage raised for ordinary Americans. What are Republicans doing? They are opposing both.

the 15 dollar minimum wage will hurt more people than it will help. The fact that they need to keep raising the minimum wage is evidence that there is failure somewhere in government policy, the price of a coke was 5¢ for so long it used to be impressed on the bottle. Now prices are more volatile. Minimum wage is bad for normal Americans and it’s really just a bandaid to cover up leftist malfeasance and right wing cowardice on central banking.

When Republicans controlled the government in 2017, they gave huge tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Ordinary Americans got crumbs -- unless they lived in blue states, then they got less of a deduction on their property taxes.

ordinary Americans were not harmed by the SALT increases. Home values, again due to leftists prioritizing habitat salamanders over habitat for humans as well as making regulation so high that home building is expensive, are so high in most blue cities that people cannot afford a house unless they’re in mid 6 figure range.

This is no different than it has been in history. Liberal politicians help ordinary Americans while Republicans stand in the way. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty.

social security is an insolvent system that robs retirees out of millions they could’ve made with self investment, if it was so great then why did the public employee and railroad unions lobby for exemptions to social security?

Liberals created Medicare and Medicaid, so the elderly and poor had health care insurance.

people wouldn’t join Medicaid even when they were mandated to and qualified

Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, so ordinary Americans had clean air to breathe and clean water to drink.

which put millions of working Americans out of work and resulted in massive job offshoring, pushing the alleged evils on the third world while doing little to materially improve the environment.

What did conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things every one.

Because all of these measures hurt more Americans then they helped. Nearly all of them benefitted a certain slice of the liberal Burgeois and destroyed the quality of life on tens of millions of people.

 

[Mongidig]

Having seen the interview, it's less of a "let them eat cake" moment than the headline suggests. Caveat emptor is a good personal policy to apply to everything, but one which isn't implemented as often as it should. He's right about the choices available to Texans regarding energy policies, but something as volatile as a variable rate is something that shouldn't be in the fine print. I think back to the ARMs at the height of the housing bubble as a good example of people not understanding the potential consequences. While it is up to consumers to pay what they agreed to, in a case like this, it becomes a much bigger problem when many who opt for the lower rate due to economic reasons won't have the money to pay those high bills. Now the government has to step in, which raises the question how viable this kind of energy plan is in the long run.

He mentioned that they were going to revisit this type of plan. It seems like there should be an out of pocket cap to how much a person could end up owing.

When I first heard the headline I thought this guy was a complete turd. After watching his interview I thought what he said made sense. I don't think he was being tone deaf I think he correctly giving context to the situation.

 

[Helix]

it's time to put the regulations in place that would prevent things like this from happening again. no regular consumer could possibly afford a $17k electric bill, so we need to remove that as a possibility going forward.