The Legacy of Selfish Politics . . .

This is the American Dream future life for which the free market economy can do no wrong, deregulate everything, Teatard crowd has in store for all of us:

Flight for survival
Toxic emissions force family to leave home
By Brandon Evans | Published Thursday, September 23, 2010

Her husband and her 7-year-old daughter, Emma, felt sick as well.

"My daughter began having severe nosebleeds," she said. "She'd wake me up at 6 a.m., crying, covered in blood."

Emma was just diagnosed with asthma. She'd never had any respiratory problems. Emma also started breaking out in rashes and having stomach problems.

Bob also suffered from nosebleeds.

"I'm 50 years old and probably haven't had more than three or four nosebleeds in my entire lifetime," Bob said. "All of a sudden I'm getting them three times a week. It was odd."

"I hired someone to do water and air sampling at the home," she said. "The methane level in my daughter's room was at asphyxiation levels. And it was barely lower than what it was outside our home."

She showed the results to her doctor, who told her to leave her home within 48 hours.

"The doctor told me right then," she said, pausing as her voice cracked and a tear streamed across her left cheek, "I had to move immediately. Because if I did not, we would have to spend more time and money on hospitalization, on chemotherapy and morticians for my whole family."

On Saturday, Aug. 28, the Parrs said goodbye to their formerly idyllic home and moved into Bob's office in Denton. They don't know how long they'll have to stay.

"What we are going through is one of the worst things a family could have to go through," she said. "Having to leave this house and explain to my 7-year-old daughter that we've been run out of our house."

Bob and Lisa Parr aren't the sickly type. Bob built his home in 2001. He's enjoyed a long career in stone masonry and raising cattle. His home reflects the rugged, outdoor lifestyle he enjoys. Walls bear the trophies of big-game hunting in the wilds of Alaska. Black bear, mountain lions and elk are mounted on high wooden walls.

"We love it here," Lisa said while sitting in a wooden rocking chair on the back porch and gripping her husband's hand. "We're secluded, private. We just wanted to be left alone, and we've been run out of our house. It's not right. What's even more not right is we thought TCEQ would come out and help us - they would clean up this mess.

"We've had no help. We have someone who is contaminating our air. It has affected our cattle. We've lost pets. We've lost chickens. We're all sick, and we've gotten no help," she said. "I want them to fix it so we can come home. I just want to come home."

At some point you have to stand up and say enough is enough.

This country isn't being ruined by Health Care Reform advocates who believe all Americans deserve to have access to affordable care.

It is not being ruined by those who demand accountability from politicians who employ lies to lead us into unnecessary wars, then pass the bill onto our children and grandchildren.

It is not being ruined by those who believe hard working, play by the rules Americans living on Main Street deserve just as much, if not more, of a fair chance at realizing the American Dream as the reckless, selfish gamblers living on Wall Street do.

And it most definitely is not being ruined by those who believe that strong government oversight of ruthless and greed-oriented corporations does the most good for the most people.

No - America is in fact being slowly ruined by everyone who is against all of those ideals. Just ask the Parr family from that Texas story how big of fans they are now of energy industry deregulation. And this is not an isolated story. This horror is playing itself out in communities all over this country on a daily basis.

An argument could be made that this is not a political issue as it could equally effect citizens of any party. I disagree. The people who are zealously pushing to let big corporations and big industry, such as the energy industry, pursue their rapacious business goals without any government interference or any accountability are primarily Republican and now, as an extension, primarily Teabagger. That is a fact.

So basically it comes down to who do you trust more to ensure your children and grandchildren have better futures and live better lives than you? I've chosen which side I am on -- how about you?



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