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Comment by fgonzag | Hacker News Reader

The inspections are political. Tx gov started them because Biden removed title 42 expulsions. He simply ramped up full inspections for 100% of trucks entering the state (under tx dot authority) instead of the random system they had before.

Abbott is using the inspections as a political bargaining chip to regain title 42 expulsions.

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Texas Ag Commissioner is not a fan of Abbott’s actions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas...

Presumably a Governor has a wider view than an agricultural commissioner. For example, one would not expect an agricultural commissioner to focus on drug or gun law enforcement.

The Lt Governor is the key to power in Texas. Also, the Railroad Commisioner in Texas is extremely powerful compared to other states. It's all weird.

The Texas Railroad Commissioner has independent jurisdiction over petroleum and mineral rights in the state which is the bulk of their official power.

One would expect a governor to make such decisions based on evidence that can be shared with the legislature or the people (preferably the people).

Under no circumstances would one expect that Greg Abbott would do so, as he is wholly driven by a sandman's ideology.

…I don’t even know what I was trying to type that got autocorrected to `sandman`.

They are both elected positions with separate offices, so the Texas Ag Commissioner is not a subordinate of the Texas Governor, for example. The Lieutenant Governor in Texas has quite a bit more power than the Governor in fact as their office sets the agenda for the Texas legislature which meets only once every two years though for several months. The Texas Lieutenant Governor is also individually elected.

I'm fine with inspections, but there needs to a strict time on them that includes waiting.

This is security theater like TSA. The Texas GQP party has lost its collective minds now because they see their unconstitutional actions will be upheld without any resistance by the radical right (5 members at least) Supreme court that we currently have. Expect it to get much worse before it gets better.

I know, but there is a point to security even if most of it is worthless. Roads are one of the most dangerous things we have. If were want to get serious about lives saved everyone in TSA security would be reassigned to roadway safety, it wouldn't be hard to make a much larger difference in lives saved.

It doesn't seem like a good bargaining chip, since I imagine Texans are going to be the Americans feeling most of the pain from this. Are we sure that is the reason?

He will simply tell his voters that Biden was responsible, and his voters will believe him.

The I-35 corridor is one of the key routes for NAFTA based traffic. It's not just Texans that will feel this. To assume so is very short sighted.

I said Texans would be the Americans feeling most of the pain from this. Not that it wouldn't affect non-Texans. Why? Because Texas and California are, unsurprisingly, the states whose economies are most closely integrated with Mexico, and the states that engage in the largest amounts of trade with Mexico.

And most trucks destined for California from Mexico will just enter the US in California, so delays on the Texas border will not play as big a role in California as it does in Texas.

Please read my brief comment before calling me short sighted.

Even if the goods are ultimately destined for California they still will likely enter the US through Texas. It just doesn’t make sense for a truck coming from Laredo or Reynosa to snake it’s way accross northern Mexico.

What percent of California-bound Mexican trucks do you believe enter at one of the crossings affected by the governor's actions, versus at some other border crossing in California, Arizona, or Texas?

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