Dem Mayor John Whitmire Admits Houston Is Broke with Tens of Millions in Debt, Couldn’t Even Pay Firefighters

Houston’s Democratic mayor admitted at a meeting last week that the country’s fourth-largest city is “broke.”

Mayor John Whitmire was elected in December, overwhelmingly defeating Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Now, staring down a deficit of $160 million, he is proposing spending cuts and potential new taxes to repair the damage done by his Democratic predecessors, according to KRIV-TV.

“I think we can all agree that we’re broke,” Whitmire said at last week’s City Council meeting.

The new mayor dodged any blame for Houston’s financial situation, saying, “It was broken when I got here.”

Trending:

KJP Panics, Hangs Up in Middle of Interview When Reporter Shows He Isn’t a Democratic Party Propagandist

Indeed, Whitmire recently settled a labor dispute with city firefighters in which he agreed to give them “$650 million for seven years of back pay,” KRIV reported.

“I’m not going to play games with people’s lives,” Whitmire said. “I’m not going to play politics with people’s lives. So we have a responsibility to settle with the firefighters and protect Houstonians.”

The mayor wants the city’s police and fire departments to keep their current funding but has proposed a 5 percent cut to all other areas of government in order to right the ship.

“I don’t like a 5 percent cut now, but you have to make tough decisions and the folks put me in this position to make tough decisions, and I’m going to do my job,” he said.

Whitmire faced some pushback during the meeting from Councilwoman Tiffany Thomas, who demanded a clearer plan.

“Are we going to fee Houstonians? Is it a trash fee? Are we paying for parking after 6? Are we going after Metro’s money? What are we doing?” Thomas asked.

The mayor said getting Houston back on its feet financially might involve “asking the taxpayers to step up,” as KRIV put it.

Councilman Willie Davis, meanwhile, offered a blunt assessment of the situation.

Related:

House Speaker Mike Johnson Hit with Motion to Vacate After Just 4 Months on the Job

“This is going to come down to a financial sacrifice by the city. Now we can either be $1.2 billion broke, or we can be $650 million broke,” he said.

Houston has only elected two Republican mayors in its history, with the last serving in the position from 1978 to 1981.


A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

 

I heard a chilling comment the other day: “We don’t even know if an election will be held in 2024.” 

 

That wasn’t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.

 

Gen. Flynn’s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.

 

The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

 

All of this means that without you, it’s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we’ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can’t continue the fight.

 

Can we count on your support? It may not seem like much, but a Western Journal Membership can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control. 

 

A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles. You’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America’s soul in 2024.

 

We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you join us in the fight? 

 

Sincerely,

Josh Manning

Deputy Managing Editor

The Western Journal

Source link