Watchman: Dishonest, Unbelievable, Liberal Bullshit From the Texas Observer News Article About Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas

Last Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference in Eagle Pass, the border town he has turned into a militarized staging ground for his standoff with the feds. It was his third such press conference in as many weeks. Flanked by his appointed border czar and the adjutant general of the Texas National Guard, Abbott announced that he is building a sprawling 80-acre base camp that would allow the state to permanently “amass a large army in a strategic area.”

The base camp is already under construction, he said, and when complete will house 1,800 soldiers—with the ability to expand to 2,300 if such a surge is needed. Abbott did not provide specifics about the cost of the massive military installation, saying it would be “minimal” and that it would save money in the long run by lowering other temporary lodging expenses.

That “minimal” cost is, however, a large one. The Texas Military Department will pay a state contractor $171 million to build and operate the base camp over the next nine months, according to purchase order records reviewed by the Texas Observer. That figure includes over $30 million to “mobilize” the camp and $14.5 million in monthly operating expenses.

“Before this effort here, they had been living in conditions that were atypical for military operations,” Abbott said at the news conference, according to the Texas Tribune. “Because of the magnitude of what we’re doing, because of the need to sustain and actually expand our efforts of what we’re doing, it’s essential that we build this base camp for the soldiers.”

The camp won’t reach its capacity of 1,800 until late October, according to the contractor’s proposal. Beginning in September, the state has the option to extend the base operations for each of the next two years, according to the purchase order. The two extensions would cost Texas taxpayers $350 million on top of the original $171 million—bringing the possible total to over half a billion dollars.

The Legislature has approved over $10 billion in total funding for Abbott’s three-year-old border scheme Operation Lone Star (OLS), and the governor and state attorney general are deploying increasingly militaristic rhetoric about the border in both press conferences and courtrooms. Abbott’s new base camp is a clear sign that his border operation isn’t going away any time soon.

At the press conference, along with a line of armed soldiers and military vehicles, was a large sign announcing the new home of the Texas Military’s “Forward Operating Base,” invoking the lingo of the U.S. Department of Defense’s huge, permanent outposts built to sustain wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and enrich contractors along the way.

The Texas Military Department signed off on the base camp plan with Team Housing Solutions, a New Braunfels company, which will build and operate the facility. The contract for this project—like most OLS deals—was awarded without competitive bidding, due to Abbott’s perpetual border disaster declaration that suspends state contracting laws.

More BS,