Rome is burning. Wait, I mean Texas. 
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my beloved home state is ablaze. There have been 190 reported wildfires attributed to the strong winds generated from Tropical Storm Lee. Tropical storms causing wildfires — God must really hate us.
The New York Times reports that the worst damage has been done in Bastrop County near Austin, where more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 2.5 million acres have burned.  
The federal government granted Texas FEMA aid, which means the federal government will handle 75 percent of the costs of fighting the fires. Families affected by the fires would receive up to $30,000 to cover expenses. 
There is no doubt Texans need help. They’re facing the worst drought in 50 years. The federal government did the right thing by taking the proper course of action and helping citizens who are in disaster situations. 
That being said, this whole situation could have possibly been avoided if it wasn’t for a certain gleaming governor. That darn Rick, he’s at it again. 
This year, under Gov. Rick Perry, the state of Texas cut the budget of The Texas Forest Service by $34 million, about a third of the agency’s total budget, according to Politico. The Texas Forest Service is responsible for fighting wildfires and it offers assistance grants to volunteer firefighters around the state, which will likely take the biggest hit. 
“Volunteers … make up nearly 80 percent of the state’s fire fighting force and are first responders to roughly 90 percent of wildfires in Texas,”  Forest Service Director Tom Boggus told Reuters.
Now, reason and logic would lead normal people to this conclusion — you do not cut firefighter budgets when you are in the midst of the worst drought since the ‘50s. But Rick Perry is not a normal person. Reason and logic are his kryptonite. 
If Perry and the Texas Legislature had not slashed the budget of the Texas Forest Service, then Perry would not have had to humble himself to the federal government and ask for FEMA money. 
Yes, my friends, a Republican asking for federal money — I daresay, needing a social program. It’s like seeing the girl you turned down in high school on the cover of Cosmo. Perry should’ve tapped that, or should I say, tapped into that government funding. 
But wait, Rick Perry wants to get rid of Social Security entirely. He wants it dead, gone and out of sight — or perhaps he might pawn it for more hair gel.
Higher taxes? Don’t need them. Government-funded healthcare? You’re joking. FEMA money? Well, we may need that one. For being the governor of the state with the highest percentage of uninsured citizens in the nation, Perry really has no business calling Social Security a