The Texas morass

My oh my, how the mouthy and mighty have fallen. They have always claimed things are bigger in Texas. Well, their $27 billion budget morass is right up there with the best of them. Whatever happened to that shining light of radical conservative fiscal policies and principles? Get lost on one of those lonesome, dusty backroads of West Texas, Governor Perry?  Based on the story from the Huffington Post, Governor Rick Perry sounds rather dismissive of Texas’ budget problem.

‘Texas is better off than practically any state in the country,” Perry said in September, well after the coming problem was identified. When asked about the budget deficit in December, Perry dismissed the question as speculative.

Even though Texas’ budget shortfall is among the worst in the nation, Perry says Texas remains an example for other states.

Last week, he touted a Federal Reserve Bank statement forecasting that Texas could add more than 264,000 jobs in 2011. Proposed budget cuts, though, could lay off 100,000 school employees, 60,000 nursing home workers and eliminate 9,600 state jobs this year.

Maybe Governor Perry could deflect some of the bad news on the budget front by touting that Texas ranks 51st in the nation in educational attainment or 49th in high school graduation rates. Hmmm…maybe not. Perhaps he could promote the fact that Texas ranks number two in occupational fatalities, murders, and property crimes. Hmmm….probably not a good idea, unless he is hoping to attract more morticians, funeral homes, and casket makers.

Don’t get me wrong, Texas is a beautiful state and many people there are very nice. I particularly like Austin. But, the radical conservatives have been rather full of themselves in recent years. Even Governor Perry threw out the term succession a few times. We certainly have not been hearing Governor Perry yap about succession recently. Can’t imagine why — those federal dollars come in handy now and then — especially when your butt is in a sling. My guess is that he has discovered there are “morasses” in Texas than he first thought.