Texas has debt/gdp ratio of about 20% same as California.
In 2011, Texas had a GDP of $1.4 Trillion. It's State-held debt was approximately $40 Billion based on the last Comptroller's report. That's 2.7%.
All of the "Sky is Falling" and "Perry's spending us into oblivion" articles are written by clowns who aren't interested in FACTS. They go to some figure-gathering database website like usgovernmentspending.com, look at the totality of Texas' debt (which includes both State and Local Government debt) and make half-assed assumptions based on that. Most of these clowns are Yankees or Yankee transplants. Don't fall for their crap.
I serve on a Committee that helped adjust for the budget shortfall this year in my local ISD by eliminating whole departments of people. We don't raise taxes down here, we CUT spending, because Texas MUST have a balanced budget. Unlike the fool in the White House, we honor our State Constitution.