Posted on 03/08/2010 5:06:28 PM PST by Kaslin
'Stop messing with Texas!" That was the message Gov. Rick Perry bellowed on election night as he celebrated his victory over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary for governor.
In his reference to Texas' anti-littering slogan, Perry was making a point applicable to national as well as Texas politics and addressed to Democratic politicians as well as Republicans.
His point was that the big government policies of the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders are resented and fiercely opposed not just because of their dire fiscal effects but also as an intrusion on voters' independence and ability to make decisions for themselves.
No one would include Perry on a list of serious presidential candidates, including himself, even in the flush of victory. But in his 10 years as governor, the longest in the state's history, Texas has been teaching some lessons to which the rest of the nation should pay heed.
They are lessons that are particularly vivid when you contrast Texas, the nation's second most populous state, with the most populous, California.
Both were once Mexican territory, secured for the United States in the 1840s.
Both have grown prodigiously over the past half-century.
Both have populations that today are about one-third Hispanic.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Texas, Our Texas! all hail the mighty State!
Texas, Our Texas! so wonderful so great!
Boldest and grandest, withstanding ev’ry test
O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest.
(chorus)
Texas, O Texas! your freeborn single star,
Sends out its radiance to nations near and far,
Emblem of Freedom! it set our hearts aglow,
With thoughts of San Jacinto and glorious Alamo.
(chorus)
Texas, dear Texas! from tyrant grip now free,
Shines forth in splendor, your star of destiny!
Mother of heroes, we come your children true,
Proclaiming our allegiance, our faith, our love for you.
Chorus
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
Hook ‘em!
$11 Billion Budget Shortfall Projected Official: Shortfall Could Reach $15 Billion
POSTED: Monday, March 8, 2010 UPDATED: 4:47 pm CST March 8, 2010 AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Legislature will face a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion when it meets to write the next state budget in 2011, a key state official said Monday.
The shortfall is the projected difference between available revenue and the cost of maintaining services at their current levels in the next two-year budget. The shortfall is mainly a result of lower-than-expected sales tax receipts.
John O'Brien, director of the Legislative Budget Board, told a committee of House budget writers that the estimate is conservative and could grow to as much as $15 billion.
The available revenue also will have to be used to cover any holes in the current budget, including a Health and Human Services Commission shortfall of more than $1.3 billion caused by a recession-induced surge in Medicare enrollment.
State agencies have submitted proposals to cut their current-year budgets by 5 percent. But those savings will only amount to about $1.7 billion, O'Brien said.
John Heleman, the state's chief revenue estimator, said sales tax returns are beginning to rebound after months of double-digit declines. February sales taxes declined 8.8 percent compared to February of 2009, he said.
"It's certainly still down from last year, however, it's down less than 10 percent," Heleman said. "One month certainly doesn't make a trend, but it's encouraging to see we've now begun to move in the right direction."
The state's Rainy Day Fund is expected to have a balance of about $8.2 billion.
Gig ‘em.
Where is the source of your claim?
Huebolt...no,no, no...Gig um’!!!
I have personally experienced the Californication of both Oregon and Washington, I fail to see the humor.
TT
And I lived in California before it was Socialist!
I want to be able to dig a well, and get the water under my own land without a permit or permission from anyone.
I want to be able to drive without a seatbelt, ride a motorcycle without a helmet, and not buckle my kids into a car seat if I so wish.
I want to be able to go to a PUBLIC park without having to pay to get in.
I want to be able to drive across bridges and down interstates paid for with tax dollars without paying a toll.
I want a toilet that actually works, and I want the government to keep its hands off my light bulbs and thermostat.
I want to be able to grill food in my backyard and start a fire in my fireplace without molestation by local authorities.
I want to have a pet without a tag.
In other words ...
I WANT TO BE FREE!!!!!!!!!
and I want the government to LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!
Texas should get out while the getting’s still good rather than attach itself to the U.S.S. FedGov.
I was born into that California in the early 50's, and only pulled up stakes four years ago. It was the best darn place to be a kid in the whole wide world.
http://www.rickperry.org/media-articles/perry-touts-tax-cuts-balanced-state-budget
The backlash from all the goings-on in DC is what got him the Republican primary victory over Hutchinson. We in Texas
just don’t want that Washington mindset brought home to us.
We like our state independent and free of the shenanegans
that go on in Federal government. Besides, we have our own
clowns to deal with in the Texas congress without adding more! LOL!
That and the fact that Kay Barely Republican is possibly the least-conservative Republican from west of the Mississippi, and folks here are finally figuring her out.
She hid it well for a while, but the last few years, she has
really let it all hang out with her voting in DC, and we sure
didn’t need that here!
Perry’s got his own baggage, but he really does put Texas
first over federal mandates. I appreciated him refusing
stimulus money. People hollered about it, but
we dodged the feds having a strangle hold on our state pocketbook!
I’d have to say that I agree with all of that. I also would like to not have to worry wether or not any weapon I’m carrying is concealed or not, and not have to get a permit to do either.
I know what you mean! I lived there until I was 7 in the mid. 50s to about 61. I see what’s happening to the state, and it makes my heart break!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31926716/States_With_The_Best_Worst_Economies?slide=2
Amen, fellow Texan!
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