[quote name='speedracer']Texas took $3 bil from the stimulus and put it towards education. Then they cut $3 bil from our own education budget.[/quote]
So, last week I was complaining about how I couldn't feed my kids because my $300 car payment was coming due. A friend said "Hey, I'll give you $300 for your car payment this month. Consider it my gift to you.".
Next week, I was complaining about how I couldn't feed my kids. My friend said "Didn't you get paid this week?" I replied, "Yeah, but I had to make my car payment too.". Friend says, "Didn't I give you $300 last week to pay that?" I responded, "Yeah, I put your $300 towards my car payment, but I still had to put my own $300 into the car payment. You giving me money for that purpose doesn't negate my own personal responsibility to make the payment."
Yeah, that makes absolutely no sense to me either. (*Note - this story didn't actually happen).
Except our education spending is already among the lowest.
I know this has come up before, but it's always fun to point out the double standard.
When we pay more than every other country in health care, the answer is to completely overhaul the entire system because it's too expensive.
When we pay less than anyone else in education, the answer is to spend more money because throwing money at it fixes everything.
Yeah, that makes absolutely no sense to me either.
My point really is that everyone robbed someone during the crisis. Texas robbed education and health care mostly. We're going to need to pay that bill. I'm quite sure that CA robbed someone too. I wonder who, for how much, and how badly and how soon that money will need to be replaced. And Illinois too.
At least Texas, and some extent, California have something to show for the "robbing" that they're doing. Something besides a giant red number, that is.
The CA surplus has genuinely shocked me and I'm pretty sure it's shocked everyone. It makes me wonder if a rising tide is raising all boats.
...doesn't explain Illinois. You know, the state that went for all the various tax measures to raise revenues.
CA and TX took different paths and ended at (roughly) the same place.
Well...
[quote name='speedracer']Now we have Texas who will only cut services, Illinois that only raised taxes, and California that did both.[/quote]
Now, I'm not going to go the extreme bat**** crazy route that some have gone on this forum and assume that when you said Texas
only cut services that they didn't raise any taxes and when you said Illinois
only raised taxes, they didn't cut any services... but, as you pointed out, Texas did one thing, Illinois did the complete opposite and California was in between...
[quote name='speedracer'][...]I'm still really interested to see how each comes out.[/QUOTE]
...and when the chips landed, Texas came out in front (budget wise), Illinois did the complete opposite and California was in between.
Yeah, that makes absolutely no sense to me either.
Totally. But it's $3.3b, and of course the first thing we talk about... is giving money to "farmers".
No, first we talked about increased sales tax revenue (that come without actually increasing the sales tax rate) and increased profits from oil (that could have been more widespread had more of the country went after the oil they're setting on). Then, you brought up the "farmers" situation.
You'll have to talk to the Republicans. I'm pretty marginalized here dude.
Well, I'm not in Texas, so I'm not sure Texas politicians would be inclined to listen to me... but I do know the Federal government likes to hand out free taxpayer money to farmers and "farmers" - in amounts that make even the entire Texas state budget cry. Maybe I should talk to those guys instead. They're all still Republicans, right?