speedracer
Banned
The Texas legislature only meets once every two years instead of always being in session like most other governing bodies. Texans like that! Keep them damn rascals away from the levers of government! Even an awful lib like me kind of likes it.
But the other shoe has dropped. Since they only create budgets every other year, we don't have solid budget surplus/deficit numbers ahead of time. It appears at this point that the state deficit may be as high as $25 billion over the next two years.
25!
Krugman points it out (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/opinion/07krugman.html), but the highlights:
1. Less than 20% of Texas public workers are unionized*, compared to over 75% in New York.
2. Texas ranks near the bottom in spending per student. That well is dry.
3. Texas ranks near the bottom in spending per person on Medicare/Medicaid. That well is dry.
3a. Oh, and Texas leads the nation in medically uninsured, so we can't just throw them off.
4. Our taxes are low, and there's no way on God's earth they're raising them. This is Texas after all.
5. Every area of Texas politics is overwhelmingly Republican and has been for decades.
If someone can tell me how we got here, I'd love to hear it. And it'll be interesting to see where they cut since the two most obvious (education and medical) are already cut to the bone.
*I am one of the few public employees covered by a public sector union. I've been a union rep in another union and I've never seen such a government friendly union as this one. With zero complaint from the union, we instituted voluntary furloughs last year and involuntary furloughs this year. I'm required to take 6 days without pay before June 1st. And our annual 3% raise has been ended without a fight from the union ("We must help the government in these trying times blah blah blah"). And while our health insurance plan is fantastic, we also pay much more than average. I paid 10% of my GROSS (seriously, think about that number) last year on my health/dental payments (not including copays).
But the other shoe has dropped. Since they only create budgets every other year, we don't have solid budget surplus/deficit numbers ahead of time. It appears at this point that the state deficit may be as high as $25 billion over the next two years.
25!
Krugman points it out (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/opinion/07krugman.html), but the highlights:
1. Less than 20% of Texas public workers are unionized*, compared to over 75% in New York.
2. Texas ranks near the bottom in spending per student. That well is dry.
3. Texas ranks near the bottom in spending per person on Medicare/Medicaid. That well is dry.
3a. Oh, and Texas leads the nation in medically uninsured, so we can't just throw them off.
4. Our taxes are low, and there's no way on God's earth they're raising them. This is Texas after all.
5. Every area of Texas politics is overwhelmingly Republican and has been for decades.
If someone can tell me how we got here, I'd love to hear it. And it'll be interesting to see where they cut since the two most obvious (education and medical) are already cut to the bone.
*I am one of the few public employees covered by a public sector union. I've been a union rep in another union and I've never seen such a government friendly union as this one. With zero complaint from the union, we instituted voluntary furloughs last year and involuntary furloughs this year. I'm required to take 6 days without pay before June 1st. And our annual 3% raise has been ended without a fight from the union ("We must help the government in these trying times blah blah blah"). And while our health insurance plan is fantastic, we also pay much more than average. I paid 10% of my GROSS (seriously, think about that number) last year on my health/dental payments (not including copays).