Texas Conservatives are Idiots

My friend,

We should really talk about more important things right now. We should talk about Voter ID. We should talk about the budget. We should talk about human trafficking, bullying, and Rick Perry’s hair.

But I don’t want to. I’m feeling partisan.

I chose this article from Empower Texans because it illustrates what is wrong with the modern conservative movement.

I presume the author’s intended audience is strong conservatives. The author, Andrew Kerr, graduated college as recently as 2006 and really has minimal credibility. That, however, stems more from the content of his arguments.

In this article, Kerr is taking the stand that HB 1454 as a gross violation of a mandate not to raise taxes. The author of the bill, State Representative Jim Murphy (R), is targeted in the article as violating his campaign promises. Because this is a Houston issue, it dates back to 2006 when the city tried to sue and recover lost hotel revenue from online travel services. Travel services would buy up hotel rooms at wholesale prices, and then turn around and resell the rooms at a markup. Then Houston Mayor, Bill White lead the charge to close this loophole. The estimate was that it cost the city $2 million a year.

The article makes a number of specious claims. Bill White “had the city sue (against the recommendation of then city controller Annise Parker) to collect this tax.” The implication is that a tyrannical Major White wished to viciously tax poor Houstonites, but in actuality Parker had advised the City Council that suit probably wouldn’t win. Also, the tax would not be paid by Houstonites, but rather by businesses that are outside the city. They also say that Bill White “lost in November because Texans didn’t want him anywhere near the tax code.” We might as well say McCain lost to Obama in 2008 because Americans hate old people.

The really offensive thing about the article flows from the claim that somehow closing tax loopholes is anti-Texan, anti-tea party, or a strictly Bill White/Liberal idea. In a time of budget tension, Representative Murphy is trying to seek out reasonable means of revenue. The fact that these conservatives are willing to target him shows their inability to understand even the most basic requirements of governance. It seems to be a particularly foolish tactic because at the end of the session State and Local governments need to be financed somehow, and those in charge will have to make hard tax decisions no matter their political affiliation. If the far right insists on targeting their leadership for such triviality they will not remain (at least I hope) in power long.

The two problems illustrated by this article that seem to reflect the entire conservative movement in Texas are that:
#1. There is an ideological reaction to specific words (in this case “tax”) rather than thoughtful policy decisions.
#2. There is little regard for the decisions of policy makers who have to deal with realities “on the ground”

Conservatives must be thoughtful and willing to make practical decisions. If they continue to be reactionary like Andrew Kerr and Empower Texans they will either destroy the places they govern or they will destroy their position.

The Neo-Keynesian Messes with Texas

My Friend:

Normally when I do these blog blurbs I attempt to find a bad argument that presents a delicious morsel for picking to pieces and then proceed to chew on the intellectually soft meat.  Today I don’t feel inclined to do that.  It’s hard as hell to find decent commentary on Texas, and even harder (at least for me thus far) to find bad commentary.  It’s almost as if conservatives run Texas with public opinion ninjas—they don’t make a sound in your local paper.  (Not that conservatives alone make bad arguments.)

Instead we have “Krugman: Leaving children behind” from the opinion page of the Austin American Statesmen. 

In this article Paul Krugman essentially makes dire predictions about what we can expect on the national level if we use Texas as a predictor for the political direction the country is headed.  He builds his argument around the fact that Texas is a low tax and low spending state.  “While low spending might sound good in the abstract, what it amounts to in practice is low spending on children.”  Krugman says this, coupled with the failure of Bush’s Texas education initiatives, has resulted in the state being 43^rd in high school graduation rates.  (This is the same ranking as from “Texas on the Brink”) Now, with the massive budget shortfall, a dire condition is made worse.

Raise taxes?  That’s already been ruled out.  Krugman states that he’s used to “the cruelty.” Now he’s just shocked by the shortsightedness.

So does Krugman’s argument hold up?  Absolutely.  It’s really not that complicated.  Spending cuts will hurt education.  Period.  There’s the subtext of an argument to raise taxes, but he doesn’t really belabor that point. 

For awhile, I’ve been thinkin’ that the state of Texas is a clear example of what happens when you build a state around fiscal conservative values, and Krugman’s article proves that Nobel Prize winning economists agree with me.  What’s depressing is Krugman is using Texas as a negative role model.  His audience is not Texans, but a national readership. 

Krugman’s warning to the United States should be heeded by our State Legislature.  If the Texas’ economy really is so robust, then it can afford to give a little back to the government.  We need to change the low tax climate.  The consequences of our current path are grim. 

What do you think?

My friend,

You should look at this video. Skip to about minute 24:20. Legislative Comedy Gold.

http://www.house.state.tx.us/fx/av/chamber81/050609b.ram

Texas on the Brink: A Report

My friend:

You should checkout this Texas Tribune post: Texas is on the Brink.  Our great state is at the top of some pretty important lists, and they aren’t good lists to be on top of.  Clearly, if these statistics are correct, there are some serious problems with Texas. 

One major possible reason could be the large immigrant population. Texas is estimated as having the second largest illegal immigration population in the country.  That, at least, would seem to indicate one of the reasons tax revenue is so low, poverty is so high, and benefits are spread so thin.  However, before we all go screaming about building a bigger wall, we need to think about a few things.

Texas also has the second largest population and the second largest economy.  Though focusing on rankings is arbitrary, it would still seem like Texas should be able to offset its immigrant population. Texas, hailed the economist cheerleaders, weathered the recession storm better than any other state. 

Today, this is all guess work.  Hopefully this list will be interesting enough that we’ll see more discussion on it and the reasons for these numbers will be more apparent.

Immigration?  Regressive Policies?  Low Taxes?  What do you think?