OK My Progressive Friends......

This one's for you.


Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to use this article in your criticism of Texas Republicans. Since the article is entitled "Texas finances not as rosy as they seemed" this should not be very hard. I'd like to thank Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times for writing this piece, as it gives us all something with which to bash Rick Perry over the head.

Let's get underway.

1. The Texas budget sucks.

The Lone Star State is facing a budget gap of about $27 billion, putting it in the same league as California among states facing financial meltdowns.

Got that? Texas is BAD, and all of this is the fault of Rick Perry. Not only did he create this dysfunctional mess, but he also....oh...wait....hold on...Texas budget shortfall is based on certain spending protections that may not be true while California's deficit refers to funds already committed and is twice as large as Texas. ($28 Billion over one year vs. a projection of $25 Billion over two years.) That won't work. Certainly, there's fertile ground to be plowed on the structural deficit Texas has created in education funding, but picking on Texas voters for being smarter during fat times than California is probably not a winning strategy. OK, scratch this one.


2. Here's one....

In a place where government is already lean, there aren't many areas to make up that kind of cash.

Got that Texas?!? You didn't waste Billions of dollars during the boom years as did California so now you're looking WORSE than them when the global econ......

No, damn, that doesn't really work either.



3. Ooooh.....

As if to punctuate the point that Texas has found itself in a California-style mess, a power-grid problem caused rolling blackouts statewide Wednesday

Ah Hah! Our power grid is a mess. Why we've got rolling blackouts like.

No we don't, never mind. California had rolling blackouts because their power grid is an aging, wheezing relic. Texas had rolling blackouts because of an extreme weather event. One day later, everything was fine.



4. This might work:

Texas lags far behind California in major research universities, patents produced, high-tech infrastructure and venture capital investment, according to the Missouri-based Kauffman Foundation. The foundation's 2010 ranking of states in "movement toward a global, innovation-based new economy" put California at No. 7. Texas was No. 18.

Ha! Take that Texas! You stupid Texans don't have near the economy California does....Oh, wait, except for the oil & gas industry, health and medicine & (increasingly) manufacturing. Granted, California leads in a few areas, but in other areas (high-paying areas) Texas shines. Also, this Kaufman "study" ranks Texas higher than California in respects to Entrepreneurial activity. So basically what this says is that California has a slight lead in one area. So you have to cut the pie pretty thin for this to work.



5. Well finally there's this:

For all the talk of Texas being a high-tech state, they have never really caught up to California.… Look at the big new growth companies. Where is Facebook? Where is Google? Are any of these companies in Austin? No."

That's right Austin! Suck it right?


Wrong. Again, it depends on just how thinly you slice the pie. Yes, California has some very big computer companies that are doing well, just as Houston has some very big oil companies that are doing well, and some very big medical companies that are doing well, and on and on and on....again, it depends on how thinly you slice the pie.



6. OK, get away from the article for a minute....that article is crap. If you want to ever get back to relevant in Texas I suggest you fire all of your California consultants post haste.

Instead try this: You can make political hey over what Republicans are cutting and their reluctance to cut things that need to be cut. You also have the opportunity to make your case for the short-comings of the Texas margins tax, and to offer up your vision for the Texas budget and see if Texans agree.

IF you can keep from calling those you want to vote for you "a bunch of stupid, mouth-breathing idiots" that is. That's probably not a winning strategy.