Texas' next budget crisis

There are tons of problems with finance in the state of Texas, and there have been some serious threads about this. GT, I usually appreciate your comments on WM, and Quacks, but that link is just a red herring. It is a Democratic website that is obviously upset with what an overwhelming Republican Texas House and Senate have done. To me, it has no real numbers or news with regards to government financing or ways to fix the current short falls.
 
I lost 2 jobs so far because of Republicans. The first in 2008 when Bush caved the economy in and the company I worked for went out of business, the 2nd this year because Perry turned down that stimulus money.

Perry turned down a bunch of stimulus money because he wouldn't give up the God given right to teach Texas kids that the world is 5000 years old.

So maybe they'll **** things up again and do a hat trick on me.
I hate the democrats but I loathe the republicans.
 
This legislature did indeed pass much of the problem forward two years. They did nothing to solve the funding problem they created when they cut the property tax rate (two years ago?) and added the business franchise tax which was to cover the loss of the property tax funds (didn't raise much at all). Someone is going to have to address the real issues and this legislature didn't do it.
 
Taxes have gone up in many areas. I have no doubt that our state will continue to fall behind in education and uninsured, and that we will be discussing a budget shortfall again very soon.
 
The solution continues to be to cut spending until the budget balances. No tax increases.

If Republicans can't do it, I'm sure the socialist commie pinko party will get another shot at raising taxes sooner rather than later.
 
I like living in a low tax state even if it means poor to non existant public services.

But these problems are directly traceable to the tax rearrangements four years ago---they said they were going to maintain the revenue flow---the changes would be revenue neutral. Remember? Remember?

Carole Keaton Whoeverelse said at the time that was not going to be the case but she was ignored in the rush to go home and brag about how property taxes were being reduced.

The cuts were not revenue neutral, as both my state reps told me at the time. They said it was a shell game and they were right. We would have a disaster on our hands in two years, they said. They were wrong because the federal bailout money provided cover two years ago. Last year both of them got wiped out by Republicans who promised to cut taxes some more. They weren't lying, they were just ignorant.

Now we have this mini disaster that will be a long term disaster in terms of uneducated minorities. And in two years there will be another such crisis. Obama will no doubt be blamed.

If we had had a truly revenue neutral tax reform in Texas this would not have happened. We didn't. Let's see, did Perry and Dewhurst warn us about this? Do anything to stop it?

Duh.
 
Pols of all stripes are banking on a economic boom to save them from making the hard choices. Problem is....their lack of leadership will ensure said "boom" will not occur.
 
huisache nailed the cause of the entire budget problem. I am all for fiscal conservatism, within reason, but strangling the entire government budget process with this intentional shell game is a dishonest gambit.
If you want to slash K-12 and higher education spending, health care, and every other social service, run for office on that platform. Don't blow smoke up our butts and act like you were surprised there is a monetary crisis.
 
So I guess Texas should just raise taxes since according to most Dems on this board and in Government, raising taxes on the filthy rich and get them to pay their fair share is ALWAYS the way to go.

Look at funding cuts and/or reduce growth in ALL parts of the Government. Hell if the Federal Government would just have increased spending by the inflation rate we would have a balance budget by now PLUS pay down some of our debt.
mad.gif
 
This is not likely to ever change in Texas because of the cowardice and ignorance of the political class. We elect stray dogs to office and expect quality?

The words at the base of the Tower could act as a template but in Texas politics it would read "Tell the Truth and lose an election."

One of the new reps from CC ran promising to fight any revenue increase but to get more state money for local anti gang initiatives. How do you deal with this kind of total dishonesty?
 
As we saw this session, Texas did not have a lot of "fat" to be cut from the budget. They are cutting higher education and K-12 education in way which will harm the educational process.
The main thing the legislature needs to do is fix the funding process for education, and they did not even address the issue. They used some accounting tricks to pass much of the damage down the road two years, and slashed school budgets across the state.
Some of you may say you want no government services like education, but I don't think you are seeing the big picture when you voice that opinion. Do you really feel we have no obligation to educate the children of Texas?
 
GT,
I just didn't think there was much analysis. There was just a they suck and they aren't doing it right, we think they should do it this way...
That is what I saw. (honestly, right leaning groups do the same thing.) I just didn't think it was a very honest look at the problem or solutions. It just seemed to be a partisan puff piece, which I am always opposed to.
 
GT- My guess is that he is saying that identifying the problems is easy. Coming up with workable solutions is hard. This piece didnt offer any solutions. propoerty taxes are almost surely going to go back up in the short term.
 
Here is where I go nuts: I have been a default democrat all my long life. I make exceptions but usually vote for them.

But I always thought of republicans as sort of the grownups in the room. If my party started going ape, the adults would step up and at least balance the books. Nixon was a prime example of this. He sorted through the Great Society and left most of it in place. Same for Eisenhower and the New Deal.

This bunch of republicans is different. They are like the democrats in that they will pass what they think the voters want---regardless of the long term consequences.

In the long term cutting back on pre K is going to materially influence the educations of masses of kids, especially the ones who aren't getting help at home---you know, the ones we incarcerate at high rates. Early intervention in these kids' lives has shown to be of use in educating them. This is going to hurt not just them but us. It is hard enough to get literate help now. How about when these sprouts enter the job market?

The higher education cuts are insane. I have some friends teaching in public universities and they are already paid a pittance for their efforts. Those budgets are already strained and way too many college kids are already being taught by part time faculty who are not paid squat. This is crippling in the long run.

Our legislature and entire political class is very good at giving us what we want----no new taxes. The whole point of representative government is to avoid the dangers of direct democracy by having some representatives deliberate on what is the best interest of the public. Our political class is failing miserably.

This Ma and Pa Ferguson stuff.
 
accurate
"They are cutting higher education and K-12 education in way which will harm the educational process. "

The proposed budget passed by the House budgeted 125 million MORE for Public education( K-12) for 2012-13 than was budgeted in 2010-11
Higher education did get cut bu K-12 got more
 
The stats I read: K-12 gets $4 billion less than the last funding go-round. Every school district in the state gets 6% less than the last time. There are more students now, not less. The per student funding is less, the districts get less, the total amount is less.
I'm for spending what we have, but this is an artificially created funding crisis. It is a con game.
And the bottom line is that this legislature is doing nothing to address the cause of the shortfall. Fix educational funding so the districts know what funding they can expect. If it will be less, let them know what it will be and where it will come from.
Man up and address this issue.
 
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