Texas with bigger budget gap than California

[ProSense]

Texas with bigger budget gap than California

by Jed Lewison

Via Paul Krugman, here's the latest development out of Texas:

Legislature likely to cut deep to meet possible $25 billion budget gap

Texas faces a budget crisis of truly daunting proportions, with lawmakers likely to cut sacrosanct programs such as education for the first time in memory and to lay off hundreds if not thousands of state workers and public university employees.

Texas' GOP leaders, their eyes on the Nov. 2 election, have played down the problem's size, even as the hole in the next two-year cycle has grown in recent weeks to as much as $24 billion to $25 billion. That's about 25 percent of current spending.

The gap is now proportionately larger than the deficit California recently closed with cuts and fee increases, its fourth dose of budget misery since September 2008.

Wait, weren't conservatives arguing that the Texas experience proves conservatives know how to manage governments better than the "coastal elites" in states like California? And now they're looking at a bigger budget gap in percentage terms than California?

Naturally, I guess this means it's a perfect time for Texas conservatives to start debating whether they can secede from Social Security and Medicare. Why stop now when they've already screwed up this much already?

edited to add link

[Avalux]

1. Sweet! And we just re-elected Perry!

Dear God please get me out of here.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. Republicans are incompetent fools - write letters to the Editors please

[rurallib]

3. Looks like they need that repub cure-all - a huge tax cut for the wealthy

[brewens]

4. Give Texas back to Mexico, if they'll take it! I've been saying

that for years. It might be hard to get them to take it with the way the Dallas Cowboys are playing now.

[BlueCaliDem]

5. Chris Jansing, that brown-noser at MSNBC

highlighted that California is looking at a $12 billion dollar deficit, and that a lot of CAlifornians are going to look to him for solutions, but because California is predominantly Democratic, they might find it hard to cut popular programs and anger California voters.

Not once did Chris "Stewy Griffin" Jansing mention Texas, or how Perry won reelection or that Texas is facing this huge deficit MUCH bigger than California, and I doubt anyone on the morning programs will. Naw. Concentrate on California that was smart enough to not listen to media hype and fearmongering, and went with the a straight Democratic ticket.

[Nancy Waterman]

6. Rick Perry was just on The Daily Show

bragging about how many jobs were created in Texas and what good shape they are in.
He didn't mention their budget gap.

[Kdillard]

7. Of course not because that would destroy the meme.

[ashleyforachange]

8. As my former state...

I will have to defend some aspects of it. First, give Rick Perry some credit. There has actual been an increase in certain industries as far as employment. Texas continues to be one of the states that has been the least damaged by the recession. The republicans there have done some what of a good job on certain parts of the Texas economy. HOWEVER, the budget gap cannot be ignored especially when the gaps between the wealthy and the poor are very obvious. The amount of people in the education field are already strained working on less funding with each and every year, with less staff but still have to pull high TAKS scores out of their ass.