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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

2012 / Politics Texas Is a Welfare Queen

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 11:33 AM

Texas Governor Rick Perry, back in April of 2009:

I believe that our federal government has become oppressive. I believe it’s become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state

Perry is strongly considering a run for the White House on a states' rights platform. He'd be sure to be a teabagger favorite. Except!

Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.

"Stimulus was very helpful in getting them through the last few years," said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers, said of Texas.

Perry, who was a vocal opponent of the Recovery Act, is propped up on a throne of cushy federal government cash.

Comments (15) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

This information is irrelevant. The facts have no place in Texas politics nor in the minds and hearts of Texas politicians. Please don't muddy the water with the truth.

Posted by Sargon Bighorn on January 25, 2011 at 11:43 AM

I still can't fucking believe both Rick Perry and Jan Brewer got re-elected in their respective states.

Perry is corrupt and a weasel, and Brewer is a moron who has no clue what the hell she's doing. And all of that is obvious to everyone in both states. My mother lives in AZ and votes republican and even she admits Brewer is clueless.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on January 25, 2011 at 11:43 AM

This just fails to surprise me anymore. A republican politician speaking out against the federal government while simultaneously cashing their checks? Shocking!

Posted by BigSpinach on January 25, 2011 at 11:52 AM

Well, if the federal gubmint is propping up Texas, than the federal gubmint really IS fucked up.

Posted by Vince on January 25, 2011 at 11:53 AM

this matters naught to the brain dead rubes in texas &/or the united states. watch Perry get elected POTUS.

Posted by Max Solomon on January 25, 2011 at 11:57 AM

This information would be enough to send a Perry presidential bid screaming to the ground in flames, if only the Democrats could be relied upon to use it properly and make sure everyone knew it and knew exactly what it meant.

But they won't.

Posted by balderdash

on January 25, 2011 at 12:14 PM

@4 Texas has a lot of wind energy and high tech development - them's federal funds, y'all.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on January 25, 2011 at 12:21 PM

Color me not shocked...ugh.

Posted by DallasMark on January 25, 2011 at 12:39 PM

Not content to merely bite the hand that feeds him; he eats it.

Posted by Proteus on January 25, 2011 at 12:39 PM

this is generally the rule, not the exception ... I’m w/ #3 an am no longer surprised by the hypocrisy

Posted by olive oyl on January 25, 2011 at 12:43 PM

@6:

In the end would it really matter if the Dems spewed these "facts" onto every broadcast and cable tv channel between now and 2012? As @1 points out, the people who support political hacks like Perry aren't interested in wishy-washy librul nonsense like "facts" or "truth"; they're only interested in what they believe is a fact or truth, regardless of its bearing on actual circumstances.

Posted by COMTE

on January 25, 2011 at 1:04 PM

you libs just love to take it in the ass, don't you...

Texas punks you AND makes you its bitch and then
you post and whine about it.

damn.

have a little pride....

Posted by it must suck and blow to be a liberal.... on January 25, 2011 at 1:48 PM

@11 Idiots still eat up spin, the Dems just need to learn how to spin facts like the Repubs spin lies.

Posted by OuterCow on January 25, 2011 at 1:52 PM

@11

You're right! Republican voters are clearly not human. They're bizarro pod-people. Better give up now and go hide somewhere and be absolutely quiet so they don't inject you with paralyzing venom and lay their irrational eggs in your chest cavity.

Posted by balderdash

on January 25, 2011 at 4:10 PM