Rick Perry demands more flexibility from Obama.

From the Houston Chronicle:

“I’m almost positive we have said publicly that we would take 80 percent less of the money if they’d give us 100 percent flexibility. We could cover more people and do it cheaper, but the federal government refuses to allow states the flexibility. They just don’t want to cede control of that almighty free money that they have up there,” Perry said Tuesday after a speech to a National Federation of Independent Business/Texas conference.

I would like to remind the good people about the budget choices and prioritization of funds that Rick Perry and the Republican party made for Texas the last few years.

In Education:
5 Billion in funds cut to public schools.
This has led to the cutting of bus routes, school districts requiring payment for buses, the firing of custodians and asking teachers to do the work, the closing of schools, the congestion of classrooms and the loss of 10,000 teaching jobs among tens of thousands of other positions in the state. All while schools are being asked to perform at a higher level, and when the state is adding 80,000 new students per year.
But don't assume this only affects the lower grades. Higher education institutions, many tier one classed, are complaining as well as their budgets are reduced by 9%. This will force even higher tuition at a time when getting a college education is already at record highs. But hey, if you're a Republican, Mitt Romney's answer is to "shop around".
(This has, by the way,led to 600 school districts suing the state.)

In Health Care:
Thedefunding of Planned Parenthood leaving at least 50,000 impoverished women without reproductive services, while the current rejection of federal funds willleave the larger 130,000 women requiring services out in the cold.
And in a mixed topic, the budget also leads to the elimination of Texas' primary care residency program, reduces funding for family practice residency and eliminates 220 million from health science centers and their research. This during a time when researches in San Antonio, at the highly esteemed Biomedical Research Institue, are trying to fund a new breakthrough HIV vaccine patent. Not a cure, but an even more effective way of fighting the virus.

In.... Everything Else:
Well there's a lot. The Children's Health Insurance Program was cut, the Texas Historical Commission lost its ability to preserve landmarks (this drives me crazy considering how much Texas claims to love its past), 2 year colleges lost funds.
So hey great product Rick, only 22% of 8th graders go onto get a college degree within six years of high school graduation, we've got the fourth highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, we lead the country in minimum wage jobs and we don't have many college graduates.  Oh, and your elevated high school dropout rates? You probably lied about that.

But hey gub'ner. You sure know how to run a lean, mean, effective state. I trust you to put the money where it needs to go.

Oh wait. 

I Got 98% Of What I Wanted

John Boehner says he got 98% of what he wanted, and that he's happy with it. Will you be happy with it, Ohio?

John Boehner needs to take responsibility for what he did and said, instead of trying to pass the blame for the sequester onto Obama.

Jesus Christ would be crucified Today.

In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote a song about Jesus Christ. In it, he describes Jesus as a carpenter, who helped the sick, poor, hungry and hurt. He describes him as a man who trumpeted the poor, who went to the law and preachers of his era and told them to sell their riches and give it to the poor, and was crucified for it.

I know it's trendy to talk about how Republican policies often contradict much of what Christ stood for, despite being cozy with the religious right, but this isn't a new criticism of politicians. It's important to understand that much of what we consider progressive, the first New Deal, was actually a huge bailout for big businesses. It had nothing to do with helping the little guy. It's the same criticism modern progressive level against the bank bailouts, and it's absolutely true. That first New Deal was all about saving the hides of businessmen. That's why FDR was so heavily criticized. He was criticized by Huey Long. He was criticized by Upton Sinclair. And he was criticized by artists like Woody Guthrie.

Jesus Christ was a man who traveled through the land
Hard working man and brave
He said to the rich, "Give your goods to the poor."
So they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand
His followers true and brave
One dirty little coward called Judas Iscariot
Has laid Jesus Christ in his grave
He went to the sick, he went to the poor,
And he went to the hungry and the lame;
Said that the poor would one day win this world,
And so they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

He went to the preacher, he went to the sheriff,
Told them all the same;
Sell all of your jewelry and give it to the Poor,
But they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
When Jesus came to town, the working folks around,
Believed what he did say;
The bankers and the preachers they nailed him on a cross,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
Poor working people, they follered him around,
Sung and shouted gay;
Cops and the soldiers, they nailed him in the air,
And they nailed Jesus Christ in his grave.

Well the people held their breath when they heard about his death,
And everybody wondered why;
It was the landlord and the soldiers that he hired.
That nailed Jesus Christ in the sky.
When the love of the poor shall one day turn to hate.
When the patience of the workers gives away
"Would be better for you rich if you never had been born"
So they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
This song was written in New York City
Of rich men, preachers and slaves
Yes, if Jesus was to preach like he preached in Galillee,
They would lay Jesus Christ in his grave.

The problems we have today aren't new and the hypocrisies of our politicians isn't novel. FDR was no saint. And most politicians would find Christ's demands unreasonable. Still, for much of what Woody was singing about, I'm a Christian.

Texas' Recovering Economy that Leaves People Behind

Today in the Houston Chronicle, there was an interesting article about a young woman named Tameka Morris who completed her nursing degree in 2010. Following her completion, she'd hoped to capitalize on it and join the ranks of the professional field. Unfortunately:

"Since graduating in May, however, she's been unable to capitalize on her education. Employers want more experience than she had accumulated, or job opportunities were too far away for her to consider because of transportation issues.

The single mother survives by working two to three temporary home health jobs. In a good month, she earns about $900."

There are a few issues that spring to mind just in reading this small quote. Employers have long been demanding levels of experience at cheap wages, especially since the beginning of the recent recession. Of course, there's also the issue of transportation. While Republicans have put a halt on the construction of infrastructure in the name of budgeting, they've affected the lives of people like Tameka Morris. Time and again, Texas has seen resistance to the construction of new transportation methods like next generation rail systems. Houston is, fortunately, internally developing its own system. However, there are still people, like Tameka, waiting in the wings. There's an even greater half truth hidden in this story, however.

"In the wake of the recession, 41 percent of households headed by single women with children live in poverty - nearly triple the national poverty rate, according to 2010 census data.

And while the economy in Texas has recovered more quickly than in the rest of the country, the state's single mother poverty rate is just as high at 42 percent." (Emphasis added.)

Going back to the early days of the Perry campaign, we've seen these claims of Texas' strong economy and how well it's doing. However, for individuals like Tameka, there is no change. A lack of investment in infrastructure is only one problem that lower income workers are facing. It is true, of course, that Texas is one of the leading states in job growth. The state nearly doubled the nation in the growth of non-agricultural jobs.

However, it is not only the growth of jobs, but the quality of the jobs grown that is important. In that respect, Texas has not been on the cutting edge of development. Time and again the claim has been made that Texas somehow has done wonders for its citizens by slashing taxes on business and by removing protections from workers. Never mind that Rick Perry and the state legislature did this by slashing the education budget, one of the surefire ways of crippling your states future viability.

Texas closed its budget by removing funding for both public education facilities and higher education. Those attending the neediest schools were left with even less resources, and those with the least ability to pay for college were left wondering what to do with their futures. Its graduation rate in high school is one of the worst in the country, ranked somewhere between 46th and 50th, depending on who you consult. Its college graduation rate, however, is indisputably poor, topping out around 50% for four year college attendees. Meanwhile, health and human services, as well as medicaid operators, were left with drastically slashed budgets.

What was the goal of such drastic reduction of aid to the poorest in the population? Was this truly in the name of good business? Because if so, Texas took up the wrong business plan. Nearly ten percent of the state is employed at the minimum wage rate, and many Texas earn less money than their peers around the country working in the same jobs.

So Texas politicians expect the citizens of the state to believe that worse paying jobs, backed by an underfunded education systems and lack of safety nets for the neediest citizens, is somehow the key to the future? Where is the logic? Where is the passion for the state's people? There is a future coming, one in which the great nations of this earth are investing heavily into next generation technologies and resources. We are seeing the advent of new types of cars and energy production, and that wave of technological development isn't awaiting in some flighty, science fiction future. It's here, it's coming now, and will be maturing within a few years. Can Texas honestly expect to be competitive in that realm when its doesn't bother to educate its future generations properly, and funnels its citizens into low paying jobs without any support?

The state, instead, looks to continue a trend of generating underemployed citizens with few options. Women like Tameka Morris are an unfortunate part of the new Texas underclass, a group of skilled individuals who cannot find adequately paying employment due to a variety of circumstances, and who find themselves without the necessary social supports to live safely month to month.