Ever since the Democrats lost
governing control of Texas they have been working tirelessly to gain it back.
Most college age individuals support liberal efforts and organizations like “Turn
Texas Blue” that aim to give Democrats back control of the State. Although, if Millennials
took a closer look with an open mind, they would see that its not in their best
interest to live in a Blue State.
Liberals like to talk about Compassionate Government but end up
voting for policies that take more from citizens, increase the cost of living;
setting up more road blocks to success through red tape, layers of bureaucracy,
and Government dependance. Take California as an example, which has similar statistics
as far as population size, demographics, and other measures in comparison to
Texas. Both California and Texas are among the highest producing economies in
the world. The difference is Democrat controlled California run with liberal
policies take, spend, and waste much more of the wealth it takes from its
citizens; and is arguably more corrupt and inefficient then Texas.
Our Texas politicians are
public servants working part time for a meager pay, meeting for one legislative
session every 2 years. California on the other hand is passing legislation year
round by career politicians making handsome salaries.
The cost of living is 40%
lower in Texas than in California. Nearly everything is more affordable in
Texas and so we enjoy a higher standard and quality of living, especially those
in the middle class. Entry to a comfortable middle class lifestyle is obtained
at a much lower income level in Texas; compared to much of coastal California
where an upper middle class income equates to a lower middle class lifestyle.
Texas does not have a state
income tax, nor does it have the myriad of other taxes California attaches to
everything from your restaurant dinning bill to the added cost at the gas pump.
Texas has been a model
success story for economic growth over the past ten plus years; evidenced by
simply removing job growth occurring in Texas, the remaining 49 US states would
have had a net negative job growth over Obama’s presidency. Texas has enacted
conservative low regulation, low tax policies creating a business friendly climate;
attracting many businesses from other states to move here. The cost of food,
gas, housing, goods and services are cheaper. The ability to start a business
is easier and less costly too. Texas citizens are fortunate to not pay a state
income tax, keeping more of their pay checks. By nearly every measure Texas is
better, with the possible exception of the weather and overall natural
landscape.
Liberals certainly lived
comfortably in Texas under governor Rick Perry, who took a more libertarian
approach to governing the state, largely focusing on economics rather then a social
conservative agenda that legislates virtue.
Under Republican policies the
past 12 years, Texas has seen every sector of society being raised; Rich,
middle class, and poor.
Texas does a lot less in
terms of social services then California, yet our outcomes for people in need don’t
fare all that differently.
My message to liberals is to
not get so bent out of shape about being governed by Republicans. The data
refutes the “evil” narrative liberals perpetuate about conservatives and Republicans.
Liberal Democrats should think twice about supporting the “turn Texas Blue”
movement. Liberals and Conservatives alike have been extremely prosperous in
Texas living under conservative policies; and all will continue to as long as
you vote for more libertarian politicians and policies. If your argument is our
government doesn’t do enough to help the poor, or whatever group or cause you
support; then I encourage you to take personal responsibility. Create a budget
that allows for you to give to people in need. Empower yourself and be a positive
force in your community. Volunteer your time and help raise funds privately through
charities and crowd funding websites; rather then demand government forcefully take
from others in order to support your projects and causes. A compassionate government is one that takes
less form its citizens and leaves more in the hands of its people to effect
change in their communities. Successful societies ere on the side of freedom, exhibiting
community based volunteerism and free market solutions. As evidence from history shows, and the success
of Texas proves, power in the hands of the people is far more moral and
efficient then in the hands of Government. So lets do what is best for all our
citizens and Keep Texas Red. Or purple if you wish.
3 comments:
I have to respectfully disagree with your editorial about supporting that Texas remains a “red” state. Although you were making a good comparison between the state of California and the state of Texas having similar population and having fairly similar economical power, in no factual evidence that you provide or in general concensus does Texas have a less corrupt or more efficient government. We both can come to some agreement that any state has some more successful governmental functions than others, none due to the fact of a certain political party.
When discussing the cost of living and comparing it to California’s standard of living and salary you are not providing any factual evidence of this specific claim. I could argue that the cost of living in the city of Austin is grueling expensive, between housing, schooling and the water bill it is very high and only predicted to increase. When discussing income tax and no income tax it is arguably better or worse for a state. (see http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-with-no-income-tax-better-or-worse-1.aspx) Actually Texas, falls at number 5 for the most regressive state tax system in the United States.
With this all being said, I think it is fair to say that there is always room for improvement in government. Whether it is local, state or national there is always a need and demand to improve the system and if it takes a specific party in adjusting and fine tuning the system, in no ways should a compassionate liberal stop supporting for their party to do just that.
In the blog post "Keep Texas Red", the author argues that Texas should remain a Republican state and be ruled under conservative policies. The author does this by making comparisons to California, stating that overall California's government is "overall more corrupt and inefficient" than Texas and that "by nearly every measure Texas is better". Although I think everyone is entitled to their own political ideology and opinion I disagree with these claims because they are factually unsupported. To say that California's government is more corrupt and inefficient because it is ruled by many Democratic policies is a subjective statement with no basis.
It is true that the cost of living in Texas is overall cheaper. It is also true that Texas is business friendly and it doesn't have a state income tax. The examples given as to why Texas is "better" is only in the economic sense. There is no discussion of the overall well-being of citizens-- only that the public shouldn't rely on social services from the government because it would be considered a waste. Furthermore, even though Texas doesn't have an income tax it still compensates for this by having a higher sales tax and property tax.
I don't think that a State should be considered "better" because it doesn't want to use citizens money to fund services to help their fellow citizens. The author argues that people should "take personal responsibility" if they think the government doesn't do enough to help the poor rather than "forcefully take from others to support your projects and causes". This argument implies that people in poverty and unideal circumstances choose to be in that position, which is far from true and why the government is utilized to help. Using words like "forcefully take" also implies that the money used to fund public services is a negative thing--as if a service that helps aid the public for the greater good is a burden and something to resent rather than appreciate.
As a minority in America, I can recognize that life and opportunities aren't as easy to come by as the standard white male/female. It is easy to say as a white male/female that opportunities are equal and everyone is able to earn what they get as long as they try. In present day America it is sad but true that this is not the case. It is easy to say that people need to just "volunteer" their time and "help raise funds privately" as a solution for the poor but this is not the case. That is the attitude of keeping the rich people rich and poor people poor, an attitude of people that know privilege. It is with the help of the government that creates real solutions for people that can't help themselves.
Another thing to point out is that the government in Texas is extremely misrepresented. Mainly comprising of middle-aged white males, and with the growing population of Texas the legislator is becoming less and less representative of the citizens that make up Texas. If the legislator was made up of minorities and people that actually matched the citizens it represented, it is very likely that politicians would stand on the side that looked out for the well-being of the less privileged--aka the "liberal" point of view.
The post of Keep Texas Red, is a post very interesting since the point of view of how related we are as humans with a party identification. This post talks about Texas as an example of success in administration and economy making a comparison with California.
In my first participation topic for the class I mentioned that exceptionalism “should be copied in many other cities or countries: The positivism and the pride about the place where you are from and what you have where you live”, but on the other hand “It blocks the ability of respect differences of points of view, different customs, different kind of living and different beliefs. It creates the confusion between “exceptional” and “perfect,” which is not true. And, finally makes it hard to value other exceptional places and learn from them”.
The comments before in this post mine explain very well the points of comparison with California´s corruption, expenses and cost of life. And, I agree with Echo Noelani that “taking personal responsibility” in helping poor people is not enough. Taking personal responsibility for your environment and the people who share it with you is a good step. But, a government should have social responsibility on helping to mitigate the differences and creating more opportunities for the people, that´s why they`re public employees. What would be a good motivation for leaving the comfort zone of the elite class to change their community?
It´s very easy to talk about the Texas success when it is based on natural resources and a free market that puts high value on them. What would be the exemplary success of Texas if the oil price in the international market plums more? Right now, we are seeing that the price of oil went down to $45/barrel, this situation made that companies like Shell, Exxon, Schlumberger, and others laid off more than 10,000 employees the past 2 years. But, the executives of these companies generally didn´t reduce their salary. What would be the economic history in Texas without the energy resources?
My final point is that the discussion shouldn´t go focused on parties, because history showed us that they change too, according to what they need. We should focus on improving the life style for the community not only individual success. The individual success creates differences and segregate people, where rich communities don´t even mix or realize that there are poor or middle class around them, living in a different way. I think that it doesn´t matter if someone is blue or red or purple or green, it´s necessary to pop our bubbles of comfort zone and take responsibility for others, but also demand that government takes responsibility for us as citizens. That´s why we pay taxes, to improve the life of the community, not just to close ourselves in a car and ask for roads that only we will use.
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