Poverty in Texas

I have been thinking about the title of Rick Perry's book.  Fed Up.  He is fed up with Washington.  This made me think of all the people in Texas, and across the United States who are not fed up, who are actually fed very little.  So this is what I found:

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 28% of children in Texas live at or below the poverty line with.  Nationally that number is a bit better, though still shameful at 24%.

The Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture places Texas at 17.1% for people living at or below the poverty level.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2008-2009, 16% of people in Texas were poor, compared to 13.3% nationally.

Of the ten poorest counties in the United States, the top three are in Texas.

Maybe Fed Up! was not as clever a title as he imagined....

"If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, 

but by our institutions, great is our sin."

--Charles Darwin

I forgot to add my jobs quote!

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is to work hard at work worth doing." --Teddy Roosevelt

Jobs in Texas

According to today's Texas Tribune, unemployment in Texas is at its highest point in 25 years.  Yet surprisingly, Governor Perry's campaign website is dominated by accounts of his success as a job-creating political leader. Let's take a closer look:

Additionally, according to the State Comptroller's Economic Status Report, unemployment in Texas is on the RISE, currently at 8.4%, up from 8.2% in June.  Let's keep in mind that the national unemployment rate is 9.1%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks Texas  27th nationally, below more heavily regulated states like Massachusetts (ranked 16th with 7.6% unemployment) and New York (ranked 23rd with 8% unemployment).

While Governor Perry is correct to point out that Texas added more jobs last year than any other state.  However, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report issued in March this year ranked Texas 23rd for per capita personal income.

Creating jobs is laudable, but Americans need jobs that enable them to support their families.  This has proven difficult for those making less than $40,000 per year.

Rick Perry and the roughing up of Ben Bernanke

What does Governor Perry mean when he discusses the likely violent behavior of Texans to a visit by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke?

Surely he is not implying that Texans would physically attack a man for his attempts to rescue the American economy from further disaster, i.e. deflation.  Or even attempting to re-galvanize the chest-thumping bravado of which we all grew so tired, even Texans, during the presidency of George W. Bush.

No, it seems Governor Perry is seeking to rough-ride a wave of anger and disillusionment into the good graces of those who would choose to confront the major problem facing Americans, poverty, with measures that kick those who are already down.

Why should anger and intolerance be successful tools for getting elected?  A President elected in such a fashion would be dangerous to the survivability of an America in which liberty AND security can co-exist.

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." -Mark Twain