A look into State Senator Eliot Shapleigh's report, "Texas on the brink 2009."
My family moved down to Dallas a few years ago from New York. To my early surprise, Dallas was a progressive urban sprawl city that seemed like it was expanding on a daily basis. The mixture of young professional, Mexican, Tejano, gay, and cowboy culture made for a city that should lead the way for the rest of the state. But when you dig deeper, and pull back the, "facade of progress," Texas is no more than a failed attempt at creating a ideologically conservative state.
Over the last few months, Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry has been ranting and raving about the potential for Texas seceding from the union. He has been prophetically calling for the importance of, "states rights," which for many, have recalled memories of anti-segregation speech during the Civil Rights Era. And recently, when Gov. Perry was asked about the terrible problems facing his state, and the effect of the recession on Texans, he responded by questioning that there even was a recession. The leadership of the state is not only delusional, it is dangerous, and Texas is slowly sinking into irrevocable damage.
A Texas State Senator from El Paso, Eliot Shapleigh, over the last few years, has run series of reports on the state of Texas entitled, "Texas on the Brink" (google doc). In this post, I will present some of the striking statistics about Texas, and how the leadership and failed policies have left it's citizens in a worse position than another other state in the country. I will go back to his article throughout this piece, it is an important article, not only for Texans.
Senator Shapleigh writes in his introduction...
From humble beginnings, we built a state with the firm belief that every Texan might rise as high and as far as their spirit, hard work, and talent might carry them. With education and determination every Texan might achieve great success - home ownership, reliable healthcare, safe neighborhoods, and financial prosperity.
In Texas today, the American dream is distant. Texans have the highest percentage of uninsured children in the nation. Texas is dead last in the percentage of residents with their high school diploma near last in SAT scores. Texas now has America's dirtiest air. If we do not change course, for the first time in our history, the Texas generation of tomorrow will be less prosperous than the generation of today.
The Senator's first paragraph is a great definition of what it means to be conservative. Through hard work and perseverance, the American dream can be achieved by almost anyone. It sounds like a beautiful dream, simple in its explanation it is, but nearly impossible in its application. Texas has relied on its citizens to pull themselves up by their bootstraps without giving them the aid its residents need. Let's first look at at State Taxes (note: there is no state income tax in Texas)...
Tax Revenue Raised Per Capita = 49th
Tax Expenditures Per Capita = 50th
Sales Tax Per Capita = 22nd
Progressivity of Tax Revenues = 44th
Texas is listed as one of the states with the most regressive tax system in the country. As Senator Shapleigh notes, a 2003 report revealed that Texas requires that those families that are in the bottom 20% in income must pay 3 times the share of their personal earnings than the wealthiest 1%. Not only that, but in terms of sales tax, the same applies to the lower 20th percentile, compared to the top 20th percentile. The poor are punished for being poor, while the rich thrive, this is the Texas way, and it has left many outsiders questioning their government officials motives.
The Educational system in Texas would be a hilarious story of incompetence, if only real life children weren't suffering through it. First, it is important to note that Texas has the second highest public school enrollment in the country, so the quality of its public education is crucial for the growth of future Texans. Here are some stats from the Senator...
Average Teacher Salary as a % of Avg Annual Pay = 49th
Current Expenditures Per Student = 44th
State Aid Per Pupil in Average Daily Attendance = 47th
% of Elementary/Secondary...Funding from State Revenue = 47th
% of Population 25 and Older With a [HS] Diploma = 50th
High School Graduation Rate = 41st
Enrollment Rates in Higher Education = 39th
Per Capita State Spending on State Arts Agencies = 47th
These stats make it clear that even though Texas has a plethora of students that are their responsibility, the state refuses to put money into their educational system. It starts at the elementary level, and it expands to the collegiate level, the money is non-existent, and the results have shown that Texas is one of the most uneducated states in the nation. The Senator also notes the, "gap in funding between high-poverty and low-poverty school districts widened between 2000 and 2006." The State then clearly realizes the problems they are in, and have decided to strip even more funding away from low-poverty schools. As a result, test scores for minorities and low-income families have fallen steadily (below the national average). This has lead to even higher drop-out rates for Hispanic students, which make up a huge portion of the current and growing population.
The problems continue to get worse in regards to higher education. The Senator says that, "only 26 percent of the population aged 25-64 has a bachelor's degree or higher." Coming out of the Texas public school system into the collegiate system has proved difficult for students. "50 percent of college freshman in Texas are enrolled in remedial or development classes, compared to 28 percent across the U.S." Therefore, students are behind right from the beginning, and are put in a hole that they must dig themselves out of through hard work and perseverance, right? One would think, conservative or not, that the state should spend the money to aid families financially to pursue higher education. The more college educated Texans there are, the better, right? Well, "Texas funds only 32 percent of need-based financial aid, as opposed to 89 percent by the top-inventing states." As the price of college has increased across the state and the nation, Texas is funding less and less qualified low income students with financial aid, a sad fact. As a result, Texas students have had to borrow twice as much in loans as compared to the national average. With all of the universities and colleges in the state, the Senator notes that according the the well respected US News and World Reports, only UT Austin, and Texas A&M made it into the top 100 (47 and 64 respectively). If you dig even deeper into the stats, it's clear that minorities are dropping out, and graduating at a strikingly lower rate than white students...it all starts in elementary school, where the funding has been cut for minority laden schools.
**Sorry for the length of this post, but I can't help but touch on as many problems as I can. I'm embarrassed I live there, I need to vent.
Now, onto the state of children in Texas. Children are the future, we need to leave for them a state and country better than the one we lived in, this is what we always hear. So if any state in the country, the state with the 2nd highest birth rate, and the state that has the 2nd highest percentage of their population under 18, Texas should be the shining example in how to protect and serve children...
Percentage of Uninsured Children = 1st
Percentage of Children Living in Poverty = 7th
Percentage of Children Fully Immunized = 36th
Percentage of Children Overweight = 5th
Texas children are poor, fat, exposed to treatable diseases, and can't be effectively treated for illness. And the birth rate is growing at almost an unsustainable rate, yet the state has not stepped up to help control the gap between care and wealth.
The Senator notes that a staggering, "86 percent of children whose parents did not have a high school degree live in low-income families, compared to 27 percent of children whose parents had some college education." Yet Texas has cut funding to low-income schools, cut financial aid for college for low-income students, and has continued to watch standardized test scores sit below the national average for years.
Conservatives profess their belief in the family structure, and preserving its righteousness. Yet in Texas, "46 percent of children in low-income families live with a single parent," and the numbers are even higher for minority families. How does the state help these families? Sad, but predicable, "the maximum Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant for a family of three with no income is $213 per month in Texas, ranking 48th amongst the states." It is pretty obvious that Texas is the laziest state in the country, and these low-income families do not deserve to get state funding, eh? Conservatism in action, and look at the results. Texas is 46th in the country in child well-being, and has earned an "F" grade from the March of Dimes, due to 1 in 7 babies being born prematurely according to the Senator. And it will only get worse and worse.
Texas, a state built on pride and self-reliance, you would think that they would treat their women with respect. This may shock you.
Teenage Birth Rate = 1st
Percentage of Non-Elderly Women with Health Insurance = 50th
Rate of Women Aged 40+ Who Receive Mammograms = 42nd
Rate of Women Aged 18+ Who Receive Pap Smears = 46th
Cervical Cancer Rate = 6th
Family Planning = 45th
Women's Voter Turnout = 49th
Percentage of Women Living in Poverty = 3rd
Yes, women are treated like lower class citizens in Texas, and are mostly stripped of any voice in the government. The Senator notes that, "In 2008, only seven women in Texas are elected to the 27 statewide offices, and only four are elected to the 34 offices representing Texas in the U.S. Congress." The differences in the treatment and equality of minority women as compared to white men and women is remarkable. They get sicker, they receive less care, have a lower level of education, do not work in managerial positions, yet they continue to have children that are unhealthy and it will continue to be that way. Yet the state sits by idly, waiting for its Texans to start motivating themselves to get out of the gutter!
Reliance on little government intervention capitalism and strong conservatism go hand in hand. Let's see how this approach has helped Texas...
Percent of Mortgage Loans that are Sub prime = 8th
Percent of Households with Interest-Bearing Accounts = 41st
Private Loans to Small Businesses = 43rd
Level of Asset Poverty = 43rd
Amount of Money that Banks Located in the State Collect through Deposits in Relation to the Amount of Money the Banks Re-channel Back into Communities Through Loans = 45th
Average Credit Score = 50th
Texas has been hit hard by the incompetence of the sub prime mortgage fiasco, yet the state has done very little to aid these families. Small businesses suffer due to the lack of a "kick start" that many governments and banks give potentially successful businesses. Therefore, Texans are left to spend what little money they have, and rely on credit to, "dig themselves out of poverty." As a result, our credit scores are an embarrassing last in the country, and as we all know, it's almost impossible to accumulate wealth with a poor credit score.
Texas is oil, and throughout it's history, people have moved from all over the country to try and reap the benefits from the states natural gift. I don't have any numbers on this, but from my experience, Texas is flooded with more trucks and SUV's than I have ever seen in my life. Yet the sad part, is that size is flaunted in Texas, the bigger the truck, the prouder and more respect one gets. Size is power, and as a result, Texas is poisoning it's population with it's emissions.
Air Pollution Emissions = 1st
Amount of [VOC's] Released into Air = 1st
Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Water = 1st
Amount of Recognized Cancer-Causing Carcinogens Released into Air = 1st
Amount of Hazardous Waste Generated = 2nd
Amount of Carbon Dioxide Emissions = 1st
It's a frightening situation when the more harm the environment causes to the populations health correlates directly with the lack of quality, accessible health care. I wonder where Texas will side on the upcoming debate on Climate Change? If you missed the sarcasm, I can guarantee that they will argue for maintaining the status quo, even though the facts are clearly laid out before their representatives eyes that the state is a cancer trap.
What is truly amazing is that, as the Senator notes, "if Texas were a country, it would have the tenth largest economy in the world. Currently, Texas has the second largest economy in the nation with a [GDP] of $1.142 trillion for 2007." However, the average personal per capita income is only $35,000, and 21.5% of Texans live in poverty. The gap between the rich and the poor is archaic to say the least...(paraphrased)
Richest 20% of families have avg incomes 7.9 larger than poorest 20% and 2.8 times larer than middle 20%
From the late 1980s to the mid-2000s, the avg income of the poorest 20% has increased $2,657...the middle 20% has increased $4,528.
...the average income of the richest 20% increased $32,813 [in that 20 year span]
The rich continue to get richer, while the middle and lower class have remained fairly stagnant in their income over the last 20 years. Conservatives must be shocked at how ignorant millions and millions of Texans are. They have been waiting 20 years for government hand outs, don't they realize it's not coming? It's clear the poor, and the minorities are deficient, and naturally less successful and than rich whites. How did they all end up in Texas and why isn't this happening to other states? Turing a blind eye to the problems, a conservative flaw that has left Texas in a dismal state.
With a state that has as high an influx of children as any other, Texas is trying to keep their overall population numbers down by giving the worst possible care to the elderly as possible. Texas's death panels are known as nursing homes, I know...it's a little ironic right winger nutters...
A 2002 report found that 86% of nursing homes in Texas did not meet federal standards governing quality of care, 94% of nursing homes did not meet minimum staffing levels, and 39% of facilities had a violation that caused actual harm to nursing home residents or placed them at risk for death or serious injury.
The average nursing home in Texas provided just 21 minutes of daily care by registered nurses for each resident, or less than half of the minimum required by federal standards.
The moral of this story? Whatever you do, don't send your grandmother to a nursing home in Texas. There's only one way she will be getting out of there alive, and that's if you take her back home. What does the future hold for the elderly in Texas? Senator Shapleigh enlightens us. "The population in Texas that is over 65 years of age will be expected to grow from 2.1 to 7.4 million, or 258%, by 2040." If you're getting old, move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
The moment now we have all been waiting for, the state of the health care system in Texas. Something to remember, Senator Cornyn and Senator Hutchinson, Republicans from Texas, both have stated that they will vote against the current health care reform bill, and do not support the creation of a public health insurance option to compete with the private industry, or allowing all Americans the opportunity to buy into Medicare.
Percentage of Population Uninsured = 1st
Percentage of Non-Elderly Uninsured = 1st
Percentage of Low Income Covered by Medicaid = 42nd
Percentage...with employer Based Health Insurance = 46th
Total State Government Health Expenditures as Percent of the GSP = 33rd
Per Capita State Spending on Mental Health = 48th
Percentage of Population Physically Active = 41st
Physicians - 43rd
Dentists = 42nd
Registered Nurses = 43rd
You may be asking yourself, why do so few people buy into Medicaid. Well, the Senator tells us that, "Texas does not provide Medicaid to parents making even poverty-line incomes; therefore, a working parent of two does not quality for coverage if he or she makes more than $4,824 in a year."
You could say that Texas, a state with the 10th largest GDP in the world, treats its citizens health like they are a third world nation. The Health Care situation is reaching a breaking point across the nation, yet Texas already has a broken system, but its elected officials refuse to vote for reform that will start the healing process.
Finally, one last segment to talk about. For a educational system that professes Creationism as a valid theory of evolution, and is thinking about rewriting their text books so that they will remove Thurgood Marshall and Cesar Chavez as important parts of history, and basically become a mouth piece for a conservative version of our nations history, the fact that they teach abstinence should not surprise anyone. But where has abstinence only programs got the state?
2005, the birth rate for ages 15-19 was 61.6 per 1000, compared to 40.5 in the U.S.
2001 statewide survey of Texas high school students, almost half had engaged in sexual intercourse at least once. (37.4% of 9th graders)
Among currently sexually active students, only about half reported that they or their partner had used a condom...Only 10% reported that they or their partner used birth control pills.
22.6% of sexually active students had used drugs or alcohol at the time of their last sexual intercourse.
I will not even go into what the states sex education consists of, or the abortion rates, or anything like that, but you can imagine the type of advice these children get.
In Texas, the state has followed conservative ideology, and has kept it's hands off its citizens. It has stayed true to its roots where the American Dream is possible if you put your heart and soul into it. And when problems started to grow, the state continued to stubbornly remain true to its principles. Now, the state has failed, and is falling head first into tragedy. Yet Governor Perry believes that there has been no recession, its Senators do not want to reform Health Care, and elected officials want to rewrite the text books to glorify Conservative icons. Texas is run by twisted, delusional, and incompetent officials, that put their faith in god and conservatism to raise them out of the depths. Wake up Texas. It's time for the government to get their hands dirty and start helping your population get out of this crisis. Stop pandering to the rich, and start acknowledging your poor. Secession Governor Perry? You need the federal government more than any state in the nation, realize it, accept it, and start doing your job.
Once again, thanks to Senator Eliot Shapleigh and his important report, "Texas on the Brink, 2009."
Post taken from the Outside the Box Blog.