Gov. Perry - Pro-Texas ads in other states (school, income)

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Appreciate the intellectual honesty. I agree as well. This runup in costs hurts the poor and middle class the most. Being against these reforms is regressive.

When I started my graduate degree, three years later, tuition nearly doubled. I almost quit due to this as I was 100% self financed.

It used to be the faculty ran the colleges and the deans pretty much controlled their own schools and had their own admin staff and that was it. IMHO we should return to this with a small staff around the college president and the various Deans collaborating on admissions. Add in a small staff around the trustees for oversight. Outsource stuff like IT and maintenance.

If Libs wanted to have an impact, they should look elsewhere for needed reforms. I can think of several major areas, but they have little to do with the usual guns, gender and race or other typical Liberal concerns.

One area is K-12 education reforms with the focus on votech. Another is revamping the county hospital system. A third is addressing road funding. A fourth is energy development. A fifth is land management and water resources. All of these when fixed would help the less fortunate by lowering costs for them and providing real opportunities to share in the TX growth.

Libs could get out in front on these early, but unfortunately half of the Democrats in TX take their cues from the national level rather than looking for real problems that need to be solved. They think "Lexus Lanes" and bashing Perry is a policy statement of high impact, while poor families struggle with less opportunity and increasing costs.

I just want to point out that there is a difference between a "liberal" and a "Democrat". I'm a liberal but I am NOT a Democrat. I also think this state has much bigger fish to fry than Lexus Lanes and a lame duck governor.

I'd love to see tertiary education reform with regard to trimming fat and bringing costs down for students, and I'd be open-minded about pretty much anything at this point. Let's put it all out on the table.

[TXStrat]

Not sure why people think that attracting more businesses to Texas is bad thing. Ann Richards (D) understood it, W (R) understood it, and Perry (R) understands it. This is not something Perry cooked up during his time in office...

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Soundbite politics and squirrel chasing politics at its best. This is why the Democrat party in TX is increasingly irrelevant in the state.

I do not vote democrat and never will. period.

The Perry "republicans" are increasingly irrelevant to me.

[War Beagle]

I am of the opinion that this is a bad idea. It seems to be luring the blue vermin to Texas.

[car957]

Originally Posted by happycrow

And a great deal of that is due to administrative bloat, as I've witnessed first-hand (which is why the Austinites, who get to rent-seek off that bloat, are screaming at the thought of losing their gravy). On more than one occasion I've seen faculty getting cut while completely useless 6-digit administrative positions are created as political sinecures.

I have no idea of what your saying. I sense your talking about UT but throwing all of Austin into the mix is analagous to saying all of Irving is full of douchebags.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I don't see the governors of those states in any of those commercials.

Maybe it is because the governors of those states govern states that have made an economic mess of themselves. Reckon?

I am no great big fan of Perry, either...but at the same time, he is merely the messenger; on many levels, simply taking advantage of -- and speaking a truth -- about why the business climate is much better down here than what has long been made a disaster up there. Reckon...again?

[ScoPro]

That right there.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Response from Governor O'Malley:
Gov. O’Malley: What Maryland does better than Texas - The Washington Post

For the record, I don't have much of a problem with the governor of a state lobbying companies to locate in their state. Unfortunately, Governor Perry has a history of corruption, shady-deals and kick-backs. That's how someone who has spent their entire life and career in government becomes a multi-millionaire.

Governor O'Malley also makes some good points. Once you scratch the surface a little on the "Texas miracle" is doesn't smell so rosy. Like Governor Perry's laughable attempt to run for President, in many ways the state's reputation is "All hat and no cattle." Texas has tons of problems and many of those problems are getting worse. The response from the current Governor of Texas to many of the problems has been basically "Who gives a damn?"

But, the people here keep voting for him which certainly leads one to question the education system in this state.

[Trainwreck20]

The real question for Texas is not where they rank, but is it ('it' being various metrics) getting better or worse? Are more people graduating than last year? Are more people earning more than minimum wage? Etc. There have been few relatively unbiased studies, but demonstrations can be made that the 'they are all minimum wage jobs' arguments are not accurate. Also, most states that are pointing out their better stats (graduation rate, health care) do not have near the number of poor immigrants (legal or otherwise) that Texas has.

Now, I am not saying that Texas is the place to do business in all cases, or even most cases. It is doing well currently, mostly supported at the base by the oil and gas industry (again). That drives the construction industry, as well. Between the two, you can cure a lot of what ails you. If you make cam shafts or stereo speakers or whatever, though, it might not mean squat.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The real question for Texas is not where they rank, but is it ('it' being various metrics) getting better or worse? Are more people graduating than last year? Are more people earning more than minimum wage? Etc. There have been few relatively unbiased studies, but demonstrations can be made that the 'they are all minimum wage jobs' arguments are not accurate. Also, most states that are pointing out their better stats (graduation rate, health care) do not have near the number of poor immigrants (legal or otherwise) that Texas has.

Now, I am not saying that Texas is the place to do business in all cases, or even most cases. It is doing well currently, mostly supported at the base by the oil and gas industry (again). That drives the construction industry, as well. Between the two, you can cure a lot of what ails you. If you make cam shafts or stereo speakers or whatever, though, it might not mean squat.

I don't know anyone who is saying "they are all minimum wage jobs." Governor O'Malley is not saying that. He is simply pointing out data that shows that Texas has a very high percentage of minimum wage jobs. Do you have evidence that disproves those facts?

In terms of "poor immigrants," why do you assume Texas is the only state to experience that phenomenon? California and Arizona also have many "poor immigrants." Frankly, so does much of the East Coast, including Maryland. The difference is that Maryland's public school system is much, much, much better than the public school system in Texas.

And Maryland didn't used to be the number one in education. They took that spot from state's like Massachusetts and Connecticut. They have improved significantly over the past decade and Texas has gotten worse.