I was born and raised in the Great State of Texas, and have never been outside its borders for more than about a week at a time. I’ve been enormously proud to be a Texan, but not so much in recent years as in the past. For the last dozen years or so Texas has become a meaner state in which to live. The purpose of the government seems to have shifted from protecting to exploiting our citizens. A pro-business political stance is one thing, but an anti-consumer stance is quite another. And when you combine general meanness with borderline corruption, you have the recipe for state-wide disaster.
The Dallas Morning News has begun what appears to be a remarkably clear-sighted series of articles exposing some of the excesses of our state government, and corresponding deficiencies. The series is titled A State of Neglect, and I urge all Texans to read it. It will make you think twice about our state government, especially as the next legislative session is about to begin this month. Here are the opening paragraphs of the series:
For the weak and the vulnerable, Texas has long been an especially hard place. Year after year, national surveys place the state at or near the bottom in such categories as assistance to poor children and the malnourished, treatment of the mentally ill and care of the disabled.
But it isn’t only the poor and afflicted who need the state of Texas.
All Texans — from the well-heeled to the shoeless, from young to old, from urban to rural — depend on state government for some degree of vigilance. In many ways, the state is the first and only line of defense for the average Texan’s home, health and wallet.
This month, the Texas Legislature will open its 81st session with a $10 billion budget surplus. Many leaders have called this the happy result of state government that keeps taxes low and regulation light, and that makes Texas, for the vast majority of its residents, a great place to live.
Unless you are hospitalized. Or buy insurance. Or breath the air. Or engage in any other daily activity that requires state oversight.
In a continuing series that begins today, The Dallas Morning News will show how the state of Texas determines whom it protects and whom it excludes. The News will examine the strong influence of special interests and their lobbyists on the writing of laws and the workings of state government.
And it will reveal who has benefited from that influence. The frequent answer: Not those who need it the most.
