An $11 billion budget surplus

Why can’t California be like Texas, with an $11 billion state budget surplus? Despite — or because of — having no income tax. Instead, California has a $20 billion budget deficit. Our governor, supposedly an “action hero,” whines to Washington to get a bailout; Texas’ governor, despite similar problems of paying for social services for immigrants, doesn’t.

The states have a lot in common: a lot of high tech industries (bigger in Calif.), oil industries (bigger in Tex.); a large immigrant population, especially from Mexico; large populations.

What’s the difference? In Texas, they welcome businesses. In California, businesses are treated like pariahs. AB32, the greenhouse gases/global warming bill that Gov. Schwarzenegger made the keystone of his legacy 4 years ago, is ripping up the state’s businesses — even as a record snow blankets the Northeast of the USA, especially Washington, D.C., the center of the global-warming cargo cult.

Comments(2)
  1. stevefromsacto says:

    Another reason that won’t get mentioned on a right-wing blog: Texas taxes oil production. So does every other oil-producing state in the nation…except for California.

  2. Susan Madden says:

    You are right on. Currently, Texas enjoys an above-average economy. There have been frequent reports in the news of numerous companies moving from California to Texas because of our business-friendly environment. (For more information, see http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/news/CEOs-rated-Texas-as-the-1-state-to-do-business-four-years-in-a-row.html )

    God bless Texas!

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