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Re: policy » Declan

Posted by AuntieMel on March 17, 2006, at 10:43:46

In reply to Re: policy » Jakeman, posted by Declan on March 16, 2006, at 19:08:38

Are there really that many of us? Jake, me, Phil, Shar, chemist, JamesK, TexasChic, matt. Who am I missing?

Maybe people are just suprised because when they think of Texas they think of oil wells and cowboys. I hear that a lot from people who haven't been here - just as a lot who come to Houston for the first time are surprised at how green it is here - it's actually a semi-tropical environment, not the dry terrains you see in movies and such.

We're also thought of, especially lately, of being extremely conservative, but I'm not sure if that's as true as it looks. One interesting thing about the state is that virtually no one is a 'registered' republican, democrat, or anything else. We aren't required to state any affiliate and I bet any attempts to change that law would be met screaming.

Generally we have a distrust for all things governmental. The governor of the state has almost no power at all. It was funny when Bush first ran and people I knew asked us if he was a good governor. Who would know? I'd say - the governer can't do anything.

The state legislature only meets for 90 days every-other year. They (this is the one power the governor has) can be called for a 'special session' but that session is supposed to address specific issues only.

The governor here can't even pardon a prisoner unless the request is sent to him from the state board of Pardons and Parole. (Though the gov. does appoint the board so they tend to be like-thinking)

All of this is in the state constitution, which was written right after the Reconstruction - the period of occupation following the civil war. That period left such a bad taste the constitution was written so that just about anything would require an ammendment - not too hard to do, but they do require a statewide vote. Even budgets are specified there - what revenues are to go towards which expenses (highways and such) and what revenues (not many) can be put in a 'general' fund. Deficit spending is *not* an option.

People here complain about high taxes, but they are lower than most places. The property tax is a bit steep (local and school only, no state, and they run total between $1.50 and $2.00 for every $100.00 valuation of real estate) but we have no state income tax. And about the valuations - real estate prices here are quite low compared to the rest of the country, so the tax is also fairly low.

We do take pride in our independent thinking, most of us. If truth be told I would guess the folks in the state are actually more libertarian in thinking than either republican or democrat. Too bad the libertarians can't get it together enough to put out some candidates for us.

And we don't do a lot of publicizing ourselves. We like to keep our great life here "our little secret."

 

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poster:AuntieMel thread:619739
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060304/msgs/621274.html