Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Texas in a State of Surplus or Deficit?

Hi readers,


I came across something interesting in regard to the governor's race in Texas after doing some research on the topic recently.

As most of us know, the two main competitors for the race have been incumbent, Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

On Oct. 7, Perry posted a radio interview he had done with well-known political radio talk show host, Hugh Hewitt, to his campaign Web site. In the interview, Perry commented on and even bragged about Texas' $9 billion "Rainy Day Fund." He mentioned that Texas was one of the only states running with a surplus rather than a deficit.

Later in the interview, Perry insinuated that the race between him and Sen. Hutchison was about who was the most Conservative Republican. He claimed that Hutchison could not be as Conservative as she claimed because she voted for President Obama's Bailout Plan at the beginning of the year.

On Oct. 8, Hutchison was on Neil Cavuto's show on FOXNEWS, Your World. In the interview, Hutchison opposed Perry's claim to a a budget surplus of $9 billion, and said that in fact the state would be running at a $12 billion deficit.

Hutchison agreed that there was a "Rainy Day Fund" but ensured Cavuto that Perry had nothing to do with it. She claimed it had been set up years before and that the current surplus was due to bailout money as, "Texas was the biggest user of balancing the stimulus funds," she said.


She stated that at the end of all of this, Texas would be in a state of deficit because it would have to repay all the bailout money that had already been used, an amount that was well over the $9 billion it was granted.


Personally, I think it is funny that Perry frowns upon Hutchison's decision to vote for the bailout plan, and then takes credit for the money that Texas got out of the situation. This is was politics is all about- twisting stories to fit your own agenda.

2 comments:

  1. Hutchison and Perry are being absolutely vicious towards each other. They're pointing all fingers at once at each other without even glancing at their own problems. Hutchison did support the Obama bailout plan, which is one of the reasons Rick Perry's anti-Hutchison Web site is titled "WashingtonKay.com," claiming she's more loyal to Washington than the state of Texas. I think they're both hoping that by pointing fingers at each other, the voters will just vote for one because they believe the other is so bad, not because either is particularly worthy of the position.

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  2. Not only is it funny that Perry claims Hutchison was in the wrong for voting for the bail out plan but its just odd that he so boldly stands by the fact that Texas has that money. He makes it seem as if Texas gained that money through his work.
    All I can say about the race is that Perry and Hutchison are blatantly opposing each other and it is starting to get sticky.
    It amuses me how their teams handle the mud slinging. Perry is constantly bringing up that Hutchison is a Washington loyalist. Consequently, Hutchison's Web site has an immediate pop-up petition stating her disproval of Obama and his beliefs.

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