Hasn’t anyone else noticed that the words “Texas” and “Taxes” are practically identical?  It’s as if they were made for each other.  And yet the Lone Star State has always had a strained relationship with the federal government over the levies imposed upon them.  In fact, Texas is so opposed to taxes they are one of only six states that have completely eliminated the state income tax.  So if you live and work in Texas you are already forking over 5-15% less of your income than the average American.  This fact has made the state a haven for businesses and corporations, most notably Fortune 500 companies, of which Texas is base for 58, and the 33 billionaires who make their home there.  If Texas were an independent nation, it would rank as the fifteenth largest economy in the world. In other words, when it comes to the economy, Texans ain’t doin so bad.

Or so they would like us to believe.  In actuality, Texas is suffering, and has been for a long time.  Of the top ten counties in the US with people living below the poverty line, Texas is home to three of them (Starr County, TX for instance has a rate of 47.4%).  The dark red areas of the map below mark counties in which 15.6% - 47.4% of the population lives below the poverty line. 

The geographical inequalities on the map are so noticeable its embarrassing.  And yet, despite their already small tax burden, and the obvious need for state-wide services, not to mention the past eight years when we’ve spent our way into a deficit thanks to a native son, Texans went out in the dozens on April 15th to protest something, I’m not sure what.  What ensued was a major blunder by the Texas Governor, Rick Perry, (apparently being a moron is a job requirement), during which he openly discussed seceding from the Union: “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that.” Idiot.

I think David Axelrod said it best:

“The thing that bewilders me is that this president just cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people”

While they may like to think it, most Texans are not in the top 5 percent.