One cannot live in Texas and not experience the liberal loathing of Texanness. Liberals can detect an accent, a discordant political tone, a bit of a swagger, and emotions can erupt. Texas ever moves rightward and seems to be dragging the country with it.
Texas is compared to California as the two states hate each other. California is regulated and highly taxed, whereas Texas is relative unfettered with one of the lowest tax burdens in the country. Every statewide office holder in California is a Democrat; every statewide office holder in Texas is a Republican.
The GDB is Texas is almost 2 trillion dollars eclipsing Canada and Australia. California with 40% more people has a GDP of almost 3 million dollars. But Texas is closing the gap.
The pecuniary situation in Texas is still greatly affected with the up and down price of oil. Hene Texas has had a boom and bust economy. The central fact of boom economies that periodically they go bust.
This author talks about fracking. It's a tough and controversial subject for me to handle.
Texas has its own power grid to escape federal regulations. The whole country learned this when there was a freeze up when proper steps were not taken to protect grid from unexpected cold weather. The price of not being properly regulated. Texas uses more energy than any other state, some 67% more than California.
Houston is the only major city in the US without zoning laws. You can pretty much build anything you want anywhere you want except in historic districts.
Houston has the highest standard of living of any major city in the world. Houston is the most ethnically diverse major city in the country. Houston residents speak 142 different languages. Houston has become more politically progressive over the years. It is said that over 80% of Houstonians support background checks for all gun owners and they approve a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Over 50% of Houston residents identify as Democrats vs. around 30% identify as Republicans.
However, Texas is near the bottom in education spending and academic achievement. Will older, wealthy Anglos invest in a future that is increasingly nonAnglo?
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