Quote from Mercor:
The Democratic philosophy is mis-matched to run a society. Look at the decay in most of the democratic cities, the crime and poverty, The bloated Government salaries and pensions.
Republican States need a little help from demcrats from time to time
Although Mr. Perry has railed against the federal economic-stimulus program, billions of dollars from that initiative helped Texas legislators balance the current budget. Those funds won't be available for the next budget.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704513104575256734081528528.html
Big Texas Deficit Puts Governor in Tight Spot
DALLASâA Texas-size hole in the Lone Star state's budget is putting pressure on Gov. Rick Perry, who is running for re-election this year as a model fiscal conservative.
Mr. Perry, a Republican in office for a decade, is touting his tax-cutting prowess and tight-fisted spending record as proof that he remains the right man for the job. He has maintained a wide lead in polls.
But as the state's budget shortfall widensâto as much as $18 billion, or about 20% of the next two-year budget, according to the state legislature's latest analysis released earlier this monthâcritics are complaining that Mr. Perry's policies have left the state with little room to reduce spending.
"There is no way that they will be able to come up with $18 billion in cuts," said Eva DeLuna Castro, a senior budget analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income Texans. "They would have to shut down our prison system."
Conservatives say that while cutting enough to balance the budget will be hard, it can be done, and that the governor is the right man to do it. "He has worked hard to encourage the legislature to keep spending within the revenue available," said Talmadge Heflin, director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that backs limited government.
States in the Red
Most states have addressed or still face gaps in their budgets totaling $196 billion for fiscal year 2010, while tax revenue declined in the final quarter of 2009 in 39 of the states for which data is available. View interactive
The governor's cost-cutting zeal is being questioned after the Associated Press reported he had spent some $600,000 of taxpayer dollars over the past couple of years to rent and maintain a luxurious home while the official governor's mansion was repaired after a fire.
The state's Democratic Party responded to the report with a YouTube video that flashes images of the governor's rental homeâcomplete with wood paneling, a chandelier and a heated poolâand plays the theme music from the television show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
"While Texas families tighten their beltsâ¦why should we pay for Perry's extravagant rental mansion?" is the video's closing line.
A spokeswoman for the governor said that he, too, is cutting back, slashing his office budget by 10.8% and asking the agencies that fund his living quarters to reduce spending by 5%.
Texas doesn't levy an income tax and boasts that it has one of the nation's lowest overall tax burdens. Those policies, Mr. Perry has argued, have attracted businesses to the state and strengthened its economy. While many states saw their economies shrink in 2008, the first year of the national recession, Texas continued to grow.
But the economic downturn is catching up with Texas. Sales-tax revenue started falling in February 2009 compared with the previous year, and only started to recover a bit in April of this year.
Although Mr. Perry has railed against the federal economic-stimulus program, billions of dollars from that initiative helped Texas legislators balance the current budget. Those funds won't be available for the next budget. 
