Geek Alert: Obama Hearts D.C.; TX? Not So Much

Posted on January 26th, 2009 4:47pm by Dave Moore
Filed under Business, Crime, Local News, Politics

This ties in with Wick’s earlier post. It looks like Texas is really getting the short end of this proposed stimulus. Looking at a per-capita breakdown, we end up 31st out of 50 states, with about $1,825 per person. Which state/place takes first? Why, Obama’s new stomping grounds (D.C.), with nearly $3,000 per person. Second place (surprisingly) goes to Sarah Palin’s state. For the complete chart, geeks with Excel can click here.

27 comments

  1. Too many white male construction workers in Texas, can’t chance it.

    @ 4:53 pm on January 26, 2009

  2. White? In South Dakota, maybe, but not in Texas.

    @ 5:06 pm on January 26, 2009

  3. Come on, Dave. Why do you think that Texas should get stimulus when the economy is one of the healthiest in the country. It’s that kind of thinking that turns a stimulus package into pork.

    @ 5:16 pm on January 26, 2009

  4. You might look at where people work, as opposed to where they live. D.C. certainly has more workers than residents.

    I’m not defending the allocation. It needs to be based on something besides population, like unemployment rate.

    @ 5:24 pm on January 26, 2009

  5. @yeah, right.

    The entire package is nothing but pork.

    @ 5:24 pm on January 26, 2009

  6. Not defending it. Just a little frustrated with the ranking.

    @ 5:25 pm on January 26, 2009

  7. Who is that a picture of anyway? Certainly not pork.

    @ 5:26 pm on January 26, 2009

  8. That’s Palin.

    @ 5:42 pm on January 26, 2009

  9. $1 trillion in deficit spending as an “economic stimulus”:

    3.3% goes to roads, bridges, etc., you know, the stuff that the President said he was going to spend it on.

    32 new government agencies. That’s not a stimulus, it’s a massive, permanent increase in the size of the government.

    Hundreds of millions for “family planning”. Wow, I know condoms and abortions help stimulate something, but certainly not the economy.

    Potentially billions of dollars to ACORN, the community organization that perpetrated so much voter fraud in the last election.

    You would think that in an economic stimulus package fund would be spent on, well, things that would stimulate the economy, or even better, tax cuts that would lead to economic growth. Instead, they are going to pay off every organization that helped get them elected, and send a ton of pork back to their districts.

    Meanwhile, our nation’s debt is now larger than our GDP.

    @ 7:59 pm on January 26, 2009

  10. I admire fresh ideas and opinions different from mine, but not when they are talking points parroted by pundits and the 4th estate.

    @ 8:29 pm on January 26, 2009

  11. Yeah right, you are my density.

    @ 9:54 pm on January 26, 2009

  12. Ho ho ho, Dallasite.

    Don’t you know that the American public doesn’t buy those talking points anymore? Did you miss the memo dated Nov 4th, 2008?

    Let me summarize:
    Repub b.s.: OUT
    Dem Ideas & Policies: IN

    @ 10:29 pm on January 26, 2009

  13. How about this; we give obama a chance. If this stimulus is pork and a payback to those that got him elected, then the dems need to call it what it is. If it helps the economy, then the repubs need to get on board and let him fix this broken country. Deal?

    @ 11:32 pm on January 26, 2009

  14. Deal.

    @ 8:49 am on January 27, 2009

  15. So after several frontburner posts explaining to us that Texas is doing better, on average, than the rest of the country during this recession, we are surprised that Texas is receiving less, on average, than the rest of the country?

    @ 8:59 am on January 27, 2009

  16. Wow, I point out some facts, and the best the Leftists here can do is make partisan attacks. How typical.

    Didn’t address a single issue I raised of course…

    @ 9:03 am on January 27, 2009

  17. 50,000 laid off yesterday.

    The question is: are there enough life rafts for everyone?

    Not by half and the water is freezing.

    The stimulus package is a band aide on a severed leg.

    @ 9:05 am on January 27, 2009

  18. Is attacking someone for making a partisan attack by calling them a leftist a partisan attack itself?

    Help, I need a program to keep the players straight!

    @ 9:09 am on January 27, 2009

  19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

    I have some hot coffee if anyone would like to wake up and smell it.

    @ 9:17 am on January 27, 2009

  20. It’s so much larger then we are: http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4SUNA_enUS289US291&q=global+financial+crisis&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=news_group&resnum=1&ct=title

    but we led the way.

    Coffee anyone?

    @ 9:29 am on January 27, 2009

  21. I’m not sure how listing the problems with the so-called stimulus package is a partisan attack, but oh well. If you disagree with what I say, then it must be partisan, right?

    @ 9:46 am on January 27, 2009

  22. I love the “potential” billions to ACORN bit. No such allocation exists, except in the minds of hysterics. It won’t happen. Just like your voter fraud didn’t happen.

    @ 9:51 am on January 27, 2009

  23. Take a hot bath, Dallasite. Twas a joke.

    @ 9:54 am on January 27, 2009

  24. @yeah, right: one man (or woman’s) pork is another person’s economic stimulus. Why should Texas be penalized for its good economy? Last I heard, Texans certainly could use help weatherizing their homes, repairing their schools, improving their roads, and paying for higher education.

    @ 9:59 am on January 27, 2009

  25. Dave, perhaps your simplistic per capita breakdown isn’t the most helpful metric.

    @ 10:04 am on January 27, 2009

  26. @Gwyon: What criteria would you use? Based on that chart, there appears to be no obvious rhyme or reason (or metric) for how the cash might be disbursed. From an economic recovery standpoint, Michigan should be at the top of the list. Instead, it’s 20th. Hawaii is getting more money per capita. And we all know how hard things are in Hawaii.

    @ 10:14 am on January 27, 2009

  27. Oh, I thought we were just going to discuss whether Dallasite needs a hot bath.

    In my opinion, economic stimulus should help smooth swings in the business cycle not raise the level of government spending. Raising government spending in an unproductive way just raises the tax burden for our children.

    Texas hasn’t really had a very serious swing in the business cycle. Not compared to the rest of the country.

    The Federal government should target industry and individuals who have been hurt in the short run because of this economic cluster****, not just spend money. And for God’s sake fix the SEC and IRS and Fannie and Freddie and ….

    Ultimately, tax cuts are not a bad way to spend that money (as long as you can get money to the unemployed) because businesses and individuals are pretty good at investing in their business or spending money on things they want. Better than politicans. And that reduces the need for lobbying, which is an overwhelmingly unproductive way to spend money.

    Texas sells to the rest of the country, so stimulating other states will help Texas because they’ll buy our stuff.

    Hmm. I think I’ll make pork chops for dinner.

    @ 10:15 am on January 27, 2009