Texas has the 2nd highest POVERTY RATE in the Nation!

[onecut39]

"Perry wants us to know some other facts about his long record as Texas governor. His website is proud of his economic policies: “Texans enjoy one of the lowest tax burdens in the country and one of the lowest government debt burdens per capita”; he “cut taxes on small businesses and delivered a historic property tax cut”; he “protected the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which has $6 billion set aside for future needs.

Here are some things that Perry never speaks about. Texas has the second-highest poverty rate among the 50 states, behind only Mississippi. It has the second-highest percentage of population without a high school diploma. Texas leads the nation in the percentage of people with no health insurance, over one quarter. It is tied with Mississippi for having the biggest percentage of workers paid at or below the minimum wage."


Listening to Perry you would think Texas is the greatest place on earth!

The Texas economic model | economic, model, texas - Commentary - Jacksonville Illinois News and Information Jacksonville Journal Courier

Vicente Fox thanks Rick Perry for in-state tuition for illegals - YouTube

Where are you getting your information?


Texas is not second for poverty rates in the US.

51 District of Columbia 21.3% 115
50 Mississippi 20.1% 571
49 Louisiana 18.3% 748
48 New Mexico 17.9% 347
47 Alabama 16.7% 750

List of U.S. states by poverty rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And the numbers which were released for today show:

ATLANTA (AP) - New Census data shows that Georgia's poverty rate was the third highest in the country in 2010, up two spots from last year, with more than 1.8 million residents counted among the poor.

The only states with higher poverty rates in 2010 were Louisiana and Mississippi. Nationally, 15.1 percent of Americans were living in poverty last year

Georgia has 3rd highest poverty rate among states

Let's not quibble. Texas is in the top ten, not much different than all those other red states that are leading the US to economic nirvana.

 

[Katzndogz]

Texas has no state income tax. Sales taxes are truly voluntary because no one is forcing you to buy (or at least before SCOTUS got into the act). You can choose not to pay a sales tax by not buying the product.

 

[uscitizen]

Texas just raised taxes. Texas joins eight other states in taking legislative action requiring online-only retailers, notably Amazon.com, to collect sales tax. Online retailers will have to collect sales tax in Texas beginning July 1 2012.

Don't mess with taxes...errr Texas. Perry is a Democrat...what do you expect?

Funny... everyone else including Perry think he is a Republican.

 

[Inthemiddle]

According to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau, Texas ranks 7th in highest poverty rate as of 2009.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0709.pdf

The do rank 2nd in individuals in poverty, and families in poverty. It's worth noting that in both those categories California ranks 1st, and that these rankings correspond with each state's ranking in total population. The poverty rate is the more useful figure.

Even at 7th, Texas is clearly not doing well in terms of poverty. When we compare this to income per capita rankings, Texas' poverty rate is difficult to reconcile. From my experiences living in Texas the state has a large divide between the upper and lower classes and the middle class is fairly weak. While the wealthy are indeed wealthy, the poor are very poor, and a good portion of the "middle" class isn't very far above the poverty line, or they aren't very far above poverty line struggles.

To explain what I mean by that, consider for a moment having a job that pays you $30,000 a year, and you have no kids or spouse. You're certainly not rich, but you're not poor either. You're middle class. You need to find a place to live. You want to pick something that is fitting for your position in the world, something responsible for your income, and you listened to Momma when she told you that your rent shouldn't be more than 1 week's pay (in your case, $550-$600 a month). You don't want to live in the bad part of town, because it's the bad part of town. And you feel no need or desire to live in the rich part of town. You just want a middle class apartment of your own. Problem is, there aren't any. As you're looking around, you find that most places to live either are rather expensive and catering toward much more wealthy individuals, or are very shabby. You can find places that are around $500 a month, but they're in bad areas of town. The only other options are going to cost you $1500 a month. So your options are to either live with bars over your windows, or to spend 60% of your income on rent. Either way, you're living in virtual poverty, even if not in technical poverty.

 

[conservationism]

But the best thing about Texas is the fact that the lowest income earners pay three times more in taxes percentage wise then the highest income earners.

This is ludicrous. If you are low income in Texas, you pay no taxes except sales tax.

 

[conservationism]

You can find places that are around $500 a month, but they're in bad areas of town. The only other options are going to cost you $1500 a month.

From what Texas city does this example come?

What makes a "bad area" of town? Are you just talking about high crime rates?

 

[hjmick]

Wow.

Dawn of the dead thread...

 

[Inthemiddle]

But the best thing about Texas is the fact that the lowest income earners pay three times more in taxes percentage wise then the highest income earners.

This is ludicrous. If you are low income in Texas, you pay no taxes except sales tax.

And what taxes do you think "high" income people in Texas pay?

 

[conservationism]

Necroposted?

 

[conservationism]

And what taxes do you think "high" income people in Texas pay?

Since there's no state income tax, about the same, except that they pay a huge amount in property tax which tends to go toward subsidizing the schools in their local areas. They also experience federal income taxes, which the lower 50% of earners do not.

 

[bodecea]

"Perry wants us to know some other facts about his long record as Texas governor. His website is proud of his economic policies: “Texans enjoy one of the lowest tax burdens in the country and one of the lowest government debt burdens per capita”; he “cut taxes on small businesses and delivered a historic property tax cut”; he “protected the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which has $6 billion set aside for future needs.

Here are some things that Perry never speaks about. Texas has the second-highest poverty rate among the 50 states, behind only Mississippi. It has the second-highest percentage of population without a high school diploma. Texas leads the nation in the percentage of people with no health insurance, over one quarter. It is tied with Mississippi for having the biggest percentage of workers paid at or below the minimum wage."


Listening to Perry you would think Texas is the greatest place on earth!

The Texas economic model | economic, model, texas - Commentary - Jacksonville Illinois News and Information Jacksonville Journal Courier

Vicente Fox thanks Rick Perry for in-state tuition for illegals - YouTube

All the more reason to let them secede.

 

[conservationism]

Absolutely! Let Texas secede!

 

[onecut39]

Texas has no state income tax. Sales taxes are truly voluntary because no one is forcing you to buy (or at least before SCOTUS got into the act). You can choose not to pay a sales tax by not buying the product.

That sure must be a comfort to those living in poverty!

 

[Inthemiddle]

From what Texas city does this example come?

San Antonio.

What makes a "bad area" of town? Are you just talking about high crime rates?

Not just crime rates, though they tend to follow. Everything from housing quality (to include landlord quality, there's alot of slum lords), emergency response, down to availability of decent groceries at the local HEB (they only try in the stores in the "rich" neighborhoods).

 

[Inthemiddle]

They also experience federal income taxes, which the lower 50% of earners do not.

Untrue.

 

[conservationism]

Not just crime rates, though they tend to follow. Everything from housing quality (to include landlord quality, there's alot of slum lords), emergency response, down to availability of decent groceries at the local HEB (they only try in the stores in the "rich" neighborhoods).

You couldn't find a decent place to live for $500 a month in San Antonio?

It could be your standards are just higher than mine, but it seems to me that anywhere but Austin, that's a pretty trivial task in Texas.

Regarding tax rates:

National Taxpayers Union - Who Pays Income Taxes?

 

[Too Tall]

Texas does offer good opportunities for employment if you are in the right field. However, overall, the Texas economy is doing no better than anywhere else, and the facts you mention are all true. If you're poor in Texas, things couldn't be worse.

But the best thing about Texas is the fact that the lowest income earners pay three times more in taxes percentage wise then the highest income earners. It's a fuckin wonderful system if you're rich. And this is what Perry wants to bring to Washington? No thank you.

http://www.cppp.org/files/7/pp115.pdf

Texas – no individual income tax or corporate income tax. In May 2007, the legislature replaced the franchise tax with a gross margins tax on businesses (sole proprietorships and some partnerships were automatically exempt; corporations with receipts below a certain level were also exempt as were corporations whose tax liability was also below a specified amount), which was amended in 2009 to increase the exemption level. The Texas Constitution places severe restrictions on passage of an individual income tax and use of its proceeds.

 

[Too Tall]

According to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau, Texas ranks 7th in highest poverty rate as of 2009.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0709.pdf

The do rank 2nd in individuals in poverty, and families in poverty. It's worth noting that in both those categories California ranks 1st, and that these rankings correspond with each state's ranking in total population. The poverty rate is the more useful figure.

Even at 7th, Texas is clearly not doing well in terms of poverty. When we compare this to income per capita rankings, Texas' poverty rate is difficult to reconcile. From my experiences living in Texas the state has a large divide between the upper and lower classes and the middle class is fairly weak. While the wealthy are indeed wealthy, the poor are very poor, and a good portion of the "middle" class isn't very far above the poverty line, or they aren't very far above poverty line struggles.

To explain what I mean by that, consider for a moment having a job that pays you $30,000 a year, and you have no kids or spouse. You're certainly not rich, but you're not poor either. You're middle class. You need to find a place to live. You want to pick something that is fitting for your position in the world, something responsible for your income, and you listened to Momma when she told you that your rent shouldn't be more than 1 week's pay (in your case, $550-$600 a month). You don't want to live in the bad part of town, because it's the bad part of town. And you feel no need or desire to live in the rich part of town. You just want a middle class apartment of your own. Problem is, there aren't any. As you're looking around, you find that most places to live either are rather expensive and catering toward much more wealthy individuals, or are very shabby. You can find places that are around $500 a month, but they're in bad areas of town. The only other options are going to cost you $1500 a month. So your options are to either live with bars over your windows, or to spend 60% of your income on rent. Either way, you're living in virtual poverty, even if not in technical poverty.

Another option is to get a room mate to share the rent.

 

[Too Tall]

They also experience federal income taxes, which the lower 50% of earners do not.

Untrue.

Untrue means that the lower 50% DO pay federal income taxes. OK, only the lower 47% don't pay federal income taxes.

 

[Inthemiddle]

You couldn't find a decent place to live for $500 a month in San Antonio?

When I lived in SA, I did have a decent place to live for slightly less than that (when I first moved in), as a matter of fact. But that particular place also was in an area that started going downhill pretty quickly Post-Katrina. My apartment complex was somewhat of an oasis in a sea of human refuge. Dem the breaks. But more importantly, such places are increasingly few and far between. I'm not saying that they don't exist at all, I'm saying that they don't exist in abundance. It got to the point where my complex regularly maintained 100% occupancy, and people were booking move-ins six months to a year in advance. Of course, you know, rents started increasing quite a bit to match the market demand for their little complex. After a couple years I moved into a larger apt in the same complex, and after being there a year my rent really jumped up big time. By the time I moved, I was paying over $800 a month, which was a "deal" in comparison to the other options, but was a bit more than I was starting to feel comfortable with for my purposes.

Regarding tax rates:

National Taxpayers Union - Who Pays Income Taxes?

The percentages given are the percent of gross taxes paid by the collective members of a given group. Those who make lower income contribute less gross tax revenue. That is not to say that they do not pay income taxes. Therefore, this does not indicate that the bottom 50% of people don't pay income taxes. It only indicates the combined effects of a progressive taxation scheme with those of percentage based taxation rates, on gross tax revenues. A person making $30,000 a year still contributes 14% of their income to income taxes, not counting SS and Medicare taxes.