Who has 'last' laugh? Mississippi beats Texas in some areas.
I certainly wouldn't want to discourage ambition in our leaders. Maybe instead of aspiring to be No. 49, we can take on North Dakota or rise up to Rhode Island.
- Jim Hightower
One of the ways Texans often console themselves when we feel put-upon by the outside world is by chanting the mantra, "Well, at least we're not Mississippi." That theme has been a recurring joke in Texas state government for years. Well, if you studied any psychology, you know that people generally hate what they are afraid of seeing in themselves. So it appears in Texas.
AUSTIN -- Don't dis Mississippi before you get the facts, governor.
Perhaps you're stuck in the past, the days when Texas politicians justified their tight-fisted ways by chuckling, "Thank God for Mississippi."
Perhaps you're thinking of political satirist Molly Ivins' comment that "the entire justification for Mississippi is so Texas won't be 50th."
Or maybe you're thinking about Mississippi paying welfare mothers with two children even less than Texas -- $113 a month versus $170 in the Lone Star State.
But, before upsetting the people of the deeply Southern state by telling reporters "I don't want to become Mississippi," Gov. Rick Perry, you might want to check the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
"I considered it a slap," Mississippi House Speaker Tim Ford said Friday, predicting his letter of protest will reach Perry next week.
"It makes the state and what we do as elected leaders look bad. We've had our bad moments, but we're trying to do the best we can with the resources we've got."
In what radio commentator Jim Hightower calls "an age-old struggle for last," Texas might be starting to win.
Talk about setting the bar low. Neither Texas nor Mississippi is famed for the depth and breadth of services provided by their respective state governments. Claiming superiority, then, is akin to claiming to be the best ice fisherman in Arizona. Still, game on, so let's go to the numbers:
The data compare Texas and Mississippi on state and local spending combined for the year 2000. Mississippi spent $4,897 per person. Texas spent $4,592.
That might sound like something to brag about if it weren't for one little matter. The data also show the overall tax bill for Mississippians totaled $2,214 per person per year. Texans paid more -- $2,504.
One culprit seems to be the share paid in local property taxes. Texans get hit with a $950 bill. Mississippians pay only $514.
So how did Mississippi spend more while taxing less?
Castro said it appears Mississippi's politicians are better adept at pulling in federal dollars. In 2000, they attracted $1,240 per person from the federal government while Texas got only $890.
"It's maybe just a myth that never really existed," she said. "In some areas, Mississippi may be doing a better job than Texas ever did. We've just been kicking them around for no good reason."
Consider a few more categories. One big surprise? Highways. Perhaps it might bolster Perry's push for more highway spending that Mississippi spent $433 per person on highways in 2000, while Texas spent only $345.
Parks and natural resources? Mississippi's get $137 per person. Texas' get $107.
And, when it comes to children, Mississippi is no slacker, either. Ninety percent of children there are covered by either public or private health insurance versus only 79 percent in Texas.
Mississippi spends $3,434 per pupil, versus $3,186 in Texas, where local property taxes foot most of the bill.
Both states rank fairly low in the percentage of their populations over 25 holding a high school diploma, but Mississippi ranks 44th with 80.3 percent while Texas comes in 46th with 79.2 percent.
No doubt that Mississippi is a poor state and Texas is a wealthier one, however, with 19.3 percent living in poverty versus 14.9 percent in Texas.
Average personal income in Texas for 2001 is $28,581 versus $21,750 in Mississippi.
"They're a high poverty state and so are we, but we're a higher per capita income state and they are not," Castro said. "There's a lot of money here, but it's concentrated in a relatively few households. In Mississippi, it looks like the misery is spread around more evenly."
Texas can brag in a few departments, though. Mississippi ranks 50th in percentage of households with Internet access. Texas ranks 35th.
Texas, with higher incarceration rates, also spends $180 per person for prisons versus $103 in Mississippi.
Of course, we DO kill more of our inmates, and that certainly isn't an inexpensive process.
Shoot low, boys; they're riding Shetland ponies!!
