Developing: Pakistani Plane Escorted by UK Fighter Jets — 2 Men Arrested

Doc Thompson’s 24-hour radio marathon, ‘#24forok,’ continues until 9 am ET — Listen Live!

TheBlaze TV

‘Real News’: State Surplus Vs. Federal Spending

Jan. 11, 2013 9:18pm Christopher Santarelli

Texas Governor Rick Perry is in the news again as he recently singled out another potential 2016 White House contender during a speaking event at the Texas Public Policy Foundation Thursday, where the Republican governor lauded his state’s $8.8 billion surplus two years removed from a $27 billion deficit.

“I’m sure that I couldn’t get all 49 other governors to admit that they would want to be Texans,” AP reports Perry said. “I’m thinking that Gov. Cuomo would not admit that he’d want to be a Texan.”

“But if he were truthful, you could say that the economic climate that has allowed the state to grow and create jobs,” Perry said. “He’d dearly love to be able to stand up and say, ‘We did this in New York.’ But he can’t.”

Texas, along with states like Indiana, Michigan, Florida and Iowa, are all in the enviable position of looking at billions in surplus. But what to do with this extra cash?

The New York Times reports that a contentious debate has taken off in Texas on what to do with this extra surprlus.

Republican and Democratic members of the State House and Senate have offered competing visions of how to use the surplus and how the state should respond to rapid population growth, severe drought, the federal health care overhaul and a host of other issues.

Education advocates and Democratic lawmakers have called for the Legislature to restore some or all of the $5.4 billion cuts made to public education in the 2011 session. But Republican leaders and other fiscal conservatives have expressed reluctance to finance anything beyond growth in student enrollment particularly when a lawsuit against the state over how it finances public education will not be resolved until later in the year.

The Times reports that Perry has argued that lawmakers get behind his Texas Budget Compact, a pledge to oppose new taxes and to replace the current spending limit for the state budget with an even stricter formula.

On ‘Real News’ Friday the panel discussed the budget surplus in several states, why the federal government can’t replicate such success, and what governments should do when they face a surplus. Watch a clip below:

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (10)

ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:29pm
For the love of God, don’t spend the money on public education! The entire educational hierarchy is a product of it’s own process, now thoroughly inbred and insane. Get your children out!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Yogibearwatcher
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:20pm
Honestly, the people in Washington have to go ! They do not care about us or our future. Look at Al Gore what did he learn. Is there a Benedict Arnold award?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Git-R-Done
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 5:19pm
That’s b/c states can’t print an endless supply of money (which lessens the value of the currency) like the federal government can.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
dont-care-anymore
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:48am
let Pa Kettle figure it out

http://youtu.be/ieKTU94-BgI

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:45am
  RELAX….The FED/GOVT will find a way to STEAL YOUR STATE SURPLUS to fund their uber-growing FED/GOVT!! You can’t-possibly have that much “unused” money laying-arround and not be FEDERALLY-STOLLEN (I mean…spent)!!
  
  Report this comment
rochrealtor
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:09am
You are right about the communist **** (Cuomo), he wants to confiscate gun here in NY. I wish I could leave this cesspool. This is a communist, welfare, budget broken, business killing, taxed to death STATE! “sieg heil” NY politicians! Yet the people keep electing this same politicians. I don’t understand it!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
1FreeVoice
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 8:23am
Why not keep a percentage in a rainy day fund, and refund the rest back to taxpayers? Keep the taxes the same, and give bigger tax rebates later.

When people see that government spending cuts their tax refunds, they will cry bloody murder at spending increases – they hit them in the wallet. That will help keep spending under control.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
michaelfoster
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 1:45am
This is why a great deal of the governing process should be placed back in the hands of the states. We shouldn’t continue to be saddled with the reckless spending habits of our bloated federal government.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
lel2007
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 12:40am
“what to do with this extra cash?” – Give it back to the citizens it was taken from!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
rsanchez1
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:39pm
They finally have a surplus and what do Democrats want to do? Blow half of it immediately. This is why California is almost $50 billion in the red.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.