The latest economy news from The Texas Tribune.
Sound economic policy was sacrificed on the altar of short-term political gain in the George W. Bush administration. This buying of political support with taxpayers’ money brings to mind the words of Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” Full Story
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When the George W. Bush administration turned out to be a failure, “conservatism” got the blame — even though Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney (like so many others who served alongside them) had been part of the anti-Reagan wing of the Republican Party. Full Story
More than 1 million Texans were unemployed in January, according to new numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission. Unemployment in the state hit 8.6 percent in January, up from 8 percent the month before and 6.8 percent in January 2009. The comparable national rate was 10.6 percent. Full Story
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Eva Guzman hung on to her recently secured spot on the Texas Supreme Court with a robust lead over Rose Vela, her challenger from the 13th Court of Appeals. Full Story
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Introducing the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding. Full Story
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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White asks Texans, "Do you think you're getting your money's worth out of state government?" Full Story
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Budget crunching, the EPA offends Texans, early voting is underway, and gay couples still can't get ... a divorce. Full Story
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More than 373,000 Texans went uncounted by the 2000 census, resulting in a loss of $1 billion in federal funds. With eight of the nation's 50 hardest-to-count counties right here in our state, the coming 2010 census is a cause for concern — and an apparent lack of attention by elected officials is making matters worse. Full Story
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State agencies are expected to submit their budget cuts today. Full Story
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Early voting begins, state agencies scramble to cut spending and a Clinton antagonist moves back to Texas. Full Story
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If editorial boards had the last say, next month’s primaries would be a moot point and gubernatorial candidates could have spent Valentine’s Day eating stale candy like the rest of us. Some of Texas’ largest newspapers weighed in last weekend on their choice for governor and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former Houston Mayor Bill White grabbed the lion’s share. Full Story
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Texans are more worried about the economy and the direction of the country than anything else, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Other notable findings: Nearly two-thirds support either gay marriage or civil unions, nearly half prefer private health insurance to a government-run plan, and more than a third think the Legislature meets every year. Full Story
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Hu, Philpott, and Ramsey on the Democratic gubernatorial debate, the pre-game, the post-game, and the highlight reel. Thevenot on the push for accountability in persistently low-performing schools. M. Smith on the Republican assault on sitting Republican appellate judge. Hamilton on a county with more than one Tea Party trying to claim conservative voters. With lawmakers staring down a growing budget crunch, Aguilar looks back at the last one for instruction. Grissom finds that U.S. Border Patrol has quietly stopped a program to deport illegal immigrants through Presidio. Ramshaw reports on a West Texas nurse who got into and out of criminal trouble for complaining about a doctor she worked with. The second University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll finds Rick Perry and Bill White with big leads in their respective party primaries. Rapoport found herself in the eye of the storm, traveling with Debra Medina on the day the candidate unexpectedly and disastrously made national news when Glenn Beck asked her on his radio shows about the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. The best of our best from February 8 to 12, 2010. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Sales tax collections fell by double digits, again. Full Story
Farouk Shami's latest promise. Full Story
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Charlie Wilson dies, sales tax revenues are down and an April runoff still looks likely. Full Story
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The recession has caused a spike in enrollment at two-year schools like Austin Community College, which now educates more than 40,000 students — within striking distance of the great behemoth, the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has released its best bets for how to meet the 5 percent budget reduction requested by Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders. Full Story
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How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad. Full Story