Still Indifferent

With not knowing much about Texas government before this class, I felt non-biased. Half way through this course, I do not believe my views have changed much. Perhaps I am slightly more liberal than what I realized. But having certain political views may be different than having Texas political views.

I did not know anything about Governor Rick Perry. In many of the articles that I have read, I do not recall reading anything “good” or “nice” about him. I have only read about criticisms with how he deals with the budget cut, his part of the Tea Party, and not to mention he has been the longest serving governor. Wait, how is he still governor? Who know, this power driven governor might no longer be the Texas governor if he runs for presidential elections. 

As mentioned above, Texas has had a major budget cut. Luckily though, it will only affect minor situations such as the education system and providing for the homeless. Hopefully, with the budget cut, Texas’s money will go to something more important such as preventing the terrible and oh-so-bad illegal immigrants from making a living here.

Aside from Rick Perry and the budget cuts, indifferent is how I feel about Texas politics. The history is very confusing to me. So, unless I can better understand it, I am in no position to attack it. Or, is that a reason to attack Texas politics? Should Texas politics be THAT confusing and hard to follow? Neither conservative nor liberal articles that I have read made Texas politics seem easy to follow.

Poor People Own Refrigerators

A clearly conservative article, Oh, To Be Poor in America, shows little to no sympathy towards poor Americans. I agree that if I had to be poor in any country, I would choose America. But most of the information this writer is basing the information is from household appliances. Hell! I don’t own a microwave and I am by no means poor. Not to mention that the statistics provided are outdated by six years. For crying out loud, a VCR is listed. To make a statement that if someone owns a refrigerator or a television then he or she is not poor does not make any sense. Many government housing will provide basics such as a refrigerator.

The writer also assumes that all people on welfare do not work. IF this were true, a source would be greatly appreciated. Do democrats drain the economy for wanting to help the poor and homeless? Are democrats that much of a drain, or are republicans that heartless? I suppose being poor and homeless and being a republican just does not go hand in hand.

For this article to make more sense, the writer should accuse democrats of draining the economy for a single mother to be playing xbox on her big screen television. Having more up-to-date information would change the article as a whole. And, let us not compare being homeless in America to being homeless in Afghanistan. Perhaps this article is making me proud that the government is finally taking care of our poor and homeless people.

Dear Governor Perry

Just as the title, Perry cements his reputation as a powerful governor, implies; this article discusses Governor Rick Perry’s sense of entitlement. Having been governor longer than any other governor in the state of Texas, it is clearly known that he is a strong conservative.

As strong of a conservative that Perry is, the author of this article is just as strong to let everyone know how conservative Perry is. The author’s opinion is laid out thick. The overall impression received from this article is that Perry is a power hungry politician. The article does have quite an influence though since quotes from Republican politicians were frequently used.  These quotes which attack Governor Perry do support the author’s stance.

Though this author did not give Perry a break, many legitimate topics were brought up. Perry’s affiliation with the Tea Party and the state budget were discussed. Perry’s strong influence over the Texas House and Tea Party were discussed also. Though at times the author’s thoughts were not always clear, the message the author wanted to send was strong. 
  

 I would have liked to have read more facts about why the author has this particular stance. The article became repetitive. So instead of reading repeating opinions, reading more examples of why Perry seems to be so powerful would have made this article seem more reliable. And, if the author had mentioned some stances that coincides with Perry’s stances, the author’s overall opinion of Perry would have been that more powerful and influential. 

The author’s views and opinions were fine. But the critique was to the author’s deliverance of the information. A strong attack will not display a strong article. I would rather the author hold back on the emotion and present a more factual based article. Instead of using quotes from politicians or political scientists, the author should use more concrete facts to support the article.

What budget?

When It's Insiders vs. Outsiders

This article discusses what priorities those from Inside Intelligence differ from the UT/Tribune Poll. Provided in the article are unscientific statistics stating what the two groups thought were the most important. The groups were polled on current Texas affairs - one example being immigration. Other topics of the polls included satisfaction with the Texas government and satisfaction with Governor Perry. These polls were distributed right after the 2010 election.

I chose this article because of my fascination with statistics. To see what the two different groups thought were more of a priority was very interesting. 33.3% of Inside Intelligence thought that the budget shortfall was the most important whereas only 8% of the UT/Tribune thought that the budget shortfall was important. The majority of Inside Intell thought that Texas is not an ideal government model; UT/Tribune thought that Texas is an ideal model.