This commentary piece of mine is my original and brief synapses of Texas State Government. I am blogging the facts and simple general information for the reader's pleasure.
So Texas Government happens to be much like our national government for the
United States but only on a smaller and more localized scale. Much like the US National Government, Texas Government divides power into three separate branches, the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislative.
The Legislative branch is bicameral like the national government, meaning it is divided into two separate chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. So it is just like a 'mini me' version in mimicking the grand scale. It is very important to note however that the term Congress cannot be used to describe the state legislature, as it is used to describe the nation’s legislative branch. The Texas Executive branch is head by the state Governor, who holds executive powers and the state Judiciary system is structured into separate court systems. The roots of the
Texas state Government also happens be much like the roots of the
United States. Both were bread out of revolution.
The roots of Texas Politics and Government can be found in the early settlers of
Texas and the type of society and government that they created. The state's politics have The Texan Creed at it's foundation, which consists of a set of ideas that identify Texans and provide the basis for their politics and which are then filtered through the two primary political parties, Republican and Democrat. Texas has become primarily a Republican dominated state.
To top off the similarities and my basic point that, politics is still politics and the state just has a shrunken down version of the national government,
Texas also has a state Constitution. This however has been changed several times, with the current version having been amended over 400 times. Unlike our national Constitution, the Texas State Constitution happens to hold less weight and significance and has been under much scrutiny to be changed yet again. The debates are endless.
As far as our grand land here,
Texas is a very proud state. It is huge in size with a land mass area of 267,339 square miles and it is larger then most nations and has various types of landforms such as mountains, plains, hills and plateaus. According to the
2010 Census Data, the population of
Texas is over 25 million residents, making it the second most populous state in the nation.
Much of the current political topics in discussion today here in
Texas, is the economy. Much like the nation, jobs are on people's minds and their ability to be able to work and pursue happiness. My state economy fact is: The Texas economy is very diverse, being both nationalized and globalized. The fact that the state has weighed such an importance on economic diversity, has allowed many of its cities to become the fastest growing in the nation, cities like
Austin,
San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Our Texas Governor, Rick Perry, has been consistent with going on record stating that the economic growth in
Texas has been substantial, with the state continuously creating new jobs. That sounds like a very political statement in my opinion and has some truth. Yet news reports are constantly stating that the state's budget cut plans due to the economy are currently threatening many fields, including education and teachers in
Texas are looking at a grim prospective future here in the state.
That’s the politics. People have the power to vote and it is in their hands to get out there and elect representation who is actually concerned with the preservation of society for everyone. Be sure to
get registered to vote and fight for your future and get proper representation. It almost feels to me, that as soon as politicians get elected into office, they feel like they have already made it and no longer care about the good of society and are only looking out for themselves and self preservation. Maybe that is harsh and outlandish but I don’t remotely understand how, 'they' can even consider cutting into education? That is the most important resource we can get. The
United States used to have more college graduates then any other nation in the world and we now rank ninth.
China is prospected to be the economic super power of the future, all the while our politicians seemed to me, only concerned with their current situation and lifestyle and are not looking at the future for everyone. Well I hope that's not the case.
The government has the power to make changes through legislation by proposing bills, to do things such as raise Taxes on things that are sold to generate revenue. I say raise taxes! Raise taxes on things that can be deemed harmful. Things like Tobacco products and cigarettes. Cigarette packets can have taxes raised to something like fifteen dollars for a single pack. Junk food such as soda could be taxed to bring in more money. Obesity is already a problem with our nation and here in
Texas it's no different. If people want to eat junk food and get over weight, let them pay tax for it. Heck why not? Better then cutting education, right?? Things like Booze and alcoholic beverages, these have long been sources of many problems in society, raise their tax so that they can also bring in money, says I.
That’s my two cents and commentary with
Texas state politics and today’s current event, blogged.
Great work! It looks like you've put good effort in finding sources, and yet tread lightly on facts that don't have the same solid support. I was somewhat disappointed that you weren't being more opinionated at first, but your last few paragraphs very effectively laid out your views, and the groundwork of facts that preceded them added credibility to your arguments. Pleasantly, I totally agree with you. I would rather see our military disband, our roads crumble, and our elderly no longer supported by the government than see our children and young adults being denied education because they can't afford it. If we expect to burden them with all our problems down the line, we must give them all the knowledge and wisdom we can to help them deal with it. Your last paragraph also rings very true with me, especially since taxpayers turn around and pay millions, even billions, to pay for healthcare for smokers and others who engage in self destructive habits. I believe one should be allowed to engage in that kind of behavior, however stupid it might be, but one should be responsible for all the consequences of those decisions, including hospital bills. Your plug for registering to vote was also very thoughtful and well placed.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few grammar mistakes, but nothing that obscures your point too badly. However, an improvement in that category would make this article more professional. In addition, you may want to consider reducing some of your content. Your audience probably knows the raw information about the nature of Texas politics, seeing as one is a professor of Texas government, and the rest of us are most of the way through the class. Cutting back on presenting information that we have already covered in class would make your essay more manageable and engaging for most readers.
Overall, I was pleased by your argument and felt that you did a good job revealing that without hitting us over the head with it. Keep up the great work!
I enjoyed your article and agree with much of what you said, most notably taxing harmful products. Not sure how well that would go over in Texas, aren't there a lot of anti-big-government folks? I'm from New York (our cigarettes cost $11 a pack) and am considering a move to Austin to work in state government and attend grad school. I'd be interested to learn more about TX government. Please feel free to email me at ogdenla192@potsdam.edu.
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