Texas Was The #1 Stimulus Moocher

From Business Insider

If you're a reader, you know that the supposed fiscal health of Texas is a huge myth, but just to emphasize the point a bit more, a new study finds that more than any other state Texas relied on Federal stimulus money to balance its budget.

According to the National Congress Of State Legislatures, 97% of the state's budget shortfall was plugged using stimulus funds -- more than any other state.

Of course, there's a reason you don't hear about this... Texas doesn't fit into the theme of big, bloated blue states running into trouble. So the story is just ignored.

More here

This is one of the areas in which the political economy of the United States has had its most severe breakdown. Over the past year, conservatives have simultaneously complained about inadequate job growth and excessive public sector employment even though public sector employment has been declining and offsetting private sector job growth. At the same time, conservative state-level politicians who would have been in disastrous shape if not for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have been running around the country pretending to believe that it’s a huge burden on them.