Texas dominates the recession, at a price.

Derek Thompson of The Atlantic wrote an interesting article "How Texas is Dominating the Recession". It is a good read and worth the time. I just loved the last sentence of the article:

As Brooke Rollins, president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told me: "Our research shows that the more tax incentives and less regulation you have, and the less likely businesses are to get sued, the more likely it is they'll want to come and prosper in your state." 

You think?  Texas has become the free market Somalia of the United States! For over a decade regulations and oversight of the various industries in Texas have been slowing whittled to nothing. Tax funded Commissions that once provided protection for the citizens of the State are now providing protection for the very industries they were designed to oversee. Much of this should sound familiar to everyone across the United States since President Bush brought this same "Somalia Light" to Washington.

Business friendly, consumer hostile
Anyone with a lick of sense, or empty wallet, knows Texas is ripe for business growth as well as for abuse. Employees are subjected to the highest rates of insurance in the United States. Electricity rates are through the roof as well as college tuition. (my three favorites) Tax breaks are given away like candy to every business who will open a door and outsource their services to India while local workers are taxed to death with fees on everything from cancer sticks to access to State Parks.

Business friendly Commissions
Our tax funded Commissions in Texas, once provided oversight and regulation of the various industries in Texas. Now instead of protecting the consumers, they actually protect the industries they are suppose to be regulating. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality hands out permits to chemical companies and polluters like crack at a dark corner. The Texas Railroad Commission provides cover and excuses for those polluting well water in Dish Texas. The Texas Department of Insurance has become the Texas Department of Insurance Companies. And then there was the Texas Residential Construction Commission:

The TRCC (TRICK)
In 2003 the home building industry wrote a bill for the State Legislature with the backing of Governor Rick Perry to create a commission stacked with members of the home building industry to supposedly provide oversight and consumer protection for new home buyers. Instead it was nothing but a "Builder Protection Agency" as the Texas Comptroller stated.

Six short years later, after a strong recommendation by the staff of the Texas Sunset Commission, the TRCC was abolished. (BTW the members of the Sunset Commission, true to form, overturned the recommendation and opted to save the TRCC) The TRCC was a perfect example of the smoke and mirrors of Texas oversight. It was the biggest trick on the citizens of Texas in the history of the State. See "The Texas Residential Construction Commission. A Consumer's Perspective"

Texas the new Somalia
Somalia is an example of the free market with no regulation, oversight, or recourse. Texas is a different Somalia with regulations and tax funded Commissions designed to protect the industries from shoddy construction, out of control insurance rates, polluting our water supply, or marketing defective products, instead of protecting the citizens of Texas. While the warlords of Somalia protect themselves with guns and terrorism, the industries of Texas use our government and threats of unemployment.

Yes Texas is dominating the recession. And we are all paying for it. Literally.