Polly Ross Hughes, The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1760034

AUSTIN -- Don't dis Mississippi before you get the facts, governor.

Perhaps you're stuck in the past, the days when Texas politicians
justified their tight-fisted ways by chuckling, "Thank God for
Mississippi."

Perhaps you're thinking of political satirist Molly Ivins' comment
that "the entire justification for Mississippi is so Texas won't be
50th."

Or maybe you're thinking about Mississippi paying welfare mothers with
two children even less than Texas -- $113 a month versus $170 in the
Lone Star State.

But, before upsetting the people of the deeply Southern state by
telling reporters "I don't want to become Mississippi," Gov. Rick
Perry, you might want to check the most recent data from the U.S.
Census Bureau.

"I considered it a slap," Mississippi House Speaker Tim Ford said
Friday, predicting his letter of protest will reach Perry next week.

"It makes the state and what we do as elected leaders look bad. We've
had our bad moments, but we're trying to do the best we can with the
resources we've got."

In what radio commentator Jim Hightower calls "an age-old struggle for
last," Texas might be starting to win.

"It's actually a very funny set of statistics," said Eva De Luna
Castro, budget analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an
Austin think tank that advocates for the needy.

The data compare Texas and Mississippi on state and local spending
combined for the year 2000. Mississippi spent $4,897 per person. Texas
spent $4,592.

That might sound like something to brag about if it weren't for one
little matter. The data also show the overall tax bill for
Mississippians totaled $2,214 per person per year. Texans paid more --
$2,504.

One culprit seems to be the share paid in local property taxes. Texans
get hit with a $950 bill. Mississippians pay only $514.

So how did Mississippi spend more while taxing less?

Castro said it appears Mississippi's politicians are better adept at
pulling in federal dollars. In 2000, they attracted $1,240 per person
from the federal government while Texas got only $890.

"It's maybe just a myth that never really existed," she said. "In some
areas, Mississippi may be doing a better job than Texas ever did.
We've just been kicking them around for no good reason."

Consider a few more categories. One big surprise? Highways. Perhaps it
might bolster Perry's push for more highway spending that Mississippi
spent $433 per person on highways in 2000, while Texas spent only
$345.

Parks and natural resources? Mississippi's get $137 per person. Texas'
get $107.

And, when it comes to children, Mississippi is no slacker, either.
Ninety percent of children there are covered by either public or
private health insurance versus only 79 percent in Texas.

Mississippi spends $3,434 per pupil, versus $3,186 in Texas, where
local property taxes foot most of the bill.

Both states rank fairly low in the percentage of their populations
over 25 holding a high school diploma, but Mississippi ranks 44th with
80.3 percent while Texas comes in 46th with 79.2 percent.

No doubt that Mississippi is a poor state and Texas is a wealthier
one, however, with 19.3 percent living in poverty versus 14.9 percent
in Texas.

Average personal income in Texas for 2001 is $28,581 versus $21,750 in
Mississippi.

"They're a high poverty state and so are we, but we're a higher per
capita income state and they are not," Castro said. "There's a lot of
money here, but it's concentrated in a relatively few households. In
Mississippi, it looks like the misery is spread around more evenly."

Texas can brag in a few departments, though. Mississippi ranks 50th in
percentage of households with Internet access. Texas ranks 35th.

Texas, with higher incarceration rates, also spends $180 per person
for prisons versus $103 in Mississippi.

"I certainly wouldn't want to discourage ambition in our leaders,"
said Hightower, former Democratic Agriculture Commissioner.

"Maybe instead of aspiring to be No. 49, we can take on North Dakota
or rise up to Rhode Island."

--
"Have you noticed that while Dubya is talking, Dick Cheney
 never takes a sip of water?"