Speaking of taxes. . .

Earlier this year the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy published an analysis of state tax policy in the United States.  The study found that the tax system in Texas was one of the 10 most regressive in the nation. 

In Texas families in the bottom 20% of the income scale pay more than three-and-a-half times as great a share of their earnings in taxes as do the top 1%.

The poor in Texas pay 12.2% of their income on taxes, the 5th largest percentage in the U. S.