Frankham - I realize you don't mean to ridicule Texas or Texans with your post discrediting our Governor, but comments such as "Bubbaland" (not yours) and your the misrepresentation of selected facts in your quote - highly insult my intelligence, and my home. I took the time to research and respond to those purposely biased comments and have listed them below.

First of all, it is important to state that most of these statistics are rankings in spending - as if spending was the only criteria for success in a given area. Bush and many other Repubicans take strong exception to that notion. Saying, for example that Bush is spending less on state funded social programs is very likely crediting him for achieving a Texas voter mandate - as opposed to an pointing to an example of some shortcoming in his success. Having said that, it is still worth going over the points of attack one at atime.

50th in spending for teachers' salaries

• A legacy inherited from Bush's Democratic predecessors was an education system in need, including undervalued teachers. Governor Bush, has increased the state minimum salary for teachers increased 33 percent.
  
• It is also important to note that much of Texas has very low cost of living figures compared to the national averages. When adjusted for cost of living and teacher experience compared to national indices, Texas ranks 9th in teacher pay. I believe the significant improvement in teacher salaries and the leadership Texas has shown in standardized student achievement tests underscore Bush's commitment to improving teacher excellence, and progress toward achieving that goal.
  
  

49th in spending on the environment

• Since Governor Bush, has been in office environmental spending increased 29%, up $369 million and while this is not the only measure of commitment to environmental issues, it shows a dramatic improvement over Texas's environmental spending history.
  
• Since 1995, state funding for Texas' environmental agency increased 14%, up $84.5 million.
  

48th in per capita funding for public health

• Last year, Governor Bush and the Texas Legislature spent $1.8 billion dollars for health care initiatives in Texas. This marks a new record in State spending for public health programs.
  

47th in delivery of social services

• As is commensurate with popular opinion in America, and more specifically Texas, under Governor Bush the welfare rolls have been cut in half
  
• In support of the people in transition from these programs Bush and the Texas legislature provided $18 million in transitional benefits to help those still moving into meaningful jobs.
  
• During his tenure Texas has increased childcare funding by $357 million. That is an 87 percent increase over the money spent by his Democrat predecessor.
  

42nd in child support collections

• Until January of 1999 child-support collections in Texas were the responsibility of the Texas Attorney General (a Democrat).
  
• In 1999, following the removal of this responsibility from the Attorney General, Texas posted its largest annual increase ($111.4 million) in child-support collections. This represented the largest amount ever collected and outpaced the growth in caseload by 8 percent.
  

41st in per capita spending on public education.

• Again, under Governor Bush there was significant improvement in this area, 56 percent of all new state spending was dedicated to public education
  
• State funding for public schools increased by $8.3 billion. This represents a 37 percent increase in state funding per student
  
• And since it is important to remember that spending is not in and of itself a measure of success; it is important to note that Texas has led the nation on improvement of student test scores.
  
  

BUT ... Texas is:

5th in percentage of population living in poverty

• Under Governor Bush, the poverty rate decreased 21.5 percent and the total number of Texans in poverty decreased 17 percent.
  
• Under Governor Bush, the child poverty rate decreased 19 percent and the overall number of children living in poverty also decreased 19 percent.
  

1st in air and water pollution

• Again, there is improvement to report here.Texas reduced the release and disposal of toxics by 43 million pounds, a 14 percent overall reduction.
  
• Under legislation signed by Governor Bush, Texas became the 3rd state in the nation to require pollution reductions and permits from older, unpermitted utilities - a 50 percent reduction in four years. The job isn't complete but this shows major improvement.
  
• Under two pieces of legislation supported and signed by Governor Bush, Texas will reduce their emissions by more than 250,000 tons each year -- the equivalent of removing 5.5 million cars from Texas roads.
  
• More than 96% of Texas public drinking water meets all standards, up from 88% in 1995.
  

1st in percentage of poor working parents without insurance

• The national rate for this area has increased almost four times as fast as that of Texas.
  
• Texas has slowed the growth of the uninsured to .3% over the Governor's term, while.
  
• Last year alone, Texas provided over $4 billion in health care to the uninsured.
  
• Last year, Governor Bush signed legislation providing an $80 million increase for Medicaid reimbursements to physicians and hospitals providing care for the poor.
  

1st in percentage of children without health insurance

• In order to improve our standard in this area, and resolve the legacy of Governor Bush inherited, he signed legislation providing health insurance for more than 423,000 children.
  
• Under a separate program, Governor Bush and the Texas Legislature provided $25 million to make children of legal immigrants eligible for the children's health insurance program.
  

1st in executions

• No arguement
  
• Commensurate with Texas (and in fact national) voter views, Governor Bush has enforced the death penalty as directed by our courts.
  
• It is also important to remember that Bush has championed law enforcement and justice. Texas is a safer place to live under Governor Bush: violent crime has decreased 20 percent and violent juvenile crime has decreased 38 percent.