Rodger A. Keats has it right in his letter of Jan 14 ("Protecting the Election of Democrats") when he describes how a minority-anglo Texas has ruffled the National Democtratic Party. In my 49-year stint as a resident in Texas, I witnessed a 100% Democratic state in the 1950's change to one of the reddist of red states today. Among other states, its economy and job creation are beyond comparison. It has become the absolute opposite of California; it does not need nor require a state income tax;and it pays for a substantial homestead exemption on resident and senior-citizen property taxes.
It appears that Sam Houston had it right in his negotions with the U.S. Congress over the 1845 Treaty of Annexation when he reportedly said in essence that Texas is going to keep ownership of its public lands or we are not going to join, thus laying the groundwork for its economy to become unique among the 50 states. Texas doesn't have a significant share of its area under federal control, as many other states do, and it is able to profit from royalties on state lands on which it encourages development.
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