“My number one priority is making sure president Obama’s a one-term president.”
— Senate Minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

“We all want what’s best for this country. That’s what I heard in Mr. Trump’s remarks last night. That’s what I heard when I spoke to him directly. And I was heartened by that.”
— President Barack Obama

I believe you can judge a person not when they’re winning, but when they’re losing. How they respond tells a whole lot about their character. That’s why I was pleased to hear President Obama take the high road when meeting with reporters after the Trump/Clinton election.

It may just have been rhetoric and maybe he really doesn’t believe what he says, but tone matters. Back in 2008, Sen. McConnell felt it was in the best interest of the country to do whatever he could to not allow Obama a second term. You can argue that, blocking Obama would be in the best interest for the country, but do you really want to say it like that? Could we at least put some lipstick on the pig?

I may have missed it, but I don’t recall the kind of bombastic language this year by presidential candidates in the past elections. Deplorable and nasty soon became buzz words for both parties to rally around. I realize the country is divided, but maybe it’s because of our tone of discourse. Maybe if we step back, listen (now there’s a concept) and work at addressing our issues in a calmer manner we can get more things done. I understand not everyone will be able to do this, I’m just saying it would be nice to see a little more of it.

I think Elwood P. Dowd in the film Harvey summed it up best when he said; “In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.”

There is always a lot of talk about taxes in Austin. One of the selling points politicians like to make is reminding people we have no state income tax (other states with no state income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming).

That sounds really good, until you ask yourself how Texas pays the bills without one. The answer is sales and property taxes. Texas has the 12^th highest sales tax in the nation at 8.17 percent (Tennessee is the highest with a 9.46 percent).

Texas also has a higher-than-average effective property tax (Fifth highest in the nation). This has gotten the attention of Austin lawmakers who are crying foul and looking to find ways to have municipalities cutback on their tax rates, but education officials say not so fast. Thanks to Austin cutting back on funding for education, schools and other government entities look to property tax to fill the gap.

A 2010 report from the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute found funding for education in Texas to be “antiquated”. The study group was co-chaired by Dan Patrick, now Texas’ lieutenant governor.

While an argument can be made on both sides of the issue of state income taxes, one thing seems to be very clear, not having a state income tax hurts the poor. Why? Because a state income tax is based on what a person earns. Sales taxes are considered regressive because they don’t change based on a person’s income. Someone making $15k a year pays the same tax for a gallon of milk as someone who makes $150k annually.

If you look at taxes paid as a percentage of income on the poorest to the wealthiest, Texas ranks fifth in the nation for having the most regressive state tax system. The poorest 20 percent pay 12.6 in taxes compared to the middle class (8.8 percent) and the top 1 percent (3.2).

Much like the federal tax system, the Texas tax system needs some fixing. It’s a simple question; how do we want to collect money to pay for state services. The answer? Well that’s a little harder.

It’s not always easy living in Texas. The state has a lot of great things going for it, but like other states there are times when one has to shake their head in bewilderment.

Take for example the recent run-off election for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education. Mary Lou Bruner was a candidate who received 48 percent of the vote in a three-way primary, just two percentage points of winning, and since Texas is a red state, becoming the presumptive candidate to join the board.

The 69-year-old candidate, who looks like someone from the SNL Church Lady sketch, ran on a platform of keeping gay “subliminal messages” out of text books. Now you would think most conservative Republican voters would support that position, but then a funny thing happened; somebody started looking at her Facebook page and found these pearls of wisdom:

• The United Nations launched a plot to depopulate the planet.

• President Obama is a former gay prostitute.

• Democrats secretly assassinated JFK because he was conservative.

• House Speaker Paul Ryan’s beard made him look like “a terrorist.”

• Dinosaurs and people lived at the same time.

• The climate crisis was Karl Marx’s idea.

In a released statement, Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller said, “Texas escaped an education train wreck tonight. If Bruner had ultimately won election to the board, she would have instantly become the most embarrassingly uninformed and divisive member on a board that already too often puts politics ahead of making sure our kids get a sound education.”

In the end, the voters decided that Keven Ellis, Lufkin school board president might be better suited for the position proving that even a blind squirrel can find the nuts, even if they look like a church lady.