What do you find most startling, enlightening, reassuring, or troublesome from Texas on the Brink?

Read through the Texas on the Brink report provided (link). This report is produced by actual members of the Texas legislature (yes, they’re mostly democrats; no, that doesn’t matter because they cite accurate sources; yes, they might be faulted for not citing every stat known to humanity, some of which might be more positive) and ranks Texas alongside other states on a number of different measures.

What do you find most startling, enlightening, reassuring, or troublesome from Texas on the Brink? Assess these rankings in light of the elements of Texas political culture and demographics covered in Unit 1. Why might we expect Texas as a state to perform as we do, given what we know about the culture, people, and socioeconomic environment? I suggest emphasizing one or two of the stats – depth of discussion is a stronger approach than breadth of coverage.