Why Some in Texas See Sequestration as an Opportunity

The Takeaway

As the sequester deadline looms, we asked Takeaway listeners this week what government programs they would cut if they could.
Many texted us this answer: “Cut the salaries of the congress.” Another popular answer was echoed in this listener sentiment” “I would stop all taxpayer subsidies to profitable industries, such as the oil and gas industry.”
Most Americans can probably think of some federal programs that we could do without. But in practice, the   repercussions  for each state may be drastically different, depending on their reliance of federal money.
Some in Texas are making the case that because of their under-reliance  on federal money, the state of Texas is in a unique position to weather these cuts, even with the sequester bringing potentially dramatic cuts across the country beginning in March.
According to Chuck DeVore, vice president for policy at the Texas Public Policy Institute, the Lone Star State will, in fact, do just fine.

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