A New Minimum Wage - What a disgrace

This week many workers received a 70-cents per hour raise as the federal minimum wage rose to $6.55. What a disgrace.

What a disgrace that we live in the richest country in the world and yet millions of citizens are being paid slave wages for their labors. Millions more are underpaid as well, as a result of wage collapse under the regimes of recent decade. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that in Texas alone there are 221,000 workers who earn at or below the minimum wage.

To put it into perspective, a Texas family with both parents working full time at the minimum wage will now earn $26,200 per year before taxes.

This is an absolute disgrace.

It is no wonder that 842,000 Texas children live in poverty, despite residing in one of the wealthiest places on the planet (Texas, by itself, would rank as the 15th largest economy in the world). We have some of the lowest household net worth (45th in the nation) and home ownership (44th ) and Texas ranks dead last in the share of adults without a high school diploma or GED. There are more than 3,000 food banks throughout a state and their cupboards are nearly bare.

And yet, car lots are full of the latest models, stores overflow with luxury goods, skyscrapers and hi-rise condominiums are being built at a rapid rate, and people worship at temples of excess. In Texas, home to six of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list, we have more than enough to go around.

Yet, poverty in Texas is more pronounced than the nation as a whole. According to the U.S. Census Bureau analyses by the Center for Public Priorities: 1.3 million Texans face a choice between buying food or paying rent every day...... MORE Page 2>

Dolly's costs may hit $1 billion or more

Texas and northern Mexico narrowly escaped what could have been a much greater disaster. However, the cost of damage from Hurricane Dolly is still expected to exceed $1 billion. Governor Rick Perry speaking from McAllen said, “Texas has again showed the nation how to deal with a major weather event.” At the peak of the storm, more than 350,000 Texas and Mexico residents were without power.

Deplorable housing conditions found in Houston

During the past year there have been several stories about deplorable rent housing conditions in Houston. Last year there were complexes going without water, sewer and electricity because the owner hadn't made his payments. Most recently, Houston ranked as a city with too few affordable units while many of those that are there are barely inhabitable. Last week two boys died when a stairwell collapsed.

Reporters have found too many cases where the poor or elderly are living in deplorable and dangerous conditions. The housing of Katrina evacuees has also been a factor, but that doesn't excuse the owners. “There’s no incentive for the landlord to do a better job if they have ten low-income people to rent he same crummy apartment,” Hennenberger says John Hennenberger of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service. Some of these properties are owned by out of state slumlords, while others belong to local leading lights.

Jocks and Bible-thumpers rule TX School Board

Decisions by the State Board of education, during July, show that lunatics are still apparently in charge of the asylum.

First, the Board approved allowing "Bible" classes to be taught throughout public schools without setting any real standards or guidelines for what is taught. Texas is already the laughing stock of much of the literate world because of attempts by a minority of religious zealots to teach creationism, and now a narrow view of religious doctrine.

If that wasn't enough, the Board agreed this week to move ahead on a proposed rule that would allow high school athletes to receive twice as much credit - four years of sport instead of only two - toward graduation as allowed under current state requirements. "This is a fairness issue," said board member Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, noting that students in other extracurricular activities – such as band and dance – can get four years of credit for those activities. What next for Texas education?

ACORN addresses poverty, housing

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), is the nation's largest community organization of low and moderate income families working to end poverty. Recently ACORN Texas hosted former senator John Edwards in Houston as part of his national tour to cut poverty in half during the next decade.

The effort, dubbed Half in Ten, hopes to encourage state and national legislators to enact measures such as raising the minimum wage, expanding the earned-income tax credit and making child care more affordable. Houston mayor Bill White has already taken action to help prevent foreclosures in that city, before the real downturn in Texas begins.

Texas business growth strong

A CNBC study ranks the Texas business climate #1 in the nation. People know they can come to Texas, they can risk their capital and the chance of having a good resturn on an investment: pretty good," Governor Rick Perry said. The San Antonio founders of Clear Channel certainly had a lucrative week as shareholders approved the $17.9 billion takeover of the nation's largest U.S. radio broadcaster by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. The $36-a-share buyout will be completed July 30.

AT&T, moving to Dallas from San Antonio, reported net income of $3.8 billion, or 76 cents per diluted share, on revenues of $30.9 billion for the quarter ended June. Texas-based Burlington Northern earned $350 million or $1 per share in the second quarter. Fort Worth-based XTO Energy Inc. reported a 33% rise in second-quarter earnings and plans $2.1 billion in acquisitions aimed at doubling its size in three years. Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, posted a first-quart profit climb of 17% to 10.9 billion.

Several Texas transmission owners have formed a consortium to build the $5 billion in new power lines to take advantage of the state's abundant wind generation. The consortium, includes Dallas-based Oncor, the state's largest power delivery company, Electric Transmission Texas, units of American Electric Power Co., the Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Service Corp (LCRA) and Sharyland Utilities.

In startup news, San Antonio's Rackspace, which was given $22 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, is planning a possible IPO in the near future.