Texas — unsafe at any speed

You probably already knew that, if you live here, but here's the details, via a report on safe living in all 50 states, that Texas is the fifth-most unsafe state.

Safety Conditions in Texas
30th – Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter per Capita
40th – Fatalities per 100 Million Vehicle Miles of Travel
41st – Employer Health Insurance Coverage Rates
14th – Public Hospital Rankings
39th – Sex Offenders Per Capita
31st – Assault per Capita
46th – Percentage of Population Without Health Insurance Coverage
27th – Percentage of People Who Spend More Than They Make
42nd – Annual Consumer Savings Account Averages
50th – Number of Climate Disasters (over 1 billion in damage)

The rankings in the 40s are all no surprise. Texas has a lot of DWI drivers, and a certain amount of road rage in its hot-summer big cities. (And yes, higher temperatures do appear to add to shorter tempers.)

The two insurance rankings? We all know that, but, Tricky Ricky Perry, and the Tea Party and Tea Party-lite wings of the state GOP both reject Medicaid expansion, so, that won't change as long as the GOP controls the levers of power.

The low savings, that 42nd? Well, folks, that's Rick Perry's Texas Miracle! All those great, fantastic, high-paying jobs that he allegedly created. 

Finally, that 50th? Our combo of tornadoes, along with hail and other frontal-related weather problems from the north and west, on the one hand, and hurricanes from the Gulf, on the other, means it will stay that way. The total dollar amount will just get worse with global warming.

Oh, go look at the map on the link, too. All the unsafe states? They're colored "red" for being unsafe, but, they seem to line up with being "red" politically, too. What a shock.