Ross criticizes Obama for "pushing a blue-state agenda during a recession that's exposed some of the blue-state model's weaknesses, and some of the red-state model's strengths." To illustrate, Ross singles out the struggling blue state of California and the resilient red state of Texas (a comparison The Economist featured in a recent cover story). But Benen sees it differently:
We're in the midst of a major debate over health care policy, and Texas is anything but a "model citizen." It is easily the worst state in the nation for the uninsured, and stands to benefit greatly from the White House's "blue-state agenda." For that matter, its poverty rate is second only to Mississippi nationwide. If Texas is a "model citizen" for taxes and fiscal balance, it's also a disaster for those families who are struggling with less.
Ezra Klein backs up Benen with some statistics, including this chart:
Fallows also takes issue with Ross's column, namely for excluding any mention of California's revenue-limiting Proposition 13 or Texas's constitutional ban on budget deficits. The Dish recently ran some Recession Views discussing Texas's ability to weather the downturn; read them here, here, and here.