The stupid people, again, will show their stupidity..

Texas Gov. Abbott tweets shaky chart showing Texas superior to California

By Mike Moffitt

An amateurish infographic tweeted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday night attempts to show Texas and Florida’s superiority over California and New York in everything from their respective COVID-19 death rates to state income tax.

According to the “Four Most Populous States by the Numbers” graphic, the two southern states have fewer coronavirus deaths and smaller budget deficits. It also notes that Florida and Texas have reopened dine-in restaurants, salons and barbershops, and churches, while California and New York have not.

Abbott only comment was a chin-stroking “Hmmm…”

It’s not clear who created the chart; no credit is provided. But beyond the blurry photos, there are clues that the workmanship is less than professional. Some figures are not current and others are misleading. For example, the 13 percent California income tax only applies to those making over $1 million per year.

An unfortunate typo has turned the word “mortality” into “morality.” According to the graphic, Texas has the lowest morality rate of the four states.

The Houston Chronicle reported Texas had 1,801 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the largest single-day jump since the pandemic began.

Replies to the governor’s Twitter post ran the gamut. There was much red state flag waving and needling of blue states: “God bless Texas!”, “Great Job Governor Abbot [sic] and Governor DeSantis. Hey Gavin and Cuomo, you might want to learn something” and “To you California or New York nut jobs, if you move here, vote Republican, don’t want TX to become CA or NY!!!”

But a number of people questioned the graphic’s figures, such as the mortality rate, which should be COVID-19 deaths as a percentage of cases not total population. Others pointed to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Texas, suggesting that the tweet "would not age well."

A few noted that unlike California and New York, Texas and Florida get a disproportionate amount of federal aid that allows them to keep their own taxes artificially low or that the deficit figures did not account for Texas' $45 billion pension debt.