We are the state of fiscal responsibility and low taxes and job growth, right? We don’t want high taxes and wasteful spending (e.g., children’s health insurance) to drag down our statewide economy. Nope. But when it’s time to put our hand out and soak up those federal Tax dollars, we are second in line to get our remarkably unfair share.

Texas corralled $2.2 billion in special projects from the federal government this year, including $294,000 for a Houston zoo program and $22 million for an Army gymnasium near El Paso.

While presidential contenders and some Congress members debated whether the projects, called earmarks, bloat the budget, the Lone Star State was awarded 539 of them for the current fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Only California was given more goodies, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis.

The Chronicle article does a good job analyzing the earmarks (and which of our reps supported each one). But there’s one thing that isn’t mentioned.

You might be wondering, "How much money are we paying into the federal government to get such rich rewards?" Turns out, we get almost $1 back for every dollar we send to Washington. We rank 35th out of 50 states in this regard. Who’s number 1?  Check out the list for 2005.