Virginia one of best-run states

    If you are looking to move to a golf community in a state whose government actually spends your tax money efficiently, then choose Virginia.  Not warm enough for you?  Okay, then pack your bags for Georgia or Texas.  Of all the southern states where year-round golf communities flourish, Virginia, Georgia and Texas have the best run governments according to a new study by the Pew Center on the States.
    Grading the categories of money, people, infrastructure and information on the education scale of A to E, the Pew Center gave its highest mark, an A-, to the states of Virginia, Washington and Utah.  Of Virginia, the Pew report said: "Smart long-term planning is one reason Virginia has long been one of the best managed states in the country."
    Georgia and Texas followed close behind with scores of B+.   Both South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida scored a B-, the national average of all 50 states.  Mississippi and Alabama, where I am this week, mustered a slightly below-average C+.
    And what is the worst run government in the 50 states?  It is the "Live Free or Die" state of New Hampshire, which managed a barely passing D+.  New Hampshire has no state income tax and, perhaps, it shows.
    For a map of the 50 states showing the Pew Center grades, click here.