Posted on 08/16/2011 6:52:13 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says that "the Texas miracle is a myth." He argues that Governor Rick Perry's state is prospering because of high oil prices and population growth, much of this growth from Mexican immigrants and retirees.
As for the oil prices, does anybody think that, if Barack Obama were governor of Texas, he wouldn't have messed with the Texas oil industry by now? And those retirees: Wonder if they might be attracted to the Lone Star state because there is no state income tax?
Whoever the GOP nominee is, whether Perry or somebody else, his (or her) economic program is going to be pro-market along the lines Perry has followed in Texas. But because Perry is governor of a state that has created 37 percent of the new jobs since the recession officially ended, he currently is taking the heat.
Much of the criticism aimed at Perry's claim to have created jobs in Texas comes from the Obama administration and is derived from that administration's tragically misguided beliefs about how jobs get born. Perry knows that jobs are created by the private sector, not the government, while the anti-business Obama administration believes government stimulus is what puts people to work.
If government gets out of the way, as Rick Perry did in Texas, the private economy will grow; if the government injects itself into the economy with new regulations, drilling moratoria, and unstimulating stimulus spending, as the Obama administration has done, then job creation is likely to slow.
A good editorial in the Chicago Tribune takes a realistic look at Perry's economic record and finds "no miracle, but solid achievements." He is not King Midas, but he has had the sense to let jobs happen.
The most damaging criticism of Perry's record is likely to be that many jobs in Texas are minimum wage jobs. Alana Goodman of Commentary addressed this issue yesterday: She argues this is not the case just for Texas, noting that 73 per cent of the job-creation nationally has been in low-paying fields.
It is an unfortunate fact that higher minimum wages often mean higher unemployment. Another fact is that when companies are forced to pay a higher minimum wage, they demand more of an employee, ruling out many who might otherwise be able to hold down a full-time job. Oh, and here's another thing about the minimum wage: a job, even one that doesn't pay as much as we might want, is a stepping stone to a better job.
No, the Texas miracle is not a miracle--it is good, sound economic behavior of the sort that made this country great.
obama does not have it and never will, because he's blind to it, and focused in the wrong direction. he keeps digging his holes deeper and deeper; he hasn't learned yet that at some point one has to stop digging and start to climb out of the hole.
Ignored they had a rift and Perry went his own way.
Rove, and the Republican leadership, will oppose anyone at all who has a mind of their own. They're scared to death of Palin, Perry, and others who answer questions or provide commentary based on their own beliefs.
I think one of the primary reasons that Reagan was so popular was that he had very simplistic, fundamental beliefs, and he never strayed from those. He did not rely on Republican talking points or avoid broaching a subject. He was confrontational when he had to be and did not kowtow to political correctness; was not afraid of offending some special interest group.
The problem is, there are so many special interest groups today that if you're going to lead, you have to ignore them and do what you think's right. If you try to please them all, you'll end up being Mr. Milquetoast, not pleasing anyone. That's what leads to mediocrity.
Actually, Texas isn’t as bad off as some other states because tech and other companies see that we have lower land prices and lower wages. They are moving branches out of more costly places such as NY and CA. It’s good for their bottom line. Sadly, we’re being inundated with wacky liberals from NY and CA who want to change us into what they came from. We’re also being inundated with illegals. Sure, we’ve always had them but the past 5 years or so there’s been a huge swell of them under Perry’s watch.
Slide to 9:20 into the broadcast (Rick Perry cold glass of water GOP has been crawling over sand to drink — Perry expressing what a large swath of Republican’s believe about Obama and how he feels about America).
I don’t know about conditions in Texas, but where I live; Huntsville, AL; fast-food joints are paying more than minimum in order to get people to apply.
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