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.
Okay. Let's run with this.
Texas is experiencing an economic boom because of high oil prices while President Urkel's moratorium on drilling in The Gulf Of Mexico is in effect.
So, Paul Krugperson, President Clouseau is actually RETARDING even GREATER economic growth in Texas.
What a newshole.
Aug 5, 2011: Finding middle ground on EPA-Texas electric squabble [EPA doesn’t do “middle” ground] “Texas' grudge match with the Environmental Protection Agency is getting nastier and riskier, with the fallout threatening to reach the state's power grid. Want another reason to worry about the lights staying on? Or how about another hit to the economy? You've heard lots of political posturing about Texas' way of life being threatened by an overreaching federal government. This time, Gov. Rick Perry has a point. …………..
Don't be surprised if the attorney general jumps in after Perry slammed the rule for threatening Texas jobs and families and putting reliable, affordable electricity at risk. Late last week, 31 members of Congress from Texas, including eight Democrats, signed a letter to the White House asking for relief. The utility commission also filed objections with the EPA.
Texas officials and the EPA have been clashing over air pollution and environmental issues for the past decade. The conflict has deepened under the Obama administration as the EPA turned more aggressive and Perry sharpened his attacks on Washington.”………
Also, I don’t remember the details, the EPA is trying to mess with our refineries!
Urkel is actually HARMING Texas's economy.
Ohhhhhhh. So now we're back to "burger flipping jobs bad."
When Mickey D's announced they would hire 50,000 people after receiving one of the 1500 (at the time) waivers from ObamaCare, those same burger-flipping jobs were hailed as the savior of Obamanation.
We should remember as well, 1000 people are moving into Texas EVERY DAY.
I'm wondering when somebody is going to start manufacturing light bulbs.
We know the lights will always be on in Texas.
No surprises there.
Comparing Perry to Bush. Talking about how much Rove and Bush worked to get Perry elected Lt. Gov.
Ignored they had a rift and Perry went his own way.
Wait a minute. My head is spinning here.
One minute, Rick Perry is a carbon copy of George W. Bush, the next second he's got Bush cronies denouncing him for one thing or another.
This is going to require a scorecard.
This is yet another campaign theme the Perry people should exploit.
I just hope at least one of his staffer's is a FReeper. This stuff is gold.
I'm sure that will be news to Rick Perry!
["Perry was part of the "Pit Bulls", a group of Appropriations members who sat on the lower dais in the committee room (or "pit") who pushed for austere [Texas] state budgets during the 1980s."] Source
Karl Rove claims Rick Perry as his candidate in Perry's FIRST campaign for the Texas Agriculture Commission. [From what I’ve found this was their only collaboration]
Perry was a Texas Democrat (not a liberal Democrat). He switched to the Republican Party in 1989. In 1990 Perry won the election (against Jim Hightower) to head the Agricultural Committee (a post Perry was well suited for as having come from a cotton farming family -- raised and worked the land -- and had a degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M). He was reelected in 1994 to that office in a landslide (62%). He did not seek reelection for a 3rd term and ran for Lt. Gov of Texas (1998), winning in a 3 way race, in a hard fought campaign against John Sharp (D).
["Perry thus became the state's first Republican lieutenant governor since Reconstruction, taking office on January 19, 1999 until his ascension to the governorship on December 21, 2000 upon the resignation of then-Governor George W. Bush."] Source
In that 1998 campaign year, the G.W. Bush camp (which included Karl Rove) was campaigning for W's reelection for Texas Gov (1st elected in 1994) and was at odds with Rick Perry's hard nosed campaign against John Sharp for Lt. Gov. Karl Rove told Perry to soft peddle to lift Bush's numbers in minority groups, Perry refused. Bush won reelection as Texas Governor. Perry won office as Lt. Gov. (arguably a stronger office than TX governor).
["Bush won by 1.4 million votes, Perry by fewer than 70,000. There were harsh words afterward; Rove and Dave Carney, a top Perry strategist, now are bitter foes."] Source
Then there was this in the TX Monthly about the 2010 governor's race:
October 2009: “....It would not be surprising to find that Karl Rove had a hand in this somewhere. The Bushies are definitely in the Hutchison camp, and there is no love lost between them and the Perry camp. The tension (according to Perry team members whom I interviewed on this subject last year) dates all the way back to Perry’s race for lieutenant governor in 1998, when Rove insisted that Perry stick with a positive message even while he was being pounded by John Sharp. Meanwhile, in the view of the Perry camp, Rove was trying to turn out Hispanic Democrats who would vote for Bush, even though that meant they were likely to switch back to the D column to vote for Sharp. The Perry team decided that they had to fight back, Rove or no Rove, and they went rogue, going after Sharp hard. It worked.
...If that animosity weren’t enough, after Bush was named the winner in December 2000, Perry was insistent that the president-elect vacate the governor’s mansion so that Perry could move in, notwithstanding that Bush wanted to stay a day or two longer before leaving for Washington. I heard that firsthand from the Bushies at the time....” -- Texas Monthly
********
“The potential is great that Karl Rove will have some desire to undermine Rick Perry’s presidential bid because Perry is not Karl’s kind of candidate,” said R.G. Ratcliffe, a Texas reporter writing a book on Perry. If Rick Perry gets in, will Karl Rove be out?
Nancy Pelosi said, unemployment checks would spur the economy!
Obama’s “not so ready” shovel ready jobs @ $250K a pop didn’t do the trick either.
Criminy. The RATS are practically writing Perry's stump speeches for him.
Now that I think about it. The RATS are writing campaign speeches for ANY of The Republican candidates.
When will one of them see this?
It must be pointed out that many of the jobs were not minimum wage, however, a minimum wage job is better for the nation than the US mailing someone an unemployment check.
The first adds value, the 2nd spends from the nation’s treasury.
Also, as pointed out, an initial job is often a stepping stone to a higher paying job.
Finally, as long as Americans choose to purchase chinese and malaysian products made at slave wages, then American companies can only compete with such low wages by having low wages themselves.
Buy American or from real-wage nations. (Stihl chain saws, for example.)
While I am working, I am most interested in a low or no income tax.
When I am retired, I am most interested in low sales and property taxes.
Krugman finally has his stopped-clock moment.
Perry should send a personal thank-you letter to Bernanke for Texas’ job growth. Insane Fed policy sent energy and ag commodity prices into the stratosphere, and Perry gets to take credit for creating jobs he had nothing to do with.
Every time the dollar goes into the crapper, Texas goes into an economic boom.
Note to Krugman: If that were the case, Kalefornia should have 100% employment with all the illegal immigrants.
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