A few good words about my home state from Michael Barone in the Washington Examiner….
If you want to see a place where the private sector in America has been booming and generating jobs, you should look at Texas. That’s my take from these absolutely fascinating numbers compiled from Bureau of Labor Statistics figures by The Business Journals, tracking the increase or decrease in private sector jobs in the ten years between April 2001 and April 2011….
In those 10 years, Texas gained 732,800 private sector jobs, far ahead of the number two and three states, Arizona (90,200) and Nevada (90,000). The nation overall lost more than 2 million private sector jobs, with the biggest losses coming in California (623,700), Michigan (619,200) and Ohio (460,900).
Texas’s gain was also impressive as a percentage of jobs at the beginning of the period. Texas had job growth of 9%, more than any other state except much smaller North Dakota (19%), Alaska (17%), Wyoming (16%), Montana (12%) and Utah (10%). The biggest losers in percentage terms, by far, were Michigan (16%) and Ohio (10%)…..
The lesson of the previous decade seems clear: if you take a previously prosperous and creative state and subject it to high taxes and intrusive regulations, it loses 5% of its private sector jobs; if you take a previously somewhat less prosperous and creative state and govern it with low taxes and light regulation, it gains 9% more jobs, even as the nation’s economy is suffering.
And another thing of interest from Fox News…..
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Friday he is considering a run for the Republican nomination in 2012, saying he’ll decide after the current legislative session ends next week.
“Yes sir, I’m going to think about it,” Perry said in a response to a question from a reporter, “but I think about a lot of things,” he added with a grin.
Laughter ensued.
And another article from Fox News….
Perry, who has been governor for more than a decade, is a favorite of the Tea Party movement for his tough stands on state sovereignty, border security, taxes and gun rights. Anybody who packs heat when he jogs so he can blow away coyotes that mess with his Labrador retriever and hangs out with Ted Nugent at a Tax Day rally is going to have serious street cred with the Republican base.
Perry has his problems, but there isn’t a friggin’ GOP candidate who doesn’t. I’m not exactly endorsing Perry (just like Rush Limbaugh wasn’t exactly endorsing Perry last week). I’m just saying…..
