Let’s start with this 2 minute video which offers fascinating insight into the woefully ignorant political appointments that Obama is making. In a taped interview, the U.S. Secretary of Labor is STUNNED to discover that Texas is creating jobs like crazy — she literally had no idea about this.
You gotta see her laugh incredulously at the assertion, saying “Come again??” From there you get to watch a political deer caught in headlights — wishing she were elsewhere. I suspect that many Democrats watching this video feel the same way about her.
Texas for Dummies: U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Doesn’t Know Texas Has Largest Job Growth in U.S.
Apparently trivial matters such as job creation don’t concern our SECRETARY OF LABOR, or the Obama administration (until this month, when Obama’s handlers belatedly realized that he’s up for reelection in 2012). In her mind, being unemployed (and politically beholden to a generous government welfare system) is FAR superior to, ya know, going to work.
All Secretary Solis really knew about Texas was that it’s a “right to work” state — which is ObamaSpeak for “a very evil place.”
Here’s one other humorous factoid I picked up concerning our brilliant Secretary of Labor.
Hilda Solis demonstrated her stunning ignorance of her job when she didn’t know that Texas has had great success creating jobs. But at least she understands symbolism — she dumped her government SUV for an American-made Chevy — union worker solidarity and all that.
Only one problem — she bought a Canadian-built Chevy made from primarily Canadian auto parts.
Oops.
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But I digress. As usual.
Below is a more detailed analysis of the Texas jobs market. What is fascinating is the state’s large population influx, and yet Texas still has a significantly lower unemployment rate than the national average.
One knock on Texas jobs is that they supposedly pay so little. Two problems with that criticism:
1. The cost of living in Texas is far lower than what most of our country’s population face — comparable housing costs less than half what Californians pay, and there is no state income tax. It takes less income to live comfortably in Texas than in the Democrat bastions around the country.
2. According to the WALL ST JOURNAL, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) “pegs the median hourly wage in Texas at $15.14, 93% of the national average, and wages have increased at a good clip: in fact, the 10th fastest state in 2010 at 3.4%.” Not exactly Chinese slave labor wages.
Here’s another knee-jerk attempt to explain away the Texas job growth, and the factual rebuttal (from the same WSJ article):
The Texas skeptics often invoke high energy prices, as if Texas were some sheikdom next to Mexico. But according to the Dallas Fed study, energy jobs accounted for only 10.6% of the new positions.
Full disclosure — I’ve never been a big Rick Perry fan. I think there are better (if not more electable) GOP choices for President. But he’s so much better than Obama that it’s scary (scary for Dems, at least). Here’s the WSJ article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903596904576514331498988562.html
WALL ST JOURNAL
AUGUST 19, 2011
The Texas Jobs Panic
Liberals try to discredit the Lone Star State’s economic success
Rick Perry is not the subtlest politician, but he looks like Pericles next to the liberals falling over themselves to discredit job creation in Texas. We’d have thought any new jobs would be a blessing when 25 million Americans are looking for full-time work, but apparently new jobs aren’t valuable jobs if they’re created in a state that rejects Obamanomics.
Let’s dissect the Texas record. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported this summer that Texas created 37% of all net new American jobs since the recovery began in June 2009. Texas by far outpaced every other state, including those with large populations like New York and California and those with faster-growing economies, like North Dakota. Other states have lower unemployment rates than Texas’s 8.2%, though that is below the national average and the state is also adding jobs faster than any other.
Texas is also among the three states and the District of Columbia that are home to more jobs today than when the recession began in December 2007. Without the Texas gains, according to the Dallas Fed, annual U.S. job growth would have been 0.97% instead of 1.17%. Over the past five years, Texas has added more net new jobs than all other states combined.
As for the critics, well, one of their explanations is that Americans are moving to Texas because of the nice weather. The temperature in Fort Worth this week reached 108 degrees.
The critics claim demography is destiny, and of course jobs and population tend to rise and fall in tandem. The number of Texans is booming: According to the Census Bureau, the population grew 20.6% between 2000 and 2010, behind only Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Arizona. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the seasonally adjusted size of the Texas labor force has increased by 5% since December 2007, faster than any state other than North Carolina at 5.4%, though the Tar Heel State has declined 0.4% over the last year. The labor force has shrunk in 28 states since December 2007.
Some of this Texas growth is due to high birth rates, some to immigration. But it also reflects the flight of people from other states. People and capital are mobile and move where the opportunities are greatest. Texas is attractive to workers and employers alike because of its low costs of living and doing business. The government in Austin is small, taxes are low, regulation is stable, and the litigation system is more predictable after Mr. Perry’s tort reforms—all of which is a magnet for private investment and hiring.
Do read the full article, click on the URL.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903596904576514331498988562.html