Texas Governor Rick Perry offered a solution today for the unemployment problem that is plaguing America: pray for it. The recently re-elected governor of the once prosperous Lone Star State prayed for an economic upturn for the American people during his controversial day of prayer today, titled "The Response," where over 25,000 people filled Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The long-standing governor insisted the event was not about politics but still spent most of his speaking time on God and praying as the only solution to America's economic problems.
Christian Prayers Fix All?
"Lord, you are the source of everything good," Mr. Perry said. "You are our only hope, and we stand before you today in awe of your power and in gratitude for your blessings..."
Although Perry said he would not talk about politics, he did address politics when he attempted to offer the only solution to date by the Republican Party to solve America's Job crisis.
Where Are the Answers?
Whereas President Obama and many democratic leaders in Washington have made several suggestions to work on fixing America's economic problems with a balance of cuts and increased revenue, the Republican Party, often labeled by its 
opponents as the "Party of No," has stuck with the tradition in offering no new solutions.
America has a dying infrastructure and growing transportation issues, and fixing these problems can fix many things at once. If the U.S. can rebuild infrastructure, improve transportation and in doing so add jobs, people with jobs pay taxes, taxes adds revenue and the same people with jobs buy items with that money, again pay taxes on those items, and it is one big happy circle. If unemployment and underemployment are not fixed, then cuts are going to hurt and further depress the economic situation.
History Shows the Answer
Americans, funded by the American government, built a lot of America throughout its history. A lot of what America has now, even if in need of some serious repair, was mostly built during the years after the Great Depression and helped pull the country out of the worst economic crisis of their time.
America highways, railroads, state park structures were all examples of how the American government created jobs that bettered the country and helped put people back to work. Leaders understood that to fix the economy they, needed to create jobs, and once people had jobs, they could fuel the rest of the economy through paying taxes on payroll and purchases.
So, while Rick Perry is using prayer to find an answer, Americans should hope a history book falls into his hands and he can read about how earlier leaders fixed economic problems.
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Comments: 49
Praying worked so well for Perry to solve the Texas drought.
We just got a credit downgrade for the first time in American history because Obama and democrats insisted on taking scalpel to the bloated spending instead of a machete and you think more spending is the answer?
Liberalism is bliss...
I think its the only thing they have to bring up. Texas has surpassed all other states COMBINED in job creation, lowering taxes and increasing social services. You'd think they'd be happy with that.
~M
George Santayana
"Historical amnesia and a lobotomy are core parts of Republican philosophy."
Ali Hussein Lopez
The God of common sense. Nope, you never heard of him...
Why should millionaires get tax breaks and seniors lose money from social security that they paid into, can you explain that to me?
History? America never went into default before sweetie. In 2 1/2 years Obama has spent almost 5 trillion dollars and none of it worked. He can't be trusted anymore with a blank check. So it isn't about millionaires and billionaires making 200,000 a year and nobody is taking away money from old people. The money wasted today is being taken away from the children. But since they can't vote the left doesn't care.
Oh the silly Obama hate.
The seeds of the money spent in Obama's years were all sown in the Bush years. The tax cuts and rebates borrowed money from the get-go. The wars and the final crash was all Bush, and the needed stimulus was started under Bush. Bush left Obama with too little revenue, and bills that were still in avalanche.
You reap what you sow.
And the President never gets a "blank check" that is such a silly right wing cliche now that Obama is there. If anybody did anything like a "blank check" it was Bush who spent without admitting to it in a budget. Obama only looks worse because he is honest about all the spending and everybody can finally see it on the books.
Of course Perry has a right to offer prayer; we all do. But I doubt it solves the jobs problem. And, like all goppers, Jeff liks to forget that deficits always go up with a Republican president. You cannot tell these people that Clinton left a surplus that Dubya squandered.
Actually there was never a surplus during Clinton. There were projections with surplusses based on the tech and dot-com bubble but the best year was an 18 billion deficit, not a surplus. This right after Clinton lowered taxes on the wealthiest Americans in 2007. Yeah it's true, We got close to a surplus but it was the first time in my life that republicans controlled congress too. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Hmm...
""But, we are all entitled to our opinions, good luck with yours Jeff.""
Thanks. They seemed to work on Nov 2nd 2010 so I remain optimistic. Sorry for your 2010 loss... :(
Unemployment numbers are comprised of those that are in the job market for the past 30 days. It does not include those that have not been in the job market in the last 30 days: people who have given up looking; those that have gone off unemployment because it has run out. One solution to unemployment is "High Speed University" check it out
"Using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, Dallas Fed economists looked at state-by-state employment changes since June 2009, when the recession ended. Texas added 265,300 net jobs, out of the 722,200 nationwide, and by far outpaced every other state. New York was second with 98,200, Pennsylvania added 93,000, and it falls off from there. Nine states created fewer than 10,000 jobs, while Maine, Hawaii, Delaware and Wyoming created fewer than 1,000. Eighteen states have lost jobs since the recovery began."
Maybe President Obama could take some lessons from Governor Perry where it comes to Jobs creation.
Tweet4
by eschipul
The state of Texas is a gargantuan right-wing policy laboratory, spewing noxious governing ideas across the country just like our refineries pollute the air. We’ve had a Republican governor since 1995 and the Republicans have controlled the both houses of our state legislature for the past decade — and recently won a super-majority in the House.
The result? One of the highest poverty rates in the United States to go with a massive budget deficit.
These are tough times for state governments. Huge deficits loom almost everywhere, from California to New York, from New Jersey to Texas.
Wait — Texas? Wasn’t Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn’t its governor declare, during his re-election campaign, that “we have billions in surplus”? Yes, it was, and yes, he did. But reality has now intruded, in the form of a deficit expected to run as high as $25 billion over the next two years.
And that reality has implications for the nation as a whole. For Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting — the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending — has been implemented most completely. If the theory can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere.
Krugman doesn’t mention that Perry balanced the budget in 2009 with $12 billion dollars of the Obama’s stimulus bill — while bragging about how awesome the state economy was and threatening to secede from the Union.
The whole “Texas Miracle” thing was a fraud — just like the Republican governance of the state."
Texas balances the budget...
Sith gun robh so…
Rick Perry’s Texas miracle isn’t just a mirage — it’s a lie!
with 3 comments
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission
When it comes to jobs, the hypocrisy of Republicans is working overtime.
They don’t think Barack Obama deserves any credit for creating even a sliver of new jobs, arguing that it’s the private sector, not the president, who has power of the nation’s economy.
But boy, are they giddy over Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who they say deserves all the credit in the world for singlehandedly creating new jobs in the Lone Star State. So, we are told, presidents don’t create jobs but governors do — especially if they’re in your party and thinking about running for president…
First, I should say that despite my better judgment, I like Rick Perry. I disagree with some of his politics, and I think a lot of what he says and does is just political theater designed to sell his favorite product: Rick Perry…
Up close, his secret weapon is that quality that Bill Clinton possessed — the ability to lock in on someone and make him feel as if he is the only person in the room. It’s one of the reasons that I’d like to see Perry run for president…
But none of that seems to matter much to his Republican supporters around the country. For them, Perry’s major selling points are jobs, jobs and more jobs. Many of those who are pushing Perry to enter the presidential race are fiscal conservatives who think his No. 1 asset is that Texas has been on a rampage for the past 10 years creating jobs and luring companies away from states such as New York and California.
The jobs are real enough. The Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas recently estimated that, since June 2009, Texas has produced about 37% of the new jobs in the country. Perry claims the figure is closer to 48%. Either way, it’s impressive.
It is no wonder that, according to data recently released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Texas has now become the second-largest economy in the United States. It displaced New York, and it seems to be closing in on California. Texas now represents 8.3% of the entire U.S. economy…
But, as long we’re being honest, we ought to acknowledge that there is another, not often talked about, dimension to the Texas Economic Miracle…
Chance Vought F4U Corsairs in the Pacific campaign WW2
…Texas is a still a largely poor state, with weak infrastructure and a largely uneducated work force. Under Perry, the state budget deficit has surged to more than $25 billion, and the unemployment rate is higher than it has been in decades: about 8%…
“That jobs thing is a sleight of hand,” Joaquin Castro said. “More than half of those new jobs have been filed by non-Texans. So it’s people moving here to take those jobs. It underscores this bipolar state that we live in. You have a population in Texas that is generally lower educated, poor, isn’t covered by health insurance … all of these things … so you can recruit these companies to come here from out of state but your own people, often times, aren’t qualified to fill these jobs…”
“We’re not creating a system that educates them well and prepares them,” he said. “We underinvest in these things, which is what Perry is doing in public education and higher education. We can create the jobs, and that’s great. But our own people who have gone through Texas schools and Texas universities aren’t the ones filling them.”
Perry is doing what governors in Confederate States have always done. Provide cheap labor where cheap is the only definition of job skills. This gives a strong enough, low enough base to invite in runaway shops looking to save a buck on grunt work – and has the skilled help to bring along [if they want to keep their jobs].
New England textile mills ranaway to North Carolina back in the day. Chance Vought took their aircraft factory to Texas right after World War 2. All we’re discussing is business practices one step above Bangladesh. And it keeps the locals right where they started. At the bottom of the food chain."
Of course they overlook the uncomfortable fact that the Texas unemployment rate is over 8% (higher than 23 other states) and most of the new jobs are minimum wage jobs without any benefits. In fact, Texas has the highest number of and percentage of minimum wage jobs in the nation (and the number of minimum wage jobs grew by 150% between 2007 and 2010).
The sad fact is that it is just as hard (or harder) to find a job in Texas as anywhere else in the country, and if you are lucky enough to find a job it is more likely that job will be a low-paying job that won't support a family. Texas may be an economic heaven for corporate moguls, but it's a tough row to hoe for the rest of the state's citizens (who are less likely to have health insurance, more likely to drop out of school, less likely to attend an adequately funded school, more likely to have teen pregnancies, more likely to have water shortages, less likely to be a union member, and more likely to have sub-par wages).
And there is a second part of the Texas "miracle" that Republicans would like you to know about. They brag that Texas Republicans have been able to balance the Texas budget without raising any taxes. They make it sound like the state government is stable and healthy and has no problem paying its bills. Again, this is nothing more than an outrageous lie.
The truth is that the Republicans have mismanaged the state's finances so badly that the state was facing a $27 billion deficit for the next biennium. And instead of plugging that $27 billion hole, the legislature (with the complicity of the governor) simply covered much of it up with smoke and mirrors.
They "balanced" the budget by ignoring some obligations (like Medicaid), delaying making some other payment obligations (like payments due to schools), slashing already underfunded social programs, stealing money from funds dedicated to other purposes (like cancer research) and raising fees for state services and licenses (sounds like a tax raise to me). In other words, they didn't balance the budget at all. They just kicked the economic can down the road a bit.
But that's not all. Both Texas and national Republicans, while holding Texas up as an economic model, have viciously attacked the federal government for its increasing debt. They don't want to raise the debt ceiling because they say the federal government has already borrowed too much, and should pay it debts as it goes. Some want a balanced budget amendment so the federal government would have to balance its budget every year -- like states such as Texas does.
We've already discussed the failure of Texas Republicans to really balance the state budget, but it gets even worse than that. Texas doesn't really pay everything in full every biennium. Texas borrows money just like the federal government does. And believe it or not, the Texas debt has grown even faster than the federal debt. Between 2001 and 2010 the federal debt grew about 234%. That's a lot, but not nearly as fast as the Texas debt grew -- over 281% during that same period.
In 2001 Texas had a debt of $4,608 per person ($843 below the average for all states). But in 2010 Texas had a debt of $8,943 per person ($380 above the average for all states). And considering that Texas has one of the fastest-growing populations in the nation, you can easily see how fast the rate of borrowing has increased. While claiming to believe in pay-as-you-go, Texas Republicans are actually creating an ever-increasing burden of debt for future generations.
In short, the Texas "miracle" is not just a lie -- it's a damned outrageous lie. Republican "trickle-down" economic policy was devastating for the nation and it has been just as bad for the state of Texas. It has never worked and it never will.
Posted by Ted McLaughlin at 12:02 AM "
1700 people migrate here from other states EVERY DAY.
Is it because it sucks like you say? nooo.
Is it because it is just all a lie? nooo.
Did our housing market crash? nooo.
Did we increase graduation rates from rank 46th to 31 in just 4 years...YES
Largest state exports...YES
Going to overtake California for GSP?...YES
NOT INCREASE TAXES DURING RECESSION?....YES
Obama stole "yes we can" from Texas. Surprised he cant learn anything from that.
~M
You're delusional, but I think that's synonymous with being a Texan.
You can continue living in your fantasy, but the evidence says Perry has done a shi***** job, and the Republicans have turned Texas into a third world country.
Yep, people move there every day because the companies that get lured there need workers, and for the most part Texas doesn't have an educated enough workforce.
Bet you're really proud of having the most minimum wage jobs, the most people without health insurance, the largest wealth discrepancy, and schools so bad that even Barbara Bush realizes how much they suck.
No, I'll pass on Perry's low paying jobs and undereducated workforce. I'll pass on the Texas model of using stimulus money to pay for the holes in the Texas budget.
And you're not 31st in graduation rates, you're 36th.
Pray for rain, Mikey, and then pray for common sense.
Some well armed Texas landowner should shoot the son of a bitch!
George Santayana
Indeed.
I rest my case.
If Perry thinks prayer will work, fine, let him pray.
But let's not make praying for results an integral part of public policy. It hasn't worked in Texas, it won't work anywhere else.
And you are just ignorant to think that Texas isnt doing well. Every economist in America, news station and any governor...all agree Texas is doing EXCEPTIONALLY well during a double dip recession.
Dont hate success.
~M
Try reading for comprehension, and take the teabags off your eyes.
The Texas Miracle is a MYTH.
Everything you know is wrong, of course, that's not saying much.
What pulled us out of our depression wasn't government spending on projects, everyone today that has a clue agrees that it was WW2 and massive government spending.
Hand on 3 speed, you libs just had a surge of elation didn't you...lol
The spending then has nothing in common with our spending the last 4 1/2 years. That spending went to manufactures to build facilities, machinery, to create jobs and hire millions of people to build and produce things.
Obama stimulous went to cities, states, union entities and to so called "shovel ready projects" to allow them their rediculous out of control spending and flushing the money down the toliet and now they are in the same hole they were before and now need more money.
If the stimulous had went to private small business industry in the form of a tax holiday we would have seen an explosion of millions of jobs.....all we got now is a down grade in our debt...good job Mr. President.....guess that book learning didn't do you any good.
Let's see where we are now, the President spent the first year or so (while the Democrats controled the Congress so tightly they could get anything they wanted past without even letting the Congress read it before voting) raising spending and we haven't improved unemployment since his taking office with all that power, Texas is the fastest job growing state in that same period. Maybe it wouldn't hurt us to try what is working for Texas. Aside from spending more money what is Obama offering that is different from what he was doing when he first took office?
As I recall President Obama had all these 'shovel ready' infastructure projects to both increase employement and save that same infastructure, aside from the signs about the spending going up along the road construction all those projects that were going on before the Obama 'government sitmulous' near trillion dollar package what has changed?
Oh, by the way the government spending and taxing is not a prepetual motion machine, when a dollar of taxes is spent it can be turned into a dollar of revenue when so many of those being paid by the tax dollars don;t pay taxes. If your "...again pay taxes on those items, and it is one big happy circle." were true we would not have to borrow, we wouldn;t have the $14trillion of debt and on our way to Greek's economic status.
"Americans, funded by the American government, built a lot of America throughout its history." You seem to ignore that the country was being build long before there was an income tax, long before the government was the largest single employer, before the poltician learned to wallow in the 'pork barrel' of 'special projects.'
"the American government created jobs that bettered the country and helped put people back to work. " That is something I never knew I always thought the the private employers created the jobs and employes 75% of the American work force. I readily admit that those work go to work for the federal government are employed for life (or 98%+ of them in any case).
Have you heard of Blue Dog Dems? They weren't tight with the liberal Dems at all!
> As I recall President Obama had all these 'shovel ready' infastructure projects to both increase employement and save that same infastructure,
He said last year that there weren't many shovel ready projects. Where have you been?
If you haven;t noticed that Democratic party loyaly overoad personal principles during those years of Obama, Reid, Pelosi control versus now where even the Democrats and the media are railing again the Republicans that are sticking to thier principles and not blindly following the party 'leaders'. I always lean toward having an underlying principle to decisions for affecting the country;s future rather then party convenience.
"He said last year that there weren't many shovel " was that before or after the vote and the media hype for the vote? Was that a footnote after he coldn;t prove there was that hundreds of billions of 'shovel ready' and he finally was told that spending money on infastructure would take more than a few weeks?
It maybe inconvenient to put such quotes in context even if it is only in the context of timing.
You also reminded my of how VP Biden was assigned by the President to track the jobs created or saved by the President's 'stimuleous' spending, and the were thousands of such jobs, as Biden reported in all 84 of Michigan Congressional districts. The problem was much the same as 'shovel ready' no only doesn;t any state have 84 districts Michigan doesn a fifth of that many.
As best I can tell 'shovel ready' was a good sounding catch phase that the President took on to be the foundation of his stimulous package just as the Vice President only cared about reporting numbers that made him and the President look good without any concern for how outlandish and fictious those numbers were and surely no about how they were created.
As for the "Blue Dog" Democrats, I was raised by "Yellow Dog" Democrats and they "Yellow Dogs" always over rules "Blue Dogs".
If that was the case we'd have universal health care now, and it would have taken a week. And we would have gotten a stimulus big enough to really do something.
It does sound better than "Cement truck ready" but whatever ...
We have Obamacare because of the loyalty.
In either case, 'shovel ready' even if it is the Catapilar big shovels, it should not be the dilutioin that a President bases his economic policies on.
You can lead a TP to water, but you can't make them think.
I think that's in perfect evidence here.
Until the 2010 election Obama and the dems had total control...they even had a filibuster proof senate which is very hard to get....what did we get...massive spending and massive borrowing...the likes of which have never been seen.
Before this group took over in 2007 we set a record of over 50 straight months of job growth....facts are facts.
How about quick fix to the unemployment problem world wide, if you do not believe me please
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