Saturday, June 18, 2011

Governor Perry & The Texas "Miracle"

Rush Limbaugh and the right wing ideologues on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal are fawning before Governor Perry, urging that he run for President of the United States, hailing Texas as a model of economic development, and neglecting at every turn inconvenient Facts such as 23 states have unemployment rates lower than Texas's 8.0.

That's right: 23 states have a lower unemployment rate than Texas and Delaware at 8.0 matches Texas.  The Texas average wage is also considerably below the national average wage.

My goodness, New York which is often ridiculed by the right as an example of economic mismanagement, has an unemployment rate of 7.9%.  Perhaps former NY Governor Pataki would be a better Republican Presidential candidate.

Or perhaps the nation would be better served by looking at the Vermont Miracle where the unemployment rate was 5.4% in May.

Texas also has more than 25% of its population without any health insurance; more than 50% without dental insurance.  Texas ranks near the top in high school dropout rates; near the top in teenage pregnancies.

Not to much to brag about there.  More nightmare than miracle.

Then there is a little matter of Gov. Perry and his coddling of secessionists and secession.

Thank goodness it is a free country.  But public officials swear allegiance to the United States and swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  I have taken two such oaths as a Commissioner of the Pennsylvania PUC and DEP Secretary.

No public official sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States should ever obtain public office again--and certainly not the Presidency--after coddling secessionists.

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