LONGVIEW, Tex. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has leapfrogged to the top tier of Republican presidential candidates largely on the strength of one compelling fact: During more than a decade as governor, his state created more than 1 million jobs, while the nation as a whole lost 1.4 million jobs.

Perry says the “Texas miracle” rests on conservative pillars that he would bring to the White House: minimal regulation and government, low taxes and a determination to limit the reach of Uncle Sam. . . .
What he does not say is that much of that job growth has come because of government, not in spite of it.

With a young and fast-growing population, a large and expanding military presence and an influx of federal stimulus money, the number of government jobs in Texas has grown at more than double the rate of private-sector employment during Perry’s tenure.

The disparity has grown sharper since the national recession hit. Between December 2007 and last June, private-sector employment in Texas declined by 0.6 percent while public-sector jobs increased by 6.4 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, government employees account for about one-sixth of the workforce in Texas.

The significant role of government in Texas’s relative prosperity stands in stark contrast to the “go-it-alone” image cultivated by Perry, who credits a lack of government interference for fostering a business-friendly environment in Texas.

“The fact is, government doesn’t create jobs, otherwise the last 21 / 2 years of stimulus would have worked,” Perry said this month in a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Government can only create the environment that allows the private sector to create jobs. The single most important contributor to our jobs-friendly climate here in Texas is our low tax burden, because we know dollars do far more to create jobs and prosperity in the people’s hands than they do in the government’s.”

Perry has criticized Washington for “thumbing its nose” at the American people. In announcing his candidacy for president last weekend, Perry said he would “work every day to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as I can.”

Mark Miner, a Perry spokesman, said the governor’s job-creation record speaks for itself. He also said the state received less per capita — about $1,000 per resident vs. more than $1,400 in New York and $1,200 in California — than most other states from the stimulus plan while still producing more jobs.

Population boom

Analysts call the growth in government employment in Texas a natural consequence of the surging population, which has grown by more than 20 percent in the past decade to 25.1 million. The increase has caused local governments and school systems to hire more teachers, budget analysts, compliance officers and police officers.

“A lot of growth has been happening in the public sector to respond to a growing population,” said Don Baylor Jr., a senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a research and advocacy group in Austin. “That has been an ongoing driver of our job growth.”

why is it that when ron paul came in second in the iowa poll and by less than 300 vote difference no news agency wants to comment about him....and they go on too people that had a dismal showing


could it be news agencies are not news agencies at all...but information manipulators for a bigger agenda machine



things that make ya go hhhhmmmmmmmmm

Three things I don't care for in Perry.
He's not intense on securing the Texas Border
He seems to not be concerned with deportation of illegals and his hair is too up-done.

I'd vote Ron Paul again instead of all the losers MSM will try to sell.

why is it that when ron paul came in second in the iowa poll and by less than 300 vote difference no news agency wants to comment about him....and they go on too people that had a dismal showing


could it be news agencies are not news agencies at all...but information manipulators for a bigger agenda machine



things that make ya go hhhhmmmmmmmmm

why is it that when ron paul came in second in the iowa poll and by less than 300 vote difference no news agency wants to comment about him....and they go on too people that had a dismal showing


could it be news agencies are not news agencies at all...but information manipulators for a bigger agenda machine



things that make ya go hhhhmmmmmmmmm

Not to mention that the MSM and the rest of the country realizes that Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate Obama could beat in the general election.

Not since Winston Chruchill(who had an actual disorder) have I seen a polititian stutter on TV cameras or a debate, until I saw Ron Paul get handled in the 2008 debates.

They have no choice but to attack the Republicans.

It's not like they can tout the accomplishments of the Democrats.

By the time of the election they will have run up $7 trillion in debt from the time they took total control of Congress in January 2007.

The debt was $6 trillion when Bush took office in 2001.

So think about that. They will have run up more debt in 5 years than we had from the founding of the country until 2001.

Good Luck..

First, it is worth noting that President Obama and Democrats created more jobs in 2010 than George W. Bush did in his eight year reign of economic malfeasance. From Bush’s first month in office until December of 2009, the economy added 1 million jobs, but in 2010 alone the economy added at least 1.1 million jobs