Monday, June 24, 2013

BloggeRhythms 6/24/2013 Part 1 of 2

A  couple of governors are quite upset with Rick Perry of Texas who visited their states, inviting business operators and entrepreneurs to move to his more conducive location.
 
After reading about the especial discomfort Perry caused California’s Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo in New York, I looked up some Texas statistics to see why they were so distraught, and here’s what I found.  
 
In June 2012, Scott Cohn a CNBC Senior Correspondent wrote that, “Texas has done it again. The Lone Star State makes a triumphant return as America’s Top State for Business—its third time at the top of our rankings. In 2011,Texas had a gross state product of $1.332 trillion, the second highest in the U.S.”
 
Now, obviously, the state’s outstanding performance didn’t occur by magic, so I searched a couple of criteria that I felt might be keys to the state’s success.
 
First and foremost being governance, I found that “The Texas Legislature meets in regular session on the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year. The Texas Constitution limits the regular session to 140 calendar days.”
 
So that means there aren’t huge bureaucracies overseeing every aspect of business operation, creating burdensome, nonsensical legislation, stifling growth, assessing penalties and fines or otherwise preventing success. Which is perhaps why, Texas’ Unemployment Rate is 6.50%.
 
In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Texan job creation has far outpaced the national average. The number of jobs in Texas has grown by a truly impressive 31.5 percent since 1995, compared with just 12 percent nationwide.”
 
While after the financial crisis Texas’ employment situation was less spectacular, the number of jobs growing just 2.4 percent from 2009 through 2011, that was still six times the anemic 0.4 percent growth rate of the overall American economy.
 
And, although the minimum wage varies from state to state as does the cost of living, California has the third-highest cost of living in the nation at 132 percent of the national average, behind Hawaii and New York. Texas has the second-lowest cost of living at 90 percent of the U.S. average. Factoring in the cost of living, California’s $8 minimum wage can buy $6.06 of goods and services while Texas $7.25 minimum wage can buy the equivalent of $8.04.
 
Then we come to taxes, where, according to the Tax Foundation: “Texan's state and local tax burdens are among the lowest in the nation, 7th lowest nationally, with state and local taxes costing $3,580 per capita, or 8.7% of resident incomes. Texas is one of only 7 states not to have a state income tax. The state sales tax rate, 6.25%, is, however, above the national medium.”
 
Putting this all together, as a sovereign country in 2012, Texas would be the 14th largest economy in the world
 
Which, I guess, is why Brown and Cuomo really don’t want folks like Rick Perry showing up, presenting figures and facts clearly demonstrating what happens when government steps back, leaves folks alone and watches while the unbridled economy grows by leaps and bounds, resulting in more revenue for all involved.
 
But, since parasites like Brown and Cuomo don’t know how to survive without leeching and bleeding others dry, the concept of rising tides raising all boats is lost on them, which is why their states are quickly going broke. But the saddest thing about it all is that California and New York could easily turn around, it’s not that hard to accomplish. However, the folks at the top won’t let that happen because their own political survival far outweighs what’s good for the public.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

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