I read a report yesterday or the day before, confirming what most of us living in Texas strongly suspected. Our state is well ahead of the curve in terms of job growth. The cities of Dallas and Ft.Worth rank above the rest of the nation in terms of job growth. Houston is a close second. The jobless rate in the metroplex is down slightly from eight percent to roughly seven and a half, admittedly a small decline, but a good one considering the national average is nine percent. There are a number of ways to crunch the numbers, obviously, but in terms of both population and job growth Texas is definitely better off than most of our sister states; far better off than some. I’m not suggesting that times are exactly good here, just better.
The category of growth I found most interesting, both for me personally and for Tyler, comes in the area of Education and Health Care. These two fields seem to be growing albeit slowly, with an interesting stipulation: it includes private as opposed to public schools. The article I read cites 6.4 percent growth in the Ft. Worth area, and 5.2 in the Dallas area. While these numbers relate specifically to the metroplex, this category is of course the largest field of employment in East Texas. With the public schools in Texas experience big cutbacks, private schools are growing, and hiring new staff. While its admittedly anecdotal evidence, I can attest to this, as I recently accepted a position at a new private school in our area.
I think the relative health of the Texas economy comes as a result of a generally pro-business administration, and a lack of state income tax, which encourages immigration from states like California (and others), that are incredibly overburdened by regulation and taxation. Incidentally, the Bureau of Labor put San Francisco near the bottom of the job growth list with -0.3 percent growth when compared to last year.
Governor Perry Expected to Announce His Candidacy for President
August 8th, 2011Well, allow me to be the first to say that it appears I was wrong in my assessment of whether Governor Perry would run for president. Back in May I said that I doubted that the Texas Governor would seek the Republican nomination, but how things have changed since then! With the national economy on the decline, and the GOP looking for a top tier candidate to lead the Presidential ticket, our executive is more and more in demand. Now I’ve had my issues with the governor from time to time, and to be honest he hasn’t been my first choice, but in the absence of any other recognizable candidates, Perry is looking more and more like the most viable choice. He’s a stalwart defender of the second and the tenth amendments, business friendly and for the most part, fiscally conservative. And I must confess to a certain cynical pleasure in the idea of the country choosing another Texas Governor after being told that surely no Texan would ever be elected after Mr. Bush.
At the end of the day our state has the healthiest economy of any other state in the union, and that’s no accident! It is in fact a credit to a capitalist friendly, pro- business, low tax, right to work, state and local government. Like him or not, at some point the governor deserves at least a share in the credit for our state’s fiscal health. It is largely on this basis that republicans all over the nation are clamoring for him to run for the nomination. And according to a number of sources I’ve read, Mr. Perry is expected to declare that he’s jumping into the race this weekend. The announcement would come just a week after the governor’s day of prayer which was held in Houston this past weekend. While it may or may not be what he intended, the event certainly helped to raise his visibility and certify his conservative Christian credentials. While we sometimes disagree with him, Mr. Perry has earned his stripes here. If he’ll take the same economic course nationally, that he’s taken here in Texas, in my opinion, he’s worth supporting.
To read my original article on the governor’s chances visit the following webpage at http://www.tylertxdirectory.com/9033/is-governor-perry-going-to-run-for-president/ .
Tags: Amendments, Candidacy, Credentials, First Choice, Fiscal Health, Gop, Governor Perry, Mr Bush, National Economy, Presidential Ticket, Pro Business, Republican Nomination, Republicans, rick perry for president, rick perry presidential run, Right To Work State, Stalwart Defender, State And Local Government, Stripes, Texas Governor, Tyler Texas, Viable Choice, Visibility
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