Gov. Perry is running on his record of saving Texas from the recession, which is ironic when you think about it because he is also running against government.
But, in any case, here’s the real story.
From 2007-2010 Texas had a net loss of just 53,000 jobs. In a nation that lost 8 million jobs, Texas looks good.
Look a little closer and you will see however, that Texas lost 178,000 private jobs but gained 125,000 public jobs.
Of all the public jobs NATIONWIDE added during the four years, Texas added 47% of them.
And how did they add all those public funded jobs? They used federal Recovery Act (the stimulus money) to hire people.
Sounds like Keynes to me.
Another Look At Government Job Growth in Texas | Jared Bernstein | On the Economy
The irony here is so satisfying and amusing. If only the misinformation weren’t so hurtful to the unemployed and to an intelligent discussion of issues.
Reagan’s job record is similar … a large percentage of job growth was governmental (more bureacrats, which doesn’t fit the R mythology).