The establishment press will never tell their readers, listeners and viewers that the five best-performing states in job growth through the first eleven months of this year, as well as nine of the top eleven, have relatively conservative Republicans occupying their respective governors' mansions. If these eleven star performers had only performed as well as the rest of the nation, over 300,000 fewer people would be working, and the unemployment rate would be at least 0.2% higher.
As will be seen after the jump, the list, based on data released today by Uncle Sam's Bureau of Labor Statistics, includes several against which the Obama administration has undertaken significant job-killing or job-deferring actions (i.e., these states have outperformed despite the handicaps, and would have done much better without them):
Here it is:
Nine red states with 21% of the population are responsible for almost one-third of this year's seasonally adjusted job growth. Only two blue states have been relatively strong contributors. Job growth in the rest of the country has been barely half of that seen in the eleven listed states.
Other notes concerning the listed states:
- Louisiana's job growth has occurred despite the awful performance of the Obama administration's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement -- awful if you think job growth is a good thing -- in approving Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling permits. According to Heritage, "A new report from a New Orleans-based group reveals that the Obama administration is approving just 35 percent of the oil drilling plans for the Gulf of Mexico so far this year. It is also taking an average of 115 days — nearly four months — to secure approval ..." Of course, the press has been virtually asleep in reporting the administration from all appearances deliberate foot-dragging.
- Texas had once again outperformed, but it would be doing even better but for the Enironmental Protection Agency's virtual war on the state.
- Ohio has also been significantly victimized by the EPA, in this case in its rule-making zeal to make it "costly and impractical to burn coal to provide electricity." More recently, "the Obama administration ordered the EPA to conduct further research" (i.e., it delayed for no reason, as the research has been more than thorough) on the safety of hydraulic fracturing (aka "fracking"), putting a "temporary" halt to attempt to begin drilling in the state's Wayne National Forest. Though not in the top eleven above, the EPA is also trying to throw sand in the wheels in an attempt to slow down Pennsylvania's fracking efforts.
Also, a few words about certain other states:
- Illinois, which sharply increased income taxes early this year and is having to give away hundreds of millions in tax breaks just to keep several major companies from fleeing the state, has added 62,300 jobs this year -- but only 1,200 since May. Only now is it recovering from a serious summer employment slump.
- North Carolina, whose governor Beverly ("Let's Suspend Congressional Elections") Perdue is in hot water over attempts to spin employment news in advance of its release, has only grown its workforce by 0.52%, or 20,000 jobs, this year. Spin that, Bev.
- Florida, which has added 51,000 jobs in the past three months under Rick Scott, is finally beginning to recover a bit from the four-year nightmare known as Charlie Crist.
The red states listed above are doing what they can to foster growth the old-fashioned way by improving their states' business climates and keeping taxes and spending in check -- y'know, the things President Obama cited in his December 6 speech in Kansas as the stuff that "doesn’t work. It has never worked." He's getting away with outrageous statements such as that one partially because the establishment press won't recognize the outperforming red states listed above.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
