The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Wow!  Sounds like Texas is a really horrible place.  Hellish!
 :D

I thought at one time that I might have to move to Baja Oklahoma just to find work.  Was sleepless for weeks!

I guess that means that Perry had good teachers when he served under "W" and Ann Richards for learning how to destroy Texas.

Wait just a minute....

Ann Richards is/was a Democrat.  She cannot possibly be responsible for anything bad in Texas.

Wait just a minute....

Ann Richards is/was a Democrat.  She cannot possibly be responsible for anything bad in Texas.

Ah yes, the requisite RM drive-by on the GOP front-runner!

Here's an interesting take from someone who is NOT a Perry supporter.

Texas has fantastic job growth, but apparently people are moving there quicker than new job opportunities are popping up, so the u/e rate is staying about static.  There's plenty of job growth, just more demand than supply.

http://www.politicalmathblog.com/?p=1590

Interesting read.

If Perry's the best they've got, they're in for trouble.  Especially now that this stem-cell treatment he got for his back has come to light.  Not saying it's right, but that whole stem-cell thing rolls right off the abortion issue and he's going to have some 'splainin to do to the base.

Yes. I start posts about many republican candidates. gaspar doubles my effort on Obama alone.

I haven't written about all the republican presidential candidates...yet. But it should be said by someone about the ones with terrible baggage. You are the one who stays an (R) with the likes of Newt, Bachman, and Perry.

The issue to me is that this guy is running on a platform that he can create jobs. Looking  at the employment that he claims to created, I am not sure America can afford a president like him.

He has created nothing but government jobs or minimum wage jobs. Nobody is protected with work insurance and many people are getting hurt on the job. Everybody has terrible credit and no net worth.

For Rick Perry to claim he has the answers to the ecomony and jobs is more hypocritical than Newt defending marriage.

When 800,000 people flock to a state, naturally there are going to be lots of lower paying service jobs created as well as government jobs (teachers, admin, public safety) which become necessary to serve that influx.  Read the blog I posted, or are you afraid to have the wind let out of your sails?

Do you think all those people flocked there because of all the wonderful thingy's Perry did?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/07/20/rick-perry-for-president-meet-24-billionaires-whove-backed-him/

SEND MONEY! http://www.rickperry.org/join-today/

Did you know they were adult stem cells? Do you think that's the most hypocritical issue for Perry? Do you realize he doesn't understand the role of the Fed and the importance of maintaining their independence? Do you think he understands treasonous behavior?

I have sent my check to Pastor Perry. Do you think he wears his pants too tight?

It doesn't matter that they were adult or embryonic.  And yes, I did know it.  The problem is the right has made 'stem-cell' synonymous with 'embryonic stem-cell' so there's going to be some knee-jerk reaction to it.  It's the fact that he'll have to explain it.  Like Newt and the Tiffany's debt, among others.

I will freely admit that he scares the smile out of me.  I don't know where I heard it but someone said that where Bush was a practicing conservative, to this guy it is dogma (paraphrasing because I can't remember the actual quote).

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSI76HBPbFQ/TWyCSuJ9RZI/AAAAAAAAAlU/xE0S_HX_uNc/s1600/Dogma_buddy_christ.jpg)

;D

YOU said it...

BTW, I lived in Houston during the Ann Richards reign.  It was crappy then, too...

I made a mistake thinking the knee-jerkers knew better....

Almost 10% of the workforce in Texas is paid at or below minimum wage.

I actually know not to ask questions I don't know the answer to but I will anyway.

How does that compare to other states?

As a guess, it's probably close to some other states, but the "below minimum wage" how can you count that, other than wait staff in restauraunts, since it is illegal to pay below minimum wage?

READ MY LIPS: NO NEW TEXANS

You claim to have been out of work for nearly 3 years but were only sleepless for weeks?

Don't worry, be happy....

I don't know about counting wait staff wages beyond assuming a certain tip level for the IRS and SS.  My sister worked in some "cowboy bars" in the OKC area in the early 80s and was making more $ than me with a Masters degree in engineering.  Admittedly, she worked some double shifts but she was still hauling in the $.

Wow, Pawlenty for all his hype, simply never took off.  So let's say Perry is the nominee, would Cain be a smart choice for VP since he could appeal to the minority vote and bring a message that he could get black people back to work?

Or do you worry more about white moderates who would like Romney involved somewhere in the Admin?

I will bet you any odds you want that she is much prettier than you!  Brains don't mean squat.  Looks will trump them every time!

Corollary; did you ever see a pretty engineer??

I see Inhofe and his followers around here are still into "fantasy politics". Good. Keeps you away from those fantasy football leagues. Have you all considered Palin for Interior and Bachman for Secretary of State? I know, she's a natural for Defense but....

Huntsman is the only reasonable Republican left. Too smart for Inhofe I'm sure.

I've actually been fairly impressed with Huntsman.  If he makes it through, and as long as he doesn't go all McCain and let his handler select a mental midget for a running mate, he has a chance.  Simply because he appeals to moderates and independents.

Huntsman is done.  Not officially out mind you, but he doesn't have traction in the party.

Huntsman is done.  Not officially out mind you, but he doesn't have traction in the party.

2nd week in September he will throw in the towel.

No one really ever knew where he stood on issues, and he did little to clarify.  I suppose that's the mark of a moderate, and it seems that that is exactly what the country is NOT interested in at this time.

The country should embrace a moderate philosophy as deep partisanship is going nowhere.

Huntsman is the only reasonable Republican left. Too smart for Inhofe I'm sure.

The country should embrace a moderate philosophy as deep partisanship is going nowhere.

??? 

Are you kidding around?  (Can't tell since inflection is missing in notes...)

I wouldn't count out Mitt Romney just yet. Republicans adore the rich and he is smarter than Perry, Bachman and Palin combined.

These are Republican's RecycleMichael.  Being smarter than Perry, Bachmann and Palin combined is seen as a bad thing.

No, serious as a heart attack.  What good has come from deep partisanship?

What good has come from deep partisanship?

If you mean the inability for our elected officials to comprehend the fact that they, in fact, represent all of their constituents and not just the portion most closely aligned with them ideologically or those with the loosest checkbook, I wholeheartedly agree.

Since we seem to want to pin job creation or loss on the President, shouldn't all those minimum wage jobs in Texas actually be credited to President Obama and not Governor Perry?

Since we seem to want to pin job creation or loss on the President, shouldn't all those minimum wage jobs in Texas actually be credited to President Obama and not Governor Perry?

You can't. In another thread you gave credit for a positive economy to the republican House of Representatives instead of the President and now you want to blame the president for minimum wage jobs (that Governor Perry has been taking credit for).

How convenient. When good news, it is all the republican effort, when bad, it is the President's fault.

Stop channeling gaspar. Both parties get blame and credit.

Over the last couple of weeks, the left-leaning, mainstream media has decided that Governor Rick Perry's job creation record needs to be discredited if Obama wants to be reelected. As a consequence, the media has centered on the "quality" of the jobs that were created in Texas while trying to bury the fact that it has created nearly 40% of all the jobs in the United States since the recession began and that Texas has an unemployment rate that is 1% point below Obama's national number.

In doing so, the Obama defenders have noted three specific facts: (1) 9.2% of all hourly-paid jobs are being paid below the minimum wage when the national average is only 3%; and, (2) Texas has created more minimum wage jobs than anywhere else in the U.S.;and, (3) the average hourly wage is lower than the national average of all hourly wages across the country. All of those arguments are both specious and dishonest and take statistics out of context.

In terms of the "below minimum wage" argument, a significant fact isn't being told. That's the fact that Texas has the 3rd or 4th lowest cost of living (depending on the survey) of all 50 states (Click here to See Story). As a consequence, people making less than the minimum wage in Texas are quite better off than in a high cost of living state like California, where even a minimum wage might not be enough live on. As a result, only 1 in 10 Texans are on food stamp assistance. Compare that with the national average of 1 out every 7 people receiving food stamps; thanks to Obama's record on employment.

Then there's the "more minimum wage earners" argument. Well...dah...if you have a high job creation rate, it's only logical that you will, similarly, have a high creation of minimum wage jobs. But, as noted above, getting paid minimum wage in a low cost of living state is a helluva lot better than in much higher cost of living states; like the ones that most liberals seem to live in.

Lastly, the average hourly wage" argument doesn't hold water either when you put it, again, into the context of cost of living. When it comes to average hourly wages, there's one statistic the press and liberals seem eager to ignore; and, that's how fast wages are rising in Texas. Just last year, the average hourly wage rose by 3.5% and is expected to meet that number again in 2011. In comparison, the national average hourly wage only increased by 0.5% in the same period. Again, this is hardly a record that Obama can be proud of.

I'll never forget my economics professor who, in my very first class with him, wrote on the board behind him: "There are lies, damn lies, and, then, there are statistics." He then proceeded to take this famous Mark Twain quote and hammer home the fact that you should always look beyond a single statistic and put it into a clear context. All too often, the press, the pundits and the politicians, alike, play the game of cherry picking statistics. That's why I write this blog. It's always my intent to clear the "fog" because I understand the truth in what Mark Twain had once said.

http://cuttingthroughthefog.blogspot.com/2011/08/lefts-attack-on-perrys-job-creation.html

I've seen people make the argument that Texas' low food stamp enrollment is actually because the eligibility requirements in Texas are calculated such that it's harder to qualify than it is in other states. Basically, the pot doesn't grow like it does elsewhere, so some people get cut even if they would have been eligible with the same income before the recession.

I haven't researched Texas law to verify that claim, though, so I make no claim as to accuracy, only that it was some smile I saw on the Internet.

Give me a break.  One of my largest customers (here in Oklahoma) just cut their workforce by 140 and is packing up shop and moving to Dallas where they intend to hire 300.  Their primary reason is that it's easier to do business there, and the incentives that the state offers to small businesses completely offsets the cost of the move.

And for people who move there, it is a huge shock.  Yep, they miss out on max 5% income tax.  Property taxes on the other hand are vicious if you can afford to buy a house.  What costs $2,250 here is closer to $6,500 there - plus it ain't as much house for the same price.  Figure that in and the difference is even bigger.  Makes up for a whole lot of income tax savings!

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HyyDHyAwI6k/S3C5CKFnyII/AAAAAAAAIEU/0f6lxn8N7Lg/s400/homescholors+for+perry.jpg)

Texas is tied for fifth highest increase in unemployment over the last year.

http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstch.htm