The Texas Miracle

The Texas miracle not so miraculous after all:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's efforts to tout his record on jobs and the economy as a centerpiece of his presidential campagn took a hit today with new figures from one of his own state agencies: They show the Texas unemployment rate increased to 8.5% in August -- the highest level in more than 24 years and more than twice the rate when Perry took office in December 2000.

The new unemployment rate for Texas is still below the national average of 9.1%. But the new figures from the Texas Workforce Commission included some disturbing trends: There was a net jobs loss of 1,300 in Texas during the month of August, even worse than than the latest national figures showing zero job growth.

Their talking point is, well the economy sucks, and even in Texas they're going to feel it. But one wonders if Goodhair's clueless supporters will make the connection on why the economy still sucks. You know, because of GOP austerity mania:

While the private sector did add 8,100 jobs in Texas during August, this was more than offset by a shrinking public sector resulting in the loss of 9,400 government jobs, state figures show.

This is not a difficult concept. It's astounding that the hard core cons just can't grasp it. Their response to clear empircal evidence is always, "Duh, we can't keep spending beyond our means." As if the government hasn't been doing that for 200 years without ending the world.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]