What is the real price of Texas job and
population growth? Tom Whitehurst Jr. from Corpus Christi's Caller
slams Rick Perry's definition of "job creation." Recently,
Rick Perry returned from a trip to California in which his goal was
to steal firms away using tax incentives and other freebies. Part of
our governor's administrative success is that he's been fairly good a
keeping Texas filled with newly poached firms from states where
businesses actually pay their taxes. While unemployment has been
lower in Texas than most of the nation keep in mind that these
benefits are mostly temporary and the problems that come with them
aren't. When the grace period runs out and these companies have to
contribute taxes like other businesses they do what Dell and other
companies are doing by relocating to the next state that offers them
a better deal.
But, what about these people whose jobs
moved to Texas. Guess what? They're also following the money by
moving to Texas. That means Texas' cost of living is going to rise.
It also means that we will need a lot more schools, better roads, and
public amenities to compensate for all this growth. Who's going to
pay for all these public goods? Not the business firms that are
feeding off of our funded tax incentives. That means we will pay most
of the bill. If not through higher taxes, than by other means. As it
is Rick Perry has already raised every fee and toll imaginable. Not
to mention property taxes have skyrocketed in the last few years.
All this job poaching may seem like a
good deal for Texas in the short run, but it can't be good for the
economy overall. The problem with the phrase job creation is that it
implies that something has been created that wasn't there before.
Instead, Perry has merely taken business from somewhere else and
brought it here by questionable means. The U.S. GDP doesn't going up
as a result of all this poaching. In fact, it may have a negative
overall effect on the economy.
