Friday, January 7, 2011

The Texas Miracle that Wasn't: Republican Gov. Rick Perry's Big Budget Problem

Gov. Rick Perry loves to talk big. (Hey, it's Texas!) To hear him tell it, his Republican brand of conservative leadership and economic policy works great.

Texans, Perry claims, pay low taxes because he's a sharp guardian of public expenses and a fiscally responsible "small government" leader.

Only one problem with this claim: It's smoke and mirrors. In fact, it's evidence of the failure of conservative economic policy. 

As it happens, the Texas Miracle that Perry has been touting has resulted in a hugh state budget deficit, almost as bad as the one in (heavens!) California. Oh, and it's worse than New York, a state run by those evil Yankee liberals.

In reality, Perry's economic policies have hurt many state programs and made the state's economic viability worse, actions that won't endear him to his conservative base. Nor will it help Perry's political ambitions, which are said to extend to the White House.

Economic Paul Krugman has been analyzing the numbers form Austin. Learn more here.

P.S.—Gov.-elect Mary Fallin and the Republican state legislative leaders better pay attention to Perry's woes lest they make the same mistakes.

1 comment:

Tulsan said...

Time to pay the piper, Rick. Or see if he'll take an IOU, too.