Liberal Repercussion

Scandal: Perry Misled Texans About Job Creation

Lifted from the YellowDogBlog - a Governor Goodhair update

From the Houston Chronicle:

Gov. Rick Perry says he has reeled in more than 10,000 jobs since 2003 by luring big business and big events to Texas.

The most-talked-about catch is the Toyota plant being built in San Antonio. Perry parlayed that success into a $295 million appropriation from the Legislature for his office to put together incentive packages to land even bigger corporate prizes.

But a close examination of Perry's claims of creating jobs in Texas raises questions about some of the numbers.

Of the 1,221 Houston-area positions on a list of projects bringing jobs to Texas issued by the governor's office, some are not new. And some jobs may never even materialize.

This is big news- the nearly $300 million "slush fund" used by Perry to court businesses (and potential campaign donors) in controversial ways was decried at the time of its creation by Democrats, Independents and honest Republicans all over the state. The fund was paid for while important education initiatives, such as the Texas Tomorrow Fund, started to sink and now it appears that it was obtained dishonestly. One pretty glaring example:

The governor's office claims the "Lucy Exhibit" will create 46 jobs in Houston, such as hiring an exhibit manager, curator and extra ticket sellers. It will also generate an economic impact of $7 million as tourists rush to see the early hominid.

But that's all news to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which is supposed to be hosting the exhibit.

"We don't have signed contracts yet," said a surprised Lydia Baehr, director of public relations for the museum.

In fact, the museum is still negotiating the deal.

As for the 46 new jobs or $7 million economic impact? Baehr said she has no idea where the governor's office got those figures. She said they have no idea how many jobs might be created -- if the deal can be successfully consummated.

So the Governor claimed that an exhibit was coming to town, that it would generate $7 million and create 46 new jobs. In fact, the exhibit might very well not come to town and the museum has no idea how many people it will hire, if any, to help. Saying one thing when something else is true is called a lie where I come from and it appears that that is probably what Perry is doing. Another example:

Quest Diagnostics is another company on the governor's list -- 500 jobs created.

But the company says the 500 jobs aren't new. The firm -- which tests blood, urine and other bodily specimens for doctors, hospitals and employers -- had three offices in Houston and consolidated its operations into one center.

"Net job gain? There is none," said Quest spokesman Gary Samuels. The new facility gives the company room to work more efficiently.

Again, the spokesman says no new jobs, Perry says 500 new jobs. That's called lying. The story goes on and I'd encourage all our readers to read it. The fact that this man can stand up to the Legislature, lie to them, get $300 million from them when they could have used that money to keep kids from losing their health care or their college education and then use that money in a disgusting, essentially corrupt way is despicable. We must get rid of the GOP nonsense today.

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posted by Rei Toei @ 4:47 p.m.