Here’s The REAL “Texas Miracle”

by Michael Matheron · August 14, 2011

The top of my head done blew off. So what?

What Texas Miracle . . .? Jobs miracle . . .? Well yes, if you consider that Texas sports among the lower median hourly wage in the country ($11.00/hour) . . . and that wages have grown less that 3/4% in the last four years, as opposed to around 4.5% nationally . . . and that Texas has the highest number of workers in the U.S. making the minimum wage ($7.25/hour) . . . So much of Perry’s miracle employment – the jobs miracle he boasts – results in very low paying jobs.

Check it out: the . . . Click Read More to see the real “Texas Miracle” . . .

median Texas wage is $11.00/hour. That means half of all workers make $11.00 or less per hour, and my guess is there are a lot of folks making less than $11.00/hour since Texas, on Rick Perry’s watch, leads the nation in the number of workers making minimum wage. Well, a 40 hour week at $11.00/hr. yields $440/week/pre-Federal taxes (there’s no Texas income tax, that would be socialism). One can eke out a living at $440/week, but recall that Texas also boasts the highest percentage of people without health insurance, 25%. So, even with Texas’s somewhat low cost of living and housing expenses, how far does that $440/week go? What jobs miracle is that? There’s a lot of wage slavery, and that’s no miracle.

Rick Perry, now, in what passes for “legitimacy” in the GOP, is a legitimate contender or the GOP nomination. I’ll follow him here like a foxhound on a hunt because I think he’s the front runner. So, the Governor is very proud of his miraculous touch, but the data doesn’t lie. Governor, you should know that in Texas, they say,

“You can put your boots in the oven, but that don’t make em biscuits.”

Take heed, Mr. Perry, take heed. Once you step into the national spotlight, you ain’t in Texas no mo. No suh. Well, so as to be fair & balanced, I must reveal the one indisputable “Texas Miracle.” You’ll see it on the graph below . . .