SE Michigan battles to lure Sears headquarters, 5,000 jobs

[davewindsor]

FYI, city was already in decline before the income tax, and I doubt if you asked many people why they left Detroit they would say the income tax was the deal breaker [[you will mostly hear crime, schools, lower property values, etc.).

And to further dismiss your theories, America's greatest cities [[NYC, San Francisco, DC, etc.) all have an income tax much higher than Detroit's yet last I checked. In fact, NYC and DC has a progressive income tax. Boston's taxes are pretty high too I'm sure, if not the city property's tax structures then for Massachusetts' tax structure.

Chicago doesn't have an income tax, but that's made up with a 9% sales tax. Even then the population inside the loop still increased by 200,000 in the last election.

I guess that's why the MEDC is trying to lure Sears into the Metro suburbs with locations instead of any Detroit locations even though Detroit has the higher unemployment rate, population decline and in greater need of state aid. If the overall combined city-state income tax rate of the location is irrelevant or trivial, why does the article state, "Sears and other large companies have been upset with a new income tax hike enacted in Illinois in response to the state’s budgetary concerns."

If the income tax rate is not a key central issue for Sears, they wouldn't have so clearly stated it in the article.

[Bham1982]

And to further dismiss your theories, America's greatest cities [[NYC, San Francisco, DC, etc.) all have an income tax much higher than Detroit's yet last I checked. In fact, NYC and DC has a progressive income tax. Boston's taxes are pretty high too I'm sure, if not the city property's tax structures then for Massachusetts' tax structure.

While it's true that these cities have a progressive income tax, it's basically irrevelent.

Detroit doesn't have the competitive advantages of a NYC or SF, and therefore can't overcome similar issues with the city income tax. Basically beggars can't be choosers.

Chicago doesn't have an income tax, but that's made up with a 9% sales tax. Even then the population inside the loop still increased by 200,000 in the last election.

I doubt Chicago's Loop has more than 20,000 residents. To claim it increased by 200,000 residents is completely absurd.

The city of Chicago has massive numeric population loss; second only to Detroit. The city core undoutedly has a growing population, but the Loop has a very small population. It's mostly office space.

There will never, ever, be 200,000 people living in the Loop, which is geographically quite small.

Detroit needs to work towards eliminating the income tax. I know it isn't feasable right now, but there needs to be a long-term effort at income tax equality across the tri-county region. Otherwise, Detroit will eventually be a potemkin village core surrounded by a giant wasteland.

[ghettopalmetto]

It's not corporate terrorism. That's just the free-market operates and the way businesses are. Their shareholders want a good return on their investment. The corporation's officers carry out this task or they're fired by the shareholders for being incompetent in this task..

What's "free market" about massive public subsidies?

And what happens when the $50 million tax break ends? You don't think Sears would try to whore the State of Michigan for more money?

[canuck]

What's "free market" about massive public subsidies?

And what happens when the $50 million tax break ends? You don't think Sears would try to whore the State of Michigan for more money?

Well you are right about that, everybody seems to be passing the buck and folks in the middle class are taking the hit. Homes lost, quality of life issues rampant, folks looking to relocate wth families cross-country sometimes on the remote possibility of getting better employment etc...
All the while some big companies are having a hard time, some of them too big for their own good.
I think Capitalism and Communism are very close in their sweeping effects in terms of modifying the landscape. There is this incessant need for growth and replication of the banal. People are now more than ever tied to the material and status-giving objects dictated by advertizing. Hell people are getting tattooed with logos nowadays, we have gone far beyond the stitched designer monograms of 1980. Science-friction I say.

[Novine]

"It's not corporate terrorism. That's just the free-market operates and the way businesses are."

ghettopalmetto's got it right. It's corporate terrorism when companies like Sears hold communities hostage for tax breaks they don't need and to get off paying taxes that every other business has to pay. I didn't agree with a lot of the changes that Snyder made but I do agree with his view that the days of corporate favoritism and public payoffs to these corporate hostage-takes has to end. If davewindsor wants to subsidize the corporate execs at Sears, he can send them a check. I'm not interested in my tax dollars or those from businesses in my community that pay their fair share going to subsidize those who don't want to pay.

[313WX]

My image of a Kmart today is a huge parking lot with never more than 30 cars in it. I am amazed that they are still breathing. Sears with its mall locations and reputation in appliances, service, tools and other areas might have a chance but with the internet and more nimble competitors like Walmart and Target, their chances are very slim. Let's hope a move to Detroit happens and that it re-energizes them.

I was recently at the Sears in Macomb Mall [[Roseville) and I didn't see anymore than 20 people [[that's probably a generous number, maybe more like 10) anywhere in the store and anymore than 20-30 cars in the entire lot either. There was a time when that lot would be as crowded as ever.

It's probably the growth/expansion of Home Depot and Lowes too when it comes to the Tools & Appliances.

[313WX]

While it's true that these cities have a progressive income tax, it's basically irrevelent.

Detroit doesn't have the competitive advantages of a NYC or SF, and therefore can't overcome similar issues with the city income tax. Basically beggars can't be choosers.

So it's not the taxes themselves that are the problem, but the quality of life you get in exchange for them. There is a difference.

In any event, I doubt a 1.5% to 2.5% income tax has a huge impact on Detroit's growth. Most cities have income taxes, even cities such as Birmingham, AL, which is nowhere near Detroit's league, let along NYC or San Francisco's league.

BTW, I didn't mean the loop proper, but the greater loop area. A fair portion of the losses from Chicago came out of the areas further away from downtown, sort of like Detroit.

2010

Loop[[official CBD)- 29,283[[+78.7%)
Near Southside- 21,390[[+124.9%)
Near Westside- 54,881[[+18.2)
Near Northside-80,484[[10.5%)

I calculated the numbers wrong, it grew by 70,000, which is still impressive, as that growth is rivaling our fastest growing suburban communities.

[davewindsor]

"It's not corporate terrorism. That's just the free-market operates and the way businesses are."

ghettopalmetto's got it right. It's corporate terrorism when companies like Sears hold communities hostage for tax breaks they don't need and to get off paying taxes that every other business has to pay. I didn't agree with a lot of the changes that Snyder made but I do agree with his view that the days of corporate favoritism and public payoffs to these corporate hostage-takes has to end. If davewindsor wants to subsidize the corporate execs at Sears, he can send them a check. I'm not interested in my tax dollars or those from businesses in my community that pay their fair share going to subsidize those who don't want to pay.

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. The income tax shouldn't have been there in the first place. They wouldn't be complaining about it IF IT WASN'T THERE! The state/city created a system with income taxes and then these companies have to fight for tax breaks to get some of that money they pay back because other states don't do it, which they wouldn't have to do if the tax wasn't there in the first place. Texas doesn't pay state or local income tax. Get rid of it so no one has to deal with this fair share or subsidy BS!

To call a corporation a terrorist because they think paying income tax in their state is unfair because other states don't charge it are communist values. Nothing free-market about that. Maybe you should buy a plan ticket to communist Cuba if you like to hate on private enterprise providing jobs.

[Bigb23]

Kmart its Colossus on Big Beaver.

Ha - He said Big Beaver !

[DetroitPlanner]

A clarification, there has been speculation that Sears the Brand may go away. This does not mean death for the company. Kmart still has hundreds of stores, and could convert some of the current sears into kmarts. Craftsman, Kenmore, Lands End, and DieHard Batteries and Tires are all part of the Srears brands as are Joe Boxer and Jacquene Smith.

I think the Sears brands major issue are the mall locations may not be generating enough revenue to keep those profitable.

[Melocoton]

To call a corporation a terrorist because they think paying income tax in their state is unfair because other states don't charge it are communist values. Nothing free-market about that. Maybe you should buy a plan ticket to communist Cuba if you like to hate on private enterprise providing jobs.

You're not convincing anyone with that. [[Also, we Americans can't hop on a plane to Cuba even if we want to, so save that line for Canadians).

Again, like someone said, the absence of taxes is a public subsidy for corporations, just like a cash payout would be. And the lost revenue has to be made up somewhere else, unless you want to forego parks, schools, road repairs, etc. You can defend stuff like this on other grounds if you want, but there's nothing "free-market" about extorting massive public subsidies in order to relocate.

[Red Devil]

Sears has two decent brands and are run by an ex-hedge fund manager and a guy who was at IBM for 16 years. Not exactly the recipe for success in the cutthroat world of retail IMO. Sears continues to lose money. Unless the hedge fund manager, Lampert, decides to put in the money to upgrade the stores [[for example, the Sears store at 12 Oaks looks exactly the same as it did in the 80s - ditto for Kmart), Sears Holdings will just keep bleeding until it arrives at a slow end.

JCPenney, on the other hand, went out and hired the retailing head from arguably the world's current top brand, Apple, to head its reinvention. Sears doesn't appear to be interested in any similar moves. They probably would not be a good addition to the metro Detroit area, unless Kmart wants to come home to die. lol

[davewindsor]

Again, like someone said, the absence of taxes is a public subsidy for corporations, just like a cash payout would be.

I'll give you one thing. That is a very popular statement and belief from Detroiters. It's no wonder the city continues going downhill after half a century. The city still hasn't learned. Sears should just relocate to Texas to make their shareholders happy because it's impossible talking business sense here.

[detmsp]

To call a corporation a terrorist because they think paying income tax in their state is unfair because other states don't charge it are communist values. Nothing free-market about that. Maybe you should buy a plan ticket to communist Cuba if you like to hate on private enterprise providing jobs.

It's really hard to take anyone seriously who just throws the communist or socialist label on everything they don't like. It totally undermines any other valid point you may [[or may not) be making.

[Melocoton]

I'll give you one thing. That is a very popular statement and belief from Detroiters. It's no wonder the city continues going downhill after half a century. The city still hasn't learned. Sears should just relocate to Texas to make their shareholders happy because it's impossible talking business sense here.

I still don't understand what your big plan is, though. If it's a matter of cutting corporate taxes, the MEGC has been following this script for years. The city's had Renaissance Zones for decades. If any corporation wants to move to the city or state, I imagine they will never have to pay property taxes if they don't want to. And at a certain point one has to recognize also that this game of trying to poach businesses from Illinois, Ohio, or Benton Harbor, or whomever, is a race to the bottom.

And if we're "talking business sense," I think the sensible point of view here is that Sears isn't going anywhere, but is just trying to see what kind of deal they can get from terrified Illinois legislators. Especially if they are actually unhappy with the suburban office park they have, as a Crain's article said last week, why would you go to Southfield?

[iheartthed]

Detroit needs to work towards eliminating the income tax. I know it isn't feasable right now, but there needs to be a long-term effort at income tax equality across the tri-county region. Otherwise, Detroit will eventually be a potemkin village core surrounded by a giant wasteland.

What would Detroit use to replace its income tax revenue? The city doesn't have the power to levy a sales tax, which places like Chicago can use to avoid an income tax.

[PaulieG63]

davewindsor " Sears should just relocate to Texas to make their shareholders happy because it's impossible talking business sense here."

Maybe, because quality of life issues are valued more than "...business sense..."
Yes, Texas sits at or near the bottom in tax revenue collected...hurrah for Sears if they or anyone else were to relocate there...investors smile!!! But, if you value an education...you might not be smiling so much. Texas is actually LAST in the nation in handing out high school diplomas...LAST.
Part of that might be explained becuase Texas is also last in the nation in percentage of children covered with health insurance. Children get sick...they don't get better quickly...they suffer.
More likely, the fact that Texas is last in the nation [[spotting a trend here?) in dollars spent by state and local goverments in per pupil spending has alot to do it with it.
That probably is also why Texas is....you guessed it...last in the nation in high school graduation rates as well. [[Better convince those well educated Metro Chicago folks to relocate with you if you want an educated workforce!)

That, however, might be a hard sell when the wages of Texas have been growing at a rather limp 0.06% since December of 2007. Compare that to 2.5% in New York, 9.3% for California or 5.0% nationally. Equally, Texas has the largest number of employees working at or below the Federal minimum wage...and based on the wage growth numbers from above, thats not changing anytime soon. Also interstingly enough, Texas' median hourly wage is well below the national avaerage...$11.20 an hour vs. $12.50 for the nation as a whole. Hmmm, just maybe those stockholders and investors might be happy in Texas after all!?!?
Eespecially when they find out they might not have to provide health insurance to their workers. Because yes, Texas [[again) leads the nation in percentage of workers in the nation without health insurance....25.1% A full quarter of Texas' workers have NO health insurance. [[And Gov. Perry is doing his level best to kill "Obamacare" while the Texas legislature is working on a bill to kill Medicare in the state...woo woo!!!)

Dave, as you can clearly see, these tax policys of Texas ARE a panacea for business...as long as you either bring your educated employees with you or hire minimum wage workers with no real skills. But the citizens of Texas may not be the better for these tax policies...as you can also clearly see.
Oh, and btw...Texas has the 4th worst budget deficit in the country [[9 BILLION dollars)...yep...4th WORST. And taken as a % of the state budget, they improve to a whopping 5th worst. In fact, as often as Perry rails against the federal stimulus, they are reported to be the MOST dependent on the stimulus to plug budget holes. Moreso than any other state in the union in fact! BTW...they are expecting a 15 BILLION dollar shortage this year...with NO money to take from education [[unlike Michigan) becuase they don't spend any in the first place. Some tough choices I'm afraid for the folks down in Texas.

Oh, but before we get to depressed thinking about the "mircle" that is Texas and the effects it has on quality of life...they were number one in the nation in one catagory...number one in the nation in prisoners executed.[[ As an aside, maybe they could fill that massive budget gap by charging for viewings...with the big money spenders actually pulling the switch...yea hah!)

If these are the tax policys required to recruit Sears and other business' to Michigan...enjoy the Lone Star state Sears.

Paul

[p1acebo]

davewindsor " Sears should just relocate to Texas to make their shareholders happy because it's impossible talking business sense here."

Maybe, because quality of life issues are valued more than "...business sense..."
Yes, Texas sits at or near the bottom in tax revenue collected...hurrah for Sears if they or anyone else were to relocate there...investors smile!!! But, if you value an education...you might not be smiling so much. Texas is actually LAST in the nation in handing out high school diplomas...LAST.
Part of that might be explained becuase Texas is also last in the nation in percentage of children covered with health insurance. Children get sick...they don't get better quickly...they suffer.
More likely, the fact that Texas is last in the nation [[spotting a trend here?) in dollars spent by state and local goverments in per pupil spending has alot to do it with it.
That probably is also why Texas is....you guessed it...last in the nation in high school graduation rates as well. [[Better convince those well educated Metro Chicago folks to relocate with you if you want an educated workforce!)

That, however, might be a hard sell when the wages of Texas have been growing at a rather limp 0.06% since December of 2007. Compare that to 2.5% in New York, 9.3% for California or 5.0% nationally. Equally, Texas has the largest number of employees working at or below the Federal minimum wage...and based on the wage growth numbers from above, thats not changing anytime soon. Also interstingly enough, Texas' median hourly wage is well below the national avaerage...$11.20 an hour vs. $12.50 for the nation as a whole. Hmmm, just maybe those stockholders and investors might be happy in Texas after all!?!?
Eespecially when they find out they might not have to provide health insurance to their workers. Because yes, Texas [[again) leads the nation in percentage of workers in the nation without health insurance....25.1% A full quarter of Texas' workers have NO health insurance. [[And Gov. Perry is doing his level best to kill "Obamacare" while the Texas legislature is working on a bill to kill Medicare in the state...woo woo!!!)

Dave, as you can clearly see, these tax policys of Texas ARE a panacea for business...as long as you either bring your educated employees with you or hire minimum wage workers with no real skills. But the citizens of Texas may not be the better for these tax policies...as you can also clearly see.
Oh, and btw...Texas has the 4th worst budget deficit in the country [[9 BILLION dollars)...yep...4th WORST. And taken as a % of the state budget, they improve to a whopping 5th worst. In fact, as often as Perry rails against the federal stimulus, they are reported to be the MOST dependent on the stimulus to plug budget holes. Moreso than any other state in the union in fact! BTW...they are expecting a 15 BILLION dollar shortage this year...with NO money to take from education [[unlike Michigan) becuase they don't spend any in the first place. Some tough choices I'm afraid for the folks down in Texas.

Oh, but before we get to depressed thinking about the "mircle" that is Texas and the effects it has on quality of life...they were number one in the nation in one catagory...number one in the nation in prisoners executed.[[ As an aside, maybe they could fill that massive budget gap by charging for viewings...with the big money spenders actually pulling the switch...yea hah!)

If these are the tax policys required to recruit Sears and other business' to Michigan...enjoy the Lone Star state Sears.

Paul

I really enjoyed this post, thank you for taking the time to articulate it.


...screw Texas.

[firstandten]

ditto !t said a lot about America's latest cult hero Rick [[don't mess with Texas) Perry

[davewindsor]

If these are the tax policys required to recruit Sears and other business' to Michigan...enjoy the Lone Star state Sears.

Care to cite your data??

I have to cringe every time I hear quality of life arguments when Detroit has an unemployment rate of 50% and a loss of 25% of its population in the past decade.

Maybe if you have a job, that's the case. But, what kind of quality of life do those 50% on welfare in Detroit get, huh? Yes, hold out to you're out of work and either have to get on the welfare rolls or sell your house for a buck and move to Texas.

Here's an interesting article for you. Since the recovery began, 37%-45% of net new jobs created in the US were in Texas plus they have a skyrocketing population while Michigan is loosing it's population. Texas is the leader in new jobs created.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Richard+Fisher

The Lone Star Jobs Surge

The Texas model added 37% of all net U.S. jobs since the recovery began.


Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, dropped by our offices this week and relayed a remarkable fact: Some 37% of all net new American jobs since the recovery began were created in Texas. Mr. Fisher's study is a lesson in what works in economic policy—and it is worth pondering in the current 1.8% growth moment.
Using Bureau of Labor Statistics [[BLS) data, Dallas Fed economists looked at state-by-state employment changes since June 2009, when the recession ended. Texas added 265,300 net jobs, out of the 722,200 nationwide, and by far outpaced every other state. New York was second with 98,200, Pennsylvania added 93,000, and it falls off from there. Nine states created fewer than 10,000 jobs, while Maine, Hawaii, Delaware and Wyoming created fewer than 1,000. Eighteen states have lost jobs since the recovery began.
The data are even more notable because they're calculated on a "sum of states" basis, which the BLS does not use because they can have sampling errors. Using straight nonfarm payroll employment, Texas accounts for 45% of net U.S. job creation. Modesty is not typically considered a Texas virtue, but the results speak for themselves.
Texas is also among the few states that are home to more jobs than when the recession began in December 2007. The others are North Dakota, Alaska and the District of Columbia. If that last one sounds like an outlier at first, remember the government boom of the Obama era, which has helped loft D.C. payrolls 18,000 jobs above the pre-crisis status quo. Even so, Texas is up 30,800.
View Full Image













What explains this Lone Star success? Texas is a big state, but its population of 24.7 million isn't that much bigger than the Empire State, about 19.5 million. California is a large state too—36.9 million—and yet it's down 11,400 jobs. Mr. Fisher argues that Texas is doing so well relative to other states precisely because it has rejected the economic model that now prevails in Washington, and we'll second that notion.
Mr. Fisher notes that all states labor under the same Fed monetary policy and interest rates and federal regulation, but all states have not performed equally well. Texas stands out for its free market and business-friendly climate.
Capital—both human and investment—is highly mobile, and it migrates all the time to the places where the opportunities are larger and the burdens are lower. Texas has no state income tax. Its regulatory conditions are contained and flexible. It is fiscally responsible and government is small. Its right-to-work law doesn't impose unions on businesses or employees. It is open to global trade and competition: Houston, San Antonio and El Paso are entrepôts for commerce, especially in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Based on his conversations with CEOs and other business leaders, Mr. Fisher says one of Texas's huge competitive advantages is its ongoing reform of the tort system, which has driven litigation costs to record lows. He also cited a rule in place since 1998 in the backwash of the S&L debacle that limits mortgage borrowing to 80% of the appraised value of a home. Like a minimum down payment, this reduces overleveraging and means Texas wasn't hurt as badly by the housing crash as other states.
Texan construction employment has contracted by 2.3% since the end of the recession, along with manufacturing [[a 1.8% decline) and information [[-8.4%). But growth in other areas has surpassed these losses. Professional and business services accounted for 22.9% of the total jobs added, health care for 30.5% and trade and energy for 10.6%.
The Texas economy has grown on average by 3.3% a year over the last two decades, compared with 2.6% for the U.S. overall. Yet the core impulse of Obamanomics is to make America less like Texas and more like California, with more government, more unions, more central planning, higher taxes. That the former added 37% of new U.S. jobs suggests what an historic mistake this has been.

[EL Jimbo]

Care to cite your data??

I have to cringe every time I hear quality of life arguments when Detroit has an unemployment rate of 50% and a loss of 25% of its population in the past decade.

Maybe if you have a job, that's the case. But, what kind of quality of life do those 50% on welfare in Detroit get, huh? Yes, hold out to you're out of work and either have to get on the welfare rolls or sell your house for a buck and move to Texas.

Here's an interesting article for you. Since the recovery began, 37%-45% of net new jobs created in the US were in Texas plus they have a skyrocketing population while Michigan is loosing it's population. Texas is the leader in new jobs created.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Richard+Fisher

The Lone Star Jobs Surge

The Texas model added 37% of all net U.S. jobs since the recovery began.


Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, dropped by our offices this week and relayed a remarkable fact: Some 37% of all net new American jobs since the recovery began were created in Texas. Mr. Fisher's study is a lesson in what works in economic policy—and it is worth pondering in the current 1.8% growth moment.
Using Bureau of Labor Statistics [[BLS) data, Dallas Fed economists looked at state-by-state employment changes since June 2009, when the recession ended. Texas added 265,300 net jobs, out of the 722,200 nationwide, and by far outpaced every other state. New York was second with 98,200, Pennsylvania added 93,000, and it falls off from there. Nine states created fewer than 10,000 jobs, while Maine, Hawaii, Delaware and Wyoming created fewer than 1,000. Eighteen states have lost jobs since the recovery began.
The data are even more notable because they're calculated on a "sum of states" basis, which the BLS does not use because they can have sampling errors. Using straight nonfarm payroll employment, Texas accounts for 45% of net U.S. job creation. Modesty is not typically considered a Texas virtue, but the results speak for themselves.
Texas is also among the few states that are home to more jobs than when the recession began in December 2007. The others are North Dakota, Alaska and the District of Columbia. If that last one sounds like an outlier at first, remember the government boom of the Obama era, which has helped loft D.C. payrolls 18,000 jobs above the pre-crisis status quo. Even so, Texas is up 30,800.
View Full Image













What explains this Lone Star success? Texas is a big state, but its population of 24.7 million isn't that much bigger than the Empire State, about 19.5 million. California is a large state too—36.9 million—and yet it's down 11,400 jobs. Mr. Fisher argues that Texas is doing so well relative to other states precisely because it has rejected the economic model that now prevails in Washington, and we'll second that notion.
Mr. Fisher notes that all states labor under the same Fed monetary policy and interest rates and federal regulation, but all states have not performed equally well. Texas stands out for its free market and business-friendly climate.
Capital—both human and investment—is highly mobile, and it migrates all the time to the places where the opportunities are larger and the burdens are lower. Texas has no state income tax. Its regulatory conditions are contained and flexible. It is fiscally responsible and government is small. Its right-to-work law doesn't impose unions on businesses or employees. It is open to global trade and competition: Houston, San Antonio and El Paso are entrepôts for commerce, especially in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Based on his conversations with CEOs and other business leaders, Mr. Fisher says one of Texas's huge competitive advantages is its ongoing reform of the tort system, which has driven litigation costs to record lows. He also cited a rule in place since 1998 in the backwash of the S&L debacle that limits mortgage borrowing to 80% of the appraised value of a home. Like a minimum down payment, this reduces overleveraging and means Texas wasn't hurt as badly by the housing crash as other states.
Texan construction employment has contracted by 2.3% since the end of the recession, along with manufacturing [[a 1.8% decline) and information [[-8.4%). But growth in other areas has surpassed these losses. Professional and business services accounted for 22.9% of the total jobs added, health care for 30.5% and trade and energy for 10.6%.
The Texas economy has grown on average by 3.3% a year over the last two decades, compared with 2.6% for the U.S. overall. Yet the core impulse of Obamanomics is to make America less like Texas and more like California, with more government, more unions, more central planning, higher taxes. That the former added 37% of new U.S. jobs suggests what an historic mistake this has been.

Texas also lead the nation in minimum wage jobs and of those new jobs, I believe something like 38% of them are somehow tied to federal money.

Using federal money as a segue, Texas is a state with one of the highest rates of return on federal dollars given to them versus tax dollars provided to the Federal government.

Lastly, Texas is also in the middle of benefiting from high oil prices. Although there might not be as much "Texas Tea" as their used to be, when oil booms, Texas booms.

[lilpup]

When troops are activated and transferred around do they count as "new jobs" at their new bases? Lotsa military in TX. NADA in Michigan.

[PaulieG63]

davewindsor "Care to cite your data??"

Dave, its past 4:00am, I'm tired and buzzed...but heres a few quickies to mull over with your morning coffee:

http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=34736
[[It's actually much worse than I cited above...but you asked)

http://tfninsider.org/2011/02/16/con...xas-standards/
[[This is what CONSERVATIVES have to say about the education Texas' children are recieving)

http://www.theeagle.com/politics/Rep...Texas--abysmal-
[[More of the same...)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908...show/#43447838
[[This is specifically for those from Texas who might not be able to read any of the above...enjoy!)


Goodnight all,

Paul

[PaulieG63]

Sorry, my 3rd link didn't work...
here's the copy/paste version..

AUSTIN -- Texas ranks near the bottom of all states in taxing and spending per capita, but is dead last in the percentage of adults with a high school diploma, according to a study released Tuesday by a panel of mostly Democratic lawmakers.
The biennial study, "Texas on the Brink," compared Texas to the rest of the country based on various functions of government, including public education and taxing, and other measures, such as air quality and health concerns.
It was compiled using information from numerous government and nonprofit reports including census data, the National Center for Children and Poverty and the Kaiser Family Foundation. The report didn't list how other states ranked.
Lawmakers who serve in the Legislative Study Group, which prepared the rankings, called Texas' performance "abysmal" and urged the state's Republican leadership to use the poor showing as inspiration to improve.
Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured children and ranks near last in the amount of state and local money spent per student in public schools. It also found that Texas "has the dirtiest air in the nation," said Rep. Elliot Naishtat, treasurer of the 35-member panel.
The group took over the study this year from a retired El Paso lawmaker, former Democratic Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, who began releasing the study in 2003. At the time, Texas ranked near the bottom in almost each category, and "sadly this is still true today," said Naishtat, D-Austin.
"We've earned a reputation as first in jails and last in schools. Given that we lead the nation in the number of people we execute and the fact that we're last in high school graduation rates, I'd say that we've lived up to our reputation," Naishtat said.
Conservatives quickly criticized the report.
"This report makes for some interesting trivia, but if Texas is such a horrible place, why have 4.5 million people moved here in the last decade?" questioned Arlene Wohlgemuth, executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"Because what people care most about are jobs -- and on that measurement, Texas ranks first," she said, referring to recent unemployment figures from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The report ranked Texas first among U.S. states in carbon dioxide emissions and for the amount of hazardous waste generated, second in the number of students enrolled in public schools and seventh in teenage birth rate.
Texas ranked 33rd in the average salary of public school teachers, and 46th and 47th respectively for tax revenue raised per capita and tax expenditures per capita. The state ranked 49th in both average credit score and the percent of its low-income population covered by Medicaid. Texas was ranked last in the percent of pregnant women receiving prenatal care in their first trimester.
Democratic Rep. Alma Allen, a former teacher and principal, was disappointed by some of the education-related rankings, including that Texas ranked 44th in the amount of state and local money spent per student in public schools.
"As an educator, I'm appalled today," Allen said. "The rest of the country is moving forward and Texas children are being left behind ... The proposed budget will only exacerbate that problem."
Rep. Lon Burnam, vice-chairman of the group, warned not to expect improvement. The Fort Worth Democrat noted that Texas was facing a revenue shortfall of more than $15 billion, which was largely caused by an overhaul of the state's tax structure.
"We're going to get worse because of our budget crisis, created by the people that are in charge of state government," the Fort Worth Democrat said.


Paul

[Patrick]

When troops are activated and transferred around do they count as "new jobs"
at their new bases? Lotsa military in TX. NADA in
Michigan.

That is a political issue, first and foremost. The Levin boys certainly haven't done enough to bring more DoD dollars into Michigan with the exception of the Army Acquisitions at TACOM.