Chad’s Morning Brief: Perry Talks Up the Texas Miracle, Young People and Social Media, & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of May 31, 2013. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am.
1. Perry Promoting Texas (link)
Is Rick Perry already running for President? The Weekly Standard has a great piece out about Governor Perry taking the message of Texas and the success the state has had out on the road.
So forget Obama. Perry, in his 13th year as governor, has begun a bigger crusade to persuade the country that what has worked in Texas and other Republican-led states will work everywhere. “I want to engage America in this blue state / red state discussion,” he says. This may sound grandiose, but he’s not kidding.
He started by going to California in February and Illinois in April, heavily Democratic states with two of the worst economic records in the country. He urged business leaders to pack up and move to Texas, where they’d thrive because of pro-business policies in place for a decade. “We keep our taxes low, our regulations reasonable and effective. We’ve implemented lawsuit abuse reforms and cultivated a world-class workforce,” he explained in an op-ed in the Austin paper when Obama was in town.
In California, Perry touched off a four-day tour across the state with $24,000 worth of radio ads. “Building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible,” he said in the ads. “I have a message for California businesses: Come check out Texas.”
Perry’s visit irritated California governor Jerry Brown. Brown called the ads “barely a fart.” Then he turned snarky. “A lot of these Texans, they come here, they don’t go home,” Brown said. “Who would want to spend their summers in 110-degree heat inside some kind of a fossil-fueled air conditioner?” Brown’s remarks backfired. The Perry tour became big news.
A similar scenario occurred two months later in Illinois. Perry’s radio ads advised businesses to “get out while there’s still time. . . . [The] escape route leads straight to Texas.” In Chicago, Perry toned down his pitch at a biotech conference. “When people think of Texas, they tend to think football, great barbecue, and a gushing oil well in everyone’s backyard,” he said. “We’ve created a fertile climate where innovators are free to create and nurture their ideas and where government stays out of the way.”
Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel were incensed. “We don’t need any advice from Governor Perry,” Quinn said. “His state, frankly, is water challenged, and any company thinking of going to Texas better check on the water.” That was his best argument. Emanuel ribbed Perry about his failure to recall, during a presidential debate in 2012, a third federal agency he would eliminate: “I hope when he comes he remembers all three of his reasons.”
Perry got the best of the argument in both states. Emanuel bragged about attracting new businesses, but the jobless rate in Illinois was 9.3 percent in April, while it was 6.4 percent in Texas and 7.5 percent nationally. California’s unemployment rate was 9 percent.
Quinn and Emanuel couldn’t match Perry’s case for Texas, a right-to-work state with no personal income tax. Illinois recently hiked its state income tax from 3 percent to 5 percent. The top rate in California is 13.3 percent.
And in ranking after ranking, Texas is at the top for business climate, fastest growing cities, and job growth. California and Illinois are at the bottom (as is Texas for the share of the population uninsured, and near the bottom for poverty). The Perry message impressed Gavin Newsom, the California lieutenant governor. “Perry’s getting exactly what he wanted,” he told a radio station. “He’s getting all kinds of press . . . because he’s leaning in. He’s in the game. He’s getting in our heads.”
So is he running for President? Or just being a good Governor? You probably already know what I think.
2. Social Media and Young People (link)
As you probably know, I am a huge fan of social media. When used correctly, social media can be a great tool in business and for fun. Of course not everyone uses social media wisely.
According to a new survey conducted by On Device Research, 1 in 10 people aged 16 to 34 have been turned down for a job because of something they have posted on a social mediawebsite.
“If getting a job wasn’t hard enough in this tough economic climate, young people are getting rejected from employment because of their social media profiles and they are not concerned about it,” On Device Research’s marketing manager Sarah Quinn said in a statement.
At the same time, two thirds of those surveyed said they are not concerned that their use of social media now could harm their future career prospects, and they are not deterred from using it.
Young people surveyed also were more likely to have designed their social media profiles to appeal to their friends, rather than prospective employees.
Be smart people. If you think political scandals involving pictures is out of control now, just wait until today's High School and College kids run for office.
3. Gun Required (link)
Hey, I sort of like this idea out of Colorado.
If you’re planning to move to the sleepy town of Nucla in Western Colorado, be sure to bring your gun. Or prepare to buy one, if you’re not already packing.
Last week, the town board passed an ordinance making it mandatory for the head of household to own a firearm “together with ammunition therefor.”
Residents can opt out if they can’t afford a gun, are legally barred from owning one or simply don’t want one, making the ordinance practically meaningless, but at least one board member thinks it’s sending the wrong message.
Of course I don't think government should force anyone to own a gun, but I like the idea of a town declaring that many of it's citizen's are packing.
Other Top Stories:
These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.
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