Texas, California embody red-blue divide

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Post:

California and Texas are nation-states within the United States, a pair of behemoths in size, population, history and influence. In the debate over red-state vs. blue-state governance, they stand at opposite poles.

 

The two states are led by veteran governors, politicians with personalities as different as their states. Texas’s Rick Perry ® is the longest-serving governor in his state’s history, having been in office consecutively since December 2000. California’s Jerry Brown (D) has spent more time in the job than any other chief executive in his state’s history, and he holds another distinction — in 2010, he was returned to the office 36 years after first being elected governor.

 

Perry ran for president in 2012 championing Texas as an economic model for the nation, pointing to the tax and regulatory structure of the Lone Star State as the engine that had helped produce more new jobs in the post-recession America than any other state. His campaign faltered, but that did little to dim the story of “Texas rising.”

 

“California declining” was the narrative Brown inherited when he returned to Sacramento in January 2011. The Golden State, once the envy of the nation, was beset with problems, including high unemployment, persistent budgetary imbalances and political dysfunction in the state capital. Today, with the state’s fiscal situation stabilized, Brown is described as the Democrat who is giving the country a new model of progressive governance.

 

Perry continues to promote the contrasting narratives. “These are big, powerful economic states,” he said in a recent interview. “Twenty years ago, California was considered to be the absolute economic center of America. You pointed to California and said, ‘Gee, wouldn’t you like to be like them?’ And I would suggest that’s not the case, and I will suggest to you that’s because of the burdensome tax environment, a regulatory climate that is very unpredictable and unstable and public schools that are continuing on a downward trajectory.”

 

Brown and his advisers find the Texas-vs.-California story tiresome. “Shakespeare said comparisons are odious,” Brown quipped in a recent telephone interview. “Another version was that they’re odorous.”

 

He was quick to counter Perry’s claim that Texas should be the nation’s model. Yes, he said, if you want to build something, you can do it faster in Texas than in California, where there are more regulations and governmental red tape. “That’s true,” he said, but he added, “Would you rather live in Houston or Santa Barbara, or maybe Santa Monica or San Francisco?”

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Based on California's population decline, I think most people have made their choice clear...

 

[Valin]

@WestVirginaRebel

 

 

He was quick to counter Perry’s claim that Texas should be the nation’s model. Yes, he said, if you want to build something, you can do it faster in Texas than in California, where there are more regulations and governmental red tape. “That’s true,” he said, but he added, “Would you rather live in Houston or Santa Barbara, or maybe Santa Monica or San Francisco?”

Wrong question Jerry. The proper question (IMO) is where is it easier to get a job...start a business? Now I've been to all those places, Santa Barbara is wonderful place, Santa Cruz may not be heaven on earth...but its close. The small problem is you can't afford to live there...no work...high taxes....and everywhere you look busybodies telling you how to live. This is why people are moving to Houston, Amarillo. It's not for the weather or the scenery.

 

[Draggingtree]

Anyone who’s visited The Woodlands recently has heard the buzz about the big new neighbor moving in. ExxonMobil acquired 385 acres of undeveloped forest just south of The Woodlands a few years ago, and now is busily erecting what will soon become its largest corporate complex worldwide, with 10,000 workers

 

This complex is just a few min from me in Spring, or 1/2 hr (on good day) to Downtown Houston