40% of all new Jobs in America are in one state

[Asuras]

On topic...I don't think the stimulus is the driving factor in Texas's extraordinary job creation. A few billion dollars is a drop in the bucket. Texas is a trillion-dollar economy.

I'd credit it to the fact that Texas did not have a housing bubble/housing crash and so there's no debt overhang in Texas holding down spending like there is in Florida or California. My best guess on why this didn't happen in Texas is because of Texas's high property taxes, it defuses speculation in real estate.

About Rick Perry...when I was at UT (Texas is my home state) I interned at the Texas budget office and I was in a couple meetings with him and I got to know a few staffers. Like his predecessor, Bush, Perry is a moron. Like his predecessor, he has a smart staff (like Karl Rove smart). The guy (or more accurately his staff) has been reasonably capable as governor - I voted for him twice - but as president he'd be George W. Bush redux. But he's a shoe-in for the Republican nomination if he runs.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I would definitely take the article with a grain of salt...I mean, this is the Wall Street Journal, whose editorial agenda is to make America into Bangladesh or Burma...only with bigger jets and yachts for the elite.