In rejecting an additional $555 million in Federal unemployment dollars, the governor said he didn’t want the state strapped with new regulations that would hurt Texas business. Star-Telegram business columnist Mitchell Schnurman pulled out his calculator and found that Perry got his math wrong: rejecting the money will cost Texas business more. Moreover, Perry’s appointee to the Texas Workforce Commission, Dallas conservative Tom Pauken, doesn’t believe the new regulations need to stay in place once the money is spent, so he’s working with the Legislature to get the money flowing.
It’s all classic Rick Perry: a good (but ill-considered) campaign line takes priority over (a) reality, (b) Texas workers, (c) Texas business, and (d) his own long-term interests, if the long-term includes 2010 when he’s up for re-election. Beautiful.
