He’s already visited businesses in other floundering states — including Illinois, California, and New York — in an effort to get them to move to Texas. So it was inevitable that Gov. Rick Perry would eventually make a play for Missouri businesses, too. The only question was “when.” And as it turns out, the answer is … “now.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is at it again.
Next week, he’ll travel to Missouri to tout Texas’ low taxes, less regulation and high job creation rate.
Starting today, a 30-second television advertisement is running in the St. Louis, Springfield and Columbia-Jefferson City markets in Missouri. The ads feature small and immigrant business owners and women talking about what Texas offers, such as no state income tax. [Emphasis mine.]
And when it comes to job growth, he’ll have plenty to discuss.
While in Missouri, Perry plans to meet with employers, business leaders and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce to talk about things like Texas being a top job producer. Texas added 19,900 jobs in July, ranking No. 5 nationally, but it created 293,000 jobs in the last 12 months, more than any other state.
Now, you can love it or hate it, but to derisively call visits like this “poaching” is like calling the best looking guy in the room a girlfriend poacher: it’s an excuse for failure. Of course we lost, they’ll say. Texas is poaching. And there’s no mystery about what Perry’s objective is on his trip — it’s to get Missouri’s businesses.
But if we all know the score, the question is, will Missouri just let Texas take our businesses and jobs without a fight? Missouri entrepreneurs may have come here with the Show-Me State, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be leaving with it at the end of this economic dance. Is Missouri just going to sit there and take it as Texas continues to walk off with the state’s wealth?
