State Economic Growth Trails U.S.

When he delivered his State of the Commonwealth Address on January 21, Governor Patrick had a message for the 323,200 Massachusetts residents who are out of work. Referring to the latest jobless figures released only hours before his speech, the governor announced that “unemployment, even with the disappointing numbers released today, is not as high here as the national average…”

Fast-forward to this week, and news that the national economy grew at a robust rate of 5.7 percent in the last quarter of 2009, the fastest U.S. growth recorded since 2003. Unfortunately, the University of Massachusetts’ Donahue Institute has estimated that the Massachusetts economy registered a decline of 0.2 percent over the same time period. Something tells us the governor won’t be so eager to promote Massachusetts’ second-place status on this particular issue.

In a press release posted on the State House News Service, Northeastern University professor Alan Clayton-Matthews blamed the “disappointing” numbers on “a poor holiday spending season … and a sharp rise in the December unemployment rate.” Which brings us back to an argument we’ve made time and time again: when it comes to jobs creation, the Patrick Administration talks a nice game, but has yet to produce any tangible results. The governor’s added thousands of new jobs in state government since taking office three years ago, but the private sector has shed another 105,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate is now nearly double what it was when he was sworn in (9.4 percent vs. 4.8 percent).

People who are out of work don’t really care how our state compares to the rest of the country. What they really want are some reassurances from their elected officials that they are doing everything possible to create new jobs and get Massachusetts residents back to work.

Another Missed Opportunity

It was bad enough to learn last week that the state’s unemployment rate had jumped from 8.7 percent to 9.4 percent in December. What was even worse was that Governor Patrick tried to downplay the bad news and attempted to put a positive spin on things in his State of the Commonwealth Address by basically saying, well, sure, the numbers are “disappointing”, but at least we’re doing better than the national average of 10 percent. Try telling that to the over 323,000 Massachusetts residents who are currently unemployed and looking for work.

The fact is, Governor Patrick had a perfect opportunity to use his televised address to explain to the residents of Massachusetts just what his administration is doing to create jobs and get people back to work. Instead, his remarks lacked any details, proving that he really has no plan.

An Open Letter To The People of Massachusetts from Scott Brown

Dear Friend,

On Tuesday, we will have a choice in the special election for United States Senate. We can send another rubber stamp to Washington, or we can try something new: We can elect an independent voice for all of Massachusetts — and that’s the United States Senator I promise to be.

The choice we make will send a powerful message to the big spenders in Washington. They need to quit expanding our government and defending wasteful spending, and start expanding this economy and defending our jobs.

Some people say I don’t have all the advantages in this race, and that’s fine by me. Being the underdog has taught me to work harder, and to better appreciate the opportunities of our state and our country.

I’m running because I want to be a voice for people. I’m alarmed that our nation’s spending and debt has risen along with unemployment. I want to stop terrorists who are plotting to strike our country again. And while I believe every American deserves health insurance, I do not think we should plunge ahead with a healthcare bill that will raise taxes, increase spending and lower the quality of care. I’d like to see us start over and take our time to do it right.

These are just some of the challenges facing us. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I hope you feel the same sense of urgency as I do. It’s far too important to sit out this election.

I want you to know that no matter what happens on Election Day, I consider myself a winner for having gone through this campaign. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, and I’ve lived here my entire life. But it wasn’t until now that I got a chance to fully appreciate the true spirit of the people of Massachusetts. They are the most patriotic, hard-working and optimistic people in the world. I have come away with a much deeper love and appreciation for them.

For all of that, and for the privilege of meeting with you in your neighborhoods, your homes, and where you work, I thank you.

Scott Brown

Losing our economic edge… to Michigan!?

A recent Boston Globe article highlights the cut-throat competition in which states are engaging to attract new green-tech businesses. No surprises here – states, like cities and towns, want to see job-growing, revenue-generating firms open up shop inside their borders.

What’s alarming is that Massachusetts-based businesses aren’t being targeted by the usual suspects – California, North Carolina, New Jersey, etc – but by Michigan, a severely economically-depressed state that I wouldn’t have imagined could come close to matching what Massachusetts has to offer.

It seems Michigan’s leaders have seen the writing on the wall and are offering businesses extremely generous incentives and tax breaks to relocate there. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is quoted in the Globe article as saying that she’s doing “what you’ve got to do’’ in order to close the deals her state so desperately needs.

The Globe article paints a stark picture:
Michigan is emerging as one of Massachusetts’ fiercest competitors in the race to become a hub for clean technology companies. And Massachusetts, despite being the birthplace of many of these technologies and the companies they spawn, is losing ground to Michigan’s money and determination.

Our elected leaders on Beacon Hill must improve the climate for business here in Massachusetts, or we’ll continue to lose out to other states. For starters, we need to reform our ridiculously expensive unemployment insurance system and repeal the recently imposed sales tax increase. We shouldn’t be giving Massachusetts-based businesses a reason to pack up and move to Michigan… or any other state.

Globe article is available here: Michigan luring Bay State business.

Re-elect Deval…

…If you’re out of your mind!

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released it’s state-by-state economic data for the month of August on Friday. Massachusetts unemployment rose from 8.8% in July to 9.1% in August. In the past month Massachusetts has shed an additional 10,494 net jobs. While we are in a national and international economic recession, under one party Democratic rule Massachusetts continues to do one of the worst jobs at handling the recession.

Massachusetts new tax hikes including the sales tax hike went into effect on August 1, 2009. In the first month Massachusetts the unemployment rate rose faster than any other New England state. In Vermont unemployment went down for the third month in a row. Net job loss in Massachusetts exceeded the other 5 New England states combined.

Since January of 2007 when Deval Patrick became Governor and joined the Democratic super majorities in the state legislature unemployment has risen from 4.6% to 9.1%.

UPDATE: More from the Globe, New York Times and Michael Graham.