THE BOSTICK REPORT-A long-simmering rivalry between Texas and California is beginning to bubble up in policy conversations these days and for good reason. The Texas economy has continually poached companies from us since far before the Great Recession, but the trend has exacerbated since the banking crisis undermined our state’s ability to compete with attractive tax incentives offered by states like Texas for companies willing to relocate.
Texas isn’t the only state willing to sacrifice national stability for campaign trail talking points, it’s just the most successful poacher. Its low taxes, friendly incentives to corporations that relocate, and lax workplace oversight coupled with deficient environmental regulations have lured hundreds of California companies in recent years.
Numbers vary, but the watershed year for Texas Governor Rick Perry’s “job creation” was in 2011 when it was reported that while the United States had lost 1.1 million jobs over the previous decade while Texas had actually gained 1.2 million jobs. Pretty stark contrast, though the numbers are quite superficial.
Nearly 30% of Perry’s job gains were in the government sector, a shocking tally for a Republican who claims to want to “get government out of the way”. Let’s set aside that strange twist on limited government and get to the root of the question moving forward.
That question was best represented at the West LA Democratic Club’s candidate forum last week. This was a well-planned debate for candidates running to succeed Steven Bradford in the 62nd Assembly district and the questions posed to the four hopefuls were engaging, considered, and insightful. Really well done.
The most pertinent question, however, came off the cuff at the end of the 90-minute program. Kelley Willis, longtime member and astute analyst for the club, asked a simple, yet complex, question that was slightly muddled after a night of rigorous questions from moderator Loren Scott.
Kelley basically asked, “what is the bottom”? In other words, how far does California go in offering its own tax incentives, relaxing of environmental regulations, and general efforts to bring jobs back home? What cost is worth the job gain?
It was a superior question to ask those vying to represent us in Sacramento and strikes at the chord of what a Democratic-led California represents in contrast to a Republican-led Texas.
When we look at job creation, the tendency is to bow down to the generic political statement that “we need jobs” because it’s easier and true – we do need jobs. A lot of people are still out of work and are becoming increasingly desperate. This is probably driving the recent increase in crime here on the Westside and portends a greater social instability we may start to see if things don’t change soon.
But, not all jobs are equal. Many jobs, like the ones driving Texas’s growth, pay poverty-wages that require backdoor government subsidies in the form of food stamps, section 8 housing, and emergency-room medical care. They subjugate employees to a life of scarcity and reliance on a benefactor – usually the government, though sometimes non-profits offering services like those at food pantries. Overall, the result is the creation of a job that provides very little positive value to our community.
Politically, however, it pays a politician to build statistics because the electorate embraces that superficial tally. Too often we are willing to kowtow to the generic argument that we need jobs, not that we need jobs that build value within our community.
Therein lies the difference in focus I would like to see. California is a state that should embrace government policies designed to build jobs that add value. We should offer subsidies to industries that provide us with an increase in value, like the ones in entertainment and research. We should not be in the business of propping up fast food and the like because they provide us with jobs that leech away at the quality of our lives in ways that undermine the American Dream.
There is no doubt about it. Texas represents a threat to California’s economy. The generic job tally, however, should not drive our thinking because Texas’s success represents the undertow shrinking our middle class. Texas is winning a race to the bottom and our tendency to look at jobs in the generic sense of just a number without any qualitative value is driving the policies taking us down that route.
The candidates at last week’s forum didn’t really have the chance to answer West LA Democratic Club Secretary Kelley Willis’ question, though Autumn Burke seemed to touch on the heart of it and I was impressed with her afterwards when we chatted about this. To be fair to all the candidates, Willis’ question was posed at the end of a long night with a restless crowd.
It deserves merit and consideration. I think it’s something we should revisit with all the candidates running to represent us in this cycle and look forward to their ideas.
And once again, kudos to the West LA Democratic Club for elevating the bar for candidate engagement. Well done.
(Odysseus Bostick is a Los Angeles teacher and former candidate for the Los Angeles City Council. He writes The Bostick Report for CityWatch.)