Take Pennsylvania. Gov. Tom Corbett's budget severely cut education and services for the poor. Now the state's jobless rate is rising, to 7.8 percent in July from 7.6 percent in June.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports,
The state's unemployment rate had been falling over the last year, from the recession high of 8.8 percent in April 2010, to the lowest level of the recovery thus far -- 7.4 percent in May. But July marks the second month of a rising unemployment rate.This may come as a surprise to Corbett. Upon signing his savage budget, he crowed,
No budget is worth the trouble if it doesn't do something to grow the economy and create jobs.Corbett's administration seems to be a little, um, unfocused on the state's economy. Some of his top appointees have thrown tantrums over parking spots. One sicced the Department of Health on a restaurant when he didn't like his fried egg sandwich. The budget director's wife got a ride home from an on-duty state trooper after she led police on a car chase that resulted in her arrest for drunk driving.
That seems to be the story all over the country with these Governors Gone Wild. They're more interested in dismantling government (while enjoying the perks) than they are in actual, you know, governing. In Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan -- all Governors Gone Wild states -- unemployment rose last month, and it's stayed high in New Jersey, where Chris Christie's job-creation philosophy is to suck up to rich people.
Reality kind of bites, doesn't it?
