WSJ: Texas economy strong vs Ohio.

So says an editorial in the Monday edition of the Wall Street Journal. I guess with all the primary attention being on these two large states somebody decided to do some comparing. The economic and demographic numbers, shown below, look good for Texas and bad for Ohio. I bring this to readers' attention not to gloat, but to say we are fortunate, considering the national economy.

The WSJournal has conjectural (it is an editorial) reasons for Texas' advantage, reasons I happen to agree with. For instance, nearly 1,000 new manufacturing plants have been built in Texas since 2005. One of the reasons given, that manufacturers like the labor pool and the lack of labor regulation; that is, manufacturers are first looking for ways to get value inexpensively, just like you do when you go shoe shopping. If manufacturers can do that in Texas they will move here, if not, they won't. That may be an over-simplification, but you get the point.

One statistic I had not heard before: Texas is the largest international exporter among the 50 states.

Here are the main WSJ stats:

New Job Creation
Texas: 1,615,000
Ohio: -10,400

Net domestic migration
Texas: 667,000
Ohio: -362,000

Unemployment rate
Texas: 4.5%
Ohio: 6%

Per capita income growth (10 yr)
Texas: 55%
Ohio: 43%

Exports (in billions)
Texas: $150.9
Ohio: $37.8

A Plug for the Botanic Garden?

Few cities of any size have an area like our Botanic Gardens. It is a combination of rose garden, walking park, arboretum, Japanese garden, educational center and picnic area. I have enjoyed it every year we have lived here and it improves with each visit.

I can't say I know one butterfly from the next, but I will get out to the Butterflies in the Garden exhibit this March 1 - March 30.

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Different subject: If anyone knows why the Trinity River is very low near Beach Street and Gateway Park, let me know.

How McCain Can Win in November

Cartoon: Dave Granlund

There are three reasons to believe John McCain can win in November. One of them is shown left. If Nader runs and pulls 1% of the total vote, 80% of them would have voted for the democrat. Obviously, that helps McCain, and some big states are sure to be close races, i.e., Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Another has to do with who he is. I watched a McCain television biography on MSNBC the otherday. It showed footage of him being escorted off the plane after landing on USA soil and after spending 5 years in a Vietnamese POW camp. It is moving to watch a110 pound soldier cripple down a plane's steps -- you can not but respect him, regardless of political affiliation.

But back to the POW camp itself. Let me repeat, that was 5 years folks, two of them in solitary. Read one of the Hanoi Hilton stories. It's chilling in its realistic portrayal of pain. He was tortured, abused, and broken. At one point, McCain was offered repatriation because of his father's military status and he refused unless everyone was released. So he stayed. The guy has some character. He survived the ordeal somehow, returned and became a US Senator. That doesn't make him Mother Theresa, it doesn't make him a good President, but it does give him a certain "gravitas" that you have to respect. He hasn't tried to use this suffering for money or power, he doesn't talk about it much. He has none of the Rudy Guiliani, I was there at 9/11 attitutde. He is not trying to be a rhetorician or appeal to everyone. He tells it as straight as any politician does -- and that's his appeal. He is the anti-politician. And that kind of character is a contrast to Barack Obama, whose appeal is newness, change, and let's start over.

The third reason he could win is that he does appeal to the middle, independent voter. I have listened to several talk shows in the last few weeks with a left-leaning bent and I hear people say over and over that they could vote for McCain, and that they might. He's the only Republican since Reagan who had that kind of appeal to Independents.

Can he beat the hi-speed, Barach Obama bullet-train. I don't know but he does appeal to a broader base than Romney, Huckabee, et. al. He's the only Republican that can win in November, and in my view the best one to make decisions about the war and the economy.