-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

According to a Wall Street Journal article, Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, found that since June 2009 37% of all net new jobs in America were created in Texas. Even though Texas is an energy state benefitting from high oil and natural gas prices, Fisher touts Texas’ business friendly environment, its right-to-work laws, and its “tort reform”– a $250,000 cap on punitive damages.

The WSJ article even calls Texas “fiscally responsible.” That’s the same Texas with a $27 billion budget shortfall. The WSJ article also uncritically cites Texas’ statutory  limits on mortgage borrowing, a regulation of the financial industry they would decry if Obama proposed it.

While the 37% figure is accurate, the details are what’s interesting. Texas has the highest percentage of minimum wage worker in the country. As the chart below shows, the level of minimum wage jobs has increased during Perry’s reign.

The median hourly earnings for all hourly-paid wage and salary workers in Texas stood at $11.20 per hour in 2010; nationally, the median was $12.50.

Texas also ranks number one in the percentage of residents without health insurance. Texas’ percentage is almost 28%. Massachusetts, with Romneycare, has the lowest at 4.7%.

According to The Economist, the state-level Gross Domestic Product of Texas grew by 2.6% last year, equal to the national average. New York grew by 5.1% and California by 1.8%.

Here is a listing of the Perry economic portfolio touted as a model for the whole country:

• Highest percentage of minimum wage jobs.
• Highest percentage of residents with no health insurance.
• A budget deficit of $27 billion.
• Lower than average wages.
• Average growth in GDP.

So, if you want a low paying job with no health insurance, Texas is your choice.

H/T: The American Independent, AlterNet, Swamlalnd.