Remember when Governor Jan Brewer in her final State of the State Address touted her alleged “Arizona Comeback”? Yeah, Gov. Brewer’s ‘Arizona Comeback’ is a lie.
Then we had to listen to a whole year of Dicey Doug Ducey telling us that if Arizonans just voted for him, “The sky will open. The sun will shine down. Celestial choirs will be singing. And everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.”
OK, that was sorta Hillary Clinton in 2008, but still, Ducey’s campaign pitch was the same.
So did the simple act of electing Dicey Doug Ducey governor magically produce the economic miracle he promised voters? Not quite — in fact, Arizona is regressing. The Business Insider reports, Business Insider: Arizona drops out of the top 20 best state economies:
Arizona’s sluggish economic recovery is starting to tarnish its shiny growth rankings.
In a Business Insider report out today, Arizona dropped from its top 10 position to the 21st best economy in the U.S.
The more than 10-position drop is a sad testament to the state’s 3 percent 2014 growth rate, which is half its normal economic growth.
Business Insider looked a six criteria in ranking states: recent change in housing prices, nonfarm payroll job growth, unemployment rate, GDP per capita, average weekly wage, and state government surplus and deficit.
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Arizona earned kudos for a diverse economy and 6.6 percent increase in home prices in the fourth quarter. Despite the strong job growth, Arizona’s high unemployment rate hurt the state.
Should the current budget up for consideration be approved, Arizona is about to drop even further in the rankings.
I tried to warn you. Kansas is a cautionary tale for Arizona. Welcome to “Kochtopia.” Dicey Doug Ducey is turning Arizona into ‘Kochtopia’.
Revenue Increase shouldn’t be a taboo phrase. We cannot wait for some future day wnen the income of all Arizonans increase overnight and businesses clamor to move here. This budget will hurt education children and health in AZ and cause business to leave instead of come jf they do not have skilled emplouees to fill their jobs and a good education system to convince their current employees to move to AZ. Tax cuts are not the answer to everything. One Republican senator is proud of balancing the budget with no tax increases- with apparently no comprehension of the long term damage this buget will cause.
And Arizona continues to drop in national education rankings. Soon we will be 51st out of 50 (counting Puerto Rico).