Published in the Times Leader, by Dan Meuser

October 12, 2014

What a shame how, even in the information-age when facts are more readily at everyone’s disposal than ever before, misinformation can still prevail when political motives trump fairness and accuracy. William Kashatus’ commentary (“Corbett’s wounds self-inflicted,” Oct. 8) not only misleads readers with numerous factual errors, but he also reveals a surprising lack of understanding regarding how economies work and the role Gov. Tom Corbett has played in job creation in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Kashatus says that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has remained essentially the same as it was when Corbett took office. Here are some numbers: in January 2011, the state’s unemployment rate was 8.1 percent. This past August, it was 5.8 percent. A 2 percent drop in unemployment represents 149,000 fewer people unemployed.

That’s not essentially the same. It’s not even approximately the same.

Mr. Kashatus says the state has fallen in job growth ratings, “bringing into question whether 150,000 new jobs were actually created.” Let’s relieve the author of his doubt. First, the job creation number – which is fluid, but always tracking upward – is now at 180,000.

And, because job growth rankings are based on the percentage of growth within a given state, smaller states can appear to surge by creating only a few more jobs, while larger states seem to slow, even as they add 10 times as many jobs.

Here’s an example, based on the same Bureau of Labor Statistics number Mr. Kashatus employs:

In 2009, Pennsylvania grew jobs by a paltry 5,300. Last year, we added more than 26,000 jobs. Mr. Kashatus, or perhaps the campaign he tends to quote, seems to worry more about the statistical anomalies of percentage than actual employment gains.

Given his misunderstanding of percentage versus numbers, it is little wonder that Mr. Kashatus then misses the point about jobs attributable to the state’s natural gas industry. Job creation is measured by a combination of direct employment and the “multiplier effect” that follows when a good-paying job creates additional employment in related industries (indirect employment) and consumer and service industries (induced employment).

The author need only visit towns such as Williamsport or Towanda, drive down Main Street and count the new Ford F-150s or check the bustling lunch counters to understand how the energy industry is adding jobs and revenue to the state’s economy, while at the same time dramatically cutting natural gas home-heating bills for residents.

As a final point, let’s address the worn-out myth that Gov. Corbett cut education funding by $1 billion. Despite the disappearance of one-time federal “stimulus” dollars that were misapplied to the yearly operating budgets of school districts, since taking office, Gov. Corbett has increased funding for early, basic and post-secondary education from $10.8 billion to $11.9 billion. That’s an increase of more than $1 billion.

Regarding the claim that “27,000 teachers lost their jobs,” a falsity promulgated by supporters of candidate Tom Wolf, perhaps Mr. Kashatus missed the fact-checking reports that expose the claim as a politically contrived misrepresentation of facts. District decisions not to fill vacancies for various positions – some teachers, some not – and individuals’ decisions to leave public school positions for the private sector do not equate to the firing of 27,000 educators. That simply didn’t happen.

State economies must be grown by careful spending, prudent savings and, above all, an understanding that it is the private sector that creates true prosperity. That is the course Gov. Corbett has taken after careful evaluation of facts. When others refuse to let the truth get in the way of an entertaining story, it’s not only disingenuous, it’s a damn shame.

("Dan Meuser: By the numbers, Gov. Tom Corbett’s term has greatly benefited Pennsylvanians," TimesLeader, 10/12/14)