Texas Comes North to Poach Business

New York radio listeners, give it up for Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.

Not to be outdone by a potential rival for the governorship who invited New York gun owners to move to Texas after New York tightened its gun laws in January, Mr. Perry has released a radio ad here comparing Texas’s business climate quite favorably to New York’s.

“The new New York sounds a lot like the old New York,” Mr. Perry says in a dig at the Cuomo administration’s recently unveiled “New New York” economic development campaign. “Higher taxes. Stifling regulations. Bureaucrats telling you whether you can even drink a Big Gulp.”

Mr. Perry explains that things are different in Texas, where there is no income tax, “fair and predictable regulations” (very helpful if you prefer that first responders not know how much explosive ammonium nitrate is on hand at your fertilizer plant), and lawsuit reforms that “keep trial lawyers out of your pockets so you can grow your business.”

The ads herald Mr. Perry’s five-day job-poaching trip to New York and Connecticut, which begins on Sunday and will include meetings with business leaders in the gun, pharmaceutical and financial industries.

According to Mr. Perry’s office, the ads will run for a week on nine stations in New York City and Albany and cost $50,000. Mr. Perry’s recruitment effort also includes spending $1 million on television ads, which began running Monday on cable channels in New York and Connecticut. The ads and the trip are being paid for by TexasOne, a project of the Texas Economic Development Corporation that does not spend state tax dollars, Mr. Perry’s office said.

On behalf of all residents of the great State of New York, City Room welcomes Mr. Perry and his entourage and hopes that they enjoy their stay and spend lots and lots of money.