Governor John Bel Edwards: Your Business Summit Can’t Help You Now
While Governor John Bel Edwards was singing his own praises during last week’s business summit, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis was proving that Gov. Edwards sang too soon.
According to a recent article in the Business Report and Hayride, Louisiana’s gross domestic product only increased by 1.9 percent in the third quarter, placing the state’s GDP growth among the slowest in the nation. By way of comparison, other states in our region such as Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida all saw an increase in GDP ranging from 2.7 percent to 3.8 percent. So much for Louisiana being better off under Governor Edwards, as he again proclaimed in his latest campaign ad.
During the Governor’s “business summit” (or should we say his campaign event), he claimed that Louisiana “has made a lot of progress” and that “our economy is growing, [and] deficits have been turned into surplus…”.
Governor Edwards, if that is the case, why did the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report place Louisiana 44th out of the 50 states in economic growth?
So as Governor John Bel Edwards concludes his self-congratulatory business summit, let’s remember the plain truth: Louisiana’s economy isn’t doing very well under his administration, and the only thing growing in Louisiana is our taxes!
###
