Rick Perry cancels trip to Chicago intended to corral jobs

By Chad Merda

UPDATE:

Gov. Rick Perry isn’t heading to Chicago after all. And you can thank President Barack Obama for that.

After refusing a ‘quick handshake on the tarmac’ with Obama in Texas, the two have agreed to meet in person, which caused a scheduling conflict.

“We’ve actually had a change of plans given the president’s acceptance of the governor’s meeting request while he is in Texas, and we will not be heading up to Chicago after all,” said Lucy Nashed, Perry’s press secretary. “Hopefully we will make it back up there again soon.”

If he was coming, here’s how it would have gone down (original post below):

The Texas Economic Corp., which is a private group Perry works closely with, will be tagging along and they’ll be hosting a luncheon at Gibson’s Bar & Steakhouse.

He’s continuing the red state vs. blue state conversation that he’s been promoting around the country for the last year, and making the pitch face to face for why Texas is the best place for their companies in the future, said Perry Press Secretary Lucy Nashed in an email.

Perry’s sales pitch will rely on an op-ed piece that brags about his state’s balanced budget, huge cash reserve and reductions in some business levies. He also points out that Texas’ job growth is 10 times that of Illinois.

Texas Governor Rick Perry Op-Ed

Quinn’s administration isn’t buying all of it.

A statement from Quinn’s office:

While we welcome Gov. Perry’s contributions to Illinois’ booming tourism and hope he comes back to see us soon, businesses here should be skeptical of his economic pitch. While Texas has no income tax, it must rely heavily on sales and property taxes that hit part of its population extremely hard. Texas record of late includes some of the nation’s worst outputs of air and water pollution. Many are concerned about the reliability of its power grid….After all that, the average tax burden for business is fairly close in the two states.

Via Crain’s Chicago Business

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