South Carolina ARRA Stimulus Funding

[monsoon]

Sanford has apparently rejected the money that is to come to SC.

I found it noteworthy that a party in California asked Obama during a town hall of their state could have this money if "they were too stupid" to take it.

[Spartan]

South Carolina is still going to get the money, Governor Sanford is just not going to spend it. It sounds to me like he's positioning himself, and gambling, that we're going to need a fiscal conservative in 4 years. Considering how much the Obama Administration is running up the national deficit, it may be a safe gamble.

[monsoon]

^For sure he is positioning himself. The GOPers find themselves having to take increasingly wacky positions for their dwindling base and refusing to take money for beneficial programs, money that people are going to have to pay taxes on regardless, is an example of such a position. His competitors, Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin are doing the same thing.

[Greenville]

^For sure he is positioning himself. The GOPers find themselves having to take increasingly wacky positions for their dwindling base and refusing to take money for beneficial programs, money that people are going to have to pay taxes on regardless, is an example of such a position. His competitors, Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin are doing the same thing.

[krazeeboi]

Sanford's position is no "wackier" than Obama's outrageous spending spree.

[Greenville]

But the vast majority of governors (and mayors) have no problem accepting stimulus funding. Mark Sanford is one of a very small contingent who are outright rejecting a portion of the funding and he's getting the most press about it. What disturbs me most about it is how detached he is about the whole thing and the fact that he's not proposing any alternatives in the state for job creation, etc. I can appreciate Sanford being a principled person, but he's putting principles above pragmatism--and that's not helping anyone at all. I'm willing to bet that he wouldn't be as extreme in his position if he were up for re-election.

[krazeeboi]

The statement he is making will be a powerful one when he puts his name in the hat as a Presidential candidate in a few years. Why? Because he's banking on the bailout to be a lot less successful than the federal government is claiming it will be. If he is right (and I think there is a good chance he will be), he will be one of few who can say, "See, I was right about this and here is proof."

[Captain Worley]

Sanford believes that a lot of things aren't the government's responsibility. He's standing on that position, and I admire him for it, but politics requires comprimise. Although I admire his position and willingness to stand fast on them, even I realize that you have to pick your battles, and he's losing this one.

[monsoon]

.....

I honestly think he is trying to make a statement, because one, he is not up for re-election, and two, he knows that his refusal to take the money will be overridden anyway. Otherwise, I cannot imagine him taking it this far.....

[whitehourseview]

He is setting himself up as a candidate for the 2012 presidential campaign.

[monsoon]

No, he isn't.

[whitehourseview]

Ahh. I remember you also said with certainty that Hillary Clinton would be crowned the nominee for the democratic primary. But thanks for your opinion.

[monsoon]

And thank you for yours. This time yours is incorrect.

[Spartan]

No, he isn't.

[gman430]

No, he isn't.

[Spartan]

I changed the name of this thread since, quite frankly, the more interesting discussion is related to Gov. Sanford not accepting $700 million in stimulus funding.

The issue at hand is that it looks like he will win his battle because of a letter from the White House that confirms that there is no way for the legislature to circumvent the governor in the ARRA.

Governor Sanford has offered a compromise though- divert funding to pay down state debt, and use the ARRA stimulus funds to fund whatever that money is obligated to do.

I think that given the situation, its better to go ahead and pay down some state debt and get this out of the way. At least South Carolina will get to use the money instead of waste it.

[gman430]

According to several news reports, Sanford is starting to change his tune and could say yes to accepting the stimulus money. Here is an article from WYFF on it: http://www.wyff4.com/news/19064043/detail.html It seems silly to me not to accept the money. Another state would get the stimulus dollars if we don't and the citizens of South Carolina would still have to pay it back in the future either way.

[Spartan]

Interesting. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[krazeeboi]

The State has an editorial out today about how all of the major newspapers of the state are calling on Sanford to accept the funding. It specifically mentions some of the conservative-leaning papers who disagree with the ARRA itself but still argue that Sanford should take the money.

[Spartan]

Anyone with the slightest bit of common sense knows that South Carolinians are going to pay for the money regardless of what state it goes to, so the argument for taking it is valid even by the most conservative. I'm honestly surprised that there isn't more opposition. His political pandering is beyond obnoxious.

FWIW, my bet is that he will have a change of heart at about 4:00 tomorrow afternoon.

[Captain Worley]

I'm really torn over the issue. I see what people mean by "we're paying for it, we might as well take it," but at the same time, I don't think you ought to take things from the gov if you don't absolutely have to as a matter of conscience.

A relative used WIC with her first child, although she didn't really need it. The "you're paying for it" argument was thrown at her a lot. She didn't do it for her second child because she said she never felt right taking it. I can see both sides of that, too.

[gman430]

I know i've been saying Mark Sanford should accept the money, but I find it interesting and yet disturbing how these districts have the money to pay for new schools but don't have the money to keep teachers in them.

[Spartan]

Its my understanding that this is how it works, so if somebody knows otherwise, please correct me. In South Carolina, school districts have taxing authority to pay for schools. New schools are usually financed by bonds. Once the bonds are sold, money is available for school construction and are no longer dependent on income from the state except to repay the bonds.

I think that the difference between the stimulus and WIC is that everyone in SC will benefit from these infrastructure projects. People in general are more accepting of spending public funds when there are tangible results.

[monsoon]

Charlotte's channel 36 broadcast an interview it did with Mark Sanford this week on his position concerning the rejection of a portion of the federal stimulus money. It was on the show Flashpoint which isn't known for asking it's guests difficult questions and this interview was no different. However I did watch the program and a few things came out.

• Sanford's stated position for not taking the money was that he disagrees with the philosophy of governments borrowing money. He believes in self sufficiency and because of that does not want to take federal funding for social programs.

• Sanford said that he tried to use every instrument at his disposal to block the federal stimulus plan, but failed at that.

• He thinks that governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Charlie Christ were wrong for taking the money, but then quickly added that all states were different so he wasn't trying to judge them. (re Ronald Reagan: thou shall not speak bad of another GOPer)

• Sanford said that SC's poor education system can't be fixed by printing money. He made reference to Zimbabwe. It's an interesting standard to compare to. Why not compare to the other 49 states in the USA?

• Sanford said that SC's workers need to be prepared to compete against the likes of workers in China and India. Why not Europe or Japan? Again an interesting standard.

• Finally Sanford does not believe in the public education system in SC. He sends his four children to private school, says there should be "choice" "Choice is ode for public tax support for private schools. In this case, he seems not to have a problem with tax money being spent on education.

In other words, Sanford seems to be perfectly fine with the dual system that exists in SC. i.e one set of economic rules for the elite and another for the rest. He doesn't want the federal money coming in because he doesn't want the federal government interfering with this system. It's a situation that has some sad parallels with that in the DPRK in the way that government's mix of corporatism and juche ideology serve to keep the ruling class in place and the rest of the population happy with it and deeply suspicious of anyone on the outside.

[CorgiMatt]

If governments shouldn't be able to borrow money, then businesses and individuals shouldn't be able to either. Everything should be cash and carry and savings - period. What an idiot, although I will say that too much borrowing and too much debt without enough savings are detrimental. He just goes way overboard with this philosophy and has the true libertarian mentality that government is 99% a bad thing - period.