SC Governor: I Won't Use Stimulus to Stimulate

[Are_grits_groceries]

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford wants to use $700 million in federal stimulus money to pay off state debt, not increase spending on programs or services.

Sanford has long railed against federal bailouts, and on Tuesday sent lawmakers a letter saying he wants to use the money to pay off some of the state's $20 billion in unfunded liabilities. While he doesn't specify in the letter, the governor has used that figure when referencing what is owed the state retirement system.

Sanford did not control most of the $2.8 billion in federal money for South Carolina - and $1 billion is being considered by lawmakers for the state budget being crafted this week.

The governor in his letter warns that using stimulus cash for the state budget is reckless.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/10/south-carolina-governor-i_n_173658.html

I cannot say what I think of this evil man because it would be deleted.
Edit: I feel the urge to fling a pair of shoes.

[Chulanowa]

1. Well, to be fair...

Paying off debts is sort of a way of stimulating. Is there a reason it shouldn't be used to help pay off the state's money sink?

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. Bless your heart!

You don't seem to realize that people need actual jobs to feed their families, and to provide some psychological relief and hope.
You said it when you put it this way, "sort of stimulating." We don't need any sort of. Sanford is doing everything he can to use that money to further his idiotic ideology. Bless his heart.

[quaker bill]

20. Who holds the debt?

My guess would be largely wealthy investors in tax-exempt bonds. We never worry about the wealthy becoming dependent on government largesse, such as this proposal. Folks like Sanford are only worried about the poor becoming dependent, and perhaps less willing to work for hard for less than a living wage. Cheap labor is a southern tradition that runs back to colonial times.

[D-Lee]

23. Well, this proposal is contrary to the federal stimulus legislation

Maybe he could submit a plan for approval, but it sure doesn't look like his request falls into any category of expenditures contained in the federal legislation.

But, hey, let's just issue press releases with wish lists no matter how far outside the scope of a program ...

Maybe this one should have been addressed to the North Pole?

[MrSlayer]

2. Why would it be deleted?

Unless it was a death threat or somehow bigoted, I think you're ok. Let it rip.


May he attract leprosy of the genitals for his pigheaded cretinism and willful depravity.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. And his horse...... nt

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. Here is Sanford's take on Katrina:

In his CPAC convention speech last month, Sanford provided a novel take on the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster that killed 1,836 people along the Gulf Coast.

Where many Americans saw pictures of dire poverty in the wreckage, Sanford said he “saw something more unsettling.”

“What I saw were images of dependency,” Sanford said

http://www.thestate.com/politics/story/710500.html

He doesn't ride around and see that people in the state have no jobs or have lost theirs. He doesn't admit that there is little or no job training. Sanford doesn't see his own sorry record on bring jobs into the state. He has used this state for his laboratory to incubate his political career.

Read the entire article.

Yes, SC elected this idiot. They thought they were getting a run of the mill "good 'ol boy." They never dreamed they had elected a monster who would literally take food out of their mouths.

I want to hear what he says as he travels around the state to explain his reasoning. He will make it seem as if everyone will sacrifice their first born for the money. He will make it sound like the federal government is going to shut down all the branches of government and start reconstruction.

I've got to stop. My blood pressure is waaaaaay too high.

[MrSlayer]

9. What is the public attitude toward him?

What is his in-state approval rating? Are the majority of the people backing him on this? I can't imagine this is playing well among the people regardless of affiliation.

[Are_grits_groceries]

17. Some people lurves it because

of the way he frames the message. They would rather eat dirt than be beholden to the federal government. These are the hard core idiots who scream for Palin like she wrote a chapter of the Bible. Others have agreed somewhat, but now things are getting way out of hand.
I couldn't find an approval rating now, but I would also love to see one and have it broken down by age, race, economic status, etc.

[notesdev]

6. Your heart is in the right place

Your economics, however, are wrong. Paying off debts is what every responsible individual and organization should be doing right now.

Look at California going in the other direction. Which state do you think is better off right now, and has a brighter future? SC in particular is not hurting like much of the rest of the country as it never got the run-up in prices in the boom years. Cost-of-living there is dirt cheap.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. We have almost 10% unemployment.

And it is getting higher by the minute. Our education system is at the bottom. As I pointed out, Sanford has done nothing to try to ameliorate the jobs lost.
I'm glad the cost of living is dirt cheap as you say because a lot of people will be getting close to the dirt growing collards and whatever.
California's hurt has been out there for all to see because it is a huge state, and the budget process is a mess. But don't tell me that SC has a brighter future. Sanford isn't interested in helping the people of the state. He wants to help the budget, and that doesn't translate to helping people because he wants to cut dependency on any government. He would as soon build up a rainy day fund if he could for rainy days that never happen.
My economics is Keynesian. Use the money for jobs.

[Sherman A1]

12. Just a thought here, on one point in your comment

And I completely agree with you.


Don't you find it odd that Sanford wants to cut dependancy on government, but for him to do so he is dependent upon another (the Federal) government to support his plan because he can't get his own budget to do so?

[Are_grits_groceries]

16. Sanford and the state legislature don't get along

to put it mildly. They HATE each other for the most part, and the legislature is controlled by Republicans. There are some that support him, but a lot don't. In the last election, Sanford put out a "secret" hit list of Republicans he wanted defeated and replaced by his candidates. He didn't get any changes, and that made him sooooooooo much more popular.

Sanford's "my way or the highway" didn't go over very well when he first took office. The legislature Bubbas put in God knows what, and Sanford vetoed all of it. Then they overrode his veto. Some of it should have been removed, but because Sanford wouldn't deign to work with the legislature, they now spend all their time poking each other in the eye. It is a merry mess, but we aren't CA so who cares?

Where are the Dems while this is going on. They are using flanking maneuvers and making pacts where needed to try to get something they want through.

Then there is the added amusement of being represented by Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint (Sanford's clone). Sanford can't run again, but a lovely creature named Gresham Barrett who is a Congressman has thrown his hat into the ring. He is worse than Sanford. If the Dems can field a decent candidate, they actually would have a chance. However, the statewide party is run by an ineffective cabal who should all be left at Fort Sumter.

The upshot of all this is that Sanford wants the money from the stimulus to balance the Bible, er my mistake, the budget. He can't do it now because the legislature would rather fling poo than help him.
He would rather fling poo back at them, and whine about where the stimulus should go.

[Sherman A1]

21. I understand the flinging of poo

and "the boys don't play well with others" and I feel very sorry for those that have to live in the state with that charming government.

I was simply looking at the disconnect in the logic, but hey, it's politics so logic often need not apply!



:hi:

[Are_grits_groceries]

22. Why have logic when you can

fling poo?? :hi:

[blindpig]

32. A succinct description of SC politics. n/t

[notesdev]

19. "My economics is Keynesian."

Sadly, so is that of the Fed, and of Congress these days. And that is a good part of the reason why the economy is going down in flames.

Keynesianism doesn't work and never worked. Keynes himself sidestepped the question of the negative long term effects of his theories by infamously remarking "in the long run, we are all dead."

Welcome to the long run.

[radfringe]

7. part of the problem with the "bush tax rebates"

remember those lump-sum checks? the ones that would "jump start" or "stimulate" the economy - didn't work so well because people PAID BILLS with them instead of "going shopping"

I'm not "casting asparagus" on people who paid bills with those checks. However, in the case of a state using Stimulus money to pay bills, it's not going to stimulate their economy.

You may have noticed or will soon notice a bit more money in your take-home pay - that's your personal Stimulus Money. Yeah, it's not a hellava lot, but if given it one lump-sum - you and I would be more apt to pay bills with it than "go shopping". The $10-$20 more a week will more likely be spent and "trickle" into the economy.

[Sherman A1]

13. Well Said!

but, let us "cast asparagus", let us buy asparagus and therefore stimulate the grower and the sales at the grocer!



:hi:

[AllentownJake]

8. South Carolina would be wise to spend that money

I hope the Governor realizes that South Carolina beaches won't be getting the business they are used to this summer.

[Sherman A1]

11. A very valid point

and while some (I know a few, myself) think that folks in such fields as recreation are not necessary jobs, they are very much jobs that provide income for families to put food on their table.

I had a conversation with the manager of the grocery store in which I work last fall, when she was pleased with a report stating that people would be eating at home more and less in restaurants due to the economic downturn. I pointed out that waiters, busboys, cooks and all need to and do buy groceries as well. Oddly, she had no response to my comment.

[sweetpotato]

14. Tourism is SC's largest industry - it will hurt if you stay away

Although I wouldn't blame you.

They like to keep the electorate really ignorant and in SC its working a treat. There is also always an undercurrent of race baiting. Until "Bubba" learns to live with his brother, then nothing will change.

[AllentownJake]

15. Its nothing against South Carolina

Disney World laid off a huge number of employees yesterday. If your unemployed and worried about your job you aren't traveling to Charleston from too far away. All those beach front properties and hotels aren't going to be rented out this year.

Translation Tourism is based on the idea of disposable income.

[Sherman A1]

18. Precisely

I have nothing against SC. If I am able to travel this year, my plans were in a different direction in any event, but folks without jobs simply won't be traveling at all and that will not be good for any tourist area.

[Are_grits_groceries]

31. They are already saying

that rentals are down at Myrtle Beach. I'm sure it will get worse.

[Sherman A1]

33. I am sure you are correcct

this just isn't going to be very pleasant at all.

[blindpig]

24. Sanford's favorite viewing:

[GoCubsGo]

27. Part of a double feature....

...along with "Birth of a Nation".

My state is so fucked...

[Belial]

25. Good for HIM!!!

By the way... the bond holders are NOT wealthy people etc.. people need to get off this class envy bullshit.. Anyone that has a 401k.. other cities.. could be bond owners on the debt. The Govt is a rated borrower.. just like you and I.. We will be bailing out California in the next couple of years because no one will want to lend them money anymore. If they do get money.. it will be like going to a land shark.. What has been said time and time again is that this money is a one shot injection.. so if the state of SC uses this money to pay for jobs.. what happens when this money runs out?? Those people will either be laid off in a year or so... or the states will go back to the Feds and ask for more money.

[GoCubsGo]

28. If people have jobs...

...they will be paying taxes, meaning there will still be more money coming in. And, how do you know that they will be laid off in a year or so?

[Are_grits_groceries]

29. Good for him????????????

I'll bet you have a nice job and aren't worrying your pretty little head about anything. Are you kin to Madame Antoinette??

[blindpig]

30. So, "fuck the people", eh?

Spoken like a true libertarian, no slack for those lazy bums who don't want to work!

Do you have any idea how many people in SC are unemployed or under employed? Even the 'shit' jobs are going away, every day I talk to someone who has just been laid off.

The purpose of government is to serve the needs of the people. The people are in need.

Sanford needs to get on a leaky boat with his bud John Galt and sail off into the horizon.

[DemoTex]

26. Dame Cath Tizzard of NZ said it best, calling a political rival ..

" .. FUCKWAD!"