ISSUE: Gov. Sanford’s stimulus stand

OUR VIEW: Governor being consistent but won’t be able to stop stimulus

On the same day that South Carolina got the disheartening news that unemployment for January topped 10 percent, there was news that Gov. Mark Sanford was further pressing his opposition to federal stimulus dollars flowing into the state.

The governor, who controls $700 million of the stimulus for the South Carolina, asked the Obama administration for a waiver allowing the dollars to be spent reducing the state debt. He stated a preference for turning down the money should his request be denied -- which it will be.

The expected outcry resulted, with Sanford facing the wrath of those who say he is placing politics and principle over South Carolina’s people.

“We waited three weeks after the recovery package was signed into law for Gov. Sanford to unveil, with great fanfare, yet another political chess move towards the 2012 presidential race,” U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn said. “While fiscal responsibility and debt management are critically important, economists around the country and across the spectrum agree that the investments in this recovery package are necessary to save and create jobs, and stimulate the economy.

“Paying down debt when the economy is crashing won’t stop the deepening recession and won’t put people back to work. As a matter of fact, while prudent in times of economic stability, paying down debt in a time of recession has the opposite effect; it deepens and lengthens economic downturns.”

Sanford counters that the federal stimulus dollars amount to passing on debt to future generations. He says South Carolina at present is tops in the Southeast in per-capita debt.

“The state is 57 percent above the Southeastern average and three times higher than neighboring Georgia in its per-capita debt load. The proposed stimulus dollars would annualize — spend one time money on recurring needs — over $1.2 billion in the next two years, which amounts to approximately 10 percent of the state’s budget. This level of new annualized spending would be the largest recorded level of annualizations in state history,” Sanford said.

Whether it is presidential ambitions or Sanford being Sanford, the governor is right in his assessment: “It would be far easier not to deal with this ... But I’ve got a 15-year pattern of doing exactly this kind of thing.”

Indeed, this is a governor who has gone it alone before. And he’ll be doing it again — at least in terms of the stimulus.

Clyburn ensured that state lawmakers have the power to accept the stimulus dollars if the governor fails to do so within 45 days. And with more budget cuts forecast and legislative leaders already factoring $1 billion in stimulus money into the proposed state budget for 2009-10, it appears Sanford is doing little more than making a high-profile point.

We admit to doubts about the stimulus money and how it is being allocated and used — if anyone really knows how it truly will be used. And will it truly reinvigorate the economy?

Let’s hope that one of Sanford’s harshest critics, S.C. Democratic Party leader Carol Fowler, has it right: “The stimulus will help to improve the quality of life in South Carolina. We stand to gain and retain thousands of jobs under the stimulus bill.”

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