After weeks of opposition, Sanford agrees to request federal loan to augment jobless funds.
By on Jan 1st, 2009 at 10:11 am
After weeks of opposition, Sanford agrees to request federal loan to augment jobless funds.
Hours before the state’s unemployment fund would have run dry, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) “agreed to apply for a $146 million federal loan to shore it up, after weeks of refusing to do so.” Sanford has long questioned the accuracy of the state’s unemployment figures which are the third worst in the nation at 8.4 percent. The governor said he changed his position because several state lawmakers had agreed to request an audit of the state unemployment agency which Sanford said possessed an “utter disdain for accountability.” The director of the state unemployment agency said that “the agency was audited every year by an accounting firm and had been given a clean bill of health.”
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More and more of the (R)’s will begrudgingly start doing the right thing as each new day passes. Too bad they didn’t figure out the inevitable by themselves.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:30 amGov. Sanford is the Newly elected Head of the Republican Governors Association, and a fierce defender of Free Market Solutions and opponent of Government Spending.
At least he didn’t fly to Washington in a Private Jet to ask for the Money.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:40 amThe governor said he changed his position because several state lawmakers had agreed to request an audit of the state unemployment agency which Sanford said possessed an “utter disdain for accountability.”
And a majority the SC voters will swallow it.
Dumb, on a stick.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:44 amMr. Sanford, a wealthy real estate investor, is often mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, in part because he is seen as an exemplary adherent of the party’s low-government, antispending philosophy.
Really? The Republican Party has a low-government, anti-spending philosophy? I didn’t know that. Because, you know, when the Republicans ran Congress during the early part of Bush’s terms, they pretty much did the opposite – expanded government intrusion into our lives (and luckily they didn’t get all they wanted, like “Total Information Awareness”) and exploded spending. Which party is it that thinks this guy exemplifies its “low-government, antispending” philosophy?
January 1st, 2009 at 10:44 amMr. Sanford once carried two piglets onto the floor of the House chamber to symbolize his opposition to what he considered wasteful spending. One of the piglets promptly defecated; lawmakers were not amused.
Okay, I guess he does exemplify the Republican Party’s philosophy – Crap all over government.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:50 am(and luckily they didn’t get all they wanted, like “Total Information Awareness”)
they didn’t? … maybe not the title, but all the rest, it seems…
good morning, and good New Year’s day to all…
test driving my new toy – my daughter’s old laptop and a new wireless antenna thingy (so that i can live blog the presidential debates from the tv room! … next time… ha!)
January 1st, 2009 at 10:58 amkaty,
We just put a spare TV in the same room with the computers. Couldn’t afford two new laptops. :)
January 1st, 2009 at 11:06 amSanford’s a typical Republican who refuses to see the sky is falling down even after it starts to do so. Even then, he needs people to tell him that it is. Bush had to be pushed into extending unemployment benefits during 2002-3 when people were laid off in droves after 9/11.
Anyway, on the Blago/Burris front, you have to admit there’s very little in politics more pathetic than a white man pulling the race card.
January 1st, 2009 at 11:09 amSocialist!
January 1st, 2009 at 11:35 amI wonder what Tracy_5 thinks of this. Oh forget it, I don’t really give a shit about how dandy things are in Texas…
January 1st, 2009 at 11:39 amRepublicans have no problem cutting unemployment benefits to make up for budget shortfalls, but how eager are they to eliminate some of the tax breaks given to corporations to move to their state?
Like it or not, Republicans need to understand that running government with a “low-government, anti-spending philosophy” will not help preserve the American way of life. It will, in fact, destroy it.
January 1st, 2009 at 11:41 amdbadass Says:
I wonder what Tracy_5 thinks of this. Oh forget it, I don’t really give a shit about how dandy things are in Texas…
He’s probably like the president’s mother – he doesn’t want to let such things ruin his “beautiful mind”.
January 1st, 2009 at 11:42 amI thought welfare and Government handouts were only for the wealthy elite.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:05 pmIf Sanford was a really good conservative he wouldn’t need a federal “bailout”. He’d just cuts state taxes more, give more tax credits to more corporations, and wait for the market to fix itself. That’s their answer for everything. Cut rich people’s taxes and voila. Of course then they raise the sales taxes so poor people get bashed but who cares any way. I actually heard a conservatron say this morning that the only way he knows to definitely stimulate the economy is to cut taxes. Sure, that’s been working great.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:15 pmAccountability is not for major corporations or our unitary executive, but a State agency helping working people needs to checked and rechecked.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:16 pmExcellent post Shayne, but remember, no sales taxes on Cigarettes! Raise them on basic necessities (hey poor people, if you don’t like the tax, don’t buy it! Signed, Neonuts) but keep big tobacco afloat.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:29 pmCompassionate Conservatives – what an oxymoron is that!
Welfare for all their fat cat friends and donors, but the unemployed get a one finger salute.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:34 pmThe broad picture never changes – support the corporate bottom line with government money, but deny the taxpayer any government benefits. Keep this up until all the money ends up in the hands of the elite and there is nothing left for the average Joe.
The republican response to that: “too bad, so sad.”
As an employer in SC, I applaud Sanford. My business has been ripped off by the SCESC and their wasteful and USELESS tactics. It’s a total scam run by a bunch of permanently employed government bureaucrats. I could right 2 pages of details on how inept and wasteful this INDEPENDANTLY RUN group is. They have no accountability, and refuse to give more, EVEN THOUGH THEIR income comes through FORCED TAXATION.
FIRE THEM ALL. ALL OF THEM. I think Sanford is probably the best governor we’ve had in my lifetime. He has brought wasteful spending down, and is making enemies right and left in the chambers of the power brokers. My hat is off to him!
January 1st, 2009 at 12:49 pmIf enough unemployed South Carolinians were to die from starvation and/or hypothermia, and would then no longer be counted in such calculations, couldn’t South Carolina eventually boast the lowest unemployment rate in the country?
If the Flat-Earth crowd is to be believed, wouldn’t the Right to Work states consistently enjoy the nation’s lowest joblessness rates?
South Carolina seems to rank at or near the bottom of all fifty states in terms of an educated citizenry (source: http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/dc/2008/40graderates.h27.pdf). Thomas Jefferson clearly ascertained that an educated citizenry with access to unbiased information was perhaps the most vital safeguard for our freedom, as exemplified in his quote, “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
South Carolina, like several of its neighbors, consistently elect officials in a manner similar to that of chickens who vote for Colonel Sanders.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:52 pmbigbikerbo,
Maybe you could describe for us some of SCESC’s wasteful and useless tactics…?
January 1st, 2009 at 12:52 pmThanks for your perspective, bikerbo.
I wouldn’t normally find your arguments very compelling, but since you typed so many important words in CAPITALS, I was forced to pay ATTENTION.
Well done.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:54 pmMight you be able to collapse your two pages into a few bulletted items so as to provide a framework for this discussion? Thanks…
January 1st, 2009 at 12:55 pm“He has brought wasteful spending down, and is making enemies right and left in the chambers of the power brokers. My hat is off to him!”
Sort of like the Sarah Palin storyline eh?
January 1st, 2009 at 12:55 pmBut could you WRITE 2 pages and would they be right….I’m sure not left.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:58 pmSanford says, “Thanks, but no thanks”, to helping the unemployed. How about tax breaks (give aways) to corporations?
January 1st, 2009 at 1:04 pmVery telling. For some reason, right-wingers think the best way to govern is to “make enemies”. Clearly an emotionally satisfying result for them. But how exactly does it help the government serve the people?
Oh, that’s right — right-wingers don’t want government to serve the people. They just want it to enrich the business community.
Now it makes sense.
January 1st, 2009 at 1:14 pmralph, I know we have had this discussion before but I continue to be perplexed by how they can simultaniously claim the greatest nation and government system on earth bs while endlessly yapping about the big bad governement which they just told me was the greatest thing since sliced bread wrapped in a flag. What is up with that?
January 1st, 2009 at 1:22 pmralph,
True story. Back in the summer of ‘94, I was working nights and had the chance to watch a lot of C-SPAN during the day. I remember when they ran a piece about then-Republican Minority Leader Bob Michel. Michel was retiring (one election too soon, I guess), and he was sitting in a room talking to a lot of reporters. I remember hearing him say, “We go back to our districts and our constituents tell us that they want government off the backs of business.” I can only infer from this that Republicans only consider the business owners in their districts to be their “constituents”. It’s the only thing that explains their actions when governing.
January 1st, 2009 at 1:27 pmbigbikerbo,
Thanks for stopping by. I am not from SC, nor am I a business owner, but I would like to understand the different perspectives on this issue. Would you be able to, as suggested above, provide a short list of what you feel is wrong with the SCESC. If you could point to some websites from which we could get more info, that would help. You don’t have to do all of our research for us, but you can save us a lot of time if you could point us to where we can find it, too. Thank you very much.
January 1st, 2009 at 1:31 pmbigbikerbo must be gathering his information. I’m so excited to read it! ;)
January 1st, 2009 at 1:43 pmI have some pocket change that says bigbikerbo may opt out of putting up and instead may opt for shutting up. I hope I am wrong but my spidey senses usually are pretty accurate
January 1st, 2009 at 1:47 pmSanford a RepubliCon Stooge, if not a RepubliCon. When you are a member of the Republican Party, you are either a RepubliCon, a crook; or a RepubliCon Stooge, all other ignorant and/or stupid members of the party.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:17 pmbigbikerbo….?
Gee, I’m disappointed. :(
January 1st, 2009 at 2:22 pmWith over 8 per cent unemployment looks like Sanford thinks things are great in South Carolina. Even lying has become common place. Now Sanford and company are doing just fine but this shows how easy it is for Republicans to continue living off the backs of hard working people. Maybe Sanford will seek the voters to work for feed and build the first South Carolina POTTERSVILLE. But the voters wanted Sanford as their Govenor so they get what they wanted.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:38 pmWell, even if bigbikerbo only had enough powder for one good shot, it was nice of him to let us know how things is in his world on this New Year’s Day.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:40 pmI thought the people of South Carolina wanted “the government off their backs”. Isn’t accepting Fed money liberal, socialist, and leads to gay marriage?
Guess they didn’t want to starve.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:43 pmMethinks Bo’s Big Bike runs on methane.
January 1st, 2009 at 4:00 pmbigbikerbo Says:
I could right 2 pages of details on how inept and wasteful this INDEPENDANTLY RUN group is.
And yet you failed to provide one example. That’s a pretty glaring ommission.
.
bigbikerbo Says:
I think Sanford is probably the best governor we’ve had in my lifetime. He has brought wasteful spending down, and is making enemies right and left in the chambers of the power brokers. My hat is off to him!
You get what you vote for, and you deserve what you get, South Carolina. This is what you get for electing Republicans – blanket refusal to conduct critical state business. From what it looks like, he’s brought all spending down, wasteful or not, by merely dismantling the state government that he’s supposed to be in charge of. As if that weren’t enough, he’s polarizing the legislature, further bringing the ability of state government to meet the state’s needs to a grinding halt. Hats off indeed.
Unfortunately, the rest of us are going to have to pay to keep your f’d up state from going completely off a cliff. SC is already one of the leading drains on the federal budget, and this guy’s just making it worse by essentially refusing to do the job he campaigned for.
You might consider actually working to fix your state’s problems instead of hopping up and down screaming about imaginary waste and villanous bureaucrats. Or is that too liberal of an alternative for you/
January 1st, 2009 at 5:13 pmSounds like typical Sanford.
January 1st, 2009 at 6:46 pmHow much do you want to bet that Gov. Sanford (R-SC) signed an anti-tax pledge with Grover Norquist, along with probably all other Republican state governors? And that Grover Norquist is now wringing his hands and gnashing his teeth over what Gov. Sanford (R-SC) just did, even though pumping $146 million into South Carolina’s unemployment fund will not only help the over 79,000 people unemployed in South Carolina, but also probably several hundred thousand children of the unemployed…as well as all the small businesses frequented by the unemployed spending their unemployment funds, as well as all the children of the owners of small businesses in South Carolina.
In other words, unemployment has an adverse ripple effect…from the bottom up.
There’s still $350 Billion left in the first Reaganomics bail-out package. While there should be an Economic Stimulus Package (the larger the better) that creates jobs for the unemployed, some of the remaining $350 Billion from this bail-out package should go to states to shore up their unemployment funds during the time it takes to create these jobs.
The last thing we need is to see even more unemployed, because this will drag our economy down even further, as more and more small businesses watch their revenue shrink, causing talk of laying off workers to arise, which will only make matters worse as the unemployment rolls keep growing.
A stop has to be put to this vicious cycle now…and only government spending will work…which must have finally sunk into the pea-brain of Gov. Sanford (R-SC).
January 1st, 2009 at 10:07 pmbigbikerbo, you mentioned that you’re an employer. I’d like to apply for a job at your company, say janitor. Except I personally believe that cleaning is unnecessary, and leaving the floors dirty is better for them in the long run. And I’m going to sell my mop and other tools and put the money back into the company instead of supporting wasteful spending on something that doesn’t need to be done. Since you’re a Republican, this is perfectly in line with your own voting philosophy, and you have to give me the job.
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:08 am