South Carolina Political Fight Over Stimulus Gets Legal

The family and I have been enjoying our time at the beach here in South Carolina, but all we can hear about on the nightly news (while we are waiting on the weather report) is the various lawsuits filed for and against the Governor. Mark Sanford, a while back, claimed that he was going to reject the stimulus dollars. In particular he wants to reject $700 million, $350 million of which is for schools (he would like to take it to pay debt, but that doesn't seem to be part of the bargain from the feds). Other governors (Texas, Louisiana and Alabama) made similar stands, but largely backed down in the end. Not Sanford. He is sticking by it and has even filed a lawsuit against the South Carolina State Legislature to stop their efforts to force him to accept the money. Now, we get lawsuits from education advocates also. In particular the one from the South Carolina Association of School Administrators has been catching headlines, but there is also one from students and one for higher education. Pretty much everyone in the state seems for taking the money, except Sanford. I'll let you speculate as to why. The deadline to accept or reject is July 1. Photocredit: Jim Frazier

I was at Fort Sumpter yesterday and heard how South Carolina led another revolt against federal government policies ... which ultimately started the Civil War. I have spent most of this week at Charleston and learned that it is the 4th largest sea port for containers in the U.S. and that it has always been one of the Atlantic's most important harbor cities. But, if anything, Charleston strikes me as small. For a city nearly as old as Boston with a much warmer climate and nicer bay, it is amazing how few people live here. There are always a million reasons why some cities develop and some do not, but it would be naive to assume there is no connection between South Carolina's historical and contemporary conservative ideology and the lack of development in the state generally, and specifically in Charleston. Political actions have consequences, both in the short term and in the long run.

I am truely baffled how rejecting the stimulus dollars for schools can be seen as the right move.