GOP Hypocrisy Watch — Mark Sanford
A month or so back, Gov. Mark Sanford (SC) was working on burnishing his party bones by sounding off on bailouts and fiscal stimulus:
South Carolina’s Gov. Sanford is resisting the urge to propose or accept raising taxes. Faced with a shortfall, Gov. Sanford reconvened the state Legislature in October, and it made $488 million in targeted budget cuts.
Gov. Sanford, unlike most of his colleagues, speaks out against any federal bailouts, including a fiscal stimulus bill that is likely to include state aid. “When times go south you cut spending,” Gov. Sanford said. “That’s what families do, that’s what businesses do, and I don’t think the government should be exempt from that process.”
But in the midst of the largest financial crisis in decades, Gov. Sanford said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Republican governors who do raise taxes get a pass with voters. “There’s enough confusion and, frankly, fear out there with regard to what’s happening to the economy…that they’re really not going to watch some fee or some relatively incidental tax” that rises, he said.
Notwithstanding the Governor’s demonstration that he hasn’t a clue of the difference between micro and macro economics, he also wrote an op-ed for the WSJ Don’t Bail Out My State. But in the face of South Carolina’s unemployment funds running out, he’s been forced to ask for federal funds to cover unemployment benefits in a state with the nation’s third largest unemployment rate. The Governor has contrived a story designed to cast doubt on the agency that disburses the funds — even though the agency undergoes routine audits and the BLS says that the agency calculates its unemployment stats the way everyone else does.
There’s going to be alot of this in the future — as ideology (failed in the most part already) runs into the real world’s economic state.
Tags: Republican Bamboozlement
Conservatism is a failed philosophy. All together now — CONSERVATISM IS A FAILED PHILOSOPHY. Rinse and repeat.
I find Sanford an interesting case (and a heartless moron). As the GOP contracts, they’re getting down to their base of true believers while pushing out the pragmatists. The model for years has been for the GOP to rail against “big government” while taking plenty of money from the government. Poorer states, like SC, take in more fed money than they give in taxes (red state welfare). Sanford was trying to be a true believer – he said he didn’t believe in taking gov’t money so he wasn’t going to. I guess there were enough Republican pragmatists to force him to take it – they want to be re-elected.
Rebecca, I’m lobbying for your comment to be our new slogan.
The federal governement rightly extended unemployment benefits. The fact is that caused his problem with the fund and the federal government should pay. How is that hypocrisy by anyone except by the liberals who want the credit but pass the bill. Our own state is running low on unemployment funds as well.
It is not something to play blame games with. Just fund it properly.
can’t they do a recall on the governor if he goes back on his word and raised taxes? seems sot me they did that in some state a few years back
and look how well that state is doing now
Sanford certainly isn’t making the case that the feds should pay anything — that is the point of his don’t bail out my state op-ed. His case is that the feds should cut back spending, but oops! Now he does indeed need a part of a bailout. That is the hypocrisy.
This guy is something of a wingnut’s wingnut — even his own Republican legislature has had to override dozens of vetos and they also blame him for not being responsive to the business climate too.
Thanks Nemski! We gotta keep harping on this. They managed to make Liberal a dirty word and now it’s our turn. Thing is they lied, we’re telling the truth.