INDEPENDENT WEB VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS STIMULUS FIGHT
Charleston, SC – March 4, 2013 – Many people remember former Governor Mark Sanford being the first governor to formally reject federal stimulus funds, and fighting against accepting the stimulus all the way to the state Supreme Court.
What’s forgotten though, is that Sanford’s fight against the stimulus began much earlier, back when the proposed stimulus was “only” $150 billion, compared to the nearly $900 billion it ended up being.
Sanford was one of a number of officials invited to Congress to give their thoughts on the proposed stimulus bill, only to shock the committee, led by Congressman Charlie Rangel, when he wound up being the only elected official to speak against it and told them they shouldn’t try to “solve a problem created by debt, by still more debt.”
While decrying the stimulus is all the rage politically now, few remember the lonely position Gov. Sanford was taking during its debate and passage. In January, 2009 he wrote:
Obama’s stimulus package approaches $1 trillion. That would be in addition to the $7 trillion already spent and committed in bailouts and various stimulus packages over the past year. Leaving aside for one second the absurdity of trying to fix a problem caused by debt by stacking still more debt on top of it, if $7 trillion in stimulus hasn’t moved us closer to a solution, how will spending even more help?
Sanford’s conviction held even as he faced hundreds of teachers protesting outside the Statehouse, the legislature in opposition, and almost every major newspaper in the state was editorializing against his position.
But Sanford’s warnings have been borne out, as the stimulus failed to reduce the unemployment rate, and states are now still on the hook for mandated additional spending required by the stimulus from four years ago.
“Washington has proven time and time again that we can’t borrow our way to economic growth,” Sanford said. “What’s worse, is that the borrowing Washington has already done is going to have dire consequences for future generations if we don’t get a handle on it. The stimulus fight is one more example of how we’ve led on the issue of fiscal responsibility, and how I’d be ready to make a difference from Day One in Congress.”