S.C. governor wants to use part of stimulus cash, that he bitched about, to pay debts

[kingcap72]

(CNN) – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford plans to ask President Obama for permission to use part of his state’s stimulus money to pay down its debt, not on new spending, according to a letter he sent state legislators Tuesday.
Read: Sanford's letter
A longtime opponent of the president’s nearly $800 billion stimulus package, the Republican governor told his state’s lawmakers that spending approximately $700 million in money coming from the federal government would only make the state’s financial situation worse in the long term.
“[W]hen one is in a hole, the first order of business is to stop digging,” Sanford wrote in the letter obtained by CNN Tuesday.
Instead of spending the $700 million, Sanford plans to ask Obama for a waiver that would allow the state to use the funds to pay down “our very sizable state debt and contingent liabilities,” Stanford wrote Tuesday.
“In the unfortunate case that the President would deny our request, I will not seek the funds, as I believe doing so would not help our current economic problems and would do real harm to our future financial picture.”
Related: Stimulus raises state sovereignty issues
Before passage of the stimulus bill, Sanford told CNN’s John King that the president’s plan to jumpstart the struggling economy would only prolong the pain of bringing the nation’s finances into order.
“We’re going to go through a process of deleveraging,” Sanford said on CNN’s State of the Union in early February. “And it will be painful. The question is: Do we apply a bunch of different band aids that lengthen and prolong this pain or do we take the band aid off? I believe very strongly: let’s get this thing over with, let’s not drag it on.”
Sanford’s plan to seek a waiver from the White House only applies to the $700 million in stimulus funds which Stanford has the discretion to control under the terms of the stimulus bill. The remaining 75 per cent — or roughly $2.1 billion – due to South Carolina will be spent as directed by federal law, Stanford said in his letter.
S.C. gov wants to use some stimulus funds to pay down debt

Sanford bitches about the stimulus, and now wants to dictate/threaten if he doesn't get his way. Republicans get crazier by the day.

[visitor42]

Stupid Republican is becoming redundant.

[Grimmlok]

Obama better refuse his stupid ass

[MontanaMama]

SO what happens if he refuses? SC defaults on their debt obligations and doesn't put anything in infrastructure or education or healthcare. Well done Repub Gov - you are a beacon of conservative thought.

[Grimmlok]

he's a prime example of it.

[kingcap72]

SO what happens if he refuses? SC defaults on their debt obligations and doesn't put anything in infrastructure or education or healthcare. Well done Repub Gov - you are a beacon of conservative thought.

The sad part is, if that happens a lot of the people in S.C. will probably think of him as a hero for standing up to Obama, as the state crumbles around them.

[wonderina]

I'm in SC and most ppl I know can't stand him....this state is hopelessly bible belt conservative. Thank God this is his last term as Gov......he's posturing for the 2012 Repub. nomination. He desperately wants to be the repub candidate. Initially he said he didn't want the money and the citizens of SC should just tighten our belts. Easy for him to say......he owns a plantation in Charleston and has plenty of $$$. Unemployment here is sky high and our state gov't is crumbling fast

[kingcap72]

I'm in SC and most ppl I know can't stand him....this state is hopelessly bible belt conservative. Thank God this is his last term as Gov......he's posturing for the 2012 Repub. nomination. He desperately wants to be the repub candidate. Initially he said he didn't want the money and the citizens of SC should just tighten our belts. Easy for him to say......he owns a plantation in Charleston and has plenty of $$$. Unemployment here is sky high and our state gov't is crumbling fast

Let's hope S.C. survives his last term. At the rate Sanford is going, there won't be much left of the state.