Obama Citizenship

Gov. Sanford First to Reject ?Porkulus Maximus? Funds

By Phil

From the NewsObserver.com:

WASHINGTON ? South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is expected Wednesday to become the first governor to formally reject some of the federal stimulus money earmarked by Congress for his state.

The move will cement Sanford’s growing reputation as a political powerhouse among Republican party stalwarts nationwide ? though how much of the estimated $8 billion in stimulus funds destined for South Carolina will be affected is unclear. The law allows state legislative leaders to accept funds the governor rejects [and something I think is clearly unconstitutional].

“Our objections to the so-called stimulus bill have been well-chronicled for the way it spends money that we don’t have and for the way this printing of money could ultimately devalue the American dollar,” Sanford said on Tuesday, even as he acknowledged that he’ll accept some.

“Those of us opposed to this package lost the debate on these merits, and I now think it is important we look for creative ways to apply and use these monies in accordance with the long-term interests of our state,” he said.

Still, Sanford’s formal rejection will enhance his standing as a Republican willing to challenge President Barack Obama, a position Sanford first took Dec. 1, when he traveled to Philadelphia to challenge the then president-elect directly at a meeting with the nation’s governors.

Since then, a handful of other governors ? all Republicans, all talked about as possible 2012 presidential candidates ? have joined Sanford in saying they’d reject at least some of their states’ stimulus shares. …

All the attention, plus Sanford’s increased travel to address Republicans in Washington, Texas and beyond, have sparked talk that he’s eyeing a 2012 presidential campaign. …

Sanford urged 1,000 activists, gathered in late February at the Ronald Reagan Banquet in a Washington hotel, to be prepared to lose, and to feel happy about it.

“Would you be willing to support a cause or a candidate that is likely to lose?” Sanford asked conventioneers at the Conservative Political Action Committee’s annual gathering.

As the diners leapt to their feet and applauded, Sanford declared:

“The name of the game is staying true to the principles that got you into politics in the first place _ and letting the chips fall where they may.” …

Sanford, 48, was elected to Congress in 1994 in a midterm election that gave Republicans control of the House for the first time in half a century.

While most of his colleagues abandoned their term-limit pledges, dropped plans to jettison the Department of Education and became less averse to federal spending, Sanford slept on a cot in his office, opposed most appropriations bills _ and left after six years.

In 2002, Sanford became the first South Carolina governor to rise to the state’s highest office without first serving in the state’s legislature.

I’ll remind my readers that the Supreme Court has already set precedent — such as in New York v. US – in that while the federal government has the power to appropriate funds for the States, it does not have the power to “commandeer” (to use Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s word) the States into accepting money, as if the States were merely administrative arms of the federal government.

-Phil

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on March 11, 2009 (boomark / email).