Sanford walks fine line between principle and pragmatism

If you've watched any news this week, whether its local or national, it's a pretty good bet you've seen South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford front and center in the debate over the new $787 billion federal stimulus bill.

Sanford said Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show" that he took a stand against President Obama's economic plan because it's "a bad idea."

Sanford also expressed skepticism about Obama's plan to reduce home foreclosures. The governor dismissed the idea by saying: "Throw enough money at any problem and you're going to help some folks."

Saturday night, at the Republican Governors Association dinner, Sanford ramped up his comments, responding to his counterpart in Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley, who had call on “fringe” Republican governors opposed to stimulus funds to "step aside," earlier in the day.

According to MSNBC, Sanford told the crowd: "I don't see folks [here], who are really wired to step aside." Sanford went on to praise some of his fellow GOP governors, specifically Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Mississippi's Haley Barbour, Rick Perry of Texas and Sonny Perdue of Georgia, for standing beside Sanford in
saying they oppose the stimulus plan and may not take money for their states.

Sanford says it's a matter of principle, and because he was elected by the people of South Carolina twice as a limited-government conservative, to do anything else would be hypocritical.

Some critics call Sanford's high-profile position as "posturing" for his own run for the White House in 2012. Others see Sanford's stance and media blitz as nothing more than an audition to lead a right-wing Washington "think tank," once his term in Columbia ends 2011.

Both are possibilities to the objective observer, but for the purposes of this conversation. Let's take the governor at his word.

The big worry for Sanford is that by accepting the federal dollars the state will have no choice but to grow several programs designed to help people hit hard by the recession.

Sanford's fear is, once the economy bounces back, dependence on the programs will remain, while the federal dollars sent to Columbia to fund them, will have long dried up.

It's a legitimate concern.

But the other side of the coin is this. Right now South Carolina's unemployment rate stands at 9.5% - the third highest in the nation. When the new numbers are released this week, as many as one in ten South Carolinians could be out of work.

Those numbers don't factor in the number of people who are under-employed - meaning they have jobs, but can't get enough hours from their employers to pay their bills.

Most of the economists who study money matters in our state say we are usually behind the rest of the country when it comes to bouncing back from a recession.

The bottom line - people in South Carolina are hurting, and they need help now. State agencies that provide support in the form of everything from unemployment to family counseling are woefully under-staffed after years of budget cuts. People in the know say they are countless families across the state on the brink of disaster.

With all that in mind, the governor now seems willing to hold his nose and accept at least a large part of the federal dollars needed to fill the gaps and provide some measure of relief for those deeply impacted by the recession.

It's a fine line between principles and being pragmatic that Sanford will have to walk.

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