Gov. Mark Sanford has sent a well-reasoned
letter to the South Carolina legislature, informing them that
he's requested that the Obama administration allow the state to
redirect $700 million of the stimulus money that he has control
over to pay down the state's debt.
"The reason we think it is not in our best interest to spend
these monies lies in the fact that when one is in a hole, the
first order of business is to stop digging," he writes. He
explains that, "As a believer in federalism, I find it appalling
that Washington would seek to effectively remake the entire
budget process of the states. But philosophy aside, in the case
of our state, doing so would lead to potentially disastrous
budgetary consequences in future years."
The whole letter is well worth a read. Whatever you say about
Sanford, he isn't just a Republican shouting empty platitudes
about government waste for short-term political gain. He's
actually a thoughtful conservative making a philosophical, moral
and practical argument against expansive government power and
reckless spending.
