Latest Sanford request detached from reality

[Are_grits_groceries]

THE WHITE HOUSE must be wondering what part of “no” Gov. Mark Sanford doesn’t understand. We’re beginning to wonder what planet he lives on.

We understand Mr. Sanford’s opposition to the fiscal stimulus package; although we believe the package was necessary, we too disliked many of the specific spending initiatives.

We understand — and often respect — his push for fiscal responsibility; heaven knows our Legislature too frequently engages in irresponsible, unsustainable spending practices.

We agree that it’s better to avoid excessive debt.

But Mr. Sanford’s latest attempt to avoid using federal stimulus funds to actually put South Carolinians to work and help pull our state out of recession is so unhinged from reality that it’s difficult to believe even that it’s a politically calculated effort to position himself as a 2012 challenger to President Barack Obama.

His do-over attempt is nonsensical enough: Within hours after the White House quite reasonably rejected his request to divert $700 million in stimulus funds to repaying “debts” — some of which haven’t even been incurred yet — the governor sent the president a repackaged request, attempting to explain how not using the money to stimulate the economy would stimulate the economy. He even asserted that his non-stimulative proposal was in the “spirit of the stimulus legislation.” Seriously.

But that flight of fancy looks downright respectable and realistic compared to one of his specific requests: He asked permission to use $125 million for “paying down debt related to the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund that currently exceeds $200 million and would directly impact those currently out of work in this struggling economy” (emphasis added).

To understand why this is so absurd, some explanation is in order: The debt is owed to the federal government, which has no expectation of being reimbursed until after the recession ends; it isn’t even charging interest on the loan yet. The only way paying back this loan early would “directly impact those currently out of work in this struggling economy” is by making it less likely that they’ll be able to find a job, because money that the Congress meant for us to spend creating and preserving jobs has been diverted from its purpose.
http://www.thestate.com/opinion/story/718919.html

There's more in the column. The man is unhinged by ideology. This is from a major paper in the state capitol. Sanford is now getting attention.