News-Record.com

I wish more states would follow the lead of SC's Governor - and others who are refusing.

The strings attached to these "funds" will become shackles on our state.

I might agree if refusing funds would get us (and future North Carolinians) off the hook for the debt incurred. Since that won't happen, how can you not take the money designated for legitimate infrastructure projects and other useful purposes?

I'm no economist, but it seems to me that in the long term, it will cost North Carolina much more to accept the terms and conditions that come with the "stimulus". Short term, it's a wonderful idea as long as we're prepared to pay the piper later.

I don't think any individual state should depend on the Federal Government; we should be able to sustain ourselves.

In all of this INCREDIBLE spending - I've heard NOTHING about cutting back unnecessary spending or eliminating waste. I've also heard nothing about reforming the insurance industry in this country - which is WAYYYYY out of control, and such a massive expenditure for every household....and the trickle down from that would bring major changes to the health care industry.

Of course, all of this is just my opinion - and we know what they say about opinions...

And I completely agree with your opinion, MyTwoCents. You are absolutely right that there needs to be more emphasis on cutting government spending and reducing the burden on taxpayers.

And I applaud Gov. Sanford for his stance. Unfortunately, the people of South Carolina are still going to get taxed to pay for this stimulus plan, so if the money doesn't go there, it'll just go somewhere else. Fiscal responsibility isn't an option, so you might as well make sure you get your share of the pork.

South Carolina Gov.Mark Sanford says he doesn't want it.)*Doug

Not really Doug! Sanford said he would take it and than pay off the debt of the South Carolina Government. However! He is blowing political smoke, since the Governor Office has no control or legal controling authority [ Al Gore copout] of the federal stimulus funds.

Despite one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, North Carolina is near the bottom in federal stimulus funds per capita, the Charlotte Observer reports.* Doug

Naw! South Carolina is with over a 13.7% unemployment rate as of today. Any first year bookeeper knows that the federal government lies like hell in keeping employment figures low really, also knows that the unployment rate is really double.

Not good, especially considering the dire straits our state government is in.* Doug

Your Governor is plundering any state funds that exist and should be arrest for robbing Peter to pay Paul. She is making Bernie Madoff look like a rookie when it comes to stealing taxpayer funds.

When's Gov. Perdue going to drive her truck down to South Carolina to grab some of their share? * Doug

You know dang well that Gov Perdue has a state Limo and aircraft to raid the South Carolina treasury should she decide to declare war on South Carolina

Doug:

The story only seems to cover the transportation portion of the package. On that basis, NC does very poorly. However, transportation funding is only 6 percent of the total spending in the package.

Overall, the state is near the middle. When you take total projected spending for all parts of the package and divide those by state population figures, NC ranks 27th in per capita spending. Its figure is $1,841, while the national average is $1,845. This hardly seems like short-changing.

It sounds instead like shoddy fact-checking by the News Observer.

Thanks for the additional research, Dave.

Transportation funding still strikes me as important, as it includes critical infrastructure and promises to create real jobs.

Doug:

You're right that the transportation figures are important; they're just not the whole story, even if we focus on jobs. If you take the White House estimates ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Recovery_Act_state-by-state_jobs_2-131.pdf ) of the job impacts and adjust for population, NC comes out 32, still far from the bottom and hardly short-changed.

The story picked ONE dimension on which NC does poorly and ignored others where it does well.

Well, you know that if our state leaders have any say in the matter, all the transportation money will be spent Down East, as it always is. The Triad and the Charlotte region will be left holding the bag (and footing the bill), as usual.

Doug:

Every year it seems that North Carolina has a budget shortfall. We seem to lurch from one financial crisis to another. The problem is that the legislature spends too much.

Here's what happens: when revenues are up, the state creates a bunch of new programs that must be funded for perpetuity. So, when the economy slows and revenues are down, the legislature complains and raises taxes. Then, when the economy picks up, and revenues increase, Raleigh doesn't cut taxes, it creates more programs or increases funding for those already existing. Then the economy slows down again and . . . .

Our problem is the way we do things, not the economy, generally speaking.

Given our history, I am highly sceptical of anything that comes out of Raleigh.

Best regards,

Paul