http://counterpunch.com/clark02202009.htmlThe recession/depression is less than a year old, but it’s already driving South Carolina’s governing elite over the abyss. Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham rant theatrically on the Senate floor about the dangers of the Obama administration’s stimulus package. Graham goes so far as to say that passage will destroy the country. Soon he’ll be walking around the rotunda carrying a “The End is Near” sign.
Governor Mark Sanford says he doesn’t want anything to do with Washington’s tainted money. He would prefer more tried-and-untrue deregulation and tax cuts. Never mind the state’s poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and third world infant mortality rate. Sanford hates government, and is content to let the state remain in freefall while waiting for so-called free market wonders to kick in.
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Just across the state line, Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, weighs his fall from grace and considers his limited options. Despite an infusion of 45 billion tax dollars last year, BOA is essentially bankrupt. But Lewis tells the Charlotte Observer that it is “absurd” to think that his bank might be nationalized. A day or two later he’s in Washington with the heads of other large banks, all holding their tin cups out and promising to do right. Lewis, unlike our politicians, will take the money gladly. But the banks will likely be nationalized anyway. No one should have to tell him that ownership and control follow like hand in glove.
BOA and SC have one thing in common: they are both insolvent and require a public bailout to stay afloat. A look beneath the surface reveals that things have not changed that much. BOA has benefited from corporate welfare for decades, mostly in the form of tax breaks. SC has been surviving on another form of welfare: the state gets $1. 35 back for every $1 it sends to the federal government. The day of economic reckoning has arrived. Despite his rhetoric, Governor Sanford will swallow hard and take the stimulus money. He’s preparing his (2012) presidential resume and will sacrifice principle for ambition.
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Mr. President, nationalize my state, please. South Carolina failed Reconstruction 101, but that was more than 100 years ago. Give us another shot at it, and maybe we’ll get it right this time. Send the governor packing, disband the dysfunctional legislature, and restructure state government. That may be the only way to save us from ourselves.
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its like those Wife Swap reality shows. the husbands fight change tooth and nail, usually in an ugly way, and have to be pushed and embarassed to make changes. and when they finally do they make it sound like their idea all along.
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