White House rejects Sanford's plan to use stimulus for debt

[Thrill]

WASHINGTON — White House Budget Director Peter Orszag on Monday rejected South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's request to use up to $700 million of his state's economic stimulus funds to pay down state government debt.

Orszag, responding to a letter Sanford sent to President Barack Obama last week, said the $787 billion stimulus bill Obama signed into law last month doesn't allow governors to use money intended for other purposes to instead make debt payments.

"During this severe economic downturn, Congress and the president wanted to provide states and localities with emergency funding in order to prevent the layoffs of teachers, police officers and other vital public servants," Orszag wrote to Sanford.

After citing two specific clauses of the stimulus law, Orszag said:

"Congress has not authorized the executive branch to waive any of the above statutory requirements governing the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. Accordingly, states' spending . . . must satisfy the statutory requirements."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/64070.html

This governor has to be one arrogant heartless piece of shit

[msongs]

1. why have repubs run SC into debt? the voters oughta get rid of those ner do wells nt

[atreides1]

4. Who do you think put them into office?

If Republican voters are the majority, then everyone suffers.

[elizm]

7. We're working on it. ;) nt

[MzShellG]

8. That's for sure.

We've been trying and we wont give up.

[bluestateguy]

2. Cool

Give the money to Florida.

South Carolina needs to start sending better people to Columbia and to Washington, DC.

[babylonsister]

3. Sanford knew this was coming imo. He just wanted to grab some

headlines, but I'm shocked this would suffice for him. Puts Sanford in a very bad light.

[Thrill]

5. He's an idiot. If he thinks that kind of headline helps him

[Cha]

6. Rec'd~ So more will see the utter disingenuousness of

the South Carolina Governor, who knew this wasn't possible but wanted to make sure everyone knew his state was in debt.:silly:

That is the reason for his acting like a dumbshit, n'est-ce pas?