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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pompsander who wrote (10429)	4/3/2009 4:06:47 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 103300

Re: "Is Chris Dodd....toast?" No loss in my book if he is. I've been a strong opponent or both of the "bought-and-paid-for" Conn. Senators (Dodd and Lieberman) ever since they stood firm for corporate accounting cheating in the 'nineties --- largely laying the foundation that enabled and made nearly inevitable the entire Nasdaq bubble and bust that the decade ended with. Those two have probably done more harm to the American economy then any 50 other Senators you could grab at random.... That the two are shills for the financial services industry (one of the largest employers and producers of tax revenue in Conn., I believe) comes as absolutely no surprise to me. But --- the power of incumbency being what it is... it may be a bit early in the election cycle to count our chickens yet....

To: pompsander who wrote (10429)	4/3/2009 4:10:03 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 103300

South Carolina Governor Sanford flip-flops: S.C. Governor Accepts Stimulus Funds, but With Caveats Republican Mark Sanford Has Been One of the Most Outspoken Critics of Obama's Plan By Philip Rucker Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 3, 2009; 2:13 PM washingtonpost.com South Carolina's Republican governor will break his political logjam with the White House over stimulus funds today, his aides said, becoming the last governor in the nation to officially seek billions of dollars in federal economic recovery funds. Gov. Mark Sanford will announce at a 1 p.m. news conference that he will comply with today's critical deadline for governors to claim the money allocated by Congress and President Obama in the $787 billion stimulus bill, Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer said. South Carolina, whose 11 percent unemployment rate is the nation's highest outside of Michigan, is poised to receive about $8 billion in recovery funds. Sanford -- who harbors national political ambitions and has been one of the most outspoken critics of Obama's recovery plan -- said last month that he would not seek certification because he did not believe the nation should go into debt to fund such stimulus efforts. Despite his reversal, Sanford will not draw down $700 million in stabilization funds for education and law enforcement until he reaches a deal with South Carolina's GOP-controlled legislature to help pay off the state government's debt, Sawyer said. "The debate has been over the last 10 percent, the $700 million dollars, and it's our belief that if you won the lottery and you were a prudent individual, you wouldn't spend all the money, you'd put some money aside to paying down the mortgage or paying off credit cards, and our state shouldn't be any different," Sanford said last night in an interview with WLTX, a South Carolina television station. The stimulus "may or may not work," Sanford continued. "But wouldn't it make sense if it doesn't work to take 10 percent of that to pay down debt so that our finances are in stronger order, so that if it doesn't work, and if the storm is still raging 24 months from now, we're in a stronger financial position to spend more, to issue more debt, to do a whole host of things that would help people at the state level?" Sanford's move to meet tonight's deadline comes after weeks of battling with leaders in Washington and Columbia over spending the stimulus money. Twice, the Obama administration rejected Sanford's requests to use the $700 million on debt repayments, saying the money must be spent on public safety and schools. In South Carolina, lawmakers, teachers, union leaders and law enforcement officials have called on Sanford to accept the recovery money. Reggie Lloyd, the state's law enforcement division director and a member of Sanford's Cabinet, publicly rebuked his boss yesterday, warning of "devastating" consequences for state and local law enforcement agencies. "I've thought long and hard about it; it's not personal," Lloyd told the State newspaper. "My professional career has been devoted to . . . public safety, and I'm not going to sacrifice that for anybody. This means more to me than this job does." State schools chief Jim Rex told the Associated Press yesterday, "What kind of message do we send to the rest of nation, not to mention to our own kids, if South Carolina becomes the only state to refuse funds aimed at helping public schools?" Frank Morgan, the schools superintendent in rural Kershaw County, likened Sanford's proposal to spend stimulus money to pay down debt to "trying to pay off your mortgage while your kids are starving."