South Carolina Governor Relents on Jobless Funds

[MikeNearMcChord]

Jesus!!! Are Southern Republicans born A-holes or do they have to work at it?

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Just hours before the unemployment benefits fund was to run out in South Carolina, the state with the nation’s third-highest jobless rate, Gov. Mark Sanford relented Wednesday and agreed to apply for a $146 million federal loan to shore it up, after weeks of refusing to do so.

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina announcing Wednesday that he had applied for the $146 million federal loan that would ensure continued unemployment benefits in the state.

The governor’s position had drawn rebukes even from fellow Republicans in the Legislature, one of whom denounced Mr. Sanford as “heartless,” and from newspaper editorial pages. On Wednesday, The State, the daily newspaper here in Columbia, accused the governor of playing “chicken with the lives of the 77,000” who are unemployed in South Carolina.

For weeks, Mr. Sanford, newly elected as head of the Republican Governors Association and known for being a fierce free-market foe of government spending, stuck to his stand, questioning the probity of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission and demanding a new audit of the agency
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/us/01sanford.html?_r=1&hp

[ellie]

1. And yet, the

asshole will probably be re-elected in a landslide.

[onager]

2. I just spent the holidays in SC.

Nobody had a good word for Sanford. Several people called him the worst governor they could remember, or the worst governor in history, etc.

OTOH, I was amazed at all the people I know as life-long racists who voted for Obama. Went to a big Xmas dinner one night at the home of a neighbor. Lifelong, diehard right-wing Republican and no fan of black folks. When he said "grace" before the dinner, he asked Divine Guidance for "our new President, who has such a hard job to do."

I almost collapsed, and not just because I'm an atheist. :evilgrin:

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. If he hates government so much, why the fuck is he in it?

He should give back his paycheck instead of receiving government welfare.

[Peregrine Took]

4. He must like sucking up the $$$, the power and the perks.

Its just "bad" when it comes to the rest of us.

I never heard of this bird before and now all of a sudden he's all over the place. Maybe he's trying to make an early bid for 2012?

[McCamy Taylor]

5. He must own stock in soup kicthens.

[Versailles]

6. Phew...

As someone who is currently drawing unemployment in SC just so I can keep my house this is a good thing.

On a side note, living here absolutely sucks. I am a college graduate working on a second master's degree and yet I can't find a job. Inevitably I get told I'm over qualified for the entry level stuff and the service jobs and when I try to apply for something more fitting of my education level, I don't have the experience.