ALTHOUGH WE have been deeply disappointed by the tremendous potential squandered in Mark Sanford’s term as governor, we believe there is legitimate room for debate about how well he did the job. But that debate needs to be about what he actually did, and not the romanticized version of it that is proliferating as Mr. Sanford prepares to leave office.
Words matter.
If Barack Obama wins re-election in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010.
Former President Jose Maria Figueres of Costa Rica has a saying I like: “There is no Planet B” — so we’d better make Plan A work to preserve a stable environment. I feel the same way about America these days. There is no America B, so we’d better make this one work a lot better than we’ve been doing, and not only for our sake. When Britain went into decline as the globe’s stabilizing power, America was right there, ready to pick up the role. Even with all our imperfections and mistakes, the world has been a better place for it. If America goes weak, though, and cannot project power the way it has, your kids won’t just grow up in a different America. They will grow up in a different world. You will not like who picks up the pieces. Just glance at a few recent headlines.
Dear Mr. Cratchit:
While a national energy bill sits in Congress going nowhere, there are issues in energy that both sides seem to agree on, and one of those is the need for more nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy is already important for the Carolinas, not only for the plants that serve our region, but also for the manufacturers and suppliers that are local employers.
IT SHOULDN’T BE a big surprise that Richland County voters defeated a proposed penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase.
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The General Assembly has declared today “Bill of Rights Day,” commemorating the 1791 ratification of the document that “recognizes, affirms and protects fundamental human and civil rights for which persons of all races have struggled for thousands of years.” The Constitution written at the 1787 Philadelphia convention did not include a Bill of Rights, as it was largely confined to creation of the three government branches. When a delegate moved to include a Bill of Rights, not a single state voted in favor.
WHILE IT SHOULD be crystal clear to anyone who would read the secession delegates’ official explanation for their actions with an honest eye that slavery was the only reason South Carolina parted ways with the United States in 1860, it’s also quite clear that our state’s way forward isn’t by spending an inordinate amount of time, money or resources looking backward, especially if the intent is to celebrate.
THE DEPARTMENT of Employment and Workforce could turn out to be one of those rare examples of our state making lemonade out of lemons, rather than its usual opposite. Just seven months after lawmakers dismantled the old Employment Security Commission, the director of the new agency says that he’s well on his way to repaying nearly $900 million in federal loans.
IT SOUNDS good to say no sacred cows. But the truth is that while lawmakers facing down a $700 million budget shortfall might have to make some cuts or change how programs are organized or managed, there are some things that the state can’t stop doing.
• “This is a man that is known as Mr. Fix-it. And we are sending Mr. Fix-it to the Department of Corrections.”
