Riley issues new attack on Sanford
Mayor says governor's stance on stimulus funds is 'bogus'
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said Thursday that 80 South Carolina mayors have now signed a letter calling upon Gov. Mark Sanford and the General Assembly to accept all of the federal stimulus money to which the state is entitled.
Mayor Joe Riley
Riley described as "bogus" the governor's position that a significant amount of federal funding should be refused unless he can use it to pay down state debt, and said "this is not a time for theoretical or philosophical wanderings of the mind."
Sanford press secretary Joel Sawyer suggested that Riley's press conference Thursday and another last Friday were made-for-the-media events, and has said that "real folks in South Carolina" overwhelmingly support the governor's position.
Sanford has twice sought permission to use $700 million of the stimulus money to pay state debt, rather than to fund services, and said he might refuse the money if the White House turns him down.
The money represents the portion of the roughly $8 billion in stimulus money heading for South Carolina, including tax breaks, over which the governor has said he has control.
Previous story
Mayors urge Sanford to reconsider plan to reject stimulus cash, published 03/14/09
The money would be redistributed to other states if not accepted by South Carolina.
Riley said he and other mayors know that the funding is badly needed to keep teachers and other public servants from losing their jobs due to state budget cuts, and said the governor should "put an end to this foolishness."
"The people of South Carolina believe he is wrong," Riley said.
The General Assembly has made plans to step in and accept the money if Sanford rejects it, and have planned the state's proposed $6.6 billion budget around accepting $1 billion in recovery funds, including money the governor wants to either use to pay debt or reject.
Sawyer said the governor, who opposed the federal stimulus package as being fiscally irresponsible, wants to use some of the money to pay debt because that would reduce state expenses for years to come.
The letter from the mayors, originally signed by 52 of them, was first sent to the governor March 13. Riley said there's been no response.
Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
All praise "King Joe"...BHO's boy!
March 20, 2009 at 7 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
How dare anyone reach in his pocket for his money. Just like the education money, there's never enough money. I can't believe so many people are so stupid; they have to be drunken gamblers, though. They have to counting on the crash, fall, or whatever happening after they are dead and gone. You never know.
March 20, 2009 at 7:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Get_seriousHELP (anonymous) says...
What a clown.
March 20, 2009 at 7:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jadedncynical (anonymous) says...
I'm guessing Mayor Joe's never seen a government handout or "program" that he didn't like. It's funny how many of us (including Riley) are -- when someone is standing on principles that are at odds with what we want, we seem bent on getting them to move off of those principles, never considering for one second that maybe we're the one in the wrong. Riley and the other mayors can caterwaul all they want about "needing" the money; Gov. Sanford doesn't answer to them, and they certainly don't speak for me.
March 20, 2009 at 7:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
feb251939 (anonymous) says...
If the 'Little King' doesn't get the free money, you can bet he will go on a rampage with his infamous 'penny tax' increases and blame it all on Gov. Sanford.
March 20, 2009 at 7:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rgsno (anonymous) says...
Joe shut up and quit. You've ruled way to long, longer than I've been alive. We should put limits on how long mayors can serve. This isn't good for Charleston, so get out! Also Trim those damn eye brows.
March 20, 2009 at 7:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jimjones (anonymous) says...
The fossil is in full court press now. I love watching him beg! He is just mad because he can't impose his will on Sanford like he can the rest of the local elected fools. I agree trim the brows old man!
March 20, 2009 at 8:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cappy (anonymous) says...
Nothing is free. Let Joe have the money. When it runs out then let him continue the programs created by BIG BROTHER's money with his own money.
March 20, 2009 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
karmann (anonymous) says...
Just another politician drooling after money.
March 20, 2009 at 8:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
proud2bme (anonymous) says...
Joe and the other idiots that want to use the tax payer's money, need to give up their own money for a state stimulas. Hell, why use their own when they got a shot at using ours!!
March 20, 2009 at 8:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ginj (anonymous) says...
There's no such thing as a government handout! Not only does it always come with strings attached, IT'S OUR MONEY.
The sooner our mayors stop begging for those handouts, the sooner the states will stop asking and maybe, just maybe, we'll get to keep OUR MONEY! I know, but I can always hope can't I?
March 20, 2009 at 8:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CHRISJIII (anonymous) says...
Who are these "real folks" that the governor's spokesman always alludes to? Are they the GOP deadheads who want to see our state fail?
March 20, 2009 at 9:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
singleroni (anonymous) says...
WHEN YOU GONNA FIX DOWNTOWN FLOODING?
March 20, 2009 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
southerngrace (anonymous) says...
What is he thinking ... free money ..if it sounds to good to be true ..it probably is ...duh ...
March 20, 2009 at 9:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
Wow king Joe runs the state? Hmmmm learn something new everyday...
March 20, 2009 at 9:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Larz13 (anonymous) says...
Get Real Mayor Riley,
Nowhere in your requests were to help alleviate flooding downtown. Only to build museums that no one will visit.
Want to raise some tax money--sell off the projects on Beufain Street at market rate. Then the city will get tax revenue for years to come instead of being a drain on city resources.
March 20, 2009 at 10:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
singleroni (anonymous) says...
riley has got old and senile. he lives in a dream world. and rules like he is the king and everyone must do as he says
March 20, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
Actually the Mayor did request money for drainage improvements. It will be several months before those applications are processed and those projects have to compete with others across the nation. The drainage improvement requests were widely reported in the press.
I've had plenty of disagreements with the Mayor, but he's a serious public servant who gets reelected because he's the best candidate running. The Republicans will beat him when the run someone better. Republicans control the Town of Mt. Pleasant. Plenty of people are angry at the Town too.
If anyone wants to work for the support of Obama's plan for healthcare, Education and Energy, we'll be out this weekend collecting signature pledges. Hopefully after we're done, it will no longer be possible for Sanford to claim all the "real" South Carolinians support him. The names will be on the internet, sorted by state and congressional district.
I've set out all the details in my blog on the Organizing for America website. That is where all the left wing community organizers operate. Here's the link:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/commun...
March 20, 2009 at 11:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Riley continues to demonstrate why he is so out of touch with the majority of working class people in the city and the region. He also shows his complete lack of knowledge and common sense with the powers of the fed and the state. Does he not realize that if the state takes this "stimulus" money, it is with serious strings attached?! Taking the money castrates the power of the state, and it makes the state beholden to whatever the federal government wants.
Sanford is right to reject the money or use it pay down the state's debt. It is unhealthy to be in debt, whether its a household, company, or government entity. Of course, Obama and his minions in Congress wouldn't know a damn thing about that.
March 20, 2009 at 12:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sig (anonymous) says...
Didn't he spend at least 750K a few years ago so the golfers would have an underground tunnel. I think most folks told the King then it was wrong, but he has been in office so long he just does as he wants. Does anyone think that even if he did receive the money it would be used 100% of what it is intended to do?
Of course the fools in Charleston that keep re-electing him would say yes!
March 20, 2009 at 12:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jadedncynical (anonymous) says...
wjhamilton3...be sure that Mickey Mouse uses his real address (either the CA one or the FL one) so that we can prove he isn't a voter in SC. Oh, and make sure that Goofy puts his last name down on the form, too. That way he can be registered to vote all legal and proper-like.
OFA = Only For Awhile
March 20, 2009 at 1:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
GO JOE GO!
March 20, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
Once you buy them off, you have to keep them bought off.
March 20, 2009 at 1:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
If people voted improperly in the last election, why isn't the Republican State Attorney General prosecuting them? Why aren't Republican volunteers going through the rolls checking alleged double voters against the national database, which they have a perfect right to do? Then they can pass these discoveries along to the AG for prosecution. They've had months to work through the paperwork and records. Everything's on file.
We have one guy who sent three ballots in in a single envelope, all signed with his own name because they sent him three ballots. They only counted one and he got in trouble though it appears to have been an honest mistake. He sent in three applications because he never got a ballot and he assumed they hadn't gotten the previous applications. Then all three came at once. He assumed he had to send three copies. He couldn't get anyone on the phone since it was busy all the time. This was done by a Republican controlled voter registration office which was naturally understaffed and under equipped for the election.
What besides besides this one guy, do the Republicans have?
You lost the election in Charleston County because people don't like your candidates. The Republican challengers for Mayor have been pathetic.
March 20, 2009 at 1:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cwmcpa (anonymous) says...
No the republicans for Charleston County moved to the State House. Mr Tim Scott should run for mayor and Charleston would have a Republican mayor. Nepostism runs deep in the democratic party, I am sure Mr Summey will provide his son an office in the new Summey Palace. TERM LIMITS say it loud say it often until people realize that regardless of party term limits is the only thing that will fix our political system.
March 20, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
wjh, does it sound like the guy had enough sense to make a rational decision. I guess it doesn't matter. You never know who will be doing the selecting.
March 20, 2009 at 2:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JF (anonymous) says...
Bogus???!!
That would describe the Mayor's leadership style.
I am not a Republican but it obvious the network and special favors the mayor has developed over the years insures his re-election and enables him to run his city life a feifdom, much to the detriment of those who advocate a common sense/basic services style of governing.
I think the Mayor really has no platform to tell others how to do there job. He would be better off trying to insure his own city is up to snuff. For years have terrible flooding and we heard how Charleston had the best Fire Dept in the country and look what believing him brought.
March 20, 2009 at 3:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
GermanyXO (anonymous) says...
Cool your jets, Mayor Riley! Clearly, our governor is playing party politics as he refuses millions of federal dollars that should make its way into every tax-paying citizen of South Carolina. Deep down inside place he doesn't share with us in his speeches, I imagine our governor knows the money belongs to us. Clearly, our governor may have had his head in the sand, failing to notice how just as poker players on Wall Street have received billions, IT'S NOW OUR TURN AS TAXPAYERS TO BE GRANTED OUR FAIR SHARE OF THE POT.
March 20, 2009 at 3:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Takebackurcountry (anonymous) says...
GermanyXO - It is your type of vision that is the problem. We are not talking about "money" or "federal dollars". It is all debt based on nothing. We ARE getting our fair share of the pot. It is in the form of trillions of dollars of debt! If it was possible, we would do well to refuse all of the stimulus money. Yes, people are hurting now. We need to work within our state to help create jobs, but this "aid" will create an even bigger crisis in 2 years. We are basing a new budget on a federal Visa card. The pay back in a couple of years will crush this country. Democrats are banking on the changes in tax codes to kick in to make our payments at that point. Believe the cap and trade policy is just good environmental practice? It doesn't do anything for the environment, but will increase your energy bills like nothing you have ever seen. This is their plan to pay off this debt in the future. Joe Riley only wants this money because it is the state and federal governments problem to deal with. Not his.
March 20, 2009 at 6:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JF (anonymous) says...
This is kind of like a battle royale of the two most powerful residents of Sullivans Island.
March 20, 2009 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
GermanyXO (anonymous) says...
Takebackurcountry - No, both of our intended points are missing something, so let's leave it up to the rest of the bloggers to fill in the gaps shall we?
Exactly what point(s) were you attempting to make with your laundry list of viewpoints? What you lack is the big picture and how we've been on deficit spending for at least the past few decades since Former President Nixon took us off the gold standard. Ultimately, both political parties share the blame for making the deficit worse and making it better.
Mayor Joe Riley can't admit to voters how he's contributed to the problem--he hasn't even attempted to show us graphical illustrations how his spending habits for Charleston made our state's indebtedness more ambiguous.
If you were to consider how many millions of dollars in deficit funding he's begged from the state capitol in the past to keep Charleston's serial unemployment population stagnant, it becomes clear how very much so Mayor Riley has helped contribute to the very problem Governor Sanford is attempting to alleviate: DEBT.
Alas, perhaps Mayor Riley's master plan is to once again absolve himself from the responsibility of paying off debt his city helped create during his tenures and passing it on to future generations to eliminate.
March 20, 2009 at 8:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
franksnbeans (anonymous) says...
WHAT A MONEY WHORE! Why do we keep voting this Democrap fool into office!
March 20, 2009 at 9:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pavlovsdog (anonymous) says...
I'm sorry, but last I recall, elected officials work for We The People!
We The People of South Carolina, Governor Sanford, would appreciated if you would stop cock fighting with the White House and accept the money.
I do not understand how you are willing to accept the money to pay down the states debt but not to help educate and employ the people YOU WORK FOR!!! This is not the village of Sanfordville of which you are the self proclaimed dictator. South Carolina is still a state in the Union and you work for US! The pork is still in this bill whether or not you are willing to accept the funds for state debt or as dictated by the U.S. Congress.
March 20, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
northeastguy (anonymous) says...
Real folks don't support Sanford from what I see and hear. He makes no sense at all, so I think his only support is from those that only got a grade school education. Funny, that's about all Mark wants to fund for this generation of kids. Mark is just self promoting himself, so he can keep his appearances of Fox news.
March 20, 2009 at 10:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rollo (anonymous) says...
WJHamilton, progressive planner, central organizer. Just like Stalin. (or 'Uncle Joe' as he was affectionately known by American progressives).
March 20, 2009 at 10:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hooveryankee (anonymous) says...
Does anyone have a list of who signed the letter?
March 21, 2009 at 1 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
last_democrat_in_sc (anonymous) says...
Mayor Riley needs to go back to doing what he's done since he was elected Mayor back in the middle 80's NOTHING. You've not pushed for better lighting of the streets downtown, you've not pressed or the repair and filling of all the potholes downtown and you've not done a thing about the flooding. Now when there's finally a President that's going to toss money out the windows you're going to grab your share of the loot, is that it? You have a big mouth Joe Riley and you're full of hot air trying to take credit for something now that you had almost 30 years to fix. You're a do nothing Mayor. And I agree with many of your constituents...cut those eyebrows. It's unsanitary and it's a joke to the community.
March 21, 2009 at 6:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justjerry (anonymous) says...
"Posted by GetSerious on March 20, 2009 at 10:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
everyone on this board hates Joe Riley, yet he's been reelected as mayor 198 times. LMAO, must be a southern thing"
I think that most of the folks who keep putting Riley in office are not capable of reading this board.
Good job Sanford! We need to bring some reality back to government spending.
March 21, 2009 at 8:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Enough (anonymous) says...
Joe:
Once again you are exactly correct.
Sanford is playing politics when he should be leading. Same old story with him. I am glad it is his last term. I don't think this state can take any more of his ramblings and ill-conceived shortsighted policies. How much further must this state fall behind before he gets it?
March 21, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rbmontgomery (anonymous) says...
As far as Mayor Joe Riley goes; the people of Charleston have had chances to get him out of office by electing a different mayor but Riley ends up winning every time.
As far as the issue with the stimulus money goes; If Governor Sanford were allowed to use money to pay off state debt would that help to stimulate the economy or just improve the bottom line for the South Carolina budget.
March 21, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rrosssie (anonymous) says...
Thank you Mayor Riley! Someone needs to tell it like it is our Governor is a complete fool, reminds me of someone who was in the White House about 2 months ago. No Common sense.
March 21, 2009 at 11:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
a_set_love (anonymous) says...
Posted by wjhamilton3 on March 20, 2009 at 1:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
....You lost the election in Charleston County because people don't like your candidates. The Republican challengers for Mayor have been pathetic....
#####################################################################
I hope that the people realize that riley is simply the mayor of one small community in South Carolina. He hasn't the authority to run anything but the city of charleston.
He does not run any other city or town in the Tri-County's metropolitan area. He can only do things if the other local liberal leaders go along with him.
Perhaps its time to start replacing the other leaders in the region with strong, fiscally responsible, conservative leadership.
The city of charleston mayor, riley, is applying for the position of Grand Commissar, for the OBAMAnation.
March 21, 2009 at 11:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
geekboy (anonymous) says...
I guess it could be worse, ya'll probably would have elected Kwadjo to be mayor if he'd stuck around long enough.
March 21, 2009 at 12:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Tides (anonymous) says...
Hey Joe! Go away, ok? Just go the hell away!
March 21, 2009 at 8:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Enough (anonymous) says...
In case some of you who are in support of Sanford's position haven't been paying attention and I suspect you have not been, It's about jobs. South Carolina has one of the nations highest unemployment rates. Fewer jobs mean less tax revenue. Less tax revenue means the deficit climbs and the state goes further into debt. If this happens, the state and counties have to lay of more employees, like teachers, police, firemen and those construction workers repairing those bridges and roads you and your children drive on. Which means of course more state revenue lost, and on and on. It's known as a downward spiral. To stop the spiral you must invest now to maintain the jobs and get the economy back under control. Remember that the deficit doubled under George Bush so you cannot tell me that your Republican leaders give two hoots about controlling the debt. They only seek to maintain or in this (Sanford's) case regain their hold on power. Power for powers sake. Not for yours. Sorry folks but your being duped again.
March 21, 2009 at 10:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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