Nail, Meet Head
To be perfectly honest, there’s only one mainstream media editorial board in South Carolina that has consistently advanced common sense reforms over the past decade - and ironically, it happens to be owned by the uber-liberal New York Times.
We know … go figure.
Anyway, today’s editorial masterpiece by Mike Smith in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal isn’t about conservative vs. liberal, or Republican vs. Democrat or even quirky-as-hell Gov. Mark Sanford vs. South Carolina’s asinine General Ass-embly … it’s about truth vs. lies in the state budget, and whether or not our leaders actually give a damn about doing the jobs they were elected to do.
Well, prepare to put on your surprised faces, because according to the Gospel of Mike, they don’t:
Lawmakers passed a sham of a budget this year. They knew they hadn’t included enough money to run the state prison system. They knew they hadn’t included enough money to fuel the state’s school buses. And they knew they had counted on more revenue than the state would take in.
Lawmakers aren’t caught by surprise by the revenue shortfall. Everyone saw it coming.
So why didn’t they write a budget that paid for these necessary expenses and would survive the lower income? Because that would have meant cutting other programs, making tough decisions comparing spending priorities and even cutting some of their pet projects like local festivals and state-sponsored vacations for German lawmakers.
They didn’t want to do that. They didn’t want to give up their favorite spending items, and they didn’t want to aggravate any voters by making hard spending choices in an election year. So they passed a budget they knew didn’t meet the state’s needs or its fiscal realities.
Wow. This guy couldn’t have more infallibly hit the nail on the head if he were a Jewish carpenter.
Seriously, we wrote about the scam job of across-the-board budget cuts last month, but homeboy just hit the ball out of the park. Sort of like Greenville News cartoonist Roger Harvell did, too.
Unfortunately, despite universal acknowledgment among people with more than three brain cells of the senselessness and shadiness of across-the-board-cuts, Smith is also infallibly on point with his prediction that not a damn thing is going to change:
The entire debate about who can call for a special legislative session and when ignores the fact that lawmakers have no intention of revisiting the budget. Even if they returned, they are likely to simply pass the same across-the-board budget cuts they have relied on in the past. That would allow them to continue to avoid their responsibility.
The people of this state deserve better. They deserve to know that their kids’ school buses are going to have fuel, and that the people who work in our prisons are safe. But with the current leadership in place, all they’re likely to get is political posturing.
Of course, because when it comes time for the Bobbycrats and Leatherheads in Columbia to try and raise taxes again, what better to hold over people’s heads than understaffed prisons and school buses? Like they couldn’t have factored those costs in while they were growing government by more than 40% in the three preceding years?
It’s a vicious cycle, people, but at least one editorial board in this state is willing to call it out for what it really is.
Bravo, SHJ. And bravo, Mike Smith.
Let’s just hope those big government types up at the New York Times don’t nail you to a cross for speaking the truth.
Comments
By baker on September 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Mike Smith is a good writer and editorial guy. I don’t always agree with him, but he’s generally thoughtful.
He’s been a reliable proponent for most whatever Mark Sanford’s into…..one MAJOR exception: Mike and the SHJ have sensibly come out against private school choice! And if I’m not mistaken, Mike has been quite critical of groups like SCRG.
Meanwhile, Will, you certainly know that the NYT isn’t paying attention to the editorial page at the SHJ.
By James on September 7th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Mr. Smith is right: as long as we have three brain-cell morons like Jake winning elections in “ultra-conservative” Lexington we’re doomed to failure.
Of course, the moron is simply a reflection of his constituency.
By Gene E. Nowak on September 8th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Spartanburg County has started the process of getting the legislature’s attention by removing most of their incumbents in the primaries and may well continue the process in the general election. Now if the other counties join in maybe there will be a change in the way the legislature does their job.
By Stroker Ace on September 8th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Uhh Gene Nowak, you were all on the Bright campaign right? Thanks for sending a moron that doesn’t pay his taxes or his comp insurance premiums like most people such as myself that own a small business. I’m not sure this is a step we should be headed in either.
By Joe Smith on September 8th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I’m glad someone in the media isn’t scared to submit the truth to the public and say what you really think as opposed to being all Politically Correct about it.
By Alysia on September 9th, 2008 at 1:01 am
I am so glad that we have people like Mike Smith and the SHJ. Without them who would tell the public the truth? This continuous scam on budget cuts has to stop and I believe confronting the lawmakers behind it is the first step.
By Gene E. Nowak on September 9th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Sounds like Stoker Ace lost his place at the public trough. How come only Republicans are always morons and stupid? Why is it only democrats and RHINO’s are the only intelligent politicians?