Nelsen: Economic Recovery Requires New Leadership
By Brent Nelsen
The political establishment in Columbia has failed the people of South Carolina. Recent events are only the latest indictment of a political establishment that has refused to address the state’s most significant problems.
Jobs are disappearing, state revenues are collapsing, and teachers are being laid off. Meanwhile, the politicians in Columbia have failed to lead: the Governor and the leadership of the General Assembly have only traded angry press statements, preached at each other through opinion pages, tossed veto and override grenades across the State House and marched each other to court.
Attorney General Henry McMaster called the government “dysfunctional.” He was being nice.
This spring’s State House drama, however, revealed a longer-term breakdown in leadership. What we see now, under the strain of economic distress, is a naked political establishment that can no longer hide its incompetence and inaction. The people of South Carolina deserve better.
The economic problems facing this state are not a new byproduct of the global recession. Unemployment rates rose above the national average in 2001 and have remained there, largely due to the decline of the textile industry. Economic growth and the productivity of the state’s workforce have lagged far behind our neighbors. And—most troubling—according to a recent Kauffman Foundation study, the state is losing ground nationally in areas essential to maintaining a globally competitive economy.
The politicians in Columbia have never come together to adopt a strategy for addressing the chronic economic “crisis” in the state. Although South Carolina is far from hopeless, the political posturing delays action and costs our state more every day. We can stir economic recovery by exploiting existing advantages and drawing on plans put forward by prominent organizations such as the Palmetto Institute and South Carolina’s Council on Competitiveness.
Economic recovery is only possible if state government works with, not against the market—and if the whole state makes a commitment to educate every South Carolinian for a 21st century job.
Free markets distribute resources better than governments. But investments will bypass zones of uncertainty or incompetence. South Carolina falls short on both counts.
We need a comprehensive tax system that is perceived as stable, adequate and most of all fair.
We need a wholesale restructuring of state institutions that will bring good government to South Carolina. Executive authority must be centered in the governor’s mansion; legislative authority must reside in the General Assembly. Such a division of power leads to more open, accountable government.
Our public schools and universities need the most help, but they can improve.
We must give parents more choices for educating their children. We must encourage innovation in public schools and charter schools.
We must free teachers and administrators from unnecessary paperwork and the pressure of unjust evaluation methods. We must give merit pay to the successful while cutting loose the incompetent.
We must call our communities—our parents and grandparents, churches, civic groups and businesses—to get involved in the schools, befriend children from unstable homes, provide after school care, and safe transportation.
Finally, in a knowledge-based economy our technical schools, colleges and universities are keys to economic success. They must be supported as investments in the future of our state.
I am running for governor because this state needs new leadership and a new direction. We are ready for something better; South Carolina deserves success once again.
Dr. Nelsen chairs the Furman University Political Science Department and is a Republican candidate for governor.
WEB EXTRA
Comments
By CNSYD on June 22nd, 2009 at 10:48 am
If we are truly dissatified with the form of government and division of power in SC then change can only really be effected by Constitutional change. Unless that occurs then a situation like the present can recurr. However there is a way to work within the present system. As we should have learned as a youth, a soft word turns away wrath. Railing against the present form, ala Sanford, does nothing but cause the opposition to dig in their heels. It might get the Governor press but it does little to help the citizens.
By Jethro on June 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 am
Specificity is lacking.
We already know our unemployment rate is high, we have poor schools, and the governor and the general assembly do not get along.
What precisely would you or could you do as Governor?
Define what a “fair” tax system would look like if you could make it happen.
What “unnecessary paperwork” would you recommend eliminating from a teacher’s job?
By Matt on June 22nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Dr. Nelsen is a political scientist by trade as well as the former on-air political analyst for WYFF-4 (NBC) in Greenville. I would love to have the chance to ask to chart out his course for victory in the Republican primary. Of course now that he is a candidate speaking “on the record” he probably would not get into it in the detail that political junkies like myself would like.
Anyone who works in politics knows that not every candidate who runs for office has the expectation of winning. Many candidates run to come in second-place. I wonder what Dr. Nelsen’s motivations are. Of course, he could see a six-way primary with no true front-runner splitting up the vote so much that he has a chance. Plus, he is the only non-politician in the six-way race, and he knows that a lot of the primary electorate is going to be the “throw the bums out” crowd–the ones who responded to WORD radio’s “We’ve Had Enough” campaign in the June 2008 GOP primary which told people to vote against all the incumbants. And a lot of these people live in the Upstate–and Nelsen is the only Upstate candidate besides “Bailout” Barrett. With that said Nelsen is a smart guy, not really a populist (esp. being an “academic”) and when you read what he writes and listen to what he says, it’s kind of a “smarter” type of politics. So can this college professor talking about the “new economy” also make a play for the anti-government “tea party” crowd as an alternative to Haley and Grooms? We will see…
By Charleston Conservative on June 22nd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Brent Nelsen is the conservative choice our state party needs–not one of the “Big Three” stooges (Bauer, McMaster, and Barrett) whose self-promoting ilk got us where we are now.
The Furman prof has my vote…and more Lowcountry fiscal conservatives are sure to follow.
By baker on June 22nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
This is pretty good stuff here:
“We must give parents more choices for educating their children. We must encourage innovation in public schools and charter schools.
We must free teachers and administrators from unnecessary paperwork and the pressure of unjust evaluation methods. We must give merit pay to the successful while cutting loose the incompetent.
We must call our communities—our parents and grandparents, churches, civic groups and businesses—to get involved in the schools, befriend children from unstable homes, provide after school care, and safe transportation.”
Given that Dr. Nelson isn’t advocating private school tuition tax credits in this piece, I’m sort of surprised that Will Folks hasn’t labeled him a RINO. Really, the positions Nelson advocates here are quite reasonable — and consistent with a lot of pro-public education, progressive thinking in South Carolina.
We’ll see how the professor’s rhetoric and campaign develops. But, for now, it’s nice to see a “reform” Republican not trot out the old tired (and misleading) Policy Council claims about education spending….and not push the tired (and misleading) claims about how much money tuition tax credits will save the taxpayers and public schools and how this will solve the vast and complext problems of educating our poorest and most struggling students. Nelson is promoting true community involvement and philanthropy, along with innovation within the public system.
Bravo, Dr. Nelson!
By Alex Hampton on June 22nd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
I do not get the feeling that Nelsen is railing against any one person or set of policies but instead he feels like the political institutions in the state have failed. I think that Nelsen is for reforming our obsolete constitution to let a governor govern and a legislature legislate rather than the current legislature hegemony. As far as specificity is concerned, Nelsen is more thorough and innovative with regard to his ideas than any other candidate in the race and he only had a small amount of space to describe his platform in this op-ed. If you look on his website posted below his article you will find many good ideas listed in the issues sections. I do not believe that Nelsen wants to use the controversial Fair tax as Jethro implied but rather implement a reasonable system that attracts businesses and jobs to this state. I think Nelsen’s best idea is to make education a community issue where adults become engaged in at risk children’s lives and give them the helping hand that they never got from their own parents. I heard him speak the other day about his church and his wives involvement in the BookBuddies program and it seems as if his wife and others like her play a big role in the lives of our state’s children by acting as role models to those whose parents are not good role models.
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