WILL FEDERAL FUNDING “FIX IT?”
This website has repeatedly called out the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) for its lack of project prioritization – subsidizing unnecessary boondoggles instead of long-overdue repairs to crumbling roads and bridges.
They didn’t listen … and now a massive “Floodmaggedon” is making the Palmetto State’s citizens pay dearly for their lack of foresight.
We’ve also called out SCDOT for its terrible cash management, which forced S.C. governor Nikki Haley to beg the administration of Barack Obama for a $52 million cash advance back for the agency in 2011 – just so it could pay past due bills to contractors.
So … why do we bring up this cash mismanagement today?
Well, at the time of the federal bailout Haley gave an interview to Robert Kittle of WSPA TV 7 (CBS – Spartanburg, S.C.) in which she said that despite the cash crunch – South Carolina would be able to handle its share of the clean-up costs in the aftermath of a major storm.
“When it comes to storms, you’re getting that money straight down from FEMA and the state becomes kind of a sub-component of that federal part,” Haley said at the time.
Haley reiterated that point during her first post-“Floodmaggedon” press conference this week – saying that federal funds would help pay for rebuilding the roads and bridges washed out by the storm.
Is she right?
Yes and no.
Only about half of the state’s roads and bridges are federally designated. In other words, those are the roads and bridges that will be eligible for some percentage of matching funds.
The other roads and bridges? That’s a whole ‘lotta our problem.
Compounding this issue are pre-existing federal funding formulas – which limit the availability of matching dollars based on the type of expense. For example, the federal government’s 80 percent reimbursement is generally restricted to new projects – not routine maintenance.
As a result state leaders – eager to chase federal dollars – appropriate money based on where they will get the biggest match, not where the biggest needs exist.
That means roads and bridges in dire need of maintenance – many of which aren’t eligible for federal funding in the first place – get shafted.
Ready for even more depressing news? According to a 2011 Heritage Foundation study (released around the time Haley was making her “we can handle the clean-up cost” claim), South Carolina has been getting shafted by the federal government for decades.
According to the study, from 1956-2009 Palmetto State taxpayers received 83.5 cents for every dollar they contributed in tax money to the Federal Transportation Trust Fund.
116 comments
SC’s Republican government, like Republicans all over this nation have ignored our infrastructure problems. Preferring tax cuts for the wealthy, boondoggles for big business, and war over giving us needed infrastructure repair and modernization that most of the first world takes for granted. If it were not for the Federal Government, SC would have a third world infrastructure.
Uhhh, don’t look now, but in about a week, we’ll probably have that third world infrastructure.
That flooding in South Carolina isn’t happening. It’s just a hoax perpetrated by the government and media to take away SC’s sovereignty. Right, CorruptionInColumbia?
I’m watching the flooding on the internet, from thousands of miles away.
That flood isn’t real. Those images are easily photoshopped by the government
to trick other Americans into sending more federal dollars to SC. It’s obvious, they do it all the time with mass ahootings. Keep believing that water is really there, sheeple.
oh it is a real, i live a mile from the gills creek flooding and talked to a couple whose neighbor and friend was swept away and killed, what they told me yesterday was reported in the news today
Whatever, paid government shill!
This fake flooding is just another psy-op made up by the government to take our guns…..oops, I mean sovereignty. They do it all the time. I know. I have the internet and random videos on YouTube.
Hi Stump knocker. I seem to have picked up a little troll along the way who is (poorly) trying to impersonate me. I must have hurt his widdle feewings or something.
Don’t be silly, CorruptionInColumbia never existed, he’s a hoax propped up by the gun takers in the federal government! You just need to listen to more Alex Jones.
You are full of shit.The money goes to the perpetual welfare train called Democrat voters in urban areas-for VOTES!
And to hypocritical old bigots, like flip/GT.
Fucking moochers.
Shut up taxpayers! Give me more of your money! LMAO!!!!!!!!!
Gonna buy steak and lobster with my EBT card so me and GrandTango can eat like kings while we post here every day.
You are correct, but late. Thanks to Queen Nikki, and our self-serving Legislature, we already have third world Iinfrastructure. The 1% is who the Queen works for.
“Federal Transportation Trust Fund”…is that anything like the Social Security Lock Box?
I got this SC. I’m here to cover you guys again.
But only after the Feds take their cut.
Who cares, SC? You are a welfare state.
I will come, once again, and bail your dependent asses out.
Stay dry, losers.
Yep, that sounds like something Barak Obama would say.
Nah, that’s Trump talk, dipshit.
You got Barak pegged.
Why bite the hand that feeds, clothes and shelters you?
Oh yeah, because you guys are barely educated.
Yep, I’m sure Barak Obama want’s you using his name as a troll handle but then I’m the dipshit.
Facts are facts, dipshit.
It doesn’t matter what handle is being used.
And trolls are trolls and they’re fun to fuck with, dipshit.
Welfare benefits programs have seen the most expansion in Vermont, Hawaii and Washington, D.C., in the time period between 1995 and 2013, according to a just-released report from the CATO institute.
Awwww, isn’t that cute.
It thinks it’s fucking with something.
SC has a special class of moron.
I ate jelly beans smarter than me, but I’ll never be dumber than the idiots that voted for me. Thanks for being the lowest rung on the ladder, idcydm!
The only reason our numbers make us look like a welfare state, are because those who voted for you dont work or pay taxes, which is why … oh never mind …..
You’re right to “never mind”. If you pay into Medicare and SS, you pay taxes
If you work for the government you’ve never made a dime you didnt get from someone like me … first.
That is a red herring of course. SC, like most of the South, is a net taker state. In total federal money, we receive about 125% of what SC residents pay in federal taxes.
Break down that 125%.
I don’t have the exact breakdown, that would be difficult to come up with, but a large percentage of it is on health care spending. SC Residents are poor. So the Federal government provides 70 cents of every dollar spent on Medicaid; where as rich states like, Conn, only gets a 40 cent of every dollar. We also have a very high percentage of seniors, so we get a lot of Social Security money, a lot of Medicare money, and a lot of Medicaid money on nursing homes.
Then there are food stamps, education funding, and housing through HUD.
We have a large military prescience, so we get everything from military bases to VA Benefits, to VA Hospitals and nursing homes, etc. .
Finally, we are a coastal state. So over time we get a lot more disaster relief than places like Oklahoma or Arizona.
FICA taxes, there’s that Lock Box again. That Military presence, let’s get rid of that I’ll bet that’s a large portion of that 125%. Like I said “speaking of red herrings”.
No offense but you don’t know what you are talking about. There is no Social Security Lock Box. Democrats tried to create one, but Republicans voted it down and made fun of Al Gore for saying we needed one. We did of course, but that is ancient history now.
That said, when you are measuring whether a state receives more in federal money than its residents pay in federal taxes, you
don’t take anything out. The state financially benefits from all money flowing into the state and expended in the state. SC is a taker state. Everyone knows that.
Really, there’s no Social Security Lock Box.
Maybe we better give that Military presence to another state So we aren’t know as a “taker state”.
I don’t know what you are saying. This is not a contest. It does not matter what you think we ought to do. The is just basic math question. Simple addition and subtraction. Does the state receive more money from the federal government than its citizens pay in federal taxes. For SC the answer is yes. For most of the southern state, SC, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc., the answer is yes. For other states the answer is no. That means the citizens of the states that do, take from the citizens of the states that don’t. I am not saying its bad, I am just saying you can’t complain about being a net payer into the highway trust fund, when over all we are taking more than we give.
Tom, I didn’t call SC a taker state, you did.
BTW the highway trust fund is an oxymoron just like the lock box.
Derp.
You’re just a regular old moron.
No need for oxy’s.
Perhaps you just don’t like the term “taker state.” I used that term, the same way Republicans use that term to describe (possibly denigrate) people who they say take more from the government than they pay in taxes. (Of course they exclude from that many real takers, like wealthy defense contractors.)
How many times have we been forced to listen to Republicans talk about the takers, when most of the states they run are taker states. So I am ok with using that term as well. Maybe it sounds bad. But it is mathematically accurate.
Democrats and liberals are takers.Look at the perpetual train the Democrat Party has enslaved blacks to ride since the late 60’s.
So called ‘Red’ state statistics in southern states are skewed as they have LARGE black populations and THEY are the takers.Almost 100% are Democrat voters.
Why didn’t you change it 1981 to 1992, 2001 to 2008? Impotent?
Just a fact moron.Southern states have LARGE black populations and they are the reason for massive amounts of federal aid and welfare dollars to “red” states.
Hey, we are definitely takers and liberal as hell, but we pretend to be Republicans!
The problem is politicians and liberal welfare nannies, how many middle class taxpayer’s are takers, …
Without us there is no wellfare or government, period, so dont blame it on SC, blame it on those who take, be more specific when pointing the finger.
Liberal blacks who vote for Democrats are the reason states in the south receive huge amounts of federal aid and welfare dollars.
That’s not true. We leverage our horrible education system and backwards economy to ensure we have many people who live below the poverty line, ensuring we get a lions share of Federal handouts. It’s been part of my administrations master plan since 2012.
30% + of the state is black and why federal handouts are so large in SC.
We all know 99% of blacks vote Democrat.
Well, duh, it’s poverty related.That’s why they re so large in SC. And here’s the memo (again): there are more white poor people than black
How many middle class taxpayers are takers? I guess that depends on your definition of taker. If by taker you mean someone who receives more from Government than they pay in taxes, there are a lot of them. If fact there are a lot of rich as hell takers.
I’m a middle class taker. I’m not a taxpayer though, I just take enough taxpayer funds to make myself middle class. Thanks losers! LMAO!!!
RankStateAfrican-American Alone
Population (2010)[1]% African-American1Mississippi1,074,20037.30%2Louisiana1,506,53432.4%3Georgia3,150,43531.4%4Maryland1,798,59330.1%5South Carolina1,290,68428.48%6Alabama1,251,31126.38%
But Big T you are on welfare and Medicaid. That makes you a taker. So are you a liberal black man?
You can’t prove ‘Big T’ is on welfare or Medicaid.You are nothing but a lying POS.A child molester,maybe?
Referring to yourself in the third person again I see. That is better than talking to yourself, as you usually do. But, yes, we all know you are on welfare and Medicaid.
Show us the proof or you will be considered a lying fraud.Proof please.
Big T, why do you try to hide from WHAT YOU ARE? A lazy, low life taker.
I hate other people on welfare because I want all the taxpayer money for myself.
I post here 24/7/365 just like my buddy Flip, isn’t it obvious that we have to take welfare? Nobody in their right mind would pay us to troll here all day, so we use the government.
oops…my chart didn’t take…
Blacks% of population in Louisiana,Alabama,Mississippi,Alabama,South Carolina,North Carolina and Georgia is 25%. Almost 100% vote “Blue”.
Aw, if only someone would make those damn black people go away right? You’re a fucking racist.
Just clearing up WHY the so called ‘red’ states get so much in federal aid and welfare benefits.Large black populations.
Hitler blamed the Jews, but close enough.
Does the state receive more money from the federal government than its citizens pay in federal taxes. For SC the answer is yes. For most of the southern state, SC, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.,
____________________________
Because those states have LARGE black populations and they are the reason for the huge return on federal dollars and welfare money.Call em ‘Red’ however it are the ‘Blue’ voting blacks that skew the statistics.
that is simply not so tom, south carolina republican pay %10,000 more in taxes than we get back, hell south carolina republicans are paying for half the takers in the whole world.
This exposes what many people have been saying all along. Don’t raise taxes and spend a fortune on new roads and infrastructure until you repair and improve the existing ones!
That is where you get the most bang for your buck. So stop talking about new stuff and fix the old!
this situation rest solely on the voters of sc, we have been voting to keep this boondoggle on going and i am sure we will continue to do so
New roads actually makes our shitty situation even worse, forcing dollars that are allocated for road maintenance to be spread even more thinly.
You’ll never see a moratorium on new roads though, the graft fills too many pockets of pols and the politically connected.
South Carolina has always had a broken, corrupt government. South Carolina has the credit cards maxed barely able to make the monthly minimum balance payments. With this wide spread ‘1000 year flood, South Carolina is now just another third world shit hole.
Thank goodness Boehner will be around another 3 weeks to get SC that money. Else, we’d be up the creek without a new bridge.
ya think our teabillys we sent to washington are going to keep big gubment out of south carolina’s recovery from the flooding?
Non-SC Tea Billys will try.
kinda like ours did with hurricane sandy?
10++++++!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Been posting that same thing for the last 2 days!!!!!!!
“Karma’s a bitch ain’t it???
Say what you want but those “Damn Yankees” won’t be natural born SOB’s like the ones the Tea Party sent to Washington…
I couldn’t blame them for reminding them of their inaction for Hurricane Sandy right before they voted in favor for aid though…..
You are a disgrace.One day you are attacking those that serve in the military while LYING about your military service and now rejoicing in the deaths of people from the floods.
He huwt my feewings!!!! :((((((((((
As I (and others) have posted, Karma’s a bitch and you will get yours soon enough no matter what/whose handle you use
I wouldn’t sleep too soundly if I were you……………
Fuck you queer boy.Go fuck your boyfriend ya disgraceful fraud.
Payback is a bee-aaacchhh.
they will loudly spew vile vitriol against the gubment and quietly cash their fema checks
It sure is.Haley sided with the race hustlers like you,Jesse and Al to take the confederate flag down and she didn’t close the abortion clinics.
God’s wrath.1000 year flood.
Boy, I bet that flag would haev been useful right now.
The federal government runs over 70 different means-tested anti-poverty programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and low-income persons. These means-tested programs—including food stamps, public housing, low-income energy assistance, and Medicaid—pay the bills and meet the physical needs of tens of millions of low-income families. However, these programs do not help the recipients move from a position of dependence on the government to being able to provide for themselves.
Now we add NON- citizens onto the welfare rolls like your mother in-law.We can’t afford to help REAL Americans when a tragedy occurs because of the millions of freeloaders.
Change the law buddy.
did’nt God say he was done with the flood wrath thingy after noah?
flip doesn’t actually read his Bible.
do you think he knows king james was a homosexual and he did the deed with his first cousin?
My guess is that YOU are an angry homosexual and I only wish you the best,cocksucker.
thanks for the best wishes but for me cocksucking is womens work
Not in the mood bitch.Stopping in SC in a couple of days to help one of my son’s deal with his situation due to the flooding before I head to Florida.
You are really a sad example for a human being.
Hope all is well.
Of course not, that would be against my religion. I have a Koran instead! LMAO!!!!!!
i saw your sex tape man, you sure made that stallion one happy horse was that tango bunked over next to you?
Glad no one caught me this time, sucks to have your mug in the paper!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/unstable-s-man-probation-horse-sex-sex-horse-article-1.431308
No sir. We have been conducting Hindu rain dances to use a flood such as this to leverage more federal dollars to reconstruct our failing roads. It’s working like a charm.
NIMRATA will be all over this developing situation………………………as long as cameras are present.
Don’t worry about the small print in the funding, NIMRATA is an ACCOUNTANT!
As governor and an accountant, she knows the value of your dollars.
Point of order. A little satire.
NIMRATA is NOT an ACCOUNTANT.
She NEVER passed the test!
She couldn’t cheat on it like she did with her husband?
Pardon the Interruption but it looks to me as if old Bubba Leroy is eyeing the Governor like an uneaten piece of Gummy Bear
Nice catch. He’s looks like a hawk looking down on a bunny rabbit.
It’s like the the start of some B porn.
“For example, the federal government’s 80 percent reimbursement is generally restricted to new projects – not routine maintenance.”
You know, someone of minimal competence running the SCDOT could work that system:
“Ok, only new roads eh? Well guess what, I’ve got some shitty old roads that could use another lane, so it’s really a new road when we submit the paperwork for construction and we’ll obviously have to repave the old lane next to it as well.”
If that doesn’t work, I just keep twisting the BS language around until I get it through. Government employees are lazy generally speaking so eventually the Feds will give up and allow appropriation after enough tries/persistence.
The problem is, is our state government slouches versus Federal government slouches.
Battle of the lazy and incompetent in other words, and the taxpayer gets to pay for it all.
Had a friend who worked maintenance for the state, said,”I realized fast the only thing I couldn’t do was, work hard, the only thing they wouldn’t tolerate! “
First, I want to thank everyone for helping out during this rainstorm. And particularly for keeping the roads clear on Saturday so I could attend the Clemson game. Now, I know a lot of people in Columbia and Florence think this is a disaster, but really, it’s been part of my administration’s plan all along. Let’s face it. With the exception of a few upstate areas, and around Charleston, our state is a mess. We’re poor, our roads are horrible, and we don’t have the tax revenue to fix them. Originally we thought we could get that money from the Feds, but we had to use up much of it to pay for stuff we didn’t have money to pay. And new highways that will help move illegal immigrants to tourism jobs was critical. So we developed a plan to bring this flooding to SC so we could get new Federal money to fix roads. Over the past month my staff and I have been actively conducting secret rain dances to bring the floods. Now, I know many of you think those are just silly. But by leveraging Hindu Gods, we were able to get the necessary precipitation to cause this situation. We expect to receive billions from Federal disaster relief, and we’ll use that money to rebuild a modern road instructure. We have lined up many out-of-state contractors and their employees to help us. It’s A Great Day in South Carolina.
Not your best work Rocky.
Not me. We’ve been taking a walk for the last couple of hours. Day off – yahoo!!!!
did you take your poodle for a paddle. or did you take your poodle for a piddle….. or maybe he paddled while he piddled, or did he whooped when he pooped …. oops, I’m out of ideas – I just finished my last Angry Orchard and my mental gears are grinding to a halt…..
The Governess’s asshole puckered up again because now she is “THE CENTER OF ATTENTION” ..!! I’ll be looking for the next installment of her life story to see how she personally managed to save my family (including the dogs and a hamster) from imminent death.
your hamster is in my prayers
#hamsterlivesmatter
Saw her on Today show this am. Wife said “oh, nice, it’s Governor Haley, she looks tired.” I said nothing. On a side note, and this is true, listening to Pandora and it’s Down on the Corner – “Willie and the Po Boys” – so appropriate.
How do we know this did not happen because Nikki Haley bowed down before that Sikh God of her’s. There was a lot of smiting in the Bible over that kind of thing you know.
http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article13917452.html
As a native South Carolinian, I can say – as much as I hate to admit it – that SC deserves to get ‘shafted’ by the federal government…because what goes around comes around and karma is a bitch.
Obama ain’t giving shit to Haley and that asswipe back-stabbing stuttering Joe Wilson who just berate the federal govenment every chance they get.
What is the logo on her shirt? I hope it isn’t a phony emergency services patch.
Bodies will be found for months to come.
Where is Nancy-Boy Lindsay Graham? When it comes to Israel he is all over the news cycle.