S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s scandal-plagued, completely incompetent Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has made a real mess of the Palmetto State’s infrastructure situation over the last few years. How bad have things gotten? SCDOT has effectively stopped all paving and maintenance work on South Carolina roadways – while relying on a bailout from Barack Obama to [...]
Fuck Interstate 73
“Fuck I-73.”
There … we said it. And it needs to be said – no, it needs to be SHOUTED from the rooftops in South Carolina, where “Republican” leaders keep trying to pour billions of dollars into unnecessary new transportation projects at a time when government has stopped paving and maintaining existing roads and bridges due to “lack of [...]
Real SC Transportation Reform?
OR ARE LAWMAKERS PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS?
For the second time in six years, South Carolina lawmakers are offering up proposals to reform the way highway projects are funded. These efforts weren’t successful last time … and we have no expectation they will be successful this time.
Why not? Because this state is hopelessly corrupt, people – and [...]
“Nix 526″ Group Plans Protest
ANOTHER HIGHWAY BOONDOGGLE DRAWS IRE OF COMMUNITIES, TAXPAYERS
It turns out Interstate 73 isn’t the only costly, unnecessary transportation project that’s getting the green light from state government – and grief from taxpayers.
The last chuck of funding for a planned $556 million expansion of Interstate 526 in Charleston, S.C. was approved last week by the state’s [...]
Interstate 73: A Real Study
HOW TO GET GREATER ECONOMIC BENEFITS AT ONE -TENTH OF THE COST
South Carolina’s Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has been bragging lately about fixing its cash flow problems – which were so bad last year that S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley begged for (and received) a $52 million bailout from the administration of Barack Obama last summer.
Of [...]
The Wire (Welcome Back)
TIPS, QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FROM FITS READERS JUST LIKE YOU
Since it has been forever since we’ve done an installment of “the wire,” we figured today was as good a day as any to get back in the groove. We love this format, and it got all sorts of rave reviews when we launched it earlier [...]
Chad Prosser Wants I-73 Done Right
Former Sanford Cabinet Member Vows To Build Highway Without Tolls
(MURRELLS INLET, SC) – With our national debt approaching $16 trillion, conservative reformer Chad Prosser believes that taxpayers in the Pee Dee and Grand Strand deserve leadership that can build the long awaited I-73 highway while remaining true to fiscal conservatism. Prosser also opposes the institution [...]
Nuckles: Interstate 73′s Fairy Tales
By Sarah Nuckles || Fairy tales are wonderful.
They provide hope and warm feelings – the good guys win and the bad guys lose. Unfortunately reality isn’t a fairy tale, and this tale is not going to have a happy ending. For the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, and the Interstate 73/ 74 Association to use [...]
2012 Candidates Being Pushed To Support I-73 Boondoggle
Hoping to turn the controversial I-73 project into an issue in the GOP presidential primaries, the South Carolina steering committee for a national group is calling on Republican candidates campaigning in South Carolina to support spending $2.4 billion on I-73. The committee, comprised in part of well-known backers of I-73, is staging a press conference [...]
Nuckles: Was SCDOT “Cash Crunch” Intentional?
By Sarah Nuckles || In the past six months, the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has been in a firestorm for failing to pay contractors and vendors, ostensibly due to a lack of cash. Many suffered real damages to their businesses. The cash crisis was blamed on everything from the stimulus to the weather, and [...]
SCDOT Insanity
In April, the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) approved a $344 million vote-buying scam that funded five non-priority political projects – including an “Interchange of Hope” for an Interstate that doesn’t exist (and should never be built).
Bear in mind that the agency owes contractors tens of millions of dollars and has a huge backlog of [...]
Stickler: I-73 Study Riddled With Errors
By Tom Stickler || The North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA) commissioned an “Economic Impact of I-73 in South Carolina” study by Chmura Economics & Analytics. This study was delivered on March 22, 2011, and was immediately praised by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (MBACC) for its conclusion that building I-73 would pay for [...]
