SC

Nikki Haley’s Transportation Department Needs $43 Billion

AH, LIMITED GOVERNMENT …  S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley has a secret plan to fix South Carolina’s roads and bridges … she just won’t tell anybody what it is. Well, we now know how much it’s going to cost … Haley’s scandal-scarred Department of Transportation (SCDOT) released a “multinodal transportation plan”…

AH, LIMITED GOVERNMENT … 

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley has a secret plan to fix South Carolina’s roads and bridges … she just won’t tell anybody what it is.

Well, we now know how much it’s going to cost …

Haley’s scandal-scarred Department of Transportation (SCDOT) released a “multinodal transportation plan” this week outlining what it claims are its funding needs for the next twenty-five years.

Ready for the tab?  Grab your socks and hose and pull, people … because it’s a big number.  How big?  More than $70 billion, actually.  Oh, and because “only” $27.63 billion in projected revenue is coming in over the next quarter century – Haley’s transportation bureaucrats are projecting a budget shortfall of $42.8 million.

Or $1.7 billion in new money every year for the next 25 years …

“The numbers aren’t possible for the taxpayers of South Carolina,” one lawmaker told FITS.

Yeah … no wonder Haley’s last “Transportation Czar” was getting all liquored up.

Last year Haley signed legislation borrowing $700 million (including at least $500 million for road and bridge work) to address the state’s “crumbling infrastructure.”  This was after her SCDOT – now run by a Washington lobbyist – was forced to stop all paving and maintenance work due to a cash crunch.

Previously, Haley’s chronically cash-strapped agency has had to rely on bailouts … from Barack Obama.

Why does South Carolina have an infrastructure problem?  Because Haley and her appointees to various state boards and commissions have continued to support unnecessary transportation projects (like Interstate 73 and Interstate 526) – which shift resources away from overdue repairs and move that money toward projects like this.

Oh, and the Palmetto State – the nation’s tenth-smallest in terms of geography – inexplicably operates the fourth-largest network of roads in America.

But hey … “Republicans” don’t care about that.  Not when they can raise the gas tax on citizens who already pay the second-highest percentage of their income on fuel costs (next to Mississippi).

S.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLAN (.pdf)

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45 comments

euwe max August 26, 2014 at 10:49 am

Don’t worry – the Republicans will all chip in to help rebuild the South.

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Jackie Chiles August 26, 2014 at 10:56 am

Zing!

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john dozier August 26, 2014 at 11:11 am

Don’t worry. They will find plenty of smoke and mirrors, as usual.

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Smirks August 26, 2014 at 11:27 am

Obama’s gonna be her sugar daddy again!

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Sandi Morals August 26, 2014 at 12:41 pm

LMAO! That Business Insider report ranking South Carolina with the 8th best economy in the US under HALEY has really fucked up the minds of the socialists that post on Fits.

With all these jobs Haley has created you need roads! Last week Fits and the other socialist loones created a bizzare fairy tale of sub prime auto loans apparently directed toward poor black folks that need a car to get to work-comparing it to the housing crisis Barney Frank and dems created.

Now the same gang apparently don’t want poor black/white folks to get to work by eliminating funding for roads/highways.

You can’t make this stuff up.

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Dave Chappelle August 26, 2014 at 2:30 pm

“[H]ousing crisis Barney Frank and dems created.”

You, ma’am, clearly need to check your facts on the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2008. I’ve said it on here before, and I’ll say it again…The Big Short by Michael Lewis is very entertaining if you are looking for a good book to read.

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Sandi Morals August 26, 2014 at 5:16 pm

You got me, I’m just a stupid dolt fed lines by the Koch Brothers and Halley. Like the doll that talks by pulling the string on the back I post this spoonfed material at a dollar a pop. It sure beats working for a living. :-)

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Dave Chappelle August 27, 2014 at 8:00 am

How can you extrapolate “you need to check your facts” into me calling you a “stupid dolt fed lines by the Koch Brothers and Halley [sic]?”

This really bothers me that when I try to enlighten some folks on certain issues of which I have vast experience, it always seems to immediately turn into complete banter.

Unlike some, I don’t debate every article or issue here. I merely chime in on the subjects that I am most familiar and experienced. That said…I was intimately involved and affected by the subprime mortgage disaster. I have also exhausted myself researching and analyzing the causes and facts associated with that entire debacle. As such, it is blatantly an incorrect statement to blame the subprime mortgage disaster on “Barney Frank and the dems.” Were they at fault? Certainly, but so were many many others. Investment bankers and the entire mortgage-backed securities trading industry went completely haywire.

Kim August 26, 2014 at 3:20 pm

Haley is all smoke and mirrors. .Haley Troll …Lol

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Rocky Calls BS August 27, 2014 at 10:34 am

If it’s so great why is there a huge shortfall in road funding? And why are the roads so crappy? I don’t get it – if it’s utopia one would think you’de have three lanes in each direction from Dillion to Savannah.

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aikencounty August 26, 2014 at 11:41 am

On a cost saving thought:
You could make a “jersey bouncer” out of that honker!

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Centrist View August 26, 2014 at 11:51 am

NEWS FLASH!!!!
Road construction firm writes report saying that $Billions need to be spent on road construction.

https://www.fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/SC_MTP_Executive_Summary.pdf
Executive Summary
MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN
Prepared by: SDM Smith

Facts about CDM Smith
http://cdmsmith.com/en-US/Discover-Us/About-Us/Facts-about-CDM-Smith.aspx
” As a full-service engineering and construction firm,………”

SCEIS The South Carolina Enterprise Information System Supplier Search
http://webprod.cio.sc.gov/SCVendorSearch/supplierSearch.do
Search Name: CDM

http://webprod.cio.sc.gov/SCContractWeb/contractDetail.do?contractNumber=4400005349&hideReturnButton=true
Vendor: CDM SMITH INC
Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan
Material Group: 91896 – transportation consulting
Agency: SC Dept of Transportation
Total Price: $ 1,771,875.00

Total Price/# of pages* = $Cost/page
$ 1,771,875.00/65 = $27,259.62/page

*Including title page and table of contents

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EJB August 26, 2014 at 12:35 pm

“*Including title page and table of contents”

Well those pages aren’t going to write themselves, so, yes, they have to be paid for. ;-)

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Cut The BS August 26, 2014 at 12:05 pm

“Or $1.7 billion in new money every year for the next 25 years …

“The numbers aren’t possible for the taxpayers of South Carolina,” one lawmaker told FITS”.”

No, it’s certainly not available from the General Fund coffers and there’s no such thing as a “money tree” as even fools should know. Instead there should be and will be a modernization of the Gas and Fuel Taxes that haven’t been touched for 25 years.

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Crush The Roaches August 26, 2014 at 12:10 pm

Take Bobby Harrell down, and dozens more of his cronies fall into the sink hole created by it. You just don’t stop this corrupt and insane structure, you destroy those who built and support it. Otherwise, everybody can just continue complaining and whine all day long, and nothing changes. And that’s what these corrupt and lawless roaches expect out of voters – until someone comes along and threatens their very existence. Then they go on the character assassination, like they did with Allen Wilson. But that doesn’t work these days. It only angers the public even more.

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M326 August 26, 2014 at 12:21 pm

1. STOP all construction of new roads/ intersections, etc. 2. Divert all money to repair and maintenance for the next 5 years; 3. Apolitically prioritize all maintenance projects based on the deterioration present and the traffic carried. 4. Increase the fuel tax over several years to match N. Carolina thus allowing a significant part of the repairs to be paid for by road users and out of state travelers instead of completely by us which other sources of revenue are.

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EJB August 26, 2014 at 12:31 pm

1) A politician’s name is going on that new road or intersection, won’t be stopped.

2) No politician can brag about just repairing a road, they need new stuff, no diverting money for common sense things.

3) Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, you funny!!! “Apolitically”, you crack me up!!!!!

4) They may just do that, raise the gas tax, but the money won’t be used for fixing the crumbling roads and bridges. It will be used for new roads and bridges they can put their names on.

Good suggestions but they won’t happen.

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nitrat August 26, 2014 at 5:34 pm

Stop building million $ traffic circles when 4-way-stops work just fine.

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M326 August 26, 2014 at 6:24 pm

Agreed. There are plenty of places like that where cost savings can be had. Except for our major urban areas, our rural roads are not heavily traveled and can easily survive with such solutions.

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Roger August 26, 2014 at 12:44 pm

Ahhh Haley has a grand plan cut more core government services raise the taxes on the poor and lie for another 4 years.

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mark August 27, 2014 at 10:05 am

Lied for 40+…why not 4 more?

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Mark August 26, 2014 at 12:48 pm

This is simply about Leatherman and Haley, they are great pals now, rewarding their friends and supporters with borrowed money that will be paid back long after Leatherman is dead and Haley has cashed in.

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Sandi Morals August 26, 2014 at 12:58 pm

Myrtle Beach and Charleston are the “economic engine” of the state. Tourism industry!
Where in the fuck do you think the money comes from to keep the perpetual welfare system afloat and to ensure democrat voters get their checks?

Why wouldn’t you put resources into 73 and 526 if it brings tourism money to pay the bills?

After Katrina the first thing Governor Haley Barbour was rebuild the casino’s. Why? The tax revenue from those casinos paid for 80% of the welfare distributed in the state.

Haley gets it. You people just hate Haley and it is personal-not based on policy.

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Thomas August 26, 2014 at 1:10 pm

That is correct. You have to have access to MB and build up intermodal logistics for the Port of Charleston (tourism too). We need that working for us. A few casinos at this point is futile. Obamacare and the enormous costs to keep 400,000 state, county, municipal workers with Blue Cross coverage is eating our lunch. Even regular folks with Obamacare are going to have pay up to 500.00 a month. Throw in huge annual deductibles, the “Stroke Belt” is going Argentina very soon. All eyes are now focused on the employer mandate that kicks in next year. Until that dust settles, roads are going to dilapidate and bridges will have to close when the engineers say so.

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Native Ink August 26, 2014 at 3:27 pm

How will 526 and 73 increase tourism? 526 is part of a beltway that doesn’t lead in or out of town. 73 would replace highways that serve tourists just fine already. (Never heard of someone not going to Myrtle Beach because there isn’t an interstate going there).

They are both just pork barrel projects. You get your panties into a bunch when taxes go to help poor people but not when they go to help road builders and real estate developers.

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Sandi Morals August 26, 2014 at 3:42 pm

LMAO…ever driven thru Latta? Radford?
I thought good roads helped all working people-including the poor.Ain’t that why your god Obama gave us those not so shovel ready jobs?

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Native Ink August 26, 2014 at 4:38 pm

Fix the crumbling roads and bridges for those working people. Don’t waste my money on uneccessary roads.

You’re a typical modern conservative. It’s not government waste if it’s going into the pockets of a businessman.

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johnq August 26, 2014 at 9:12 pm

While it is true that the hate for Haley is personal, it is also based on policy because it is republican policies that have gotten us into this mess. republicans have run this state for many years. If their ideology had any merit we would have seen improvement by now. A state with sane, thinking voters would have shit canned these failures long ago. The only reason republicans still have the vote of these idiots is that they pander to bible thumping racists who are dumber than rocks.

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VoiceofReason August 26, 2014 at 9:37 pm

You are wrong! The UpState I-85 Corridor carries this state and for a long time. Why, because of forward thinking leaders and colleges Other areas are just jealous wanna be’s!

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Roads to nowhere August 26, 2014 at 1:20 pm

They can’t even manage the money they have, DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE IT ALL GOES(SCDOT audit), and they want more…..

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CNSYD August 26, 2014 at 2:22 pm

Y’all are missing what Sic Willie is really pushing. He keeps harping on how in SC and MS gas purchases disproportionally affect the income of the poor in those states. So how to solve that? Well EBT cards are issued for the poor to pay for food. So, issue gas cards. You KNOW those would never hit the black market.

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Dave Chappelle August 26, 2014 at 2:25 pm

I like how she’s the only one wearing the hard hat and orange vest. Kinda makes her look special.

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Bible Thumper August 26, 2014 at 2:41 pm

She get to ride in the bucket truck if she wears the vest and hat.

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you know me August 27, 2014 at 10:09 am

Dykish…of, wait Clemson.

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winterstormPAX August 27, 2014 at 10:29 am

That pic actually has nothing to do with SCDOT. The last time I checked they don’t cut trees down or repair power lines.

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Native Ink August 26, 2014 at 3:31 pm

Lower the property tax on millionaires’ mansions, raise the sales tax and gas tax that regular people pay. And then borrow even more or beg it from Uncle Sam while spitting in his face. That’s the South Carolina way!

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Sandi Morals August 26, 2014 at 3:45 pm

Sounds like you need a job. Kangaroo and Dodges Fried Chicken are hiring.Give it a shot and please quit whining about how much money everybody else has.

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Native Ink August 26, 2014 at 4:30 pm

Got a job. Got a house. Willing to pay my share of property taxes instead of expecting poor people to make up the difference with regressive taxes.

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EJB August 26, 2014 at 4:26 pm

Just hit me, that isn’t a “transportation” photo. It’s a power company photo. They are using their bucket trucks to trim tree branches from around the power lines

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nitrat August 26, 2014 at 5:29 pm

“Oh, and the Palmetto State – the nation’s tenth-smallest in terms of geography – inexplicably operates the fourth-largest network of roads in America.”
I guess if you don’t understand that we used to have a GREAT farm to market road system because agribusiness was/is our number one industry, you never will.
And, the people responsible for the current condition of our roads are the idiot Republican legislators who sign Grover Norquist’s no tax pledge, being too stupid to know that roads have been a core function of government for 2000+ years and too lazy to educate the numb skull SCGOP voters who keep them in office.
They are why the gas tax has not been raised since 1987. If it had been, we would not be in this mess.

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Hmmmm August 26, 2014 at 6:06 pm

SCDOT payroll, bonuses, annual leave, sick leave, paid holidays, each year: 783,000,000.00

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TheTruth August 26, 2014 at 7:12 pm

One seldom discussed advantage to having such a large road system: It is very easy to drive under the influence here and not get caught.

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Vote Haley out August 26, 2014 at 7:24 pm

Per Haley’s advise …officer I am not drunk I am just avoiding the potholes in our roads…..hahhahahahahahahahah wait that did not work for her DOT guy…shit….

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mark August 27, 2014 at 10:03 am

Can you say off-shore accounts?…bay-bay?

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Todd August 27, 2014 at 7:25 pm

Maybe if we didn’t blow the entire budget in Mt Pleasant, we would not be destitute.

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