South Carolina ARRA Stimulus Funding

[Spartan]

I think its like $483 million or something. Its not much at all.

Sanford was on the Early Show today, and he said that he was opposed to the idea, which we all knew, but ultimately he decided to take the money.

Here is a link to the article in the Herald-Journal

[gman430]

SC really isn't getting a whole lot for infrastructure. I think the actual amount is somewhere between $500-$600 million, less than the cost of the Arthur Ravenel bridge.

[krazeeboi]

So I'm guessing that the vast majority, if not all, of the funds will be dedicated to interstates, major highways, and bridges and not urban roads/streets and rural roads.

[gman430]

So I'm guessing that the vast majority, if not all, of the funds will be dedicated to interstates, major highways, and bridges and not urban roads/streets and rural roads.

[krazeeboi]

$150 million divided among the state's cities and towns? That's not much at all. Oh well, do what you can.

[gman430]

Now you know why our congress has such a low approval rating. $787 billion is a lot of money but the problem is only a small fraction goes to things that guarantees new jobs and better roads/transit.

I'm not seeing anything in the stimulus package that speaks specifically to people living in poverty though. Some of them will benefit by way of unemployment benefits and the like, but as a group, they aren't being specifically targeted.

[Spartan]

The money going to South Carolina is not all for roads. SCDOT will pread its money around the state, but if its anything like it is here in NC, nobody is 100% sure which projects will get funded. You can look on and LRTP from any MPO to get an idea of what projects COULD be funded, because the rules from the Fed are that the projects that receive funding have to be on an existing plan.

[krazeeboi]

I just worry that the downtowns of the major urban areas of the state aren't going to get much funding for things like streetscapes, sidewalks, resurfacing, bike lanes, etc. Those types of things are practically in a perpetual "shovel-ready" state.

[Spartan]

Streetscapes are not, but sidewalk repair is. Resurfacing and lane restriping does require a little bit of planning to get the lane marking diagrams set up so that the crews will know what to paint. Still, its not that much work.

[gman430]

I think you guys will find this link very helpful:

http://www.scdot.org/inside/stimulus.shtml It shows a list of proposed projects that will get funded by the first $200 million the SCDOT has authorized for release. More projects will get funded as more money becomes available.

[Spartan]

Did y'all know that Sen. DeMint proposed legislation that would have prohibited the funding of bike & ped facilities from stimulus funding? Fortunately this did not end up in the final bill. The retort attacked all republicans, which is off base, IMO. This is mainly a reflection of Sen. DeMint. It seems that he looses more and more of my interest on a weekly basis.

Link

[krazeeboi]

The first $27 billion of the stimulus package is dedicated to infrastructure repair, and SC is getting $463 million of that. Here's what the major urban areas of the state are getting:

[gman430]

The first $27 billion of the stimulus package is dedicated to infrastructure repair, and SC is getting $463 million of that. Here's what the major urban areas of the state are getting:

[gman430]

Guess which state is going to receive the lowest amount of money per capita for mass transit from this economic stimulus plan according to this NYTimes graphic: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/03/...phic.ready.html

[digital_sandlapper]

Guess which state is going to receive the lowest amount of money per capita for mass transit from this economic stimulus plan according to this NYTimes graphic: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/03/...phic.ready.html

[Spartan]

Its unfortunate that we're last in transit, but at least its not BOTH categories. Transit will have to wait.

I'm trying to figure out how Columbia and Charleston are getting more money than Greenville when they all have around the same population. In fact, Greenville County has more people than any other county in the state. Something doesn't seem fair or right here.

[Spartan]

Sanford has said he wants to use the $700 million that he gets control of to pay off state debt, and now the General Assembly is working on a bill to go around him. Some seem to think Sanford is positioning himself for a presidential or vice presidential bid in 2012.

Herald-Journal

[krazeeboi]

Who positions themselves for a vice-presidential bid? LOL

[waverider]

Who positions themselves for a vice-presidential bid? LOL

[monsoon]

I know why Sanford is doing this. It's politics. However if there are parts of the state where 1 out of 4 people are not working, then I think it also sends a pretty cold message to those people.

[krazeeboi]

Honestly, I don't think it's political posturing on Sanford's part. He's always been like this. Someone on this forum put it best on another thread in comparing Sanford to a computer. He only seems to see things in numbers and variables and doesn't see the human element in it at all. To him, he's only getting the message "does not compute." We also can't forget the fact that he's pretty much always lived a privileged life.

I'm really not sure how Sanford could really even contemplate running in 2012. As one poster on the Post & Courier's website said:

If and when Sanford runs for president, do you think no one will research South Carolina?

Once they see the numbers for this state Sanford will be seen as a laughstock, even by his own party.

Please! We are now #2 in the nation in unemployment, one of the highest in teen pregnancy, one of the last 4 in education. One of the highest in domestic violence. We rate a D on mental health. Yep, sounds like a great record to run on, NOT!

[Spartan]

Thing is that all he has to do is blame it on the General Assembly. He can make the point that he tried to live up to the principles upon which he was elected, and they wouldn't have it.

[Greenville]

Anyone who blames Governor Sanford for South Carolina's problems is exceedingly misinformed. Even those who vehemently disagree with his politics can acknowledge the fact that our state's poverty (we've pretty much always been a poor state with horrible economies in the rural areas) and archaic structure (which gives the legislature too much power) are nearly impossible for a governor to overcome. Throw in backwards-at-times political representatives in the state house, and you get the mess that we're in today. Pathetic.

[krazeeboi]

The only thing that people will see is that things have only gotten worse under his watch, fair or not. In the same way, Obama will not be elected to another term if we're still in a recession come 2012, even though it's a problem he inherited. That's all the voters will see. If Sanford were to run in 2012 and blame the General Assembly for the way things are, people will say that a leader takes ownership of the issues and learns to work with others to solve problems and that he obviously didn't do that. And let's be fair--Sanford hasn't always worked well with the Legislature, even though they can be a hard group to work with.

[803metlife]

Sanford is the worst governor i've seen in South Carolina in my life time. He was also was voted the worst governor out of 50 states like two years ago. His track record stinks and it speaks for it's self. We have the worst unemployment and other problems and instead helping he wants to use the money to clear South Carolina's debt to make him look good. I can't wait until his term is over so he can get out of Columbia and go back to Charleston or Greenville. This guy is not built to be a leader!!!!