At first glance, when I saw this story this morning, and my eye fell on the word "governor," I thought, "Hey, that’s new — Sanford working with others to grow the knowledge economy in South Carolina."
Then I actually read the story. An excerpt:
Legislative, business and education leaders Tuesday announced a new
partnership designed to draw high-paying technology and research jobs
to South Carolina — the types of jobs, lawmakers said, Gov. Mark
Sanford and the Department of Commerce have failed to bring to the
state.The
new effort was the brainchild of House Speaker Bobby Harrell,
R-Charleston; Rep. Dan Cooper, R-Anderson; Senate President Pro Tem
Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston; and Senate Finance Chairman Hugh
Leatherman, R-Florence — arguably the state’s four most influential
lawmakers. The idea was also endorsed by new University of South
Carolina president Harris Pastides and others in the business community….
So it was, of course, the work of every state leader except the governor. The governor, of course, maintains through those who work for him that he and his Commerce Dept. are getting the job done. But they are the only ones in state government, or apparently in academia, who think so.
It’s really unfortunate for Gov. Sanford that the state is run by Republicans. He would be much more at home with a Democratic Legislature, so that his dismissals of criticism as "political" would be more readily accepted. For instance, I might be able to dismiss the complaints of my friend Samuel. Samuel, as you probably know, was the guy who came up with the idea of the endowed chairs. He served on the governing board of that until the gov replaced him. But he’s a Democrat who’s been dumped on by the gov, so you take his complaints about the gov not caring about economic development with a grain of salt, right?
But as things are, the governor doesn’t work well with others, period, regardless of party.
And that’s why others work around him.
Related Posts
Why did Mark Sanford cross the road?
He was holding the chicken.
Why did Brad Warthen cross the road?
To criticize Mark Sanford.
Why do I keep coming here?
To make sure nothing’s changed.
Brad is so consumed by blind hatred that he doesn’t read his own reporters telling him that Mark Sanford’s office worked with the legislators on this reorganization. He had to, because some of the changes are only under his control.
This change is window dressing, anyway. It was done in a dark room by people who are not even on the ground in the sort of businesses SC allegedly wants to recruit. Everyone at the capitol is in CYA mode after Volkswagen selected Tennessee. They don’t even understand the reasons, so how can they correct the problems?
A big part is denial of the reality that our taxes are too high. An executive can locate to Michigan or Illinois where he and his workers will pay half the income taxes. The Chamber of Commerce cannot even tell you what businesses are in the state or where to source manufactured items.
If I hear any more smoke about the “knowledge economy” I will get sick. Such buzzword slinging is a sure sign the bureaucrats don’t have a clue.
I would literally slit my own throat if my job description required me to accomplish ANYTHING with, through, around, or in spite of that pack of mongrel beasts.
All,
One of the easiest and best – and most cost effective – ideas is to take down the Confederate flag with H-3588.
I’ll tell you from personal experience, the people who like high tech and who have good ideas for high tech businesses are not going to be attracted to a state that appreciates neither diversity nor modernity. And that message — that SC does not appreciate diversity or modernity — is what such people hear when they see our state legislature flying the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds.
With H-3588, we can change the definition of our state from “South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies,” to South Carolina, the state devoted to history, heritage, and hospitality.
Please support H-3588. Thank you.
Regards,
Michael Rodgers
Columbia, SC
Sanford’s inability to “change” governnment is is lasting record. Not the fights with the general assembly and others…I mean he never came to grips with the nickles and dimes of the 7 billion dollar budget.
State government is as he found it…even the bits he controls. Bloated, wasteful…and off point. He had his chance, but he decided to make headlines instead of a difference.
Brad Warthen dislikes Mark Sanford because Sanford is honest and does not go along with the crooks running the Senate and House.
No governor is going to be able to overcome those arrogant grafters. At least Sanford sets an example for the people which might encourage some more honest people to run against the Leathermans, Lands, and Harrels, so that a future honest governor can have some allies in the captitol.
What state are you people living in? Sanford is an extreme right-wing nutjob who chased away Volkswagen and has fought tooth-and-nail to keep out massive retail developments that could bring thousands of jobs to each end of the state. That’s your idea of what a governor should be?
What do you know about Volkswagen?
What Brad Warthen told you?
Having worked for Volkswagen and Porsche on the retooling of their Westmoreland, PA plant, I can tell you there are a lot more considerations in play than our port facilities in Charleston, which are not even set up for vehicle shipping like Jacksonville and Baltimore are.
I am not happy with the way the Dept of Commerce operates. I don’t like the whore mentality of recruiting by giving tax breaks away. I know how previous administrations lost the Ford and Toyota factories in Florence. But let’s stick to the facts and stop with ignorant, baseless attacks on Mark Sanford, the most business-savvy governor this state has had in the last 100 years.
Lee,
Sanford, the most business-savvy governor this state has had in the last 100 years? Man, that one had me rolling in the aisle. Ask all the people standing in the unemployment lines if they think Gov. Nutjob is Mr. Business-savvy.
So you don’t like giving tax breaks to companies that would put thousands of people to work. I guess that shows your business-savvy. Do you think companies are going to come here just because of all the smiling faces and beautiful places? Show me one that has.
FYI, I know plenty about Volkswagen. As for the port, I haven’t heard any complaints from that other German car company — you know, the one that a real business-savvy governor gave the tax breaks to get them to come here.
Just like another MBA in a high office, it’s easy to get a reputation for business savvy when you are either from a prominent family or marry an heiress. At least Sanford didn’t blow a lot of investors’ money in the process.
Anything with Rep Dan Cooper involved is a joke.
He has the “I am lying when my lips are moving” disease.
and yes- a fellow house Republican told me that.
Lee, when you noted the most business savvy govenor this state has had in “100 years” you murdered the spelling of Fritz Hollings name.
A business savvy governor words withh the legislature. Sanford is an inflexible idealogue who has enough personal wealth that he is obliged to be divorced from the economic reality that most people have to deal with, and frankly I think there was nothing funnier (or alternatively more pitiful) than is lack of business savviness when he had his impromtu pint shot that he took at Starbucks in his “welcoming” speech by noting effectively S.C. is glad to have you, but why some one would pay $5.00 for a cup of coffee is beyond me.
P.S. You note that plants will head coporations will flee to Ill. where they will pay half the tax rate, but you are alternatively against tax give aways? Also on a side note, the corp. tax rete in S.C. is 5% and we have one of the lowest overall individual tax burdens in the country. Corp. tax rate in Ill. is 7.3% and it is 4.95% in Michigan. Lastly, a little tip about Michigan…businessess are not currently flocking there.
Of course I oppose tax breaks targeted to businesses.
1. The only reason you special tax breaks is because overall taxation is too high.
2. It is unfair, and unConstitutional to give unequal treatment under the law. Everyone should pay the same tax rates and get the same breaks.
I see why you hide behind a silly false name. Michigan has over 200 businesses supplying BMW. Michigan does a super job of promoting local business growth. But I am not selling Michigan. I have specific complaints about the anti-business political climate in South Carolina. There are lots of things we could learn and apply from other states.
One thing we do wrong is promote cheap labor and try to depress wages and salaries of employees. Charlotte pays skilled workers and engineers 50% more than Columbia. Atlanta pays top talent twice as much as Columbia. The result is a talent drain out of Columbia, and most of the rest of the state.
Draven,
Do you know anything about why Volkswagen is returning to manufacturing cars in America?
If they don’t intend to export them overseas, VW doesn’t need a seaport at all. If they intend to source most parts from within the USA, Canada and Mexico, they don’t need a seaport nearby.
Tennessee has no income tax. That will attract a lot of people expect to earn high incomes.
Lee Muller,
Re: “…the crooks running the Senate and House…the Leathermans, Lands, and Harrels…”
| Jul 31, 2008 10:39:39 AM
…………..
You left out the Knotts, and the Numero Uno Crooked B**tard, Donny Myers, who knows nothing of fiscal matters but likes to squander the whole pot — from his sordid hole, somewhere here in the bowels of Lexington County.
i.e., those you listed are just the Junior Crooked B**tards. The Senior/Motherlode Crooked B**tards must be included to get a grip on the whole problem. And see the bigger picture.
See?
I don’t think we need to lard up the thread with ALL the jerks in the legislature.
A much shorter list would be those trying to work for the state, instead of their egos and wallets.
Hear, Hear. I agree, Lee Muller.
Governor Sanford is trying to do just that — and these blokes should be ashamed of themselves.
Um, Lee, you were the one who brought up the port. Even said it wasn’t set up for vehicle shipping. Perhaps you can explain that to BMW.
I read the Greenville-Spartanburg area is one of three areas that FedEx Ground is considering for a hub that would employ 470 people. Let’s hope there’s not some mom and pop shipping company nearby that employs six people, or Gov. Business-savvy will screw it up the way he screwed up Bass Pro and Cabella’s.
Draven,
A letter to the editor of The State brought up the port of Charleston in blaming Sanford for VW not locating in SC.
They didn’t know anything about VW.
They just hated Sanford. It may have been Brad, or one of his cohorts here, writing under a nom de plume.
BMW exports some unique models which are made in SC. Volvo also imports some heavy machinery. So what? The facts remain that Jacksonville and Baltimore are more set up for vehicles, and VW is probably not planning to export from the USA.
Do you have any evidence that Sanford “screwed up Bass Pro and Cabela’s”, or that he is messing up FedEx recruitment?
Of course you don’t.
Bass Pro and Cabelas are retail stores. FedEx is a warehouse operation. VW is real manufacturing, with much higher wage scales. I thought USC was going to get us all those “knowledge economy” jobs.
Lee,
Do I have any evidence that Gov. Business-savvy screwed up Bass Pro and Cabella’s? Of course I do. How about the dog and pony show he did at some little bait store in Greer. Said it wouldn’t be fair to give tax breaks to a Bass Pro development that was expected to bring a couple thousand jobs — nevermind that the breaks were contingent upon Bass Pro drawing two hotels and some other businesses to the area — when they would force the bait shop that employed three out of business.
Do I have any evidence that he’s screwing up FedEx? Nope. Do you have any evidence that he isn’t?
And of course VW will export some of its vehicles. It’s a function of the weak dollar vs. the euro.
let me see..
Daimler Chrysler…lost
Rolls royce…. lost
Volkswagon…. lost
The Port Royal project..screwed up
The ICAR project…messed up and in litigation
Regional destination retail outlets..dead
The Jasper Port…. screwed up
Its funny that guys like Lee Muller never have a single piece of proof to back up their claims about how good the guv is…yet there are so many facts about how he has helped keep south carolina back of the pack…
what HAS he accomplished that is positive for us economically the last 6 years?
oh…and btw..check out the REST of Tennessee’s tax structure before you isolate a single aspect of it and disengenously claim it to be a model for us.
You misuse the word “lost”.
I don’t think you know much about any of these projects.
Sanford did the right thing on the Port Royal project. He inserted himself into it and fired Campbell.
Daimler rejected SC before Sanford took office. They wanted more tax breaks than the state was willing to give.
Rolls Royce never seriously considered SC.
They already had investment in Indiana.
Volkswagen may not have found SC the best location for a lot of reasons, some which I listed.
ICAR was not well-thought out to begin with. Some of the things they talked of doing impressed legislators, but automobile companies had already been doing all of it for 15 years. I wrote Sanford and the legislature at the time with specific reasons it would not work.
Innovista is a bust, too, so far. Sanford’s only fault is in not demanding detailed plans before committing any state money. He should not have gone along with the legislature.
so your personal opinion (which conveniently mirrors Sanfords) is all the proof you provide?…
You seem to be the one who doesnt know much about the projects ….the people in Greenville and Clemson certainly dont agree with you about ICAR…
Daimler Chrysler was ours to lose… whether it was “too much” is absolutely impossible to say…good/bad deals are impossible to annoint until years after being completed. I seem to recall the same drivel said about BMW…
in most staTes..Governors move the process forward…but here he stalls it and sycophants proclaim him master and king…
What “people in Greenville”?
Who are you and how do you actually KNOW anything regargding the blanket accusations you make?
My opinions are based on my professional experience in plant site selection and construction, and automation projects for Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ford, VW, Porsche, Honda, Lexus and Ferrari.
If you want to make an argument for taxing our small businesses in order to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in welfare to Daimler, go ahead.
The fact that you need to grant tax breaks in order to attract industry means the taxes are too high.
Joshua seems to be unaware that Daimler built a factory in Ladson, SC.
DaimlerChrysler Opens Sprinter Assembly Plant in Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Press Release March 29th, 2007
The DaimlerChrysler plant in Ladson just outside Charleston in South Carolina today officially kicked off production of the Sprinter van for the American market under the Dodge and Freightliner brands
The Sprinter has been assembled and offered for sale in the USA since 2001 and has captured a firm clientele not least of all thanks to the proximity to the market. The former plant in Gaffney, annual capacity around 22,000 units, no longer could cope with the growing sales.
A production capacity of 32,000 units now is available at the new plant on the US east coast where 180 employees are working to reassemble the Sprinter on a 42,780 square meter (460,000 sq. ft.) site. $35 million, the equivalent of 27 million euros, were invested in the plant.
“The Dodge Sprinter and Freightliner Sprinter set standards in their sector for safety, variability and environmental protection. We are proud to be able to offer our latest product in the van segment also on the American market so soon after its presentation. I thank all colleagues who made the opening of this plant possible today through their personal effort and commitment,” said Wilfried Porth, head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans Business Unit of DaimlerChrysler AG on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony, attended by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
The Sprinter is offered on the American market as a panel van, crewbus and cab-chassis in different variants, in three lengths and three roof heights, and featuring six-cylinder diesel or gasoline engines. The standard equipment includes ADAPTIVE ESPA, which computes the center of gravity of the vehicle when loaded as well as the mass of the load and uses this information to individually adjust the ESP control intervention functions. The familiar, proven safety features ABS, Brake Assist and electronic brake power distribution are incorporated into the new adaptive ESP – DaimlerChrysler.
http://www.huliq.com/16918/daimlerchrysler-opens-sprinter-assembly-plant-in-charleston-south-carolina-usa
Lee,
How do we KNOW that you KNOW anything at all about anything at all? How do we KNOW that you actually did work for those companies?
The only thing we KNOW for certain is that you’re a Sanford apologist. Bless your heart.
Because I know lots of details about the companies for whom I have worked, about the industry, which enables me to speak with authority and offer educated opinions.
If you can’t carry on a conversation with me, its because you don’t know enough about subjects. So you resort to insults, dares and blanket denials.
Maybe you Sanford haters should stick to discussing the things Sanford has actually done, where you actually know the facts, instead of making stuff up. If you don’t know enough empirically, try discussing his philosophy, to see if you know much about that.
Lee,
You’ve certainly got the arrogance of a Sanfordite. Haven’t really seen a lot in the way of details or educated opinions, though.
the plant built in ladson had nothing to do with the one NOT built..which if you were so on the inside of plant selection as you try and imply…you would be aware of..
the Greenville folk…hmm…lets start at the Chamber…then move over to Economic development.. then to the offices of state legislators…
your right wing bretheren dont seem as supportive of your slathering devotion to the failed rich boy wannabe up here as you are either…
so you have no proof to back up any of your assertions…and certainly not a single new industry that came here because of his “hands on policy”…but tyou still are happy saying that we are better off because of it..
somehow, i think that the thousands of peolpe that DIDNT get jobs wont agree with your thoughts..
who in the upstate doesnt think sanford has a clue?..
Well, Mack Whittle feels that the gov. has punished the upstate..so does Irv Welling..
Mayor Knox White said he was “alarmed” by Gov. Mark Sanford’s conduct over development of an automotive research park in Greenville and said the governor made clear threats to move the project
You also defended the governors involvement in the Port Royal mess…yet here is how the governor himself said land sales should ne handled..
“So, I just feel I’m dancing with a tar baby on trying to, to move this ball forward and again, I don’t want to make my problem y’all’s problem but, uh, we’re pushing for open, transparent ways of disposing property so that everybody has as much of a shot as somebody else”..
this was in reference to a different land sale that the governor involved himself in..
I said from the beginning that ICAR should not be funded until the project leaders could come up with a concrete description of what it was supposed to do. They just ran to the legislature with some vague handwaving and asked them to bring home pork.
The same goes for Innovista.
Port Royal is a complex issue, in that the legislature is trying to ape Savannah. Charleston can handle more container traffic. Port Royal would make a good bulk port. It is too close to Savannah and too far behind to compete head-to-head with the same menu.
Basically, the problem with all these ventures is local politicians and developers are pushing them to bring money to themselves, regardless of how much sense it makes for the state. Like Governor Sanford, I take a broader view, and I think we need to stop this childish whining for funding because, “so-and-so got money for HIS project”.
Again, josh, the Daimler plant built in Alabama was site selected before Mark Sanford even ran for governor. They wanted too much tax handouts. Good riddance.
Yeah, good riddance, because S.C. can afford to say that to 5,000 or so high-paying manufacturing jobs. But let’s be honest, Daimler wasn’t coming to S.C. regardless, because it didn’t want to be the state’s SECOND luxury automaker.
Draven, now that you have to admit Mercedes rejected SC before Mark Sanford even ran for governor, you want to claim it was nobody’s fault. LOL!!!
It was the legislature’s fault, for corruption and high taxes.
In order to bribe large headline industry to locate in SC, we have to exempt them from taxes that our existing small businesses pay. That means we have to raise income, property, and sales taxes on not only the employees of those big businesses, but on every other taxpayer in South Carolina.
Those taxes kill thousands of other jobs.
The state has no money of its own.
The state cannot create a single job, without taking the money that would have created at least one private sector job.
Lee,
I never said Daimler was on Sanford’s watch, that was someone else. So I’m not “admitting” anything.
VW WAS on Sanford’s watch. Hyundai. Kia. Toyota. Cabella’s. Bass Pro.
You think those states didn’t give incentives — better ones than SC — to get those companies (jobs)? You think companies (jobs) are just going to fall into our laps because we’re South Carolina? Yeah, I guess that’s it since it happens every day.
Toyota built an ATV factory in Timmonsville, SC in the early 1990s.
Toyota decided not to build an automobile factory in Florence or Darlington in the late 1980s. I was working as a consultant to Toyota at the time, and know the details. Sanford was considering running for Congress then.
Now, if you want to try to argue with some facts about VW, Hyundai or whatever, do so. But so far, all you and josh have done is make blanket accusations about things that didn’t happen at all, things 10 years ahead of Mark Sanford, and with not one attempt to post a single fact linking Mark Sanford to any plant that chose not to locate in SC.
I know that South Carolinians can create plenty of good jobs, if the government will just get out our their way and off their backs. Government cannot create much wealth – all they can do move money from the people they designate as losers, and give it to the ones they choose to be winners.
Lee,
You’re talking history, I’m talking current events. Were you working as a consultant for Toyota last year when it chose Mississippi over South Carolina for its new plant? BTW, Mississippi gave a ton of incentives to land those 2,000-3,000 jobs.
The more you talk, the more I’m convinced you don’t really know crap about how economic development works.
Since you know so much, can you name one major manufacturer that Sanford has brought to SC? And if you can, did the state give them any tax breaks?
You’re not talking anything but blanket accusations.
Try to pick one of them and describe exactly HOW Governor Sanford messed up the recruitment.
By the way, it is not the job of the governor or mayor to recruit industry, any more than it is a state legislator’s job. They have a role to play, but if the state can’t sell itself without tax break bribery, it has a serious problem that no recruiter can overcome.
And “draven”, anytime you think I don’t know what I am talking about in high technology manufacturing, it means I am talking over your head, so try to let us know your comfort level, and I will try to bring it down a few notches.
“Lee,”
You’d like folks to think you’re talking over my head, that you know so much. We both know better. That’s just your Sanfordism coming out.
And I’ve asked you a couple of times now to point out one, just one, big-time manufacturer that has come here on Sanford’s watch, and to point out whether the state gave it any tax breaks. Where you at on that, big man?
Want to know how I know you don’t know crap, other than what the right-wing nutjobs tell you, “Lee”? Because Toyota didn’t build crap in S.C. in the early 1990s. HONDA built an ATV plant in Timmonsville. That’s strike one. You didn’t know that Toyota picked Mississippi over South Carolina last year. That’s strike two.
And you seem to be totally unaware that what you call “tax break bribery,” other states call an economic development tool to lure jobs. See, “Lee,” if a company comes to a state and creates jobs, the people who fill those jobs pay taxes and spend their money in the local economy. Some states with real leadership think that’s a pretty fair trade. But not your man, and not you. Strike three.
“Draven”, you are the one making wild charges at Governor Sanford, which you can’t back up. It’s because you don’t know anything about any of these recruitments. I suspect you were riding a Big Wheel when I was engineering automobile factories.
Toyota rejected sites in Florence and Darlington in 1989 and 1990, because they were steered to overpriced land that was not the best site. They are not stupid. They had already selected all the best sites, and knew the going price of the land.
Ford bought land in Florence earlier, but the city of Florence would not cooperate with development, because the property tax money would go to the rural schools, so Ford never built there.
It takes no brains or talent to give away hundreds of millions of dollars of other people’s money. That it the mentality of the class whore trying to be popular, or the punk buying drinks with daddy’s money.
If our taxes weren’t so high and complex, we wouldn’t have to exempt new industry from obeying the laws on the necks of existing businesses.
Real economic progress is built on talent and an honest business climate, which South Carolina lacks.
“Lee,”
You’re the one talking about how great Gov. Business-savvy is without backing it up. Saying you were an engineer back when Noah built the ark isn’t proof of anything.
So I’ll ask one more time, and if you can’t provide an answer then I’m through going around with you. Name ONE, JUST ONE big-time company that your boy brought to South Carolina, and point out whether the state granted any incentives.
I am not defending Governor Sanford.
I merely called out some of you trolls who were making up baloney about things that never happened, and companies which rejected SC sites when Dick Riley and Jim Hodges were governor.
You make the charges, I called you down.
You can’t back up charge you made, so you try to change the subject. Again, I dare you to take one of the companies you named, and describe exactly how it is Mark Sanford’s fault they did not locate in SC, and tell us how you know.
Josh had the good sense to quit posting.
You are long past making a fool of yourself.
Just what I thought “lee.” You’ve got nothing, because you are nothing. If you’ll look back, you’ll see I did cite an example of your governor costing his state a major retail center. You, however, have been unable to provide one instance of him landing a company. Who’s the fool?
You’re the one making the wild unsubtantiate charges. I would defend anyone against such fabricated slander.
I am not the governor’s spokesman, so don’t try to flip the spotlight off yourself. How would you know anything about any of those companies, anyway? You haven’t provided a single fact, much less a source. You have no credentials or credibility, because you post under a phony name, too.
Like I said Lee, you’ve got nothing because you are nothing. Maybe you can get someone at the old folks home to scroll up for you so you can see the facts I provided.
Draven, you are stuck on name-calling.
Maybe if you posted under your real name, and try to tell us HOW YOU KNOW anything about your accusations, you might have your first real post.
Lee,
How did you ever become an engineer without knowing how to read?
BTW, I can and will keep this up as long as you want.
All you are keeping up, Draven, is a stream of insults, and unsubstantiated accusations, mixed with outright fabrications about events which never happened, much less were Mark Sanford’s fault.
What is your motivation for lying about this? Why do you really hate Sanford? Talk about that, instead of this phony issue.
L(oon)ee,
I don’t hate Mark Sanford. I voted for him — once. But I figured out early in his first term that he was a horrible mistake.
So what is it that I’m lying about, Lee? I gave you an example of how he had screwed over the Upstate on the Bass Pro Shops super retail development. If you choose not to believe it, it’s because you’re blind to anything critical of Sanford, not because I’m lying.
What are the fabrications, L(oon)ee? What are the events that never happened? And for the record, L(oon)ee, I didn’t start the insults, I just followed your lead.
You made an assertion and no description of HOW Governor Sanford ran off any potential new business, much less anything to substantiate your claims.
You even blamed him for businesses which rejected SC before Sanford even ran for governor.
Some of the other haters of Sanford blamed him for “losing Daimler”, when the factory was actually built in Ladson, SC in 2006.
If you want to have a discussion, get your facts straight. Then you won’t feel “insulted” when someone calls you down.