A few moments ago, I got this release from the state Chamber:
As the unified voice of business, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce serves as your advocate at the State House and with regulatory agencies in the state. Currently, one of the biggest issues is if, and how, the state will use the $8 billion allocated to South Carolina in the federal stimulus bill. Governor Mark Sanford is opposed to accepting a more than $700 million portion of the money unless it is used to pay down state debt.
This week, South Carolina Chamber President and CEO Otis Rawl sat down with Governor Sanford for a one-on-one interview. During that interview, the governor shared his thoughts on why he believes the stimulus money is bad for business. The governor also discussed his position on government restructuring, why he’d veto the cigarette tax in its current form and what he thinks it will take for South Carolina to recover from the recession. Click here to watch the interview.
And I went and watched the part of the interview dealing with the stimulus (above). But you know what I was thinking? I was thinking, I know what the governor thinks about this. I’ve been told ad nauseam and beyond what the governor thinks about this, and it didn’t make any more sense this time than the other times I’ve heard it. What I would like to know is what the head of the state Chamber thinks about it, and I’d like to hear him tell it to the governor. That’s what I want my “advocate at the State House” to do.
Unless, of course, he thinks what the governor thinks, in which case never mind; I’ve heard it. (But from what I’ve heard, Otis does NOT agree with the gov.)
Anyway, that’s what I was thinking. But that’s me.
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No one is surprised that the Chamber of Commerce is uncritical of government waste. They want to stay cozy with the legislature, because they have a list of wants:
* shift taxes off business to property owners
* don’t enforce laws against illegal aliens
* let in more H1-B workers to push down white collar wages
* unload corporate health care plans onto the taxpayers
* tax breaks and subsidies for big corporate relocations and expansions
What Governot Sanford does not recognize or refuses to recognize is that the unemployment rate in South Carolina has been steadily rising during his terms as governor. Unemployment was rising in SC as the Dow, Wall Street and the economy was booming skyward.
Six hundred twenty days is a long time for South Carolinians to continue suffering until we get new leadership in the Governor’s Mansion.
Do you think Governor Sanford did something to make unemployment higher in South Carolina? What was it?
Most of the jobless in SC are low skilled. Their kind of work is going away, or is being taken away by illegal aliens who will work harder for less money, and less cost to the employer in insurance and taxes. What would any candidate for governor do to fix the unemployment among the uneducated and low-skilled workers? Would any Democrats run out the illegal Mexican labor? I don’t think so.
I think you will agree that for South Carolina to have successful businesses, they need to recruit against every other state, and pay wages competitive with California and New York, not just with the neighboring county. Right now, our industry is uncompetitive because they pay engineers and other technical talent 30% less than Charlotte and 40% less than Atlanta.
Let’s see… Hmmm, the Department of Commerce is a cabinet level agency. They haven’t done their part in recruiting businesses. I say fire the bums like Governot Sanford threatened with the head of the Employment Security Commission in his grab for power.
Sanford has not demonstrated a willingness to go out and recruit businesses. Instead, he pontificates via theatrical stunts and press releases, writing op-ed columns in the WSJ and appearing on Sunday talk shows railing about why he doesn’t like the Obama stimulus plan that we, as South Carolinians, will pay for other states taking our share of the money.
Yes, South Carolina needs successful businesses. We have to compete with the other 49 states to recruit industry. I will balance my comment about wages in NYC and California by saying that our cost of living is way lower than those two places; those two places are by far, the most expensive places to live. Earning $100,000 in NYC is barely making it, but in South Carolina that’s pretty doggone good. I’m not going to go out to a cost of living website, but I would guess that the COL for NYC is over 200% compared to South Carolina. But yes, I totally agree with you that the wages should be the same as Charlotte or Atlanta.
During the 80’s, Columbia was doing pretty good with NCR as a major employer, then AT&T happened in 91 and it’s been downhill since then.
All the development recruiters, from the city to the region to the state level, are too fixated on big factories, with lots of head count. They will give huge tax breaks to get the headlines.
It comes at the expense of ignoring, or actually being hostile to existing businesses, especially fast-growing innovative businesses which compete nationally and internationally. 100 small firms give a lot more diversity and growth than a big factory, and they not be as affected by an economic slump, especially one that strikes that big factory head on.
I have worked in NYC and all over California. The income taxes are about 50% higher. The housing is much higher, but has fallen 50% in California, and is falling in New York. The thing about talent is that a firm out there will pay $300,000 or more to top talent, who couldn’t get $125,000 in SC. That is why this state has a brain drain, especially to Atlanta and Charlotte, which are close enough to stay in touch with family in SC.
This is the meat in this discussion. Taken from Lee comments above:
Do you think Governor Sanford did something to make unemployment higher in South Carolina? What was it?
Most of the jobless in SC are low skilled. Their kind of work is going away, or is being taken away by illegal aliens who will work harder for less money, and less cost to the employer in insurance and taxes. What would any candidate for governor do to fix the unemployment among the uneducated and low-skilled workers? Would any Democrats run out the illegal Mexican labor? I don’t think so.