ColorOfChange.org members demand that South Carolina governor stop playing politics with stimulus funds
Members of ColorOfChange.org, the nation’s largest online African-American advocacy group, are scheduled to flood South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s office with phone calls today demanding that he accept the full amount of federal stimulus funds intended to buoy his struggling state’s economy.
The effort is set to launch just days after Sanford announced he may refuse nearly a quarter of the stimulus dollars, including those targeted for education, unemployment benefits and other social programs. The group said it expected to tie up the lines at Sanford’s office throughout the day with hundreds of calls to drive home the importance of putting economic recovery — in South Carolina and throughout the country — before political posturing.
The callers are among more than 28,000 ColorOfChange.org members who recently signed an open letter to Sanford and five other Republican governors who have threatened to reject federal stimulus funds. The letter urges them to put their constituents’ well-being ahead of their desire to build their own national profiles within the Republican party.
Sanford, chair of the Republican Governors Association, has said he would accept a portion of the stimulus funds only if he can use it to pay down debt, a position that ColorOfChange.org Executive Director James Rucker called indefensible.
“As people in South Carolina struggle with this recession, Governor Sanford has decided to stand in the way of the help,” said Rucker. “It’s obvious even to Republicans in South Carolina that this has nothing to do with what’s best for the state — it’s all about scoring political points.”
“Schools in South Carolina can’t afford for thousands of teachers to lose their jobs, and neither can America’s economy,” Rucker continued. “But it seems like Governor Sanford thinks that currying favor with the far right of his political party is more important than stopping the economic bleeding.”
The group noted that black South Carolinians, nearly a third of the state’s population, will be hit particularly hard by Sanford’s decision to reject stimulus funds. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that blacks in that state are twice as likely as whites to be unemployed. The state’s jobless rate, at 10.4%, is second highest in the country.
With more than half a million members, ColorOfChange.org is the largest African-American online political organization in the country.
| Contact: | Gabriel Rey-Goodlatte |
| ColorOfChange.org | |
| Phone: (510) 299-0901 | |
| E-Mail: gabriel@colorofchange.org | |
| Dani McClain | |
| ColorOfChange.org | |
| Phone: 513-289-5715 | |
| E-Mail: dani@colorofchange.org |
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU–your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or corporations and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
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References:
1. VIDEO: CNN Report on Governor Sanford and Ty’Sheoma Bethea, 3-13-09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlMh5h28GY0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlMh5h28GY0
2. “Sanford’s Rejection Of Stimulus Funds Could Cost 7,500 Teachers Their Jobs,” Think Progress, 3-12-09
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/12/sanford-stimulus-education/
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/12/sanford-stimulus-education/
3. “S.C. Legislature Moves to Override Gov. Sanford on Stimulus Funds,” Wall Street Journal, 3-13-09
http://tinyurl.com/cymsqp
http://tinyurl.com/cymsqp
The New Liberator 
Mark Sanford Ignores Letter From OMB Director
LETTER TO GOVERNOR MARK SANFORD – SOUTH CAROLINA
Letter from Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag to Gov. Mark Sanford denying his request for a waiver.
COPY OF LETTER
Click to access obama2sanford_031609.pdf
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The letter states: “Specifically, by statue, the State allocation must be used as follows:”
“by statue” AND “must” …what is there not to understand?
Brace yourself…
“Sanford will release details of his follow-up request today”.
Okay, Sanford has been informed in writing that the “State allocation” , by “statue” “must” be used as “follows”
Now, Sanford read the letter, yet he insists on a “follow-up request”
What is his problem? He has to be the most thick-headed, bone-headed, stubborn, money grubbing politician on this planet.
…Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the Law.
IMPEACH GOVERNOR MARK SANFORD
2008 South Carolina Constitution
ARTICLE XV.
IMPEACHMENT
SECTION 1. Power of impeachment; vote required; suspension of officer impeached.
The House of Representatives alone shall have the power of impeachment in cases of serious crimes or serious misconduct in office by officials elected on a statewide basis, state judges, and such other state officers as may be designated by law. The affirmative vote of two-thirds of all members elected shall be required for an impeachment. Any officer impeached shall thereby be suspended from office until judgment in the case shall have been pronounced, and the office shall be filled during the trial in such manner as may be provided by law.
When the Governor is impeached, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or, if he be disqualified, the Senior Justice, shall preside, with a casting vote in all preliminary questions.
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/scconstitution/a15.htm