From "The Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth" Department

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is still at it (The State: "Sanford's vetoes ignite budget battle"), rejecting federal stimulus dollars for his state-in-need. He's conjured up a convoulted argument to fuel his potential presidential campaign against President Obama in 2012. He says that the federal dollars should be used to pay down South Carolina's debt rather than be used to sure up budget shortfalls in areas like education or to create economic stimulus--the whole intent of the stimulus legislation.

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed nearly all of the state’s $5.7 billion spending plan Tuesday, a move lawmakers are expected to override today in the latest tussle over $350 million in disputed federal stimulus money.

Sanford has argued the state should pay off an equivalent amount of debt or he will not request the money. Lawmakers included rules in the budget that would require Sanford to request the money within five days of the budget becoming law.

Of course, Sanford is positioning himself as a "fiscal conservative" against Obama, assumedly a "tax-and-spend" Democrat. It appears as though bipartisan majorities in both houses of the Republican-controlled South Carolina legislature are set to reject the Guv'nah once and for all. Now that's a horse of a different color--one that's blue AND red all over.

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