No More Gimmicks

Mark Sanford is no stranger to gimmickry.  When he ran for the US House of Representatives in 1994 he went door to door handing out fake billion dollar bills to point out the dreaded government deficit.  He is at it again, with his reputed hand-made plywood signs that tout that he will save tax dollars.

Sanford truly is single-mindedly focused on saving money, but that doesn't mean he is going to save us money.  As governor, he paid $74,000 in fines on 37 ethics violations, agreeing to pay the fine in order to avoid a hearing.  His claims of innocence were based on his contention that the charges were unfair because others had done the same thing.

You should know that the ethics violations included spending tax dollars on personal travel expenses.

When Mark Sanford says he wants to save money, he is first and foremost talking about saving his own.

Not that he doesn't stand up for his principles.  For example, in 2009 he fought the state legislature over whether to take federal stimulus money.  Sanford of course refused the stimulus dollars.  When the legislature overrode his veto he filed a lawsuit against the state.  That's right, during the economic crisis, not only was Sanford refusing money that would help keep teachers, police and firefighters employed, he was using South Carolina's resources to fight the state legislature's legally won right to accept the funds.

So we know that Sanford is obsessive over money, but we also know, from his record as governor, that his judgment is poor, and he will cost us more money than he would ever save.

We also know that he is so convinced of the rightness of his own beliefs that he will never compromise.

For some, that attitude may be desirable in a member of Congress.  But for those of us who are feeling the effects of a do-nothing Congress, of "representatives" whose purpose is to prevent government from doing its job while continuing to take its salaries and perks, we know we don't want Mark Sanford adding to the dysfunction.

We have a better alternative.  Elizabeth Colbert Busch is businesswoman who has successfully coordinated university research and corporate interests toward creating a burgeoning wind turbine industry in South Carolina.

Isn't it time we elected someone to the House of Representatives that will work for us rather than do nothing and pocket the difference?

Elizabeth Colbert Busch

House of Representatives

Vote on May 7

Frugal or Just Cheap?

Somewhere along Route 21 in Beaufort, there is a sign:

Sanford is indeed frugal, but with his own $$.  His former wife documents this in her autobiography, but there is plenty of evidence of how tight the man will squeeze a penny in his governorship of South Carolina.  We all know the stories about making staff use both sides of Post-It notes.

But is he frugal with OUR money?  Not so much.  It seems he used our tax dollars to fund his trysts in Argentina, for one thing.  I can imagine that, since he had to stop using his campaign funds for noncampaign expenses, all that money must have been burning quite a hole in his pocket.  Maybe this was why he decided to run for the vacant House seat.

So now he's still got friends with deep pockets, and quite a campaign treasury.

But why spend the money?  Single-minded maybe, but if he wanted to prove he's cheap, his plywood and paint street sign campaign sure does the trick.  All you folks out there that can't cough up $1,000 for the campaign can still do your part.  Just grab some old plywood and a bucket of paint and stick that sign in your front yard.

Well, back to the sign up on Highway 21.

It happens to sit next to a very small business that is no longer in business:

And this picture really does say more than a thousand words.  Support Mark Sanford and this is the future of your small business.  Or your children's education.  Or your mom and dad's senior years.

This is what Sanford's tight fist and bad judgment did to South Carolina when he was governor -- put us well on the way to "Out of Business."

So I decided that, since I don't have that $1,000 to donate to a campaign, I'd take a hint from Mark Sanford and do my part:

Elizabeth Colbert Busch

U.S. House of Representatives

Vote May 7!