Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A Carolinian For VP?

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal about Mark Sanford as a possible running mate for John McCain. As I went through it I began to realize that I would probably like my governor more than I thought. I have heard off and on that he is a proponent of tax cuts, school choice and has vetoed almost 400 bills (although most were overturned, it's still nice to see someone telling politicians to stop trying to "do" so much). He is also a big free market supporter:

"There are only two ways to raise the standard of living," he said, "through technology – one backhoe can dig more dirt than 50 men with shovels – and through brain power . . . And that's it."

You cannot have the government spend its way to happiness. Tax rebates will do nothing without future promised cuts in spending. He is also famous for what he did to get the South Carolina legislature to balance the budget. Four years ago, Mr. Sanford walked into the House chamber carrying two squealing piglets in an effort to shame legislators over pork-barrel spending. He also has some insightful things to say about the health care/insurance debate.

"Our contention has been that the fatal flaw with our health-care system is that someone else pays. And as long as someone else pays, there is unlimited demand for a product . . . someone is going to cap it. It's just a question of who it is going to be? A government bureaucrat? An HMO bureaucrat? Or is it going to be you? But it is going to be somebody, because we can't keep growing health care at double digits and expect to be competitive. . . . So we were the second state in the nation to offer health savings accounts to all state workers and all state retirees. We got that one through. We are the first state in the nation to be offering the health care choice system [for Medicaid]. . . that offers everything from traditional fee-for-service to HMOs to PPOs, but the big one that I like is the individual health savings accounts."

He has also

"enacted a voucher system for prekindergarten students, created a statewide charter school district (local districts won't approve new charters), and has pushed for, though not won, vouchers for nearly every child in the state."

Although South Carolina is not the voting bloc you want in a Vice Presidential candidate, it would also be nice to have some Carolina representation in the White House. Something that hasn't happened since John C. Calhoun (go tigers).

4 comments:

  1. Ah yes, then he can bankrupt our national education system as well as our state one. I don't think having one of Time's Top 5 Worst Governors in the country is going to help McCain beat the Obama/Clinton craze.

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  2. I think it just depends on who you read.

    http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2005/03/best_and_worst_governors.php

    It seems clear that Time wants a governor that "does" stuff... AKA raise taxes, increase programs, or in one case, give a children's book to every first-grader in the state (Janet Napolitano, Arizona)

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  3. I think more people read Time than ClubForGrowth.com

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  4. You mean you've never heard of "Club For Growth's Person of the Year"

    The award went to Bruce Campbell in 2007

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You are the reason why I do not write privately. I would love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or not.