COLUMBIA - Ohio Gov. Bob Taft pleaded guilty to breaking state ethics laws.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco is blamed for failing to act as her state's biggest city turned into a toxic pond.

These are Gov. Mark Sanford's peers?

So says Time magazine.

The glossy news weekly has declared Sanford to be one of the country's three worst governors. Taft and Blanco are the others.

What did Sanford do to tick off Time?

Tim Padgett wrote the two-paragraph piece in the magazine's latest issue of the magazine. In it, he says Sanford's "conspicuous frugality" helped get him elected governor in 2002. But, Padgett writes, a "growing chorus of critics, including leaders of his own GOP" fear his thrift has hurt the state.

Padgett does not name any of these critics, even though, he says, they are growing in number. He also cites the decision by credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's decision to lower the state's credit rating, South Carolina's high unemployment rate and low per capita income.

"Even GOP bosses charge that he is worse at economic development than at grandstanding," Padgett writes, again without naming any names.

The top GOP boss in South Carolina is Katon Dawson, who said he'd rather be called what he is - chairman of the S.C. Republican Party, than a "GOP boss." But Dawson said Padgett never called him nor did anyone else at Time.

Efforts to reach Padgett or anyone else at Time were unsuccessful Monday.

Sanford said Monday that he isn't sure whether the first family subscribes to the magazine, but he won't cancel it if he does.

"I have read The New York Times, I will still read The New York Times," Sanford said. "I have read Time. I will still read Time. They may be left-leaning, but it's good to check in with what the left is thinking."

If the troika of Sanford, Blanco and Taft is the nation's worst, who are the best governors?

According to Time, in no obvious order, they are Republicans Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Kenny Guinn of Nevada, and Democrats Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Mark Warner of Virginia and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.

Sanford sees a common thread among the five - tax increases. All five proposed major tax increases, although Napolitano's failed to pass.

Sure, Sanford said, they are "Republicans and Democrats, but the common theme was fairly large tax increases."

Paul Asmer, 38, of Columbia, said he thought the Time article was "over the top."

Asmer, co-owner of Medcorp., which supplies ultrasound machines to hospitals, calls himself "on the fence" when it comes to being a Republican or Democrat.

But, he said, he found Time's piece unfair.

"Who are they to judge what's going on in South Carolina?" Asmer said. "I thought he was good for South Carolina."

Writing tickets in Five Points, parking enforcement officer Dixie Miller took the opposite view.

"I agree with it," Miller said of the ranking. "There was something about him I didn't like. It seems to me all he worries about is the rich people."

One thing is certain for Sanford: He can expect to hear about this ranking again, especially during next year's election.