Gov. Mark Sanford managed to persuade
at least some South Carolinians that it was necessary for him to
take time away from his gubernatorial duties while he attended Air
Force National Guard training earlier this year. But we doubt he can
make much of a case for being missing in action while attending a
yacht race in Bermuda.
South Carolina is in the middle of one of its worst budget crises
in decades. The state faces a yawning budget deficit of nearly $500
million, and lawmakers have been unable to come to terms on how to
fund education, Medicaid and a host of other state services.
At the center of the budget debate last week was the proposal to
raise the state's cigarette tax to 53 cents per pack to help pay the
state's share of Medicaid. Sanford has a personal stake in this
issue. He has endorsed the cigarette tax hike if it were accompanied
by a plan to phase out the state's income tax. During the debate
Friday, Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to use the
cigarette-tax proposal as a bargaining chip in an effort to pass
Sanford's plan.
But where was Sanford? In Bermuda, attending a yacht race.
In addition to playing hooky from the debate in the Legislature,
Sanford also was snubbing the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, which
began Friday. This is, perhaps, the state's premier cultural event,
renowned worldwide and attended by thousands of visitors.
The governor should have been one of them. Tourism ranks at or
near the top of the state's most important industries, and the
governor has a responsibility to nurture and promote a festival as
important and prestigious as Spoleto.
Jetting off to Bermuda instead of staying home and tending to
business makes us wonder whether Sanford takes the job of governor
seriously or even understands what the job entails.
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In summary
Gov. Sanford missed an important debate in the Legislature
and the start of Spoleto.
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