CLYBURN, COLLEGE STUDENTS BLAME REPUBLICANS FOR SC STIMULUS SITUATION

Whether or not you agree with Gov. Mark Sanford’s staunch opposition to accepting $700 million in federal stimulus money, this one thing is for certain: It has a lot of people on both sides of the issue angry.

Congressman James Clyburn — who has a propensity to “Hulk out” — was chief among those who has recently expressed outrage. Clyburn’s anger stemmed from the belief that Sanford’s rejecting the stimulus funds would result in up to 4,000 public school teachers losing their jobs.

Only, Clyburn’s directed the bulk of his rage at Attorney General Henry McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham.

“Over the last several weeks and without even going to court—the proper venue to determine constitutionality of federal laws—[McMaster, Sanford and Graham] have gone out of their way to ensure that South Carolina continues its long history of providing a minimally adequate education,” Clyburn said, referring to measures by McMaster and Graham to clarify who, exactly, controls the discretionary money.

“What makes ‘state stabilization’ funding different from the funding Governor Sanford has authorized to rebuild highways or increase unemployment checks?” questioned Clyburn. “Why aren’t Attorney General McMaster and Senator Graham calling on Governor Sanford to use the very same pen to accept the state stabilization money—which our taxpayers are providing—to retain teachers and give our state’s schools the opportunity to move beyond their minimally adequate legacy?”

Clyburn apparently didn’t realize that McMaster and Graham didn’t tell Sanford what to do with the money. All they did was provide a legal background on what funding Sanford controls and what happens if he chooses not to accept that money.

The irony is that, if Clyburn and the rest of the Congressional Democratic leadership hadn’t written such a sloppy piece of legislation, McMaster and Graham probably wouldn’t have had to get involved.

Before the House Majority Whip had a chance to settle down, however, another education-minded group chimed in with anger.

College of Charleston Student Body President Seaton Brown mailed a letter to Sanford pleading for him to accept the money.

“As a student at the College of Charleston, one of the oldest public universities in the country, I am asking for our State to accept the federal stimulus money so that higher education can continue to flourish,” Brown wrote. “Our liberal arts education is of the highest quality, our students should not suffer due to a lack of funding when it is available.”

All I know is that, whichever way Sanford decides, I can’t wait for the Friday deadline so we can be done with this.