Scrutiny for the 'stimulus'

You could be forgiven for being uneasy about the “stimulus” bill approved by Congress last month. It’s heavy on new spending, and it’s light on tax cuts that have been proven to stimulate the economy. It’s laden with “pork” projects that have nothing to do with economic activity, and it represents an unprecedented, massive shift of resources from the private sector to the government sector.
And let’s not forget who will be picking up our tab. The repayment of our trillions of dollars in national debt now extends far into the futures of our children and grandchildren.
Governor Sanford last week announced he won’t request about $700 million of the $2.8 billion which had been headed to South Carolina, saying it would put our state deeper in debt. However, some state lawmakers have announced they’ll request the federal funds in place of the governor.
Regardless of one’s personal opinion on the “stimulus” package, one thing is clear: If this bill is to have a chance at getting our economy back on track, we must see to it that the money is managed properly. Without adequate oversight, such a swift and massive infusion of cash invites too many opportunities for waste, mismanagement, even corruption.
Despite his opposition to the stimulus package, the governor has assembled an oversight task force to see that our state spends this money in a careful and completely accountable way. His stimulus oversight task force, established by an Executive Order, is comprised of directors of state agencies that would receive the funds, including the Superintendent of Education and Secretary of the Department of Transportation.
I’ve been asked by the governor to lead the task force, and I agreed to take on the task. On March 12, I travelled to the White House to be briefed by the president, vice president and other top administration officials.
The health of our economy is tied, to a large extent, to public confidence in government. Pessimism flourishes with repeated news accounts of wasteful spending, excessive bonuses and behind-the-scenes deal-making such as we’ve witnessed with recent federal bailouts. We must do better this time.
I’d like to take this opportunity to raise another important issue about the stimulus debate. As I sit here writing this community newspaper column, an “attack ad” -- aimed at our governor because on his views that we should not increase deficit spending and saddle future generations with enormous debt -- plays on a television nearby.
These extraordinary times call for an honest, civil conversation about our future as a nation and a society. Now is the time to lay down our swords and lay aside the “villains-versus-heroes” mentality, the attitude that it’s OK to tear someone down simply because of an opposing viewpoint.
As national and state leaders grapple with our greatest economic challenge in generations, some serious soul-searching is in order. Maybe those of us in positions of leadership -- including both political parties -- would do well to adopt a civil, issue-oriented discourse, one truly focused on improving the lives of people and one befitting the communities we serve.

Sunshine Week: An opportunity to advance the cause of open government

The Governor works for you. So does your local county administrator, your mayor, your legislator and the superintendent of your school district.

This means you have a right to know how each of them spend your tax dollars and how they arrive at decisions that affect you.

This week, March 15-21, is National Sunshine Week. Its purpose is to celebrate -- and raise awareness of -- laws that grant citizens access to public records.

Sunshine Week started in 2003. A group of newspaper editors sought a way to educate the public on Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, the advantages of open government and the dangers of government secrecy. It’s observed primarily by the media, which use state and federal FOI laws to gain access to public records.

Enacted in 1976, South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act requires meetings of public bodies (from school boards to the legislature) to be open to the public. The Act also requires for the agendas of planned meetings be to publicly posted at least 24 hours in advance. Most importantly, the Act guarantees citizens the right to inspect and copy government documents if they wish.

I’ve long believed that transparency is the backbone of good government. When government officials are required to operate in full view of the citizenry, they are usually more accountable. They tend to make decisions that are in the best interest of the people they represent.

Unfortunately, however, many of those important decisions are often made behind closed doors. Some men and women in positions of public trust act as if the “people’s business” is nobody’s business. I probably don’t have to tell you what it means when government feels free to make decisions in private, knowing what they discuss may never face the test of public scrutiny.

It was a year ago this week that my office unveiled South Carolina’s first spending transparency Web site for state government. Visitors to the site can view specific spending details for more than 80 state agencies. And in recent months my staff and I have devoted our efforts to persuading local governments also to begin posting their spending details on the Internet, so that taxpayers can see where their hard-earned tax dollars are going at the local as well as state level. This spending transparency initiative is among several key reforms underway that aim to shine a light on the inner workings of government.

Empowering citizens with access to details about how government operates won’t fix all our problems overnight, but it will go a long way toward improving the quality of governance and moving our state forward.

Even in the best of times, transparency is vital to good government. Given today’s economic crisis, with tax dollars scarce and the demands on them increased, full transparency is more important than ever.

What the media won't say about the stock market losses

Just days before the new president took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was above the 9,000 point mark.

As I sit here on a Saturday night penning this community newspaper column, I realize that during the last two months the Dow has dropped steadily to about 6,600 -- its lowest level in more than a decade. Nervous experts and investors are now questioning when the decline will hit bottom.

Yet for all the media coverage of the Dow’s dropping like a rock, scant attention has been paid to the most probable reason for the market’s perilous decline -- a lack of faith in the new president’s economic policies. This president holds a much different view of private property and personal wealth than other presidents throughout our history. To him, government should take private property and personal wealth through a more aggressive tax system in order to distribute private property wherever government wants it handed-out.

I probably don’t have to tell you that, to a large extent, the state of the market reflects the public’s confidence in government and in government’s stabs at managing economic growth. Investors -- the people who produce prosperity and create jobs -- must have faith in government’s involvement. If they don’t, if they begin to believe that government is consuming our nation’s prosperity rather than promoting it, they bail out of the investment markets faster than the government bailing out delinquent mortgages.

Investors and the American consumer are wary of the massive shift of resources from the private sector to the government sector. An economic agenda that taxes and punishes businesses and an economic “stimulus” package that’s heavy on government spending and light on tax cuts to stimulate our economy have served to seriously undermine the investment markets by creating major uncertainty and pessimism.

The seemingly bottomless bailouts, the trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill and the new president‘s multi-trillion dollar budget plans are hindering, not helping, our economy’s revival.

We are a resilient country and our spirit is strong. We will rebound as we always have. But I worry that this president’s policies -- rightly viewed as hostile to the capital markets -- threaten what would otherwise be a normal cycle of economic recovery. I hope I am proven wrong.

Perhaps the president’s reaction to the market’s depressing descent is instructive. In the wake of the Dow’s steady nosedive, the new president sought to downplay its importance. But that ignores an important reality: For our economy to truly rebuild itself, people must have confidence. And part of what this country needs is a healthy Dow Jones Industrial Average, always considered a crucial economic barometer.

The last president to truly pull America up from a steady decline, Ronald Reagan, knew he must inspire our confidence that better days lie ahead. But Reagan’s policies also honored the ideals of our Founding Fathers, who believed that a government that’s limited best enables its citizens to succeed.

From the earliest days of our nation’s experiment in self-rule, the Founding Fathers envisioned a government that performed only those functions that individuals couldn’t -- and then got out of the way to allow the most industrious, ingenious and enterprising people in the world to build an ever-improving nation rich in freedom, opportunity and success.

What we’re seeing in Washington today strays far from our founders’ brilliant and spectacular vision.

Eyes on public spending

(Editorial re-published from the Feb. 25 edition of the Charleston Post & Courier.)

Washington is embarking on a record spending spree aimed at stimulating the economy and saving the banking industry. Considering the immense stakes, taxpayers must know how that money will be used. President Barack Obama, during Tuesday night's speech to Congress, again acknowledged the federal government's responsibility to provide that information.

That obligation extends to all spending by all levels of government — especially in these tough times when every dollar is precious. And in our state, encouraging progress is being made toward such full transparency and accountability.

For instance, anyone who is interested can make a few clicks on the computer and find out how much the state Higher Education Commission spent on copying equipment in June or how much the Department of Commerce spent on foreign travel in September.

It should be just as easy to find out about local government spending, and Richard Eckstrom is trying to make that happen. As state "watchdog," Comptroller General Eckstrom has been a crusader for transparency in government.

His first attempts to convince state agencies and departments to submit spending data for the Website were unsuccessful. Administrators said they lacked sufficient staff for the task and projected high costs for gathering the data.

So Mr. Eckstrom and his staff did it themselves. The total cost, he says, was less than $20,000 for some computer programs and a little extra staff time.

The resulting Website, www.cg.sc.gov, is easy to access, and you don't have to be an accountant to understand the data.

Click on any of the 80-plus state agencies (cabinet or non-cabinet), the time period (year or month) and even the category (travel, supplies, photographic services and the like). Data is updated regularly.

Last year, Mr. Eckstrom tried to expand the Website to include data about spending by cities, towns, counties, public service districts and school districts.

Again, he got excuses: Publishing that information would inspire too many queries from the public; gathering it would take too much time and money; or they simply didn't think they were obliged to do so.

The Legislature has considered a bill that would have required local governments to put their spending on-line. It failed, but Mr. Eckstrom hopes a similar bill introduced in the House last month will succeed this session.

During unremarkable times, citizens have a right to know how public dollars are spent. During extraordinary times like these, with state and local governments slashing budgets and citizens questioning the decisions, there is even more reason to be transparent.

Mr. Eckstrom recently wrote in The Post and Courier, "Too often, tax dollars are spent under a shroud of secrecy, and decisions which affect your family are made out of public view."

It stands to reason that public agencies are far more accountable when their spending is done in the open. Governments that handle the public's business should welcome the opportunity to show the taxpayers where their money's going. Those that refuse just might have something to hide.