You may have seen recen tly that one of the credit agencies recently downgraded South Carolina's credit rating from AAA to AA+. This means that ultimately state and local governments could be paying a higher interest rate when they borrow money, and could mean more money coming from your pockets in the form of higher taxes to repay those debts.

Standard and Poor's report talked about our economy and unemployment rate as part of the reason for the downgrade. Unfortunately, some folks in Columbia believe the way to solve these problems is with more government spending. I believe the real solution lies in doing just the opposite -- passing legislation to slow government growth and repaying money taken from trust and reserve funds are key to regaining our triple-A credit rating. I'd ask for your help on both of these fronts.

To that end, I've included in this e-mail a copy of a recent editorial from the Greenwood Index-Journal that lays out some of the reasons behind the credit rating downgrad e and what we need to do to fix it. If you have a minute, forward this e-mail to 10 friends and, most importantly, to your elected representatives. As always, thanks for your support. Take care.

Mark

From the Greenwood Index-Journal, July 19, 2005

Loss of textile jobs adds to credit rating problem

South Carolina recently lost one of its top-rated AAA credit standings. Standard and Poor's Rating Service lowered it to AA-plus. Two other rating services kept it at AAA. Some legislative members of his own Republican Party put the blame squarely on Gov. Mark Sanford. Heading the list is new Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell. He says he's not picking on Sanford, but...

Most of Sanford's critics agree with S & P that it's high unemployment in the state that causes the problem. In short, they say it's a lack of jobs. They blame the governor for not doing enough to attract new industry and create new jobs. Standard and Poor's doesn't like tax cuts, either, somethi ng that Sanford has proposed.

Living in a community that historically has depended on the textile industry to supply the most jobs, it would seem that the decline in the domestic textile industry is one of the major culprits. With factories that produce textiles moving abroad, there's not much that any governor can do. It's clear, too, that legislators can't do anything, either. They are, after all, in a state where the legislature is the dominant power. They are in a far better position to do something to help offset the tremendous loss of textiles jobs, not to mention other industries that have also been negatively affected by the emerging global economy.

You expect the opposition, in this case Democrats, to point the finger at a sitting Republican governor. You don't, however, expect the leaders of his own party to berate him as a major cause of state worries.

Like it or not, Sanford is a governor who seems to be trying to keep the bond he made with voters. He c ampaigned on tax cuts. He also promised to work to make state government more efficient and productive through challenging the way business has always been done in Columbia. Considering that the Legislature has always been the power in South Carolina, it wasn't likely that it would relinquish any government reins without putting up a fight. Whether anyone expected it to be as contrary or antagonistic as it has become, though, is hard to say. Maybe it is simply a product of the times, when nitpicking, back-biting, character assassination and worse have become the rule instead of the exception.

Whatever, the whole attitude thing is a drain on civility almost every which way you turn. There's no wonder that voters get fed up with government. They don't have much of a choice.