South Carolina Statehouse Blog

Columbia, S.C. - April 16, 2009 - Governor Mark Sanford issued the following statement on the lawsuit filed today over the stimulus:

“Our own Attorney General and the White House have already confirmed what we’ve long believed on this issue, that this administration has the sole authority to ask for these funds, not the legislature - and we will indeed ask for them so long as the legislature agrees to pay down debt as we’ve said,” Gov. Sanford said.

The suit is being filed by two long-time Columbia political insiders who have made millions at taxpayer expense. Dwight Drake is a well-heeled lobbyist who represented the video poker industry. Dick Harpootlian recently fought in the Supreme Court to try to take $8.6 million in legal fees from the state’s taxpayers, before the court decided he was only entitled to a fraction of that. This latest effort will again cost the taxpayers significantly to defend against.

“Thousands of taxpayers in our state stood up yesterday and said they’re tired of government spending beyond its means, that they’re tired of these so-called ’stimulus’ efforts out of Washington, D.C., and that they’re tired of Columbia insiders like these driving decisions in the Statehouse. We believe the Supreme Court will ultimately see it as the politically-driven press spectacle that it is, rather than a suit with any actual merit.”