South Carolina Governor, Stimulus Package and Zimbabwe
I could not believe my ears when I heard South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford compare accepting money from the stimulus package with the situation in Zimbabwe. On Wednesday March 11, 2009 CNN reported Governor Sanford saying that the United States faces a Zimbabwe-style economic collapse if it keeps "spending a bunch of money we don't have." He is telling his constituents in South Carolina that he is not going to accept the money unless President Obama’s administration allows him to use some of the money to pay down the state’s debt. Let me put this into focus for you.
A person in South Carolina has lost his or her job. The person has a family to feed, a mortgage to pay, and work to find. Someone volunteers to give the unemployed worker some money until the person can find a job. The governor wants the unemployed worker to allow his family to go hungry, the mortgage to go unpaid, while the state government takes the money from the U.S. government and pays off some of the state government debts. It should also be noted that South Carolina’s rate of unemployment hit 10.4 percent, second only to Michigan's 11.6 percent.
The residents in South Carolina should run their governor out of office. He is expressing the trickle down economic theory to which President Obama is opposed and which has contributed to much of the economic downturn of present day American society. This is why the money needs to be given directly to the little people. Let the money trickle up, not trickle down. And Sanford has got the nerve to say that if he accepts the money then he will be creating a situation in South Carolina similar to the situation that exists in Zimbabwe. Can the same tragic political shenanigans happening in Zimbabwe that are contributing to Zimbabwe’s economic disaster be happening in South Carolina? Let’s see.
On February 11, 2009 Zimbabwe formed a “unity” government. This government consisted of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T). The United States, Britain and the European Union as a whole have said they will restrict aid to humanitarian assistance and won’t provide development aid to rebuild infrastructure and the shattered economy without clear evidence of significant reforms in Harare. Forming the Unity government was the requirement placed on the Zimbabwean government for the U.S. and Britain to stop blocking the Zimbabwean government from getting loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The loans from the IMF and the World Banks would be Zimbabwe’s stimulus package. Understand I said loan to Zimbabwe not like the gift to South Carolina. Zimbabwe would pay back the loan. Yes, unemployment is extremely high in Zimbabwe; it is high because the U.S. government ,in conjunction with Britain, is blocking money going to Zimbabwe which is much different than the gifting of money to South Carolina. Governor, the stimulus money to your state is not the same as the stimulus money being blocked that would kick start Zimbabwe’s economy. Employment is high in South Carolina, but the solution, as Sanford sees it, is not in having the government pour money into this state’s economy to help the unemployed, but ah, Sandford would much rather pay the state’s debt! God forbid!. Because Zimbabwe is not able to get loans it is having trouble feeding its people. This holdover policy from the Bush administration is causing starvation in Zimbabwe in order to accomplish political goals. President Obama’s administration is not putting these types of stipulations on South Carolina. You governor, as Bush has done to Zimbabwe, seemingly are willing to starve and make homeless the people of South Carolina by not taking the money offered by President Obama’s administration. That will make South Carolina like Zimbabwe because of your choosing. Let’s continue the comparison of the political environments that contribute to the economic situations.
On March 6, 2009 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his wife were in a car accident. That accident seriously injured the Prime Minister and killed his wife. The car that hit their car had license plates on it registered for use by the U.S. embassy or the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) according to Professor Jonathan Moyo, a member of Zimbabwe’s parliament. CNN reported that an anonymous member of MDC said the accident was an intentional act on the part of ZANU-PF to assassinate Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai rather than an act on the part of the U.S. government. How can the Zimbabwean government get a car registered to the United States government and use it to try to intentionally kill the second highest official of the Zimbabwean government and then return the car back to the U.S. government’s motor pool? Governor Sanford, are you trying to tell South Carolinians and the American people that President Obama’s administration is pulling off political shenanigans in South Carolina like that happening in Zimbabwe? Let me be clear, I am not saying that President Obama’s administration authorized the behavior that is going on in Zimbabwe. I know that the President is tied up with kick starting this economy and because of the country’s economic situation hasn’t taken the time to review and hopefully change the Bush administration’s policies toward Zimbabwe. I just don’t want to believe that the integrity of President Obama would allow him to support the type of behavior that is being displayed in Zimbabwe on behalf of the United States government. Bush’s policy in Zimbabwe starves innocent people in order to accomplish political gains. Just like he has stopped using the Bush language of “enemy combatants,” I believe President Obama will change Bush’s policy toward Zimbabwe.
There needs to be an international inquiry into the crash that caused the death of Amai Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The senior official in the United States Embassy, Glen Warren who according to Professor Johnathan Moyo a member of Zimbabwe’s parliament, verified in a telephone conversation that the car that hit the car in which the Prime Minister and his wife were riding belonged to the USAID should be questioned intently concerning his knowledge of the accident. And if, according to Governor Sanford, things like these things going on in Zimbabwe are also going on in South Carolina then that behavior should too be intently investigated. Governor, if the behavior in Zimbabwe is not the case in South Carolina then take the money and give it to your unemployed so that they can feed their families, and pay their mortgages until the economy bounces back, which it will, and they can again find employment and be self sufficient. Quit playing political games. The state’s debt can wait. Feed your people. Thank you for listening to AjabuSpeaks.