SC

SC Spending Watch: Strawberry Fields Forever?

For the past two years the Fort Mill (S.C.) Strawberry Festival has been honored as the “Event of the Year” by the S.C. Festival and Event Association (yes, the Palmetto State actually has such an entity). Exciting news, right? Not for taxpayers. In addition to receiving public resources at the…

strawberries

For the past two years the Fort Mill (S.C.) Strawberry Festival has been honored as the “Event of the Year” by the S.C. Festival and Event Association (yes, the Palmetto State actually has such an entity).

Exciting news, right?

Not for taxpayers. In addition to receiving public resources at the local level (from the town of Fort Mill and the Fort Mill School District), the Strawberry Festival is one of many events sponsored by Certified SC Grown, a promotional program run by the S.C. Department of Agriculture.

Should South Carolina be in the business of funding local festivals? Of course not. In fact this website’s first big exclusive six years ago dealt with a $46 million legislative slush fund – one which steered tax dollars toward these local boondoggles. And while lawmakers eliminated this “competitive grants” program in response to our report, they’ve clearly found other ways to funnel money into these festivals.

Look … we love parades. We love rides. We love good food. But these are simply not core functions of government – which means our leaders have no business forcing taxpayers to subsidize them.

In fact we have no business subsidizing a Department of Agriculture (SCDA) at all … which is why this website is proposing the elimination of this agency and its $13 million budget for the coming fiscal year.

What should be done with these “savings?” You guessed it … taxpayer rebates (in fact we’re now up to $84.5 million in tax dollars that could be pumped back into the economy by eliminating these unnecessary expenditures).

If our country is going to survive, government at all levels must begin the long-overdue process of prioritizing taxpayer-funded functions and eliminating those which do not serve a core purpose.

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15 comments

interested January 22, 2013 at 1:19 pm

How can you have cake and circus without strawberries?

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RB January 22, 2013 at 1:23 pm

The waste in funding festivals is easy to point out but what do you consider core functions of government?

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CNSYD January 22, 2013 at 1:34 pm

and the DETAILS of your taxpayer rebate plan are???????????

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south mauldin January 22, 2013 at 2:33 pm

They will be outlined in his book, of course.

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jimlewis,owb January 22, 2013 at 2:01 pm

According to clinical sexologist Ava Cadell, Phd. “Some foods lower inhibitions, some get the blood flowing directly to the genitalia, and some foods release happy hormones.”

Strawberries, with and without chocolate, are high on the list of the sultriest of these foods.

Dr. Cadell did not state whom she studied but it certainly could not have been anyone in South Carolina.

No way. Our esteemed Politicians and Elected Officials are turned on by foods that correspond to things with which they have a more intimate sexual relationship.

For example, every year over in Salley, SC you will find hundreds and hundreds of South Carolina politicians and elected officials eating platters of fried hog intestines.

Chitlins is the Official Aphrodisiac of the South Carolina Legislature.

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shifty henry January 22, 2013 at 2:32 pm

….. why not a “MULE DAY” – other states have one!

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shifty henry January 22, 2013 at 2:33 pm

… never mind – that would be disrespectful to the mules!

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shifty henry January 22, 2013 at 2:20 pm

…. we should honor other foods— if you missed any of them, put it on your calendar for 2014====

Jan 06 – Bean Day
Jan 16 – Hot and Spicy Food International Day
Jan 19 – National Popcorn Day
Jan 20 – National Buttercrunch Day
Jan 24 – Eskimo Pie Patent Day
Jan 29 – National Cornchip Day

Reply
johnb January 22, 2013 at 2:30 pm

Eskimo Pies have a patent ?.
Rats…back to the drawing board

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SparkleCity January 22, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Elimiinate the SC Dept of Agriculture?

What do you do when there is an outbreak of hoof & foot mouth disease, canker rot, or any plant/animal problem that involves the domestic food supply?

I know what to do!!!

Call Dow Chemical or ConAgra from here on out to solve the problem!!!

Well, there still would be the US Dept of Agriculture (hopefully) but if not Dow & ConAgra WILL call the shots even more than they ALREADY are……….

***Remember this is Tuesday and Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!!***

Don’t laugh, if FITS (God love him/her) has his/her way, “Soylent Green” day will be here sooner than later………..

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Reb January 22, 2013 at 7:01 pm

If they were serious about this they could consult with the folks in Plant City, FL who have been putting on the real strawberry festival for the past 80 years.

There is real revenue generated and its a real event, on its own merit.

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SparkleCity January 22, 2013 at 9:48 pm

That is a REAL pretty picture of strawberries, I’ll give FITS that.

Can’t wait till May!!!

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SparkleCity January 22, 2013 at 9:50 pm

Yeah, back when going to Daytona for “Bike Week” was worth a shit, we always used to bring back a few quarts of strawberries several months before they got ripe here.

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9" January 22, 2013 at 11:54 pm

If you only knew what a beautiful and wonderful world it was, when, ‘strawberry fields were forever’.Happy,belated 70th to,Janis Joplin!

Reply
shifty henry January 23, 2013 at 10:32 am

….. well, they sort of look like they are “freckled” – hah!

Reply

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