Additional details are emerging in a major economic development scandal involving S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and her Department of Commerce.
Late yesterday, FITS exclusively reported on Haley’s politically motivated intervention in the deal to bring 500 mostly low-paying television manufacturing jobs to South Carolina. The long and short of this story? Haley and her administration are accused of abusing the state’s taxpayer-funded incentive process to convince this company – Element Electronics – to choose Fairfield County over Sumter County, which is where it originally intended to locate.
Why would Haley do that? So she could claim to have brought jobs to “every South Carolina county” when she formally announces her bid for reelection on Monday.
That may be good for Haley (all other economic indicators to the contrary) but leaders in Sumter – which is now out of 500 new jobs – are livid.
“Sumter is raging right now,” a source familiar with the situation tells FITS.
“Sumter folks originated the deal and then passed it over to Commerce – then politics took over,” the source adds. “This deal could have been done by Sumter but they chose to be team players. Haley and Commerce hijacked it as soon as they got the details.”
In addition to creating a potential political headache for Haley (there are four times as many votes in Sumter than there are in Fairfield), sources tell FITS that her Commerce Department’s intervention in the deal could create serious problems for the state moving forward.
There are also serious questions being raised regarding the taxpayer-funded incentives shelled out in relation to this project – and whether South Carolina was forced to pay more money to land this project as a result of Haley’s political meddling.
“The implication of this is the locals will now say ‘screw Commerce’ and go off on their own,” one source told us. “It’s going to be forty-six counties playing a game of ‘Monopoly.’ Every local economic development board is watching this deal.”
There are also serious questions being raised regarding the taxpayer-funded incentives shelled out in relation to this project – and whether South Carolina was forced to pay more money to land this project as a result of Haley’s political meddling.
As we’ve stated on numerous occasions, we do not believe government should have any role in “economic development” – other than keeping taxes low for all citizens and businesses. Corporate cronyism is fundamentally wrong – and creates a higher tax burden for everyone who isn’t getting a handout.
The process of picking winners and losers in the marketplace is also infinitely corruptible – as this saga demonstrates.
21 comments
Too bad Sumter leaders don’t read Fitsnews. Then they’d be happy those 500 “low paying” jobs are going to Fairfield instead of Sumter.
In any event, was Haley ever going to win Sumter or Fairfield’s leadership over in an election? I’m pretty sure both are pretty heavily democratic anyways.
What is going to happen when the junior bangers at Fairfield Central high school realize that there is a building full of flat screen tv’s right down the road? This company had better invest in a good security system or better yet a security guard with an itchy trigger finger.
It’s not the bangers and thugs and gangs causing problems in South Carolina. It’s the underaged white college drinkers at Five Points. Steve Benjamin said so.
“I’s a great day for Nikki Haley…”
If Sumter could have done the deal by themselves they should have, but they didn’t want to pay for the deal by themselves so they tried to get the state to pony up using economic development (state tax dollars vs. local tax dollars). The tax payers in Sumter should be happy their local money won’t be paying for this.
OMG, she’s sporting a mack daddy sized ass these days.
— spank that thang!
Yep, wayward hiney Haley has really packed on the pounders.
Is that you, Tim?
Her bottom has grown somewhat but that is okay. You can see her dress doesn’t quite fit any more. She is gorgeous sexy.
HaHa
No matter how much FITS tries to spin this, this is NOT a scandal. It is politics as usual, and it will go on no matter who is Governor.
Concur, “all hat, no cattle”, “lots of smoke (as in the kind that is blown up skirts) but no fire”.
Will, Unless she killed someone to get them to move the plant to a different location and you have the body, the smoking gun and the video of her pulling the trigger, this is a “tempest in a teapot”.
By the way Will, your story feed suck the big one!
Fairfield must habla better than Sumter, non?
Nothing new on this front. Example: Upstate Governors: Riley, etc. intervened with SCE&G’s attempts to get AFL and Sumitomo factories located in Columbia area. They instead pushed them to their home upstate counties. Results were: AFL located in Spartanburg, and Sumitomo left SC and went to NC. A complete disaster for SC and Columbia area. Because of this Governor backstabbing; SCE&G did not involve the Commerce Dept. or Governors office again in job recruiting. Thus, Pirelli, now Prysmian Cable, located in Lexington County.
History has a bad habit of repeating itself.
“Corporate cronyism is fundamentally wrong – and creates a higher tax burden for everyone who isn’t getting a handout.”
Except when it applies to private and charter schools, right?
Does she still have that morbidly obese fellow as her Commerce Secretary?
Gov looks great in pictures, and so will win re-election regardless of her scandals. More good looking than Sheheen. That’s the way it is in SC.
No matter how much spin and lies that you have spewed on this site against Haley, she has emerged stronger and more popular and best of all very successful Governor. She has done an outstanding job of putting a perceived backward looking state like South Carolina on the business map of the world. True you can never have all deals where you are going to be winning, but overall she has been highly successful in her mission of bringing jobs to this state, in spite of a viscous and poisonous propaganda by her detractors and political enemies led by by FITS to defame her almost every single day. I can almost guarantee that she will win elections for the second term with a thumping majority.
Compared to what Haley has achieved, look in the mirror and see what you have achieved? ZERO zilch Nada!!
I guess the DOR (leak of ss#’s)and the DEW (zero responsiveness to businesses/overpay-ments/layoffs) and the DHEC (TB cover up in Greenwood) disasters just don’t count.
The Governor is more popular than what – a TB outbreak?
I admittedly have no real dog in this fight, but have you seen her polling? She may very well squeak into a second term (this is SC, after all), but I wouldn’t characterize her as “more popular.”