SC

More Questions About Nikki Haley’s Economic Record

LIBERALS AGREE WITH US … SOUTH CAROLINA’S “OPPORTUNITY AND PROSPERITY” ISN’T EXPANDING Last week we posted a brief about South Carolina’s lagging labor participation rate … which remains among the lowest in the nation.  A few months ago we reported on the Palmetto State’s abysmal income levels … also among the country’s worst….

LIBERALS AGREE WITH US … SOUTH CAROLINA’S “OPPORTUNITY AND PROSPERITY” ISN’T EXPANDING

Last week we posted a brief about South Carolina’s lagging labor participation rate … which remains among the lowest in the nation.  A few months ago we reported on the Palmetto State’s abysmal income levels … also among the country’s worst.  And let’s not forget South Carolina’s pesky proximity to the Chinese economy, which is looming very large at the moment.

Add it all up and you’ve got a state that isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders … despite surging government spending (and soaring taxpayer-funded payouts to wealthy, well-connected corporations).

Naturally, free market supporters like us loathe the sort of crony capitalism employed by South Carolina in its (failed) efforts to generate economic growth.  And we’re sad S.C. governor Nikki Haley – once a staunch opponent of corporate welfare – has now become its biggest cheerleader.

We’re not the only unhappy ones, though …

Liberals aren’t thrilled about the mess, either.  In fact The Institute for Southern Studies, which laughably claims that the south is “brimming with a capacity for progressive change that challenges its reputation as a monolithic, conservative stronghold,” doesn’t exactly think much of the Palmetto State’s current economic trajectory, either.

According to this group’s analysis, “Haley has come under growing criticism for South Carolina’s ‘low road’ economic development approach, a strategy that lavishes millions of dollars in giveaways to companies for low-paying jobs that keep many working families mired in poverty.”

Those government-subsidized giveaways – along with “low-paying jobs and economic instability” and a “lower quality of life” – make for difficult economic times.

We agree – although there are parts of this group’s analysis that are demonstrably untrue.  For example, it cites “shortchanging public investment” as a reason why South Carolina ranks “near the bottom nationally on a host of indicators of health and well-being.”

State government has expanded by an average of $1 billion a year over the last seven years … how exactly is that “shortchanging public investment?”

Still, we can’t argue with the group’s takeaway …

“Republicans are putting Haley forward as a new, fresh face for the GOP of the future,” the analysis concluded.  “But in the South, the core of her economic vision is eerily familiar: a low-road approach that, when measured by indicators of shared prosperity and well-being, has had a high cost for working families.”

Indeed …

Whether you’re coming at it from the right or the left, the end result is unavoidable: South Carolina is not the land of opportunity or prosperity GOP leaders said it was when they touted Haley to deliver the “Republican” response to U.S. president Barack Obama‘s final State of the Union address.

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32 comments

Torch January 13, 2016 at 2:51 pm

Could that “public investment” be roads and other infrastructure?

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You Misread That January 13, 2016 at 3:04 pm

Maybe it was pubic investment instead of public. I’d be careful if I were him, if you stick your investment in something risky like that it might not come out intact.

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TroubleBaby January 13, 2016 at 2:56 pm

I didn’t know Martin Short was running Volvo-America.

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Tazmaniac January 13, 2016 at 4:36 pm

Accurate description, I must say.

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dwb619 January 13, 2016 at 3:28 pm

South Carolina is in the bottom of two of several things, wages and private sector unionization.
Any correlation there, ya’ thank?
LIVE BETTER- WORK UNION!!!!!!!!

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Lone Ranger January 13, 2016 at 4:09 pm

dwb–like ALL union thugs–thought “living better” was just dollars and cents
That’s right–didn’t understand how we got Boeing–yep–the boy was dense !!!

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Tonto January 13, 2016 at 4:29 pm

Told you your girl Haley would be on the national stage months ago. Thanks to smacking down idiot racists, like you. You’re welcome.

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Lone Ranger January 13, 2016 at 5:38 pm

Tonto–NO relation to Tonto–was a loyal ACORN member all along
A black racist like his mentor Obama–always looking for his bong !!!

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guru January 14, 2016 at 10:10 am

I would sell my soul, if I had one, or my endorsement for a chance to spew crap to the world. What a fool.

Lone Ranger January 14, 2016 at 3:45 pm

guru was a freeloading Dimwit and from sun to shining sun
He WAS selling his soul if truth be told stumbling over Psalm 53:1 !!!

Clarence Boddicker January 13, 2016 at 6:31 pm

Better a racist than a cucked faggot

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dwb619 January 13, 2016 at 8:49 pm

Geez, ASS-HOLE, had to vote yourself up, did ya?
BAD FORM!

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dwb619 January 13, 2016 at 8:51 pm

If you can read enough, tell me what that 1 billion dollar incentive WE are paying for did to bring Boeing?

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Lone Ranger January 14, 2016 at 3:42 pm

dwb refused to see how one manufacturing job generates six in the services sector
And yes dwb was a union hack but did he graduate from h.s.?…open to conjecture
And although nobody was swayed by his posts it must be said if truth be told
You don’t get a pass and you’ve–that’s right–got no class calling folk azz… s !!!

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dwb619 January 14, 2016 at 4:33 pm

North Augusta High School 1969YOU ARE STILL A LOW CLASS SACK OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STILL VOTING YOURSELF UP, GO BACK TO JERKIN G OFF, ASSSSSS HOLE!!!!!!

sparklecity January 13, 2016 at 8:54 pm

You can bet if there was just TEN union members in the Great State of South Carolina, Haley and other Republicans would blame all the troubles on those 10 union members…….
They damn near do it now with what, WAY less than 10% of workers in the private sector being union members in South Carolina????

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dwb619 January 13, 2016 at 9:12 pm

I think it is around three percent.
Those ‘thugs” must be a hard nut to crack.
She should check into the “union” infestation at Duke Powers Oconee plant, the two new units SCE&G are building in the midlands, all those data centers around Moncks Corner, and thousands of them at SRP.
That should keep her and Kathryn busy until her term is up.

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nitrat January 14, 2016 at 9:16 am

And, when Charleston County school district privatized its school bus fleet, all those workers became unionized.
That was particularly ironic. Republican Libertarians hate unions and live to privatize all government services. In that case, privatization insured something that would never have happened if they had remained state/county funded government employees.

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dwb619 January 14, 2016 at 6:09 pm

One would think that the county would have taken a look at the demographics of their bus drivers.
Kathryn must not have known how to “talk smack” like NIMRATA said she would.

Bubba January 13, 2016 at 6:00 pm

“State government has expanded by an average of $1 billion a year over the last seven years … how exactly is that “shortchanging public investment?”

Depends entirely on what you spent it on. If my household budget increased 100% but I spent the entire increase on beer doubt I could point to any improvement the increase spending produced.

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Clarence Boddicker January 13, 2016 at 6:29 pm

Pimping out our state to globalist corporations giving them sweet heart deals with the tax revenue of the natives so they can undermine said native culture and reap profits, some economic policy. #deportnimrata

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erneba January 13, 2016 at 8:02 pm

I agree, South Carolina could do better.
Haley employs “a strategy that lavishes millions of
dollars in giveaways to companies for low-paying jobs that keep many
working families mired in poverty.”
Everyone would like to see companies with high-paying jobs and companies committed to South Carolina move into the state. The truth is, attracting firms that could do that are not really excited about the educational levels of our workforce and the supporting educational infrastructure in the state.
South Carolina is not exactly the breeding ground for another “Silicon Valley,” maybe more “Silicone Tits.”

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The Colonel (R) January 13, 2016 at 8:21 pm

Will, Will, Will

First you say. “…In fact The Institute for Southern Studies, which laughably claims that the south is “brimming with a capacity for progressive change that challenges its reputation as a monolithic, conservative stronghold,” …” and then you use that same laughable source as the basis for your assertions. Aren’t you kind of discounting your own assessment there Skippy?

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Surprise January 14, 2016 at 1:03 am

Haley’s economic record has always been suspect. Which is why she should have never been re-elected. Ironically, Sheheen lost in part because he wanted to do something that Haley ended up doing anyway…

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Bible Thumper January 14, 2016 at 3:05 am

We can disagree when we debate the issues. We don’t disagree on the facts. Every number fits quotes in this article and that I use come from the monthty Census Bureau American Community Surveys. They provide the data that the BLS, BEA and the SCDEW use. The labor data comes from Household Survey which is part of the Census survey. Where fits and I disagree is the way he cherry picks the the data to create a false narrative.

The labor participation rate(LPR) includes workers and those unemployed searching for work. The Employment-Population Ratio(EPR) only includes people with a job. So when unemployed job seekers get a job the LPR is unchanged, but the EPR rises.

Nikki Haley took office in Jan 2011. May 2014 was the lowest LPR.
——- Jan 2011—- May 2014 —- Nov 2015
LPR —– 60.1 ———- 58.0 ————- 59.0 Large dip but now rising.
EPR —– 53.7 ———- 54.5 ————- 55.8 Almost continuous rise.
Notice the gap between the LPR and the EPR has narrowed by half from 6.4 to 3.2. That represents unemployment being cut in half.

Fits also makes the point about SC stagnant incomes. This is a problem the whole country faces. Haley doesn’t control federal policy. South Carolina and Haley’s performance should be measured against other states and the nation as a whole and SC was already one of tbe poorest states when she took office, so we should compare the rate of improvement.

In 2014, SC had the 15th highest improvement in personal income among the 50 states. SC had a 4.3% improvement compared to 3.9% for the whole nation. For the first 3 quarters of 2015 that are available, the county averaged 1.1% personal income growth, while SC averaged 1.2%. See Tables at the right of these two links.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2015/spi0315.htm
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/sqpi_newsrelease.htm

Fits has also made an issue of China currency devaluation effecting South Carolina. Chinese exports have already declined in 2014 (latest available), but it was more than made up by Germany alone. SC exports increased by $3.333 billion in a year when exports to China decreased by $0.650 billion. Again this is Census Bureau data. No reason they would scew data to favor SC.
See second table on this link.
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/state/data/sc.html

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How Many? January 14, 2016 at 5:53 am

The one stat you forgot to include (big surprise) is how many billions of tax dollars Haley has given away to these companies to get them to come here.

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Bible Thumper January 14, 2016 at 11:13 am

Because of the growth due to incentives given to companies to come here, South Carolina has enjoyed a $1.2 billion dollar budget surplus without any tax increases.

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How Many? January 14, 2016 at 5:50 pm

Wow…you must drink the Kool-Aid from a big gulp cup.

Seriously, of all the pro-Haley crap you spout on this website this has to be the dumbest by a wide margin.

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Bible Thumper January 14, 2016 at 6:18 pm

There is nothing in your reply that addresses the content of my comment. You admit the truthfulness my original comment by not disputing it but commenting on something left out. I respond to that and you attack me but add nothing of substance on the issue. You are the one who drinks the Kool-aid that Fitsnews serves on a regular basis.
I’m the independent thinker. You’re the one swallowing what Fitsnews serves without any questioning.

nitrat January 14, 2016 at 9:06 am

If you’re going to complain about public investment, don’t complain about DSS and its problems in the past.
I might have missed it, but did FITSNEWS complain about all the dam breaches during the recent flood? Per a Greenville News story, that can pretty much be laid at the doorstep of the Sanford/Haley administration and the SC legislature and their lack of public investment that gutted the dam inspection division.

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John January 14, 2016 at 10:01 am

Those boots, though…

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dwb619 January 14, 2016 at 10:58 am

NIMRATA gonna have all the hookers barefoot

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