Alone among the governors, the governor of South Carolina says no to the “stimulus” as presently constituted.  He’s rejected $700 million in federal education stimulus money.  Why?

He has rightfully made the case that it makes no sense to spend this one-time stimulus money on the creation of new jobs and new programs that the state won’t have money to pay for later. What happens when the $700 million are spent and the programs are in place? The state will have to either put an end to the programs and lay off employees, or it will have to raise new taxes to continue to pay for it. It is hardly a short- or long-term solution to South Carolina’s economic problems.
– In Defense of Governor Sanford, Veronique de Rugy, The Corner (NRO Online), 3/30/2009

Sanford faces pressures from legislators and agency heads to just take the money.

And here are attacks on the brutish lout from the New York Times and from Thomas Frank (at the Wall Street Journal!). They’re shocked, just shocked!, that he won’t take the money!

But maybe the issue’s not so very simple?

We’ve just learned that there’s an ad explaining Sanford’s position that begins airing on Friday:

“There must be a stopping point,” Sanford declares in the ad. “going further into debt will not solve a problem that was created by too much debt. There must be a price that we will not impose on future generations. For me, the easy thing would be to accept money handed out from Washington. But the easy thing isn’t always the right thing.”

Maybe he knows something?