South Carolina is one of the worst-run states in the country, according to a national survey of financial health indicators and other data.
24/7 Wall Street’s yearly survey analyzed each state’s level of debt per capita, total budget deficit, unemployment, median household income, and percentage of people below the poverty line. South Carolina was ranked 43rd out of 50 states, making it the eighth-worst-run states according to the list. Here’s what the study’s authors had to say about the Palmetto State:
- Debt per capita: $3,419 (25th highest)
- Budget deficit: 26.1% (11th largest)
- Unemployment: 10.3% (tied-8th highest)
- Median household income: $42,367 (9th lowest)
- Pct. below poverty line: 18.9% (9th highest)
South Carolina’s economy has struggled in recent years. Last year, the state had one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates, as well as among the lowest median household income in the country. In recent years, South Carolina’s finances have been strained, with the state having proportionally larger budget shortfalls and unfunded pension liabilities than most other states. In January, the state instituted a controversial policy requiring adults who have collected unemployment benefits for at least five months to accept a job that pays minimum wage.
The study fails to mention leadership failures such as South Carolina’s multiple elections debacles, as well as the Department of Revenue security breach which resulted in millions of Social Security numbers being stolen. Who knows — if those factors had been included in the analysis, we could have made the top five!
“The successful management of a state is difficult to measure,” the study’s authors write. “Factors that affect its finances and population may be the result of decisions made years ago. A state’s difficulties can be caused by poor governance or by external factors, such as extreme weather.”
In South Carolina’s case, it’s worth noting that Republicans have had complete control over the state for the last decade. The SCGOP has held the governor’s office and both legislative houses since 2002, so it’s clear where the lion’s share of the credit for the Palmetto State’s poor showing lies.
South Carolina was ranked between Florida and New Mexico, with California being ranked the worst-run state in the country for the second year in a row. Here’s a list of the five best-run states, according to 24/7 Wall Street:
- North Dakota
- Wyoming
- Nebraska
- Utah
- Iowa
It’s not too hard to understand why this state is doing so poorly. It took a hundred years to recover from the Civil War, and when the economy was buzzing along well in the 1950′s, there was a dark cloud on the horizon. Some genius decided to kill off the textile industry, and thereby killing a huge percentage of this state’s employment. It should never have happened. The people responsible are going to be wandering around like Marley with chains wrapped around them. These same people thought that the population could be retrained and new jobs would magically appear. No such thing! Former textile workers from the former Stevens mills are bagging groceries or living on subsistance unemployment or dying. Many of them are dying at a fairly young age, probably from malnutrition and heartbreak. We needed to keep making those towels, sheets, and yards of beautiful cotton and wool fabric. It will take several generations for South Carolina to recover again.
Before I’m sure we will be at the top before Haley leaves office (which I hope is in Jan. 2015 if SC voters smart).
SC is, simply put, the worst state to seek employment in period. A months worth of pay from a state like NY would give you enough to live for a year here, and a months worth of pay here would last a week in NY. This is the BUBBA state. If you dont know BUBBA or have a BUBBA in high places then you are just fodder. Your job skills dont mean squat here if you dont know BUBBA. This is a who you know, not, what you know state, and is the prime reason so many morons are allowed to run its upper ranks. I have seen once beautiful towns and countrysides turned into ghetos and slums in such short time frames it makes the mind boggle. The infrastructure is falling to pieces. They want 10X more in taxes than they are willing to give or demand employers give. SC used to be a retirement state and I supposed that some areas still would fall into that catagory. However, with the destruction of so many, once beautiful locations, retirement here is becoming a non option as well. When major companies like boeing, bmw and others open shop here, it is not because of our talent level. Rather, it is because they can pay us slave wages and the state is fine with it. I hate this state with every fiber of my being, but alas my old school family refuses to move and my wife refuses to live far from them. To end I will just say this. Our local government is so backwards on ways to make money that their solution is to turn the state into a national trash dumb and prison cell. We take in prisoners and trash from numerous other states that are likely laughing there butts off at the stupidty that is SC.