The U.S. government needs to increase its efforts to reduce the national debt, former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) said at a forum event Wednesday.
In September 2019, Sanford launched a since-suspended presidential campaign for the 2020 Republican Party nomination, challenging the incumbent President Donald Trump, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R), former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and businessman Rocky De La Fuente.
The event, titled “Reflections on Running: Mark Sanford (R-S.C.),” was hosted by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, Georgetown University College Republicans and Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition. The forum was moderated by Mo Elleithee (SFS ’94), the executive director of GU Politics and former communications director and chief spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.
Sanford centered his campaign, which he ended in November 2019, on working toward reducing the national debt, something Sanford believes to be a pressing issue that will impact future generations.
“We are at a much more precarious spot than people realize, and we are indeed at a tipping point,” Sanford said. “I would say it was the debt and the spending that got me fired up, and it’s what’s driven my interest in politics.”
The United States currently faces a record-high $22 trillion public debt projected to rise to $28.7 trillion by 2029, according to NPR. Despite current positive economic growth and relatively low unemployment, the magnitude of the deficit matches deficits in times of recession or war, according to NPR.
The American people need to recognize the gravity of the increasing national debt before it turns into a more significant crisis, according to Sanford.
“What I am discouraged by is the degree of pander that is now in politics. People are not dumb, and if they are left in the choice between more versus more, they’ll choose more,” Sanford said. “I fear that the only thing that may wake us up is a real economic stalling.”
Sanford first became involved in national politics when he served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina from 1995 to 2001 and later served as governor from 2003 to 2011.
Sanford made national headlines when he reportedly disappeared in 2009 after claiming to be hiking along the Appalachian Trail. Instead, Sanford was in Argentina with a mistress. Sanford then resigned as chair of the Republican Governors Association and did not run for a second term.
Sanford later served as a U.S. representative for South Carolina from 2013 to 2019. His decision to return to the political arena stemmed from a desire to impact public policy and restore his political career, according to Sanford.
“I felt something with regard to the trajectory of our country and the trajectory of our civilization, and I wanted to say something,” Sanford said. “I also didn’t want the end of my political resume just to be a disgraced former governor. I wanted something beyond that.”
Sanford lost his primary bid in his 2018 reelection race to Katie Arrington. Trump backed Arrington in a tweet that also described Sanford as unhelpful to the president’s reelection bid. Arrington went on to lose the general election to current Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.).
Trump, of whom Sanford is frequently critical, is dangerous to the political stability of the United States in many ways, according to Sanford.
“I’m not a fan of the president. I’ve been very transparent about that,” Sanford said. “I mean I think he’s disastrous on many different levels for our country and for our civilization.”
Authenticity and adherence to one’s principles and beliefs in the realm of politics are essential to good governance, according to Sanford.
“You got to be you in the world of politics,” Sanford said. “If not, you become a skeleton of a human being, and you’re walking around not really believing stuff you’re talking about.”
godenich • Feb 14, 2020 at 4:03 am
Spending trillions of dollars for defending the petrodollar[1,2] is costly and has diminishing returns[3]. The main drivers of national debt and inflation are guns & butter spending. We’re dishing out $1.25 trillion per year on national security[4] and over $1 trillion per year on welfare[5]. The Pentagon and HUD haven’t passed an audit in decades so the public does not know where these trillions of dollars have gone[6].
Social Security & Medicare Insurance is funded separately as part of the Federal Insurance Contribution Act. If you eliminated the 15.3% FICA payroll withholding to help the current generation, today, it will not help our current fiscal condition one iota. It’s a zero-sum gain. It will, however, devastate today’s senior citizens and deprive the current and future generation of social security benefits in their old age, tomorrow[7]. Monetary expansion is increasing COLA increases. QE/ZIRP and FED Repos are diminishing returns for the SS Trust fund and bond portfolios in retirement accounts to prop up the stock market and the central government. The financialization of our economy is an underlying cause[8,9]
To lower debt/gdp, consider transitioning to a decentralized form of Edgar Feige’s 0.3% APT tax[10,11] on dollar liquidity flows[12,13], where tax proceeds are apportioned to local governments and bubble up to State and Federal levels after local fiscal issues are addressed (including price inflation from monetary expansion). Besides saving $800 billion/year, it raises net profits, raises net wages, lowers prices and unilaterally addresses tax havens[14,15]. This enables local governments to lower property taxes, lower education taxes and limits excessive state and federal spending of our tax dollars. That’s the economic check we need on Federal and State spending. That’s the stimulus we need for business and job creation in our local communities, along with less red tape to start and operate those going concerns.
[1] Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar | William R Clark | 2005
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Drj7-YeoY
[2] America’s War for the Greater Middle East | Bacevich | 2016
[3] Path to Hydrogen Competitiveness-A cost perspective | Hydrogen Council | 2020
https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Path-to-Hydrogen-Competitiveness_Full-Study-1.pdf
[4] Making Sense of the $1.25 Trillion National Security State Budget| POGO | 2019
[5] CRS Report: Welfare Spending The Largest Item In The Federal Budget | Sessions | 2012
[6] Dr. Mark Skidmore – $21 Trillion Missing from US Federal Budget | Youtube
[7] Research: Military Veterans and Social Security | SSA
[8] The Finance Curse | Shaxson | 2018
[9] Other Peoples Money | John Kay | 2016
[10] Alternative Proposals Reform, May 11 2005 | Video | C-SPAN
[11] Taxation for the 21ST Century: Automated Payment Transaction (APT) Tax | SSRN
[12] Intraday Liquidity Flows | FRBNY
[13] Worldwide Currency Usage & Trends | SWIFT
[14] The Spider’s Web – Britain’s Second Empire | Youtube
[15] [PDF] The Treasure Islands | Nicholas Shaxson
Reggie 2021 • Feb 14, 2020 at 2:47 am
This dude is a literal prone-to-do-fraud person. Flying in a business class seat to Argentina on taxpayer funds when 1/5 of Charleston and Columbia residents are living in poverty? And then he mouths off against the POTUS under whom a record number of Americans are working? SHAME!
Scoopie • Feb 15, 2020 at 4:06 pm
Chill Reggie. He paid back everything spent beyond his official duties.