The Opinion Blog

High-grade economic development for Horry

Today's editorial explains why it's such great news that a Conway factory is getting a $20 million upgrade:

In nondramatic but significant fashion, the Horry County economy prospectively grew more robust this week with the announcement that a Conway factory will receive a $20 million upgrade. This added investment in Metglas Inc., located in the Atlantic Industrial Center on U.S. 501, will beget 25 new jobs during the next three years.

We need nation-building here at home

Ripped from the wires ... Tom Friedman says there is only one in the presidential campaign: the decline of America:

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Just a few months ago, the consensus view was that Barack Obama would need to choose a hard-core national-security type as his vice presidential running mate to compensate for his lack of foreign policy experience and that John McCain would need a running mate who was young and sprightly to compensate for his age.

Come August, though, I predict both men will be looking for a financial wizard as their running mates to help them steer America out of what could become a serious economic tailspin.

I do not believe nation-building in Iraq is going to be the issue come November -- whether things get better there or worse. If they get better, we'll ignore Iraq more; if they get worse, the next president will be under pressure to get out quicker. I think nation-building in America is going to be the issue.

Brainpower could shape more useful MB airport plan

In an editorial today, the newspaper notes that something positive could come of the legislative proposal to place control of Myrtle Beach International Airport under a quasi-independent governing body:

Last week, the newspaper's editorial board panned proposed legislation to wrest ownership of the county's airports from Horry County government and transfer it to a 10-member state-run commission. The chief concern was that too little time remains in this year's General Assembly session for legislators to fix the bill's flaws and craft a plan that Horry County could support. Change can't happen without the county's cooperation.

Now one of the legislation's sponsors, S.C. Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, plans to give folks with an interest in local airports a chance to comment, before the session ends, on his airport-commission proposal. (S.C. Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, has introduced an identical bill in the House.) A Senate Transportation subcommittee will convene this week in Columbia to hear testimony into the legislation.

MB airport authority bill comes months too late

Today's editorial takes issue with the proposal by S.C. Sen. Luke Rankin and S.C. Rep. Alan Clemmons to transfet Horry County's airports to a state-run commission:

Let Rankin-Clemmons airport plan go nowhere

A question for S.C. Sen. Luke Rankin and S.C. Rep. Alan Clemmons, who this week filed identical bills to give control of the Myrtle Beach International Airport to an unelected entity called the Grand Strand Airport District: Why didn't you guys pitch this legislation at the beginning of this year's legislative session?

By waiting until now to pitch an alternative airport governance plan, Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, and Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, virtually guarantee that nothing productive can happen. Horry County's other three senators were right this week to greet the proposal with the same enthusiasm they'd show a plate of undercooked fish.

Past time to repay our troops' courage, sacrifice

Ripped from the wires ... In an editorial Tuesday, the Miami Herald called for a more generous GI Bill of Rights:

In 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill celebrated the daring crews of the Royal Air Force with stirring words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.'' Today, something similar could be said about the men and women wearing the uniform of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Never have so few U.S. soldiers been asked to sacrifice so much while so little was asked of the rest of us.

U.S. should focus on nation-building -- at home

Ripped from the wires ... In a piece published today, Thomas Friedman argues that we've got to start taking better care of the home folks -- and to be smart and realistic about how we do it.

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Traveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I've had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it's this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.

They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper -- that we're just not that strong anymore. We're borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage _ as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.

Kowtowing to the telecom industry?

Today editorial notes that the S.C. Senate would make it harder for South Carolina to capitalize on its wireless broadband (WiMax) opportunity:

Senate puts politics ahead of science

S.C. House members will decide this week whether they can live with the Senate's byzantine proposal for thrusting South Carolina to the global forefront of wireless broadband service. In the Senate's hands, the House's sensible proposal to repurpose the state's 67 S.C. Educational Television licenses toward throwing up a wireless cloud over the state has become needlessly complex.

But the House is in a bind on fixing this problem. Senate leaders seem dug in on the issue, and legislative stalemate this year could eventually cause the loss of those licenses.

Why free trade is good for America

Ripped from the wires ... Economist Walter Williams, a regular on The Sun News op-ed page, warns Americans not to be taken in by presidential candidates' promises that restrictions on trade can bring back lost jobs or prevent more job losses.

By Walter E. Williams

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, pandering to anti-trade activists, suggest that should they become president, they will restrict trade agreements. Before you buy into their promised paradise, there are a few trade questions you might consider.

Suppose you were choosing a country to live in. Which country would you prefer: a country that has the world champing at the bit to put its money into or one where the world is unwilling to invest? Let's look at the numbers.

More 'weak' dollars flowing into S.C. pockets

Ripped from the biz wires ... The weak U.S. dollar, relative to other key currencies, is making South Carolina stronger:

By Jim DuPlessis
The State, Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina's exports rose 22 percent last year to $16.6 billion as the state benefited from a weak dollar and strong demand for goods ranging from BMW cars to General Electric gas turbines.

The state's growth rate from 2006 to 2007 made its exports the ninth fastest-growing among the states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to a news release Tuesday from the S.C. Commerce Department.

The state's exports ranked 23rd in total value among the 53 areas, according to U.S. Commerce Department data released in March.

Ripped from the biz wires ... The weak U.S. dollar, relative to other key currencies, is making South Carolina stronger:

By Jim DuPlessis
The State, Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina's exports rose 22 percent last year to $16.6 billion as the state benefited from a weak dollar and strong demand for goods ranging from BMW cars to General Electric gas turbines.

The state's growth rate from 2006 to 2007 made its exports the ninth fastest-growing among the states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to a news release Tuesday from the S.C. Commerce Department.

The state's exports ranked 23rd in total value among the 53 areas, according to U.S. Commerce Department data released in March.

If regional airport isn't good for Horry, forget it

Today's editorial urges local leaders not to support a regional airport unless doing so clearly benefits Horry County.

"Not too long ago, Florence was the economic hub of northeastern South Carolina, aka the Pee Dee. Horry County was a relatively insignificant coastal spoke -- a gaggle of small communities, some of which offered seasonal tourism opportunities of small regional economic impact.

"Now, Florence's economic and political significance is on the wane relative to Horry County and Myrtle Beach. Here, growth is explosive and wealth is on the rise. So it's no wonder that the leadership of the small city to the northwest is determined to hold on to whatever power and influence it has remaining. No wonder it shows insufficient regard for what's good for the beach.

"No issue better illustrates this power shift -- and the reaction to it -- than air travel.