From Aikenstandard.com:

Over the last few years House Speaker Bobby Harrell has penned any number of op-eds and press statements taking me to task on different fronts, and to date I’ve declined to respond. I simply considered them noise about the obvious – our long-standing disagreement on whether it is a good idea to limit government growth. His most recent missive, however, calls for a response, because it well captures the differences in our views regarding the best interests of both present day and future South Carolinians.

I’m reminded of one of the first conversations I had with Speaker Harrell upon his taking that new role, in which he laid out his belief that if growing government was necessary to grow the economy, he wholeheartedly believed in growing government. His actions have been consistent with this belief.

My response was that over time growing government would do the opposite – it would shrink the private sector and the economy.

If this was merely some academic difference of philosophy, it would hardly be worth noting. But the Speaker is right, in that this difference has a real impact on everyday South Carolinians. He’s just wrong about what that impact is.

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