Letter to the editor: Uphill battle is worth having for sake of children, grandchildren

In the Palmetto State, our state constitution requires legislators in Columbia to pass a balanced budget. South Carolina had a budget surplus of nearly $2 billion coming into the 2020 fiscal year. This allowed our state to navigate COVID without taking on debt, and without raising taxes. In fact, at the end of FY2020, South Carolina's budget surplus was still nearly $800 million.

Our governor and Republican-led state legislature worked hard to restore our economy after COVID. So what do South Carolina citizens get in return for electing responsible state leadership and maintaining a "rainy day" reserve fund?

The answer is an inept federal government that ends up costing South Carolina taxpayers more money than we should be paying.

For starters, we are facing rampant inflation as a result of the inflationary policies of President Biden and Democrats in Congress. If that weren't bad enough, our taxpayers are shouldered with the responsibility of helping the federal government bail out mismanaged blue states that have squandered millions in aid, choked their economies with lockdowns and wasted their own tax dollars on ineffective programs.

As your representative in Congress, I will continue to push for lower taxes, reduced regulations, paying down our federal debt and restoring fiscal sanity to Washington. This is an uphill battle, even among some establishment Republicans. However, I believe it's a fight worth having for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

It comes as no surprise that many Americans are leaving liberal states like California, Illinois and New York and moving to their conservative counterparts, which includes our great state of South Carolina. I've heard from so many new constituents who have moved to our area because they were tired of bloated government and high taxes in the states they left.

We should welcome these new neighbors and expect more of them in the years to come. South Carolina is now prime real estate for people across the country seeking better government and a better way of life.

REP. RALPH NORMAN

S.C. District 5