Republican Mark Sanford is the current governor of the state of South Carolina. In mid-June of 2009, Mark Sanford 'disappeared' for several days; he missed spending Father's Day with his family and did not show up for work. On Monday, June 22, 2009, his office announced that he had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail.http://www.thestate.com/local/story/836552.html

On Wednesday, June 24, 2009, Sanford said he never went hiking and instead went alone to Buenos Aires. At a press conference, Sanford admitted that he was having an affair with a woman in Argentina and had been unfaithful to his wife, Jenny Sanford.http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/24/south.carolina.governor/index.html Sanford announced that he would resign from the Republican Governors Association.http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-wosan0625,0,1568282.story His mistress is said to be Maria Belen Shapur and copies of the e-mail love letters between Sanford and Maria were released online.

"God's law indeed is there to protect you from yourself, and there are consequences if you breach that . This press conference is a consequence of that. I've been unfaithful to my wife. I've developed a relationship with what started out as a dear, dear friend from Argentina."http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0609/Sanford_confesses_infidelity_asks_forgiveness.html

South Carolina has the third-highest jobless rate in the United States, and 77,000 unemployed people depend on jobless benefits to the tune of $14 million per week. The South Carolina Unemployment Security Commission is running out of funds and for weeks, Sanford has refused to ask for federal aid, demanding that the commission accept a full audit first.New York Times: South Carolina Governor Relents on Jobless Funds (December 31, 2008)

A huge outcry arose in the state. The chairman of the state Senate Finance Committee called Sanford "heartless" and the Columbia, South Carolina newspaper accused him of "playing chicken" with people's economic lives.New York Times: South Carolina Governor Relents on Jobless Funds (Decemver 31, 2008)

"Borrowing money and cutting checks to fund infrastructure is not the best way to juice the economy. And this notion that Washington, with a blink of a wand, can create 2.5 million jobs is strange in a market economy."—Mark SanfordAssociated Press: Cash-poor states eager for a piece of Obama plan (January 2, 2009)

"It is unbelievable that any state agency would hold such outright contempt for taxpayers and the unemployed that they would refuse to sign a very simple request for audit compliance and sharing data they already collect. We will not punish the unemployed for this agency’s incompetence—but all working taxpayers need to realize that without reform, they will ultimately pay the price as the ESC has suggested doubling unemployment taxes from $300 million to $600 million a year. The agency has watched this fund run out over six years and has done nothing to prevent it. That, coupled with the fact that they’ve repeatedly tried to run from the sunlight an audit would bring tells us they have something to hide. If these Commissioners do not provide us with the information taxpayers are entitled to, they will answer for it with their jobs."—Mark SanfordThe Item: Governor ends stalemate with ESC (January 2, 2009)

The governor announced the second week of March, 2009, that he may reject nearly 25 percent of his state's stimulus package unless he can have discretion to spend it as he sees fit. Specifically, he does not want to spend money on improving educational resources in South Carolina, but would rather pay down the state's debt.Yahoo: SC Gov. Sanford set to reject stimulus millions (March 13, 2009)

Sanford argues that he doesn't want to spend money that his state will have to keep spending when the stimulus money runs out. His request to the Office of Management and Budget to use the money to pay down his state's debt was denied on March 20, 2009, and, as a result Sanford said he would reject that part of the package.New York Times: South Carolina Governor Relents on Jobless Funds (December 31, 2008)