COLUMBIA , South Carolina ( CNN ) -- The United States faces a Zimbabwe-style economic collapse if it keeps `` spending a bunch of money we do n't have , '' South Carolina Gov . Mark Sanford said Wednesday . South Carolina Gov . Mark Sanford says he does not want to spend money that his state does n't have . Sanford , a Republican , has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration 's $ 800 billion stimulus plan . He said he 'll turn down about a quarter of his state 's $ 2.8 billion share unless Washington lets him use that money to pay down debt . `` What you 're doing is buying into the notion that if we just print some more money that we do n't have and send it to different states , we 'll create jobs , '' he said . `` If that 's the case , why is n't Zimbabwe a rich place ? '' Zimbabwe has been in the throes of an economic meltdown ever since the southern African nation embarked on a chaotic land reform program . Its official inflation rate topped 11 million percent in 2008 , with its treasury printing banknotes in the trillion-dollar range to keep up with the plummeting value of its currency . But with South Carolina 's unemployment rate now the second-highest in the country , state lawmakers will attempt to override Sanford and take the $ 700 million if he turns it down , Lt. Gov . Andre Bauer said . `` They will use the total economic stimulus to stimulate the economy , jump-start it , so we can get out of the ditch we are in as a state and as a nation , '' Bauer , a fellow Republican , said in a written statement Wednesday . Labor Department figures released Wednesday showed South Carolina 's January unemployment rate hit 10.4 percent , second only to Michigan 's 11.6 percent . Sanford is one of several Republican governors who have criticized the nearly $ 800 billion stimulus package , which passed with minimal GOP support in the Senate and none in the House of Representatives . Other governors , such as California Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger or Michigan Democrat Jennifer Granholm , have said they would take any money Republican-led states reject . But Sanford told reporters that taking the money now would leave the state in the lurch in two years , `` when those funds dry up . '' `` Fundamentally , if you boil down what the stimulus means for South Carolina , it means we would go through the process of spending a bunch of money we do n't have , '' he said . The stimulus measure allows state legislatures to override governors and take the money -- a provision championed by South Carolina congressman James Clyburn , the No . 3 Democrat in the House . Clyburn said Sanford is unlikely to get any waiver from the administration , and he called the governor 's announcement `` 100 percent political posturing . '' `` This recovery package is designed to stabilize communities , to save and create jobs , and help our economy get back in a growth mode , '' he told reporters . `` And you do n't do that by paying down debt that 's been incurred over a long period of time . '' And Bauer said that if South Carolina turns down the money , `` South Carolina taxpayers will be taking on the debt for economic stimulus money sent elsewhere . '' Sanford has been called a potential GOP presidential contender in 2012 , but he told CNN that the next election is `` not where I 'm focused . '' `` I do n't rule anything in , I do n't rule anything out , '' he said , adding , `` If anything came along like that , it would be an incredibly long shot . ''
South Carolina Gov . Mark Sanford has vowed to refuse some of his state 's share . Comment: The governor compares it to Zimbabwe 's 11 million percent inflation rate . State legislatures can override governors and take stimulus money anyway .