US House: Brown in tough fight
It started off as the “grocery stores war,” but now it’s just war.
Ten days out from Election Day, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Brown is fighting for his political life against first-time office-seeker Linda Ketner, a Democrat.
Buoyed by recent polls that show Ketner even with Brown or a few points ahead, Democratic congressional leaders are buying ads in support of Ketner. They also have put Ketner on their party’s coveted “Red to Blue” list of races they think are best poised to oust Republicans and install new Democratic House members.
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Brack - Poll gives clues to future of politics
OCT. 24, 2008 — In an election season that never seems to stop, maybe there’s one thing South Carolinians can give thanks for: Because conservative South Carolina is a red state, we haven’t been pummeled by thousands of campaign ads as have our neighbors to the north.
Although there are infrequent stories that Democrats think they might pick up South Carolina this year in the presidential contest, a new Winthrop/ETV poll highlights the impossibility of that. GOP Sen. John McCain was ahead by a 20-point margin over Democratic Sen. Barack Obama - 55 percent to 35 percent - in the poll, taken between Sept. 28 and Oct. 19.
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Senate District 10 - Compton, Nicholson not tied to flyer
Say it ain’t so.
Mailers advocating against both candidates for South Carolina state Senate District 10 have recently popped up in city mail boxes, claiming Greenwood Mayor Floyd Nicholson is a pick-pocket and attorney Dee Compton is against public education. Monday, both candidates issued statements denying involvement in the campaigns.
“No candidate can coordinate with any of these third-party groups, whether it’s a 527 organization or a committee, state law makes that clear,” Compton said. “Neither one of us knew about any of this stuff until it hit the mailboxes.”
Both flyers were issued by different third parties. Dee Compton’s flyer was paid for by the cryptic “SCSDC,” and the mailer with Nicholson’s name came from South Carolinians for Responsible Government.
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Harrell: House Supports Roll-Call Voting
Recently, the S.C. Policy Council released a report on roll-call voting by the General Assembly. I have always been a supporter of the Policy Council and have relied on its research on countless issues. There is even a quote from me on the Policy Council Web site stating how much I rely on its work. However, the research done on roll-call voting was not at all up to the quality of work expected when the Policy Council’s name is on a document.
The report clearly states: “Total House Roll Call Votes — 62.” However, the House actually took 443 roll-call votes in 2008 — an average of seven for every day we were in session. The 443 number is easy to verify. Every vote can be found online on the General Assembly’s Web site. This information has been readily accessible online since 2001.
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An aircraft maintenance and refurbishing company says it will open a new facility in Lexington County, creating 105 jobs.
An aircraft maintenance and refurbishing company says it will open a new facility in Lexington County, creating 105 jobs.
State officials issued a release Monday annoucing West Star Aviation Inc.’s plans to create a new facility at Columbia Metropolitan Airport. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held 10 a.m. Friday. Operations at the new facility are scheduled to begin next year.
A release from the South Carolina Department of Commerce says the company specializes in airframe maintenance and engine repair and maintenance. It also performs interior and paint upgrades for corporate and general aircraft.
West Star Aviation already has facilities in East Alton, Ill., Grand Junction, Colo. and Dallas.
Officials to announce plant, jobs for park
Gov. Mark Sanford and other local officials are scheduled to appear at the Laurens County Courthouse to announce what is being billed as the single largest corporate investment in the county’s history.
The Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports that officials will announce on Tuesday a new factory at the Owings Industrial Park along Interstate 385. That’s based on an ordinance that went before the Greenville County Council on Monday night.
The ordinance is a legal formality required to put the factory inside the boundaries of a so-called “multi-county” industrial park, which makes the company eligible for greater tax breaks.
Marvin Moss, Laurens County’s economic development director, said the company, which he would not identify, will create a “significant number of jobs” paying “considerably above” the county’s average wage of $12.58 an hour.
Gov. Sanford: Budget sequel no one wanted must be solved
It’s been said that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it — which to me is just another way of saying there’s no education in the second kick of a mule.
While it’s good advice no matter how you say it, it’s unfortunately advice that too many in Columbia ignore all too often when it comes to the financial health of the state. Given what’s happening on Wall Street right now and with our own state budget, it’s worth taking a minute to remember how we got to where we are and to ask for your help in making sure that these mistakes aren’t repeated yet again.
Right now in Columbia, we’re dealing with budget shortfalls that were predictable, preventable and guaranteed to happen with the run-up in state spending. State government spending has grown more than 40 percent over the last four years — well ahead of the growth in South Carolina’s underlying economy and well ahead of the growth of people’s paychecks over the same time.
The result is that at a time where budgets of agencies like the Department of Corrections and others are already stretched to the limit, another $415 million is going to have to be trimmed from state government. What has happened in the credit markets will mean the size and duration of the budget cuts yet to come will grow. It now seems that legislative leadership is finally moving toward the same page many of their rank-and-file members were already on in saying that making those cuts across the board is no way to run government. As we soon deal with this budget situation, three real challenges lie before us, and I ask for your help because we believe with the right approach there can be a silver lining to today’s dark clouds. It is an opportunity to force long-term changes that will keep us from repeating these same mistakes.
First, we can’t think short-term and paper over problems in the hope that this economic downturn will be short lived. It won’t. The reason for our spending fights with the Legislature lie in the simple reality that growing government faster than the economy always produces problems and because we knew the business cycle was not dead. Things don’t go upward forever and our grandparents had it right when they talked about saving for the rainy days that always come. I believe this downturn, and consequently our budget challenges, will be prolonged and as a consequence it is very important that we not paper over shortfalls with things called annualizations. In laymen’s terms this means borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and it creates budgetary holes for the following year. Instead, where we do make cuts they should be done as families and businesses do and make them real, rather than just cuts that exist only on paper.
Second, this should serve as an opportunity to deal with the capital side of the budget and other permanent liabilities, because they ultimately have an impact in the operating portion of our budget. The Comptroller General and I have tried several times — and been voted down — to put a hold on capital projects, given the increasingly stormy financial waters. Simply put, we didn’t think it made sense to build a host of new buildings when we’re facing shortfalls that make it tough to maintain what the state already has. In the same vein, I’ve asked that we reconsider the new automatic cost of living increase given to state retirees, since doing so rests on a new and higher assumed rate of return of eight percent. The law was changed this summer to give retirees an immediate benefit based on future predictions, even though, well before the current meltdown in the financial markets, people like Warren Buffet were saying this kind of return was impossible. It amounts to $2.7 billion that South Carolina taxpayers will one day have to come up with if the projections don’t materialize.
Third, it is essential we use today’s financial challenges as an opportunity to force changes to our governmental structure. Redundancy in the way that our government works in South Carolina means government costs us almost 140 percent of the U.S. average. We’re the only state in the country with a Budget and Control Board that performs the Executive branch functions handled by the other 49 governors in the country. We will always over-spend if we keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them.
These will be tough budget times over the months and I believe several years ahead. Whether or not these problems are papered over or addressed for the long term will be directly driven by the degree to which each of us makes our voice heard. Please take the time to engage in the debate before us.
Mark Sanford, a Republican, is governor of South Carolina.
Lawmakers must look at entire taxing system
Reasons abound for lawmakers to revisit the state’s 2-year-old property tax reform legislation. But they shouldn’t approach the issue piecemeal. That’s what got us in this predicament in the first place.
Point of sale reassessments, which are kicking in for the 2008 tax bills, are the latest complaint lightning rod. New market-value assessments come into play now when property changes hands or is extensively renovated.
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Barrett:Nuclear renaissance can fuel S.C. economy
Energy independence is the greatest challenge of the 21st century. We must not be intimated by this challenge, but rather inspired by the opportunities it affords and confident that the American spirit of innovation will enable us to find a practical, permanent and renewable solution.
No option can be left off the table. While new technologies such as wind, solar and hydrogen energy are being developed and perfected, we must turn our attention to the domestic resources readily available today.
Much of the talk recently has centered on offshore drilling and tapping domestic oil supplies. Undoubtedly, drilling is a key component to solving our energy problem, but what if I were to tell you that right here in South Carolina we have the potential to further develop an energy resource that is more abundant than oil, cleaner than natural gas and cheaper than solar power? What if I were to tell you that developing this technology would create hundreds and possibly thousands of new jobs?
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Lee Bandy: Spratt presses Bush on China
October 4, 2008 — U.S. Reps. John Spratt, D-S.C., and U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., fired off a letter to the president this week, urging rapid action on illegal Chinese imports which they say are costing Americans their jobs.
The two members are co-chairmen of the Congressional Textile Caucus.
They maintained in a joint letter to the president that the action is needed to stem an expected surge in imports after Jan.7.
“The need for stronger enforcement of trade with China has never been more evident,” Spratt said.
“From problems with lead and other toxic substances in children’s toys to recent trade cases that have revealed dozens of illegal subsidies, China is the leading violator of U.S, trade laws,” Spratt pointed out.
Coble warned that China’s behavior has severe consequences for American workers.
The U.S. says China’s unfair trade practices have resulted in the loss of 1.5 million U.S. manufacturing jobs.
“All told, over one million workers are at risk if China attempts to once again monopolize the U.S. market due to the removal of quotas,” Spratt and Coble said.
In this week’s two votes on the administration’s economic rescue package, Spratt voted for the measure twice. Coble opposed it on the first vote, and after intense lobbying, changed to support the measure voted on Friday.