Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Scandal-ridden former Congressman announces he's running for mayor of New York,
Early Wednesday morning scandal-ridden former Congressman Anthony Weiner confirmed he would be the latest politician to attempt a comeback. Weiner, who resigned from office in June 2011 after a "sexting" scandal, is running for Mayor of New York City. Weiner sent provocative pictures of himself to women via his Twitter account. The Democrat was married at the time and remains so. Now that Weiner has returned, comparisons with former South Carolina governor and current House member Mark Sanford are inevitable. So, putting aside their ideologies, if you voted for Sanford could you also vote for Weiner? There are a few differences. Sanford did not resign his office, whereas Weiner did. Sanford's wife divorced him, but Weiner's did not. But …
Around 50 people braved the rain Tuesday to engage in a day of protests against IRS treatment of TEA Party groups revealed recently
Approximately 50 people braved the rain Tuesday to join a day of protests planned at IRS offices across the country Tuesday. Members of several Lowcountry area TEA Party, 9-12 and Fair Tax groups gathered at the IRS office on Poston Road in West Ashley at noon, just as the precipitation was beginning to fall. They came to protest the treatment conservative leaning groups applying for tax-exempt status received from the IRS following the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case.
But Democrats say she's not sincere.
In a Statehouse press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Nikki Haley called on the Senate to pass ethics legislation approved in the House earlier this month. Haley was joined at the press conference by the co-chairs of the Ethics Reform Commission, Travis Medlock and Henry McMaster as well as Attorney General Alan Wilson. “We have the blueprint. We need the eagerness and the will,” Haley said. The governor said that after the budget is approved she is hoping that ethics can be passed. She also is optimistic the Department of Administration legislation she’s been pushing for three years will finally become law. Haley rejected the notion that legislature can’t do more than one big thing per session. “At what point can we do multiple things in a …
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Mount Pleasant man advocates for a more "transparent" system for voting with a paper trail. What do you think? Tell us in the comments!
A Lowcountry man is seeking to rewind technology for voting and return to paper ballots, the Charleston City Paper reported. Frank Heindel of Mount Pleasant spoke to Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration May 15 about his concerns. "I believe every citizen in Charleston County deserves an election process that is transparent, conforms to existing laws, and can produce an audit paper trail," Heindel said. City Paper reported: Heindel's full proposal was that the county conduct some, if not all, local elections this November without using its iVotronic touchscreen voting machines, which the election-integrity hellraiser says are flawed due to problems like vulnerability to virus attacks and a lack of hard-copy …
Monday, May 20, 2013
Annual event for those who made the ultimate sacrifice
The seven soldiers who died in combat from South Carolina were honored in Columbia on Monday at the Fallen Soldiers Ceremony. The annual event, held at the Palmetto Club in Columbia, recognizes those South Carolina service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in the past year. The seven South Carolina soldiers who lost their lives: Families of those who died were presented a framed certificate from both Houses of the General Assembly, the South Carolina Palmetto State Hero Commendation, and a South Carolina State Flag. The event was hosted by Sen. Katrina Shealy (R – Lexington) and attended by numerous state officials including State Adjutant General Robert Livingston, State Attorney General Alan Wilson and State Superintendent of …
Gov. Haley's husband Michael was deployed in January.
Governor Nikki Haley's husband Michael has returned home for two weeks of leave from his deployment in Afghanistan, the governor's office said on Monday. The First Gentleman was deployed on January 10 for a tour of 11 months and his leave was granted by his commanding officers. Two weeks is a customary amount of time for leave for a soldier in Haley's position. As a result of her husband's return, the governor cleared her public schedule for the week, including a scheduled speech in Mount Pleasant on Monday morning.
Latest controversy has legislators split.
Last week the state airplane became a source of controversy yet again. Democrats accused Gov. Nikki Haley of misusing the state plane and the governor's staff provided documentation that she had not. The Democrats countered by saying that even if the governor had not violated the letter of the law, she had violated it in spirit. The state senate then spent much of an afternoon debating whether or not the Budget Control Board should look into simply selling the planes. As has been noted before, just about any part of the state can be reached in a few hours by car and the state could always charter a plane when it was absolutely necessary. Selling the two planes the state owns would probably net the state a significant windfall. The two …
Friday, May 17, 2013
Biggest month-to-month drop in 25 years.
The unemployment rate in South Carolina fell from 8.4 percent in March to 8.0 in April, according to the latest report from the Department of Employment and Workforce. The month-to-month decrease is the largest since May of 1987 and the overall unemployment rate is now the lowest it's been since October 2008. Since April 2012 more than 26,000 jobs have been added to South Carolina's economy. All 46 counties added jobs in the last month and three counties--Charleston, Greenville and Lexington--now have unemployment rates below 6 percent. Four counties saw their rates drop a full point since March--Marion, Horry, Barnwell and York. "This drop in unemployment is yet another piece of great news for South Carolina," said Governor Nikki Haley…
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Crews are about half finished with a beach renourishment and stabilization project at the Folly Beach County Park
A huge barge slowly powers back and forth in the Folly River dumping tons of sand back onto the beach at the southwest tip of Folly Beach. The barge has been sucking sand from a large sand bar in the river since May 5 and pumping it back onto the beach. When it's finished it will have shifted as much as 415,000 cubic yards of sand from the riverbed to the beach. "It was sand that came from the beach and into the river," Assistant Director of Capital Projects for Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission Andy Hammill said. "We'll be pumping sand until the end of May." Meanwhile crews with TIC (The Industrial Company) are busy building a 745-foot long terminal groin (so named because there is no more beach beyond the groin) to keep …
Palmetto State ranks last along with five others.
The Center for Public Integrity, a government watchdog group that monitors, among other things, transparency in campaign financing, has given South Carolina an “F” on its latest report card. The states were asked the five questions below and given grades on their responses: South Carolina received the lowest possible score, a zero. Only five other states were as low—Alabama, Indiana, New Mexico, New York and North Dakota. The report notes that most states have less stringent campaign finance reporting rules and they often receive less media coverage. View the full report here. In the Palmetto State, groups not linked to a candidate are not required to disclose how much was given to them or by whom. Nor are they required to disclose how …
stanley seigler
11:01 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
re: Would You Vote For Anthony Weiner? NO, but may be a mistake...i wouldn't voted for slick willy and that would have been a mistake...clinton is the only president to produce budge surpluses... ditto sanford... ohmy are our politicians providing model behavior for our children...ie, ok to be a prevert... more ›