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Warthen: Slow and steady could win the race in SC (AUDIO)

August 30, 2011 by

South Carolina political blogger and former newspaper editor Brad Warthen has watched three decades of presidential candidates come through the state.  He says it may be too soon to tell who will come out in front of the most recent GOP Primary pack, giving hope to those who are trailing in the polls.

Huntsman at SC Statehouse this week

After candidate John Huntsman pledged this week that there is more to come of his campaign, we spoke with Warthen about what he observes as Huntsman’s style and how it might suit South Carolina.

AUDIO: Warthen on Huntsman and the GOP “middle” (7:24)

Filed Under: Palmetto Primary

Supreme Court rules legislative tradition unconstitutional

August 30, 2011 by

SC Supreme Court

In a 4-1 decision, South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled state legislators can no longer use a tradition known as “local legislation,” which allows only a handful of legislators to override a governor’s veto in some circumstances.

It’s a practice that has infuriated governors for years. Basically, it involves a bill that only affects one county, so only the legislators representing that particular county will vote on it. It became an issue after former Gov. Mark Sanford began vetoing such legislation, calling it unconstitutional. More often than not, the Legislature would override the veto– again only using those legislators who represented the area.

Usually, members from outside the county do not vote on local legislation, even if they disagree with it. “The theory behind it was that was the local senator’s business. It was their bowl of soup and not other senators’,” Senate President pro tempore Glenn McConnell told the AP.

Governor Nikki Haley has also been on the wrong side of several “local legislation” vetoes this year, most notably involving the efforts of several rural school districts to raise bonds to pay their operating costs.

The court’s decision stems from a court case involving Fairfield County last year, when mismanagement of the local school board caused legislators to step in and replace the board of trustees with a finance committee appointed by Fairfield legislators Boyd Brown (D) and Creighton Coleman (D). Sanford vetoed the bill, saying the General Assembly was overstepping its authority. He was overridden by the Legislature, most notably by a 1-0 vote in the Senate, where Coleman cast the only vote.

The Supreme Court ruled the process unconstitutional. “We hold the veto override votes of 33 to 10 in the House of Representatives and 1 to 0 in the Senate fell short of the constitutionally mandated two-thirds requirement,” Judge John Kittredge wrote in the court’s opinion. Justices said the Constitution’s two-thirds requirement means the number of those present under a quorum, not two-thirds of legislators representing the area.

The judges also ruled that, because the override did not follow the state’s constitution, Sanford’s veto stands.

Chief Justice Jean Toal disagreed with her fellow judges, saying the Legislature is fully within its rights to set its own rules. She said it has been a court precedent to consider the “yea” votes from those present “and acting on the matter.”

Haley’s office welcomed the decision, “Gov. Haley has said from day one that local legislation is unconstitutional and amounts to legislators cutting backroom deals for their districts,” spokesman Rob Godfrey said Tuesday.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government

Storm waves severely damage Folly Beach park

August 30, 2011 by

Folly Beach County Park prior to Friday's storm (Courtesy: Charleston County Parks & Rec.)

Hurricane Irene did not hit South Carolina directly, but the strong surf it created has hit some beaches near Charleston hard.

Folly Beach County Park in Charleston County remains closed indefinitely after sustaining severe damage from the heavy surf caused by Irene.  A boardwalk was washed away, along with several dunes. The high tide currently reaches what used to be the park’s far parking lot. Park officials said it is too soon to tell when they will be able to reopen.

The state’s Ocean & Coastal Resource Management team spent the weekend looking at beachfronts along the coast. They found Folly Beach and Sullivan’s Island were both heavily eroded by the storm’s surf. In Folly Beach’s case, O&CRM’s program manager Dan Burger said the beach’s profile is now 2-6 feet lower.

“That end of the island has had a chronic erosion problem,” Burger said, “Earlier this year, (after) passing offshore storms, it began losing sand at an accelerated rate. This most recent passage of Hurricane Irene made the erosion situation even worse.”

Burger said part of the problem was that the Charleston area was already having an exceptionally high tide even before the storm hit. “What we experienced was storm swells that were building on top of an already-predicted high tide,” he said. The higher than normal level means several beachfront houses currently have water underneath them at high tide, although Burger said that “astronomical” level would go down in the coming days.

The eastern part of Folly Beach has been eroding away for decades due to jetties built in the Charleston harbor, but this weekend’s storm may have sped up the process.

Even though the Grand Strand area was closer to Hurricane Irene, that part of the state was not affected as badly as Charleston’s barrier islands were. A reason is the geography of the islands themselves– typically the ends of barrier islands are more vulnerable to storm erosion.

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, News, Recreation & Entertainment, Weather

Wilson says he won’t compromise on ‘no tax increase’ position

August 30, 2011 by

Congressman Joe Wilson

In the aftermath of the contentious debt ceiling debate, the poll numbers of both President Obama and Congress continue to plummet. When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, the question remains: will there be more gridlock or a more concerted effort  to find common ground?

President Obama and many congressional Democrats are calling for a balanced approach to debt reduction that would include new sources of revenue and that could take the form of closing tax loopholes and limiting tax breaks for the nation’s wealthiest citizens as well as corporations.

Second District Congressman Joe Wilson, who is recovering from a recent illness, says he would not be in favor of tax increases in any form. “We do need to be working together, but not to increase taxes,” he tol Columbia affiliate WVOC Friday,  ”That’s taking money from the private sector, putting it in the public sector and destroying jobs and the small business environment.”

The new Joint Committee of Congress must recommend at least a net $1.2 trillion in debt reduction to Congress or risk triggering a mechanism to cut the federal budget to achieve an equivalent amount of savings. That would include a substantial cut in the defense budget that Republicans, including U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, are against.

The Committee is scheduled to present its work to Congress on November 23.

Filed Under: Economy, News, Politics & Government

DeMint says government is a threat to job creators

August 30, 2011 by

Senator Jim DeMint

Senator Jim DeMint was in the Lowcountry today discussing problems within the economy and job creation the country is currently facing.

DeMint says a temporary payroll tax cut that was passed last year is a bad idea.

“You’re not going to grow a business or hire a lot of employees with a temporary payroll tax deduction. All of us want a cut in any kind of taxes we can get if we can take home more pay, but it’s not going to create those jobs,” says DeMint.

DeMint says the lack of new jobs is partially due to employers being worried.

“People now are afraid if they hire an employee that they are going to have to pay more for their healthcare, more for their unemployment insurance, that they might have more liability if they ever try to get rid of them because of a lot of things that are happening. And more and more there’s a threat of unionization as they attack more and more,” says DeMint.

DeMint says there is no reason the government should be such a threat to those who are creating jobs.

Filed Under: Economy, News, Politics & Government
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