Oct 31 2007
Beginning Thursday, anyone in South Carolina who buys groceries will have a little extra jingle in their pockets. The state’s sales tax on unprepared food - which was lowered from 5 percent to 3 percent a year ago - disappears completely Thursday.
Oct 31 2007
He was one of Mitt Romney’s earliest major allies and today the Republican presidential candidate tapped South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint to co-chair his national campaign.DeMint will share duties with fellow Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
In announcing his national campaign line-up, Romney said, “As leaders in their respective states and for our country, these men bring an incredible depth of knowledge and experience to our campaign to build a stronger America with a stronger military, stronger economy and stronger families.
I really like Jim DeMint, but I disagree with his support of Romney. He has simply changed his position too many times to trust what he says.
Oct 31 2007
Several appearances will be made over the next three days by McCain, Huckabee, Biden, Edwards, Obama, Paul, and Huckabee all around the state. The State has the schedule here.
Oct 31 2007
More than 1,000 people crowded onto the USC Horseshoe Sunday morning chanting and cheering for Stephen Colbert, the talk-show host turned presidential candidate.Colbert, who grew up in Charleston, received the key to the city from Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, who also proclaimed Colbert South Carolina’s favorite son.
Oct 31 2007
The state attorney general has asked federal prosecutors to help conduct a criminal probe into former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong and other government officials involved with the Duke lacrosse case, according to a lawyer representing one of the three exonerated players.Charlotte lawyer Jim Cooney outlined the request in a three-page letter sent to three high-ranking U.S. Justice Department administrators.
Oct 31 2007
UNC Asheville plans to renovate and upgrade its aging track facility and wants Buncombe County taxpayers to contribute $500,000 to the project.The county Board of Commissioners is likely to fund the request if the university assures the county in writing that the track would continue to be open to the general public, board Chairman Nathan Ramsey said.
I find it hard to believe that UNC doesn’t have the money to take care of this themselves. Why do they need a taxpayer subsidy?
Oct 30 2007
Two local schools and one local police department will meet with join with the U.S. Attorney’s Office this week as part of a national campaign to obtain pledges against gun violence.Middle and high school students will sign a voluntary pledge promising that they will never take a gun to school, will never resolve a dispute with a gun, and will use their influence to prevent friends from using guns to resolve disputes.
What the hell good is this going do? This reminds of those stupid “prom promises” they would always ask us to sign back in high school pledging that we wouldn’t drink on prom night, even though half the kids that signed it did it anyway. This is just a feel good measure that won’t accomplish anything in the long run.
Oct 30 2007
The three men who hope to unseat Charleston Mayor Joe Riley in next week’s election each said they could provide better services without raising taxes, and one asked if Riley’s 2008 budget would do the same.
“We need to see the 2008 budget,” candidate William Dudley Gregorie said. “I want to make sure it does not include a property tax increase.”
Riley is running for re-election Nov. 6, challenged by Gregorie, a retired federal housing official; Omar Brown, a city police officer; and Marc Knapp, a contractor.
Riley did not speak about the 2008 city budget during the debate but said afterward that, although he hopes to avoid an increase in taxes or fees, it is proving to be a very difficult budget. The budget is expected to go to City Council after the election.
Oct 30 2007
State Sen. Kay Hagan said Tuesday she will join the race to challenge U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole next year, three weeks after saying she wouldn’t run and a week after the only other Democrat in the race said he is gay.
“I’ve had a change of heart. I’m throwing my hat into the ring and going forward,” Hagan said.
Regardless of what Hagan says, I am convinced she is running because Jim Neal came out of the closet with his homosexuality. In a conservative state like North Carolina that will work against him in the general and lead to a Dole reelection.
Oct 29 2007
Senator Jim DeMint has launched an Internet petition to take to Congress and pressure the porkers to introduce real earmark reform.
Last November, voters sent all of us a message about the way Congress needs to change. I, for one, received that message loud and clear. I believe it is long past time to finally start doing things differently in Washington.
When I got back to Capitol Hill in December, I teamed up with a few of my colleagues who were equally concerned about the direction Congress was headed. In our opinion it had turned into one gigantic “favor factory.”
Something had to be done to stop the excessive government spending that had grown out of control. After exhausting a number of options, our last alternative was to block the entire annual budget bill from passing the Senate. As a result, we saved U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion in pork filled pet projects.
The petition can be signed here.
Oct 29 2007
Tracey Cline is chief assistant district attorney and Mitchell Garrell is assistant district attorney. Freda Black was an assistant prosecutor until she was dismissed by Nifong two years ago.All three plan to run for Nifong’s old job next year. Steve Monks, a lawyer who ran a write-in campaign against Nifong in 2006, say he may run if he’s not elected to the City Council in the meantime.
Oct 29 2007
Cole reveals that Rep. Robin Hayes, the Republican from Concord, apparently has a new nickname on the Hill.”We call him `NASCAR Dad’ around here,” said Cole, a reference to Hayes’ objections over some congressional aides getting vaccinated for hepatitis and other diseases in preparation for attending a race in his district. “I think he’s shown with this NASCAR issue how nimble he is in taking advantage of opportunities.”
Oct 29 2007
John Edwards says if he’s elected president, he’ll institute a New Deal-like suite of programs to fight poverty and stem growing wealth disparity. To do it, he said, he’ll ask many Americans to make sacrifices, like paying higher taxes.Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called “College for Everyone.”
John Edwards sounds sleazier and more like Hugo Chavez with each passing day. He would never be able to deliver what he promises to begin with, not even to mention the detriment to society and the economy that his proposals would cause.
Oct 28 2007
The state schools chief says he plans to push another public school choice program in the Legislature next year, even though his efforts were defeated last year.“I do think this is an idea whose time has come,” said State Education Superintendent Jim Rex. “We have a lot of parents and children who deserve and need more choices in public schools now.”
Last year’s effort faced several critics, including Gov. Mark Sanford, who wanted to include private schools in the choices. Rex’s plan was to allow parents to send their kids to any school, regardless of district.
This is a no-brainer. Competition breeds quality. Why shouldn’t parents be allowed to choose where to send their kids? Does the government tell you where you have to go to college? Of course not. The state should attach the funding to the student, rather than the school district and the funds follow the student to whichever school he goes to.
Oct 28 2007
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - If you listen to some of his political challengers, Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. is to blame for the deaths of nine firefighters killed in a June furniture store blaze.
They say he should have made changes in the department before the fire, which resulted in the greatest loss of firefighters since the World Trade Center attacks. They say he should have fired the city’s chief in the aftermath of the tragedy. They say it’s time for a change.
But political observers say the man who’s been mayor longer than anyone in Charleston’s 337-year-history has the support, name recognition and organization to win him a ninth term in the Nov. 6 nonpartisan elections.
Riley has been a successful mayor during his 32 year tenure. I think Marc Knapp is acting disgraceful to be politicizing the deaths of the nine firefighters and blame them on Joe Riley.
Oct 28 2007
The five candidates at the forum for the city of Aiken’s upcoming election all agreed on at least one thing – support for nonpartisan elections in the city.The candidates for District 1, Beverly Clyburn and Eric Schmidt; District 3, Dick Dewar and Sam Erb; and mayor, Fred Cavanaugh, all agreed that they support the idea of municipal elections without party affiliation. The Aiken Standard has long boosted this concept which is in place in all but six cities and towns in South Carolina.When it comes to the garbage being picked up on schedule, Republican or Democrat party affiliations don’t matter to residents, they merely want the job done. Party labels don’t really affect the level of local government service provided by City Council members.
Nonpartisan elections would open the field to more potential candidates, since independents who do not want to fight the power of political party machinery may be reluctant to offer for elected office in the current system.
I am very much in favor of this proposal. It’s already done in the vast majority of Carolina cities. Nonpartisan elections require voters to know who they are voting for, rather than only looking at their party label. It’s a doorway to better government.
Oct 28 2007
ASHEVILLE – Jim Dean, head of the national Democracy for America organization and Howard Dean’s brother, will stump for City Council candidates this week.Dean will be at Mela Indian Restaurant Thursday for a “Stay up late with the candidates” event.
Asheville DFA has endorsed Bryan Freeborn, Elaine Lite and Brownie Newman in the Nov. 6 election.
No, he’s not the sausage guy, but I wonder if he is as nutty as his brother.
Oct 28 2007
ELIZABETH CITY - It’s been over one month since the Navy and North Carolina officials dropped a bomb, figuratively speaking, concerning six new possible sites for an OLF (Outlying Landing Field) in the Tar Heel state, including two in Gates County.On Tuesday afternoon, not even the threat of a real bomb could keep hundreds of citizens from attending a meeting of the OLF Study Group.
After members of the Elizabeth City Police Department, acting upon a phoned-in threat, found no evidence of a bomb in the Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center on the campus of Elizabeth City State University, the much-anticipated meeting got underway about 35 minutes behind schedule.
Once inside the spacious center, it didn’t take long to figure out that the well-behaved crowd was 100 percent in opposition of the Navy’s plans to possibly construct and operate an OLF in northeastern North Carolina.
Unfortunately, this is what eminent domain was intended for. The Navy is going to be caught in a “catch 22″ no matter where they decide to put the base because most people don’t want to be uprooted from their homes.
Oct 27 2007
In Kennedy’s day it was more common for Americans to make up their mind to do something incredible, like go to the moon, rather than bicker and complain that the government doesn’t give them the things that they are “entitled” to, like a job or health care.After all, it was Americans who built a canal through Panama, developed energy from splitting atoms and traveled to the moon, but today it seems that Americans are only claiming that the federal government owes them the things that they used to work for.
This attitude is why Americans have completely lost their competitive edge. A big part of the reason this attitude exists is because we no longer have a real power or eminent threat, like the Soviet Union, to compete with. Sadly, the problems of illegal immigration and outsourcing are today’s equivalent of the space race.
Excellent article from Clemson University’s school paper. Read the whole thing. This guy knows exactly what he’s talking about.
Oct 27 2007
The state Workers’ Compensation Commission unanimously rejected Gov. Mark Sanford’s order to begin using uniform medical standards in deciding how much should be paid to injured workers with long-term disabilities, according to an order released Friday.The Republican governor issued an executive order last month to force the new standards and won praise from business leaders. But the order prompted outcries from the legislature and lawyers that Sanford had overstepped his authority.
“Awards should be more closely tied to objective standards than they have in the past in some cases,” Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said.
Sanford’s position is that reforms like this are needed in order for the state to compete more strongly in a global economic environment. He does have a point in that the reason we are seeing so many jobs go over seas is because it is most financially prudent to do business in countries like China and India because their labor costs don’t even compare to ours.
Additionally, there are questions as to the legality of this order, which likely played a role in their decision as well.