Over the past six years, Mr. Sanford has amassed a political record that many within the GOP would like to see enacted in Washington: tax cuts, school choice, market-based entitlement reform and a long list of vetoes handed out to a profligate legislature. Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove and Sen. Lindsey Graham (a stalwart John McCain backer) have all floated Mr. Sanford’s name for veep.
During our hour-long conversation on a recent afternoon in his office in the state Capitol, Mr. Sanford touches on the vice presidency, but focuses his comments on his prolonged fight against the political status quo in South Carolina. That is exactly why I came to see him. If he is under consideration for the vice presidency, we should know more about his governing record and his motivation in picking his political battles.
South Carolina isn’t the first state many Republicans might think to find a running mate; it’s likely to vote Republican no matter who Mr. McCain taps. But Mr. Sanford is popular on the right because he understands markets. “There are only two ways to raise the standard of living,” he said, “through technology – one backhoe can dig more dirt than 50 men with shovels – and through brain power . . . And that’s it.”
Sanford is undoubtedly somewhere at the top of McCain’s list and it’s not surprising why. Aside from supporting McCain in both 2000 and this year, Sanford has proven to be a fiscally conservative stalwart and have an iron hand when it comes to fighting the political status quo in Columbia. How sweet it would be to have the same successes in Washington. A McCain-Sanford administration could really clean up this country’s financial mess.
COLUMBIA — U.S. Rep. James Clyburn said Friday it is time for Congress to roll out a second economic stimulus package one aimed at putting Americans back to work and defraying the skyrocketing cost of living for average families.The Democratic-led U.S. House is expected to unveil a new proposal in about two weeks, said Clyburn, D-Columbia.
He hopes the plan will include $1 billion to fund a summer work program in cities and communities across the country, creating 1 million new jobs and an instant infusion to the stalling U.S. economy.
This is not a stimulus plan and will not create any economic activity. This is simply government interference in the market. The plan that Clyburn speaks of is nothing more than wealth redistribution, taking tax dollars from one group of people and handing it to another. This does not stimulate the economy or create wealth; it’s just an attempted continuation of Roosevelt’s Raw Deal.
The private sector creates wealth. The public sector consumes it.
All four candidates responded that they would do more to combat illegal immigration.
However, criticism of McCrory’s efforts to combat illegal immigration in Charlotte, which Smith and Orr have leveled in the past two weeks, did not come up.
The sharpest difference on the topic came up with Smith saying the state needed to be judicious in how it used and paid for a program that deputizes sheriff’s departments to enforce immigration laws. Graham said he would deputize all law enforcement officers to do so and would want them to more actively enforce immigration laws than the federal 287(g) program currently allows.
Meanwhile, McCrory said the state needs to persuade the federal government to build immigration courts and detention centers in the state, but Orr said taxpayers should be wary of those costs. Orr said the state should be doing more to recoup the costs of illegal immigration problems from the federal government.
I agree with Orr’s sentiment here. If we start getting into big dollar construction projects to house all of these illegals being rounded up I’m not certain it’s going to be worth it. If the state would simply implement the right solution, severely punishing employers for hiring them, then we wouldn’t need extra detention centers. If the job dry up, they’ll leave.
Arizona and Georgia have already passed extremely strict enforcement against illegal immigrants and they have been fleeing those states in droves. What I suggest will work.
RALEIGH — A state licensing board wants to stop Taylortown’s former mayor from constructing any more buildings.
The state Licensing Board for General Contractors wants to seek an injunction against Ulysses Barrett Jr. that bars him from breaking licensing laws, said Susan Dixon, the complaint administrator for the board.
The licensing board’s lawyer will decide if there is enough evidence for a hearing.
In June, then Councilman Jesse Fuller Sr. filed a complaint against Barrett with the licensing board.
Fuller alleges that in 2001 and in 2005, Barrett broke the law. During those two years, the Town Council awarded Barrett a $57,600 contract to construct a public works building and $32,800 in contracts to renovate the Taylor House, a historic home owned by the town.
State law requires a builder to have a general contractor’s license for projects costing $30,000 or more. Barrett does not have a license, state records show.
HICKORY — Republican congressional candidate Lance Sigmon is calling for a congressional investigation to find out if a video shot of U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry while on a trip to Iraq aided the enemy.
The military has given no indication McHenry’s video helped the enemy or led to a more accurate attack on April 6, which killed two officers. No other groups or politicians are calling for an investigation.
The video in question was pulled from McHenry’s Web site by his staff and I haven’t been able to find any other instances of it, but below is a video of Sigmon speaking to a group of Republicans about the incident.
Myrick acknowledged that her 10-point plan, “Wake Up America,” might hit stumbling blocks in Washington. But she thinks it’s time to start demanding answers. She said she was releasing her agenda now after carefully researching which issues had the potential for solutions.
“We put this together really to try to get a dialogue going,” she said. “It’s a beginning point.”
Myrick’s 10-point plan
1. Investigate all military chaplains endorsed by Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was imprisoned for funding a terrorist organization.
2. Investigate all prison chaplains endorsed by Alamoudi.
3. Investigate the selection process of Arabic translators working for the Pentagon and FBI.
4. Examine the nonprofit status of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
5. Make it an act of sedition or solicitation of treason to preach or publish materials that call for the deaths of Americans.
6. Audit sovereign wealth funds in the United States.
7. Cancel scholarship student visa program with Saudi Arabia until they reform their text books, which she claims preach hatred and violence against non-Muslims.
8. Restrict religious visas for imams who come from countries that don’t allow reciprocal visits by non-Muslim clergy.
9. Cancel contracts to train Saudi police and security in U.S. counterterrorism tactics.
10. Block the sale of sensitive military munitions to Saudi Arabia.
I don’t really find any of this unreasonable. I don’t see any civil rights or Constitutional violations here. One thing I wish she would add to her list, however, is profiling at the airport. If they really want to be serious about keeping flying safe they need to stop frisking 85 year old men.
Despite how many people are too chained down by the weights of political correctness to admit the truth, the War on Terror is very much a religious war against radical Islam. They want to kill non-Muslims. It’s that simple, so we may as well get down and dirty because no amount of kissing their ass will change that.
I was driving through downtown Rock Hill this afternoon and drove by an outdoor event for Leah Moody. She is an attorney with her own practice in Rock Hill who is running for the Democratic nomination for the Senate District 17 seat that is being vacated by retiring State Senator Linda Short. This district represents part of Chester, Fairfield, Union, and York Counties. I wanted to stop and chat with her for a few minutes, but I had a million errands to run and not enough hours in the day to complete them. The best I could do was wave to her as I drove by and she happily waved back. Despite the windy weather that was on the verge of raining she and her supporters were sticking it out and seemed to be having a good time.
She has a lot of good issues on her Web site. She seems to have the right views on improving education. She’s not just another advocate for throwing more money at a failing system. She recognizes the need to have parents, teacher, and leaders of the community involved. She is a strong advocate for job security and doing what needs done by the state government to make certain that businesses in South Carolina have the ability to thrive. I also like the fact that she addresses the crime and gang problem, particularly with our youth. This is something that you don’t hear politicians bring up very often which when you think about it is surprising because it’s a big issue. Charlotte has been having some serious problems with increasing crime and gang activity and it’s just a matter of time before that filters over the state line and hits us here in York County.
I like this woman. She’s a good candidate. She has a very positive outlook on the area and she is an accomplished professional who knows what it takes to succeed.
