Carolina Politics Online

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr on Saturday urged Charlotte-area Republicans to “mobilize an army” to change the direction of the country from Washington “to the courthouse.”

“We have a tremendous opportunity in 2010 not just at the federal level to have a change in direction but in the state … all the way down to the courthouse,” he told more than 200 people at a GOP rally in east Charlotte.

Charlotte Observer

It’s difficult for me to take Richard Burr seriously when he calls for change in Washington.  Granted the deficits we are now seeing dwarf any of Bush’s deficits, but in Bush’s day the deficits he ran up were historical at the time as well.  Where was the call from Richard Burr to control spending when his own party controlled the purse strings?  It’s funny how politicians suddenly have a change of heart about the issues when the opposition is in control.

Share

North Carolina’s big win Tuesday in the federal “Race to the Top” competition will bring up to $400 million to the state and an era of new approaches to public education.

The state’s education community cheered the announcement by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan that North Carolina was among 10 winners in the latest round of coveted grants to spur classroom innovation. The others were the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island.

In its proposal seeking the $400 million over four years, North Carolina aimed to raise student test scores, boost high school graduation rates and better prepare students for careers and college work.

The News and Observer

Congratulations to North Carolina for seeing educational improvements.  There is certainly nothing wrong with that.  What I don’t understand however, is if the state is so successful in improving education, what the heck do they need another $400 million in Federal tax dollars thrown in their direction for?  Obviously, they have demonstrated they can realize improvements in educational performance without suckling even more cash from the government tit.

The State of North Carolina spends an average of $122,478 per student from the time they enter Kindergarten until they graduate from high school.  You break that down over 13 years and it’s a cost of $9,422 per student per year.  That’s a lot of money.  Are you telling me that $9400 isn’t more than adequate to properly educate someone’s child for nine months out of the year?

The three main components are: money to recruit and retain quality teachers and administrators; a turnaround plan for low-performing schools, and handheld devices that would allow teachers to continuously track students’ progress.

The average high school teacher in Mecklenburg County earns a salary of $74,654 a year which includes the cost of benefits.  That’s pretty nice for a job that gives you most of the summer off.  How much more money is needed to retain quality teachers?

When I was a kid my teachers taught us with a textbook, a chalk board, a Xerox machine, and an occasional VHS cassette.  Hell, going all the way back to my grammar school days we didn’t even have VHS players available.  I remember watching film strips and some of my teachers running off assignment worksheets on ditto machines, the fumes of which could supposedly make them high.  Now, I am not opposed to investing in modern technology like computers and Internet, but do teachers honestly need to have a “hand-held device” to monitor performance?  Excess is fine when you can afford it, but a nation with a national debt over $13 trillion can’t afford anything.

And then of course this brings me back to the old Constitutional argument I have brought up many times noting that the Federal government is not Constitutionally permitted to even be involved in education.  Nowhere in the document does it grant them that authority.  Therefore, all of these education mandates like No Child Left Behind and all of these grant dollars shouldn’t even be allowed to happen in the first place.

Share

Hundreds of Mecklenburg workers whose paychecks depend on federal stimulus money could be out of a job next month, county officials and employers say.

Local companies have hired 415 temporary employees this year through a government program that pays workers’ wages. But the program is set to expire Sept. 30 unless the U.S. Senate votes to extend it.

While some of the new workers have been offered permanent jobs, others will rejoin the ranks of the unemployed once funding runs out.

Charlotte Observer

I thought we needed to pass the porkulus bill last year so that we could get below 8% unemployment.  I thought this was going to be the summer of recovery.  You mean the trillions in borrowed Chinese money the Federal government  spent in order to save the economy didn’t work?  Gee, nobody saw that coming.

It seems the Republicans couldn’t manage an economy right.  The Democrats have demonstrated that they too are abject failures.  What’s a voter to do in November?  Oh that’s right, keep voting for the same two parties like always.  That will fix everything, while China meanwhile becomes the new world superpower.

Share

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is a taxpayer watchdog group that for years has been tracking and monitoring the wasteful spending being undertaken by our members of Congress. When I say waste I mean real waste, things that most all of us regardless of political ideology and views could likely agree on. Wasted spending like $1,454,000 for mosquito trapping research or $2,573,000 for potato research. Better yet, right here in our own backyard, UNC Charlotte received $762,000 for interactive dance software.

CAGW has a searchable database containing the 9,129 pork-barrel projects in the 2010 Congressional Pig Book. They also do a ranking of every member of Congress with a score of 100 indicating a taxpayer superhero and a score of 0 being a wasteful taxpayer abuser. Unfortunately, here in the Carolinas we have several big fat zeros. That list is below:

Senator	Party	State	Score
Richard Burr	R	NC	92
Kay Hagan	D	NC	8
Jim DeMint	R	SC	97
Lindsey Graham	R	SC	91

Representative	Party	State	District	Score
G.K. Buttefield	D	NC	01	0
Bob Etheridge	D	NC	02	0
Walter Jones	R	NC	03	51
David Price	D	NC	04	0
Virginia Foxx	R	NC	05	99
Howard Coble	R	NC	06	89
Mike McIntyre	D	NC	07	5
Sue Myrick	R	NC	08	95
Patrick McHenry	R	NC	09	99
Heath Shuler	D	NC	10	8
Mel Watt	D	NC	11	0
Brad Miller	D	NC	12	0
Henry Brown	R	SC	01	48
Joe Wilson	R	SC	02	90
Gresham Barrett	R	SC	03	98
Bob Inglis	R	SC	04	91
John Spratt	D	SC	05	0
Jim Clyburn	D	SC	06	0

Share

The last thing American businesses need in this economy is to get smacked with a tax increase so that the Federal government can dole out more welfare money, but that is exactly what the U.S. Senate did today and Kay Hagan voted for it.

WASHINGTON—The Senate voted Thursday to approve a package of $26 billion in aid for state and local governments, funded partly by an $11 billion tax increase on U.S. multinational corporations.

In what was one of the final moves by the Senate before lawmakers depart Washington for the summer recess, Democrats were able to score a significant victory for a core constituency of their party: labor unions and public-sector workers.

But at the same time, they handed a hefty tax bill to U.S. companies with units overseas that have been able to pay a lower corporate income tax rate on profits derived from their foreign businesses.

The Wall Street Journal

You would think that in a state with double digit unemployment numbers the last thing Hagan would want to do is hinder further job growth, but she isn’t too bright on the economic side, is she.  The House still needs to pass this before it becomes law, but I don’t see any reason why they won’t.

Share

Democratic U.S. House candidate Rob Miller proposed slashing Congressional pay and perks, part of a plan to win back voter trust.

Miller’s plan would also cut federal spending by 3 percent to 5 percent, exempting military, veteran’s affairs and homeland security budgets.

“Hard working South Carolinians, men and women, have lost faith in Washington,” Miller said. “Everybody is tightening their belts. It’s long past time for Congress to lead the way.”

Miller’s plan would cut Congressional pay by 10 percent, and he said he would reject any raise until the federal budget is balanced. Miller would also eliminate Congressional perks, such as cars, cell phones and some paid mail, known as franking.

The State

Gutsy plan.  Very gutsy, but I’m liking it.  Words are one thing, though.  The real question is what is Miller’s plan to build a consensus in Congress to get this achieved?  Can he get 217 other members of the House and 51 members of the U.S. Senate to take a ten percent pay raise?  I’m skeptical.  I do think, however, that the proposed three to five percent cuts in Federal spending are fairly realistic, but even that is a tall order.  We know how the Congress critters love to spend other peoples’ money.  Nevertheless, these goals will not be achieved without members of Congress who will push for them.  You get one elected here and one elected there and eventually you have the numbers you need.  If Rob Miller were to stay true to his word it puts us one step closer to some type of reform.

Share

Outside, where the temperature hovered between 95 and 98 degrees, about 20 people from the Charleston area took part in the protest, including John Steinberger and Jack Jackson, advocates of the FairTax, a plan to replace federal income taxes and payroll taxes with a national retail sales tax, among other components. “We just want people to realize there is a better way,” Steinberger said.

He said he hoped that Biden took notice of the crowd, but even if he didn’t see the turnout — or it didn’t matter to him — for several hours, passers-by on the busy Columbia roadway did.

One of the event organizers, William Stallings of Rock Hill, stayed up until 3 a.m. with his wife making signs, including one with a picture of a baby and the words “Stop! Spending my money.”

“We want our freedoms back, a responsible government and less spending,” Stallings said.

The Post and Courier

The White House has adjusted its deficit prediction for the year and now estimates a jaw dropping $1.47 trillion deficit for 2010.  You can thank John Spratt for this.  As chairman of the House Budget Committee he carries the most influence over the budget and bears a bulk of the responsibility for the deficit built into it.  Furthermore, this year he failed to pass a budget for the first time ever and it was done on purpose! The projected deficit next year is another trillion and a half and the Democrats don’t want that to be added to the fodder they are going to be nailed with in November. They are already heading for a brutal onslaught by voters all across the country.

Never in American history have we seen such recklessness from a Congress.  I think Spratt is gravely underestimating the furor of the voters in this coming election.

Share

In lieu of an official budget, John Spratt last week introduced a budget enforcement resolution, eluding any details as to how exactly record deficits will be reduced. The reason for this is obvious. The Democratic Congress is attempting to pull one over on the American people. They caught hell for their $1.5 trillion deficit last year and in an election year they don’t want to be forced to vote on another budget with a similar deficit.

The enforcement resolution is being used because rank-and-file Democrats did not want to vote for a budget resolution that would show large deficits, particularly in an election year marked by worries about the nation’s fiscal solvency.

The measure, written by House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.), calls for a budget by 2015 that would be balanced except for debt interest payments. This mirrors a goal already set out by Obama.

Spratt’s measure doesn’t say what policies Congress should enact to reach that out-year goal, something past budget resolutions have done. Instead, it relies on the White House fiscal commission, a bipartisan panel looking at tax, spending and entitlement policies, to come up with a plan to halve the projected $1.5 trillion 2010 deficit by 2015.

The Hill

Spratt has failed in his duty as our elected representative here in the Fifth District and as the Congress’s Budget chairman. The NRCC has called Spratt out on his dishonesty and deception.

Share

RALEIGH — When lawmakers created the lottery in 2005, supporters pledged the state-run gambling enterprise would be additional money for education and not take the place of tax dollars.

Lottery opponents were skeptical of that promise from the beginning, and they say the $19 billion budget the General Assembly approved last week leaves little doubt that lottery revenue will be used to replace lost education money rather than provide new funding for public schools.

“If anybody still had some vestige of hope of the lottery not supplanting, they should be able to let go of that,” said Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican who opposed the lottery’s creation.

This year’s budget does three things that could be interpreted as shifting lottery funds to replace state tax dollars:

• $35 million in unclaimed lottery prize money and excess receipts will be held to help fill a potential $518 million gap if Congress does not provide an anticipated but as-yet unapproved boost to Medicaid funding.
• $63 million has been shifted away from school construction into class-size reduction, a program used to make sure teacher-to-student ratios don’t balloon in lower grades.

News & Record

I’m not opposed to there being a state lottery, but geez, was anybody actually stupid enough to believe the government would actually use it for what they said they would?  Come on, folks.  Fool us once, shame on them, but fool us twice and shame on all y’all!  When has a government program ever stayed on budget or been contained within its original parameters?

Share

I love when the establishment loses and that’s one of the benefits that came out of this past Tuesday’s run off election in North Carolina’s 21st State Senate District.  Democratic voters in the 21st told the party establishment to piss off when they overwhelmingly supported political newcomer Dr. Eric Mansfield over former Cumberland County Democratic Party Chairwoman Lula Crenshaw.

Dr. Eric Mansfield captured the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 21st District with a convincing win this week, surprising party officials and defeating a partisan heavyweight.

Mansfield, who is 45, acknowledged that he didn’t know what he was doing when he started knocking on doors in the snow in January. One man whom Mansfield met on Seabrook Road gave him a candid assessment.

“He said, ‘You don’t know the neighborhood, you don’t know politics and you don’t know what you’re doing,’ ” Mansfield said.

The man was right, Mansfield said. He said the Cumberland County Senior Democrats club told him the same thing in January.

He took the message as a personal challenge.

“We had a lot of work to do, and we set out to do it,” he said. “We learned a lot.”

In Tuesday’s primary runoff, he defeated Lula Crenshaw, a former county party chairwoman, 62 percent to 38 percent, according to unofficial results.

In the May primary, he led a five-candidate field that included a former five-term city councilman.

The Fayetteville Observer

Dr. Mansfield is an Ears, Nose, and Throat Specialist with a practice in Fayetteville.  He served honorably in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United State Army and he is an active member in his church and community.  As a doctor he supports greater free market competition in health care, tort reform, and Medicaid cost and fraud controls, in order to bring down medical costs so that heath care services will be more affordable to people in the state.  He also recognizes the need for improvement in the education system and the tax structure for small businesses.  He was endorsed by the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

While Mansfield will face a Republican opponent in the general election, the 21st is heavily Democratic and it’s highly unlikely Mansfield will be defeated.  I think he’ll make a great state senator for Cumberland County.

Standing up for what is right from kassaye kassaye on Vimeo.

Share

The debate over Gov. Mark Sanford’s vetoes last week was about far more than the ongoing political theater between the governor and the Legislature.

Residents across South Carolina are going to feel the loss of services from the most recent cuts made to a recession-hammered budget – already carved by $2 billion over the past three years.

Citizens will notice a difference, whether it’s a reduction or elimination of restaurant inspections, longer times to file complaints, the closing of health clinics or curtailing of educational programs, according to a review by The Greenville News.

“All of this would be funny if there were not real people behind these numbers,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, an Orangeburg Democrat. “What’s at stake is the future of South Carolina.”

The Greenville News

Well then, I guess “real” people will just have to get off of their duffs and start taking better care of themselves instead of relying on their next door neighbor to pay their way for them.  I have no problem with government money going to people who really are unable to take care of themselves, like people who are mentally and/or physically handicapped, but they are about the only ones who have an excuse.

Programs cut or reduced by the vetoes benefited everyone. They include a statewide effort to increase the number of black doctoral students; a 10-week course on how to start and grow businesses; a program to recruit and retain minority students; a study of pollution in the Congaree River; and an effort to increase the number of doctors serving rural areas.

“What’s intriguing is that all of these seem to be worthwhile,” said Dick Taylor, 67, of Greenville, who was at a table outside a downtown restaurant Saturday. “If we had the funds, I would be in favor of retaining all of these programs,” he said.

On the other hand, the budget must be balanced, he said, and while “these are good services to have in this state,” none are absolutely essential, except perhaps adding rural doctors, a program he said lawmakers should work hard to retain.

Precisely, none of these services are essential.  Let’s examine these, shall we?

1. “A statewide effort to increase the number of black doctoral students” – What the hell for?  Why are we spending our tax dollars on racially biased programs?  Furthermore, what about Hispanics?  What about Asians?  What about every other hyphenated American we can think of?  If black students want to become doctors, then they will.  Nothing is stopping that from happening.  Racial politics have no place in 21st century America.
2. “A 10-week course on how to start and grow businesses.” – A helpful course, I’m sure, but exactly why does the State of South Carolina need to be paying for this?  If someone wants to take a course on starting a business then let them pay for it themselves.  Why should I or anybody else be subsidizing somebody else’s career choice?
3. “A program to recruit and retain minority students” – Why does their need to be a special program to retain and recruit minority students?  Again, if minorities want to go to college, they will.  There is more financial help out there for them than was available to me when I wanted to go and had to pay my own way. As SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts said, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race, is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
4. “A study of pollution in the Congaree River” – That may have its merits, but I’m always skeptical of these so called studies and how necessary or efficient they are at what they are chartered for.  I have a buddy of mine who is doing a post doctoral fellowship so he is all too familiar with Federal research funding for universities and other organizations and he said it is rife with waste.
5. “An effort to increase the number of doctors serving rural areas.” – What does this “effort” entail and why do we need a bureaucratic government agency to do it?

Share

This is an excerpt from one of Bubba’s press releases:

John Spratt Introduces the “Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) issued the following statement after introducing the “Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010,” a legislative proposal to increase the powers of policy makers to eliminate wasteful spending through a procedure known as expedited rescission.

“Today I was pleased to file a bill to provide an extra tool to enforce fiscal discipline. The purpose of ‘expedited rescission’ is simple: to allow the President to sign a spending bill into law and at the same time propose to Congress that certain items in the bill with a budgetary cost be eliminated. Congress takes up the proposals on a fast-track basis, and the proposed cuts take effect if approved by a majority in each house.

“While my involvement with this idea dates back to the 1990s, I am pleased to be joined today by 20 original co-sponsors spanning the spectrum of House Democrats – from Progressive to New Democrat to Blue Dog, and from freshman to veteran – all united in our belief that we need to do everything we can to be sure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and deficits reduced.

This man is a complete and utter liar.  Was it not Jack Spratt who chairs the House Budget Committee and was a-okay with passing a budget last year with a $1.5 trillion deficit?  Is it not Jack Spratt who is ready to push a  budget for this next fiscal year with a $1.5 trillion deficit?  Was is not Jack Spratt who voted for every deficit riddled budget of the Bush Administration as well?  Now he is going to tell us that he cares about responsible spending??

Share

Hagan said she wants small producers to be allowed to continue to operate under existing state regulations.

“We need a robust prevention and response system to handle outbreaks of food-borne illnesses,” she said in a statement. “But we have many hardworking small producers and family farms in North Carolina, and it is unnecessary for these producers to be saddled with new regulations and paperwork.

Local farm and food advocates have said the new regulations are great for companies buying ingredients from hundreds of places worldwide. But the small producer usually knows where he is buying his ingredients and might have grown some of them himself, which tends to mean a safer product.

Asheville Citizen-Times

So let me see if I have this straight.  It’s apparently perfectly acceptable for small food producers to accidentally poison us.  It’s only bad if the big evil rich producers contaminate our food supply.  Do I have that right?

Either these regulations are needed or it’s just another encroachment of government bureaucrats making it harder to do business in the United States.  Which is it?  Are Hagan’s actions an indication that this is just more bureaucratic B.S. that we don’t really need or is she putting the special interests of business ahead of the health of her constituents?

Share

RALEIGH — The state Senate is expected to consider today a $450 million bond package that would pay for university and college projects, including a new engineering building at N.C. State University.

A key Senate committee approved the bond package Tuesday. Borrowing the money would not require the approval of voters. The state is facing an $800 million revenue shortfall in its operating budget because of the recession. That same recession means that construction costs could be as much as 30 percent cheaper than they would be during normal times.

The News & Observer

Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican and the chamber’s minority leader, said the state may be facing a $3 billion deficit next year because of taxes and federal stimulus dollars that are set to expire. While the projects are worthwhile, another $18 million debt payment now doesn’t make any sense, he said.

“Would you do that in your personal life?” he asked.

Maybe the State of North Carolina just thinks down the road it can declare bankruptcy like people do when they get in over their head.  Bear in mind that the state legislature is also banking on the Feds providing another half a billion in Medicaid welfare handouts to the state as they present the next fiscal year’s budget.  That money isn’t even guaranteed so if the Feds don’t pony up, add another $500 million to the state deficit.

When the recession created a budget shortfall here in South Carolina our state legislature massively slashed the budget.  As a matter of fact, funding was cut to higher education throughout the state.  I’m a graduate student at Winthrop University.  Guess what.  My tuition went up.  We, the students receiving the educative services, had to pick up the financial slack for our own education and that’s exactly the way it should be.  I wasn’t bitching about it.  If UNC needs a new engineering building that bad then let them pay for it!

In a parting note, I can’t let the words of Republican State Senator Richard Stevens go without special fanfare.  I can always county on big government trough feeders like him to make my case for me when I repeatedly point out that the Republicans are no better at containing the size of government than the Democrats are.

“We can’t afford not to invest in our future,” said Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican.

Thanks again, Dick.

Share

This one effected me personally.

Homeowners in six Rock Hill neighborhoods turned out in force Tuesday to slam a proposal that would turn nearby wooded land into mixed-income apartment homes for seniors.

More than 100 neighbors packed a meeting at City Hall to oppose the plan, which would bring up to 50 rental units to a site off Herlong Avenue across from Millwood Plantation. A row of retail stores would be built along the street.

“You have six neighborhoods with a vested interest,” said Michael Kendree, an attorney who lives in Heathwood. “You have an out-of-town developer that doesn’t have a stake in the community like these people here do.”

The neighbors had little trouble convincing all seven planning commissioners to vote against the proposal. A final decision belongs to the City Council.

“The only thing I can say to the developer is, you have done a wonderful job of uniting all the neighborhoods opposed to this project,” said chairman Tom Roper, who described the project as “inexcusable” and “ridiculous.”

This is one of the few not-in-my-backyard disputes Rock Hill has seen lately amid a recession that has slowed new home construction. The market shows signs of picking up: Single-family permits issued in May were up by 67 percent compared to last year, city figures show.

The senior apartments are envisioned on land owned by the Herlong family in an affluent part of town near Piedmont Medical Center. The area is home to neighborhoods along India Hook Road, including Heathwood, Heathwood Forest, Fairlawn, Fairlawn Villas, Ratteree Street and Millwood Plantation.

Roper and others were upset by last-minute changes to the proposal, including a request from the developer to be given the option of building apartments or single-family homes open to anyone, not just seniors.

The Herald

I live in one of those aforementioned six neighborhoods.  This is a nice area and I don’t want to see it ruined by a bunch of low income crackheads living off of my tax dollars.  I hope the city council upholds the planning commission’s decision.

Just like I said when the folks in the Ballantyne neighborhood of Charlotte managed to stop a public housing development in their area, public housing destroys neighborhoods.  I saw it first hand when I lived up north.  You bring in public housing and in comes the crime and the drugs.  It has no place in my back yard.

Share

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2010

Columbia Residents Invited to Join National Discussion on Debt
Diverse Group of Local Leaders Come Together to Endorse June 26^th National Town Meeting

Columbia, South Carolina – Columbia is one of six primary sites selected for an unprecedented national discussion on the national debt on Saturday, June 26^th.  A diverse group of local leaders, ranging from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina CEO Ed Sellers and BB&T President Mike Brennan to Urban League President J.T. McLawhorne and Columbia College President Caroline Whitson, encourage Columbia residents to participate in AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy, which will bring together Americans here and across the country to learn about the issues involved, weigh the options and develop recommendations for leaders in Washington.

“The Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce is involved in promoting this national discussion for one reason, and that is the national budget and our national debt will impact the economic security not only of our generation but of generations of the future,” said President and CEO of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce Ike McLeese. “This is the most urgent of all the national issues we are facing.”

The United Way of the Midlands, AARP, Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, and Hispanic Connections are among a long list of local organizations that support the historic event. Led by Columbia’s host organization, Central Carolina Community Foundation, these groups are working to ensure that Columbia residents are well represented in the national discussion.

Columbia residents, reflecting the demographic, geographic and political diversity of the area, will come together to weigh in on the difficult choices necessary to put our federal budget on a sustainable path. On June 26^th the public will be presented with a set of options that are designed to represent a range of approaches before policy makers. Participants will use keypad polling and groupware technology to identify views that transcend geography, demographics or politics. AmericaSpeaks will present the priorities that emerge from the National Town Meeting to the President and Congress.

Columbia was selected as one of about 18 communities across the country that was chosen to host a National Town Meeting site, each of which will be linked together by satellite and the Internet for the national discussion. Participants at the town meeting sites will be joined by smaller conversation sites organized by volunteers in other communities across the country. More information can be found on the online hub for Our Budget, Our Economy, USABudgetDiscussion.org, including videos, reports on the budget and economy, blog posts, site registration and much more. The site also provides a platform to share ideas at the national and local levels through links to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn.

“The United States is on an unsustainable path, and the fiscal challenges facing our nation stand out as issues that will require compromise from the left and right in order to address the scale of the problems we face,” said Carolyn Lukensmeyer, founder and president of AmericaSpeaks. “Columbia’s participation represents an unprecedented opportunity for residents to get involved in the larger national discussion to start finding agreement about steps to redefine our fiscal future.”

This unique national discussion is a project of the nonprofit organization, AmericaSpeaks, and is supported by three leading foundations with a shared commitment to informing the American public and policymakers of the fiscal realities facing the country. It is being made possible by generous contributions from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Columbia’s event will take place at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center from 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Registration is now open at this site. Visit USABudgetDiscussion.org to join the discussion and to learn more.

###

About AmericaSpeaks
AmericaSpeaks is a nonprofit organization that provides citizens with a voice on the most important decisions that impact their lives. The nonpartisan organization has convened more than 150,000 people to shape policy making. For more information, visit www.americaspeaks.org.

About the Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Founded by Peter G. Peterson with a commitment of $1 billion, the Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America’s future and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. For more information, see www.PGPF.org.

About the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. Visit www.macfound.org for additional information.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, established in 1930, supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Visit www.wkkf.org for more information.

SOCIAL MEDIA RESOURCES:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/usabudget

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usabudgetdiscussion.org

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/usabudgetdiscussion.org
Find an Event: http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/widgets/event.html

Email Sign Up: http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/widgets/email.html

For information contact:
Keely Saye
(803) 446-3824

keely@keelysaye.com

QHFJQE9Q8YNE

Share

From a press release from the Jenerette campaign:

North Myrtle Beach, SC — GOP First District Congressional Candidates Tim Scott and Katherine Jenerette teamed up on Wednesday to decry the federal government’s decision to siphon millions of dollars away from the Department of Defense budget to erect a monument to Ted Kennedy in Boston, Massachusetts.

“I don’t know of any Taxpayer Paid shrine or mausoleum to any politician in Massachusetts or South Carolina that can stop an RPG or IED or an AK-47 round in Iraq or Afghanistan ,” said Jenerette a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and a former U.S. Congressional Aide. “But if that $20 million can help save one single American soldier’s life downrange in Iraq or Afghanistan, it’s worth it to keep it in the U.S. Defense Department budget and not siphon it off for the Sainthood of Ted Kennedy or anyone else.”

At least $19 million has been siphoned from the U.S. Defense Department budget to pay for the Kennedy shrine, which could ultimately end up costing taxpayers as much as $80 million.

$80 million of our money while we have a $12 trillion deficit over our heads all just to eternally enshrine Chappaquiddick Fats?  Ted Kennedy deserves a shrine to his memory, why, for being a politician?  Being a Kennedy?  The bulk of his political career was made from of his family’s name mixed with two parts corruption and three parts Chivas Regal.  A lot of “to do” is made of the Kennedys, but they were probably the most corrupt political family in the history of our nation and Teddy was no better.  The only significant accomplishment the man made to this country was spearheading the expansion of the nanny welfare state.

There are few leaders in American history that deserve to have their heads enshrined in stone for future generations.  These were men who faced great odds and brought down enormous threats, men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and as much as I may disagree with his domestic policies, Franklin Roosevelt.  These were extraordinary men whose legacies shaped the future of our nation in unimaginable ways during their time.  Ted Kennedy couldn’t carry their jock.

Share

Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, is pushing to have her financial literacy bill included in Congress’s reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the law that tries to battle the achievement gap in public education.

Hagan, a former banker, submitted a bill early last year that would require students to be taught about personal finance and financial literacy as part of their schooling.

At a dinner Wednesday night for a financial education coalition, Hagan talked about the importance of helping the next generation navigate increasingly more complex financial products.

“The fact is, we all have to understand debt and money issues to get by in the world today,” Hagan said, according to her prepared remarks.

The N&O

Share

South Carolina Republicans hope they drive up interest in their June primary by adding ballot questions asking voters if they think South Carolina lawmakers should fight President Barack Obama’s health care law and limit state spending.

The ballot questions have no legal weight, and S.C. GOP chairwoman Karen Floyd said they were designed to gauge GOP voters on the issues and to increase interest among voters who might otherwise skip the June 8 primaries.

One question asks whether state lawmakers should fight a law requiring people to buy health insurance while the other asks whether state lawmakers should limit budget growth to income growth or population plus inflation.

The State

Really?  You have to ask?  Duh!  Of course you ought to be pursuing these initiatives, you schmucks.  Do they really think the majority of South Carolinians are going to say, “Are you crazy?  Live within our means?  Only spend what we have?  That’s just insane!”  Oh brother.

The fact that the Republican Party has to ask people their opinion on these issues in order to make a decision shows how flawed their fundamental philosophy is.  Consequently, does anyone honestly believe that they will limit state spending when the biggest pork barrel earmarkers in Columbia are the Republicans’ own  leadership?

Share

COLUMBIA — The self-described “game” Rock Hill financial planner Gene Sullivan played for almost two decades in stealing more than $2.5 million from dozens of mainly elderly friends and clients ended Wednesday in a federal courtroom.

Sullivan – who had used the stolen money to pay other investors and spend lavishly on college educations, weddings and his own home – finally lost the game and will spend 30 months in a federal prison.

The Herald

Share