Carolina Politics Online

Republican candidate for governor Henry McMaster said at a campaign stop that he opposes using the state’s economic development incentives program for retail projects.

McMaster, the state attorney general, told a gathering Saturday at Sun City Hilton Head that such tax incentives would give an unfair advantage to some retailers.

The State

It’s nice to know that somebody in the alleged party of small government is opposed to doling out our tax dollars to more corporate interests.  Although, I would be curious to know which side McMaster would have come down on regarding the Boeing deal last year.  His statement comes on the heals of a shopping mall being planned in Beaufort.

S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican candidate for governor, said during a campaign stop in Sun City Hilton Head Saturday that he is “not convinced the law should be changed” to give tax incentives to retail developers such as the Sembler Co.

Sembler plans to build Okatie Crossings, a 280-acre shopping center and luxury outlet mall in Beaufort and Jasper counties. Sembler has said the incentives are critical to its plan.

Saturday’s statement, which came in response to a question from a Sun City resident, was the first time McMaster has spoken publicly on the bill for which Sembler is lobbying.

That bill could come to the Senate floor as soon as Tuesday.

“I’m not sure we should be in the business of judging one retail establishment against another,” McMaster said of choosing which retailers should get tax incentives.

The Island Packet

If Okatie Crossings can’t be profitable without taxpayers shelling out corporate welfare to Sembler Co., then why are they building the mall in the first place?  If you need a government subsidy to be in the black then it sounds like a bad investment to me.  Builders typically aren’t in the habit of making bad investments so this leads me to speculate that Sembler Co. can indeed be profitable without the incentives, they just want to see how much of their obligation they can pawn off on the taxpayers.

Let’s see how the Republican controlled state legislature, the party that has railed against the Obama stimulus program, votes when this bill comes up this week.

The Senate reached a compromise Thursday on a controversial Voter ID bill that phases in over two years new requirements for a picture ID in order for a person to vote in South Carolina.

The bill also establishes a new 15-day early voting period prior to elections, maintains walk-in absentee voting for 30 days prior to an election and retains mail-in absentee voting beginning at 45 days before an election.

The photo identification requirement takes effect Jan. 2, 2012, and the State Election Commission must begin issuing voter registration cards with photo ID by July, 1, 2011, pending state funding being made available for the cards.

The system carries an educational, public outreach component, so that currently-registered voters for whom obtaining a photo identification may pose a difficulty, could be assisted.

The compromise proposal must be cleared by U.S. Justice Department and still must go back to the S.C. House for its consideration and passage.

“This is another example of the Senate at its finest hour,” said Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, Senate president pro-tempore.

The State

This is the Senate’s finest hour?  I’m all for requiring ID to vote, but let’s not embellish too much here.  Then again, considering the state of our state, he’s probably serious.  They’ve actually done something right for once.

This has been such a controversial issue in South Carolina between and the Republicans and the Democrats and there is really no logical reason why.  Voting is one of the most important rights we have in this country and the integrity of that process needs to be protected.  I need to show my ID to get on an airplane, enter a Federal building, drive a car, open a bank account and the list goes on and on.  It only makes sense you should have to prove your identity at the ballot box.  It’s one of the surest ways to prevent fraud in our electoral system.

And the results, surprise, surprise, are absolutely pitiful, though somewhat better than years past.

In the State Senate, 13 members achieved a grade of a C- or better.  That’s one more than the 12 from the 2008 session. I guess some improvement is better than none.  In the State House 24 members achieved a passing grade, including gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley who received an A grade.

These grades are calculated based on specific key votes in the state legislature that promote responsible economic growth throughout the State of South Carolina.  Certain votes are weighed more than others based on their impact.  All of the 13 Senate and 24 House members who scored a C- or better were Republicans.  I have them listed below:

Senate

• Lee Bright (R-Roebuck) A+
• Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) A+
• Mick Mulvaney (R-Indian Land) A+
• Greg Ryberg (R-Aiken) A+
• Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) A
• Mike Rose (R-Summerville) B+
• Phil Shoopman (R-Greer) B+
• Shane Martin (R-Spartanburg) C+
• Ray Cleary (R-Murrells Inlet) C-

House

• Eric Bedingfield (R-Mauldin) A
• Joey Milwood (R-Landrum) A
• Rex Rice (R-Easley) A
• Jeff Duncan (R-Clinton) A
• Nikki Haley (R-Lexington) A
• Tommy Stringer (R-Landrum) A
• Tim Scott (R-North Charleston) A-
• Nathan Ballentine (R-Irmo) A-
• Wendy Nanney (R-Greenville) A-
• Thad Viers (R-Myrtle Beach) A-
• Ted Pitts (R-Lexington) B+
• Michael Thompson (R-Anderson) B
• Dan Hamilton (R-Taylors) B
• Garry Smith (R-Simpsonville) B
• Tom Young (R-Aiken) C+
• Chip Huggins (R-Columbia) C+
• Jim Stewart (R-Aiken) C
• Mark Willis (R-Fountain Inn) C
• Mac Toole (R-West Columbia) C
• Kris Crawford (R-Florence) C
• Deborah Long (R-Indian Land) C-
• Murrell Smith (R-Sumter) C-

Let’s take a look at the leadership of the general assembly, shall we?

• House Speaker Bobby Harrell (R) – A big fat F!
• Speaker Pro Tempore Harry Cato (R) – A big fat F!
• House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham (R) – A big fat F!
• Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell (R) – A big fat F!
• Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler (R) – A big fat F!

Well, it’s really no wonder why South Carolina’s economy is one of the worst in the nation when our state’s leadership is steering us right over a cliff, is it?  South Carolina may be a reliably Republican state, but if I were a member of the state Republican leadership be it in the general assembly or the state party, I’d take a warning from what is happening in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts right now.  In one of the most Democrat states in the nation, a Republican is on course to win the U.S. Senate seat that was just vacated by the death of Massachusetts icon Democrat Ted Kennedy.  This is a state with only 15% of its state legislature comprised of Republicans and the last time that state elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate was in 1972 and he was incredibly liberal for a Republican.  My point is that the folks up there are sick and tired of the corruption and incompetence of the Democrat Party that dominates their state and has for decades.  Don’t think the same thing can’t and won’t happen here with the GOP in South Carolina if they don’t start delivering what the people of this state are expecting from them.

As for the 37 members of the Republican caucus above who are at least partially working to improve the economic prowess of our state in these difficult times, they need to go a step further.  Their efforts are fruitless if they allow our state government to continue to be ran by the likes of the self-serving Bobby Harrell and Glenn McConnell.  These two and the other noted above need to be voted out of the leadership.  They are ineffective and not willing to do what is necessary to move this state forward.

Jake the Fat Man is out in front of the cameras again in the continuance of a long feud between him and Governor Sanford.  This time Knotts, not surprisingly, is joining in the chorus calling for Sanford’s ouster from the Governor’s office.

State Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, on Thursday called on the General Assembly to remove Gov. Mark Sanford from office after Knotts accused his fellow Republican of launching a smear campaign against Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and gays.

In a letter to each member of the General Assembly, Knotts, of West Columbia, said Sanford is behind recent, unsubstantiated Internet reports that Bauer, 40, is gay.

Knotts, a former police investigator, produced no proof to tie Sanford or his allies to the Internet reports.

The State

That’s hardly conclusive proof to give him enough ammunition to make an accusation like that, but at this point it’s anything goes for Sanford’s political enemies to get rid of him.  It’s true that Sanford and Bauer have had a complicated relationship, but starting up homosexual rumors against a political opponent is not Sanford’s style.  Certainly supporters of him may very well be behind it, but I doubt Sanford has knowledge of who.

COLUMBIA – State Sen. David Thomas of Fountain Inn opened a Senate probe Friday of Gov. Mark Sanford’s travel with a request for records from the governor’s office and testimony from the state’s chief law enforcement officer.

But Thomas did so without any other members of his three-member Senate Finance Subcommittee on Constitutional Officers, who are on vacation.

And one of those, Sen. Greg Ryberg of Aiken, a Sanford ally, issued a statement afterward saying the State Law Enforcement Division has already looked into the governor’s travel “and I know of no reason to continue this discussion.”

“South Carolina faces double-digit unemployment, record budget cuts and billions of dollars in state debt and unfunded liabilities,” Ryberg said. “The General Assembly must focus on these issues and stop rehashing old news.”

The Greenville News

I agree with Ryberg.  I’m sick of hearing about Mark Sanford.  The whole scandal has been beaten to death.  SLED has already looked into Sanford’s travel records and found nothing abusive.  At this point, Sanford clearly isn’t going to resign.  If he were, it would have happend within the first couple of weeks when the pressure was the greatest.  It’s time to move on and deal with more important things now.

Amanda Terkel over at Think Progress must have gotten a splinter in her behind as she has become completely discombobulated over the Twitterings of State Senator David Thomas (R-Greenville) in which he said the following:

Iran Election Protests.  Tea Parties Middle Eastern Style

and

Even Al Jazera is reporting on protests in Iran.  Satellite “Link TV” showing much protest video.  Tea parties mid East style.

How could he????!!!  [/SARCASM]

And there is your phony outrage for the day.

As predicted, Governor Mark Sanford vetoed the payday lending bill that was passed by the state assembly.  His reasoning?  Not rocket science, unless you’re an elected member of the South Carolina state legislature.

The governor said he believes payday loan recipients understand the high cost of the loans and that it isn’t up to government to save them from themselves.

The Greenville News

Oooooh!  Aaaaaah!  The basic principles of our nation’s founders, principles that have been lost in a deep dark chasm of American history.  I don’t personally care about this bill that much.  I don’t use payday lending services, but Sanford’s reason for vetoing the bill is the same argument I’ve given for opposing it.

I liked this retort from Senator Dave Thomas (R-Greenville), though.

Sanford’s message frustrated state Sen. David Thomas, a Greenville County Republican who chairs the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, which produced the compromise that passed the Senate.

Thomas said the industry wanted more regulations.

“He is giving them cover they do not want,” he said.

Uh-huh.  They asked for it.  Senator Thomas, please come and regulate my property.  Please regulate my income.  I need you, oh wise and wonderful sage, to come and regulate my business.  I’m just not capable!  Don’t look at me!!

Courtesy of The Herald in Rock Hill for the week of May 18th.

South Carolina legislators wrapped up their regular session Thursday by approving restrictions on the payday lending industry that will limit the number of loans to one at a time and track customers who incur them.

The payday lending compromise caps the amount of each loan at $550 and requires a one-day wait between loans for a borrower’s first seven consecutive loans, and two days between additional loans. Lenders must check a new online database to ensure customers don’t have outstanding loans elsewhere.

I’ve spoken my piece on the payday lending bills.  It’s another nanny law to protect grown men and women from themselves.  I wonder how much this new database is going to cost our state each year.

The session ended with legislators overriding 28 of Sanford’s 49 budget vetoes. Legislators plan to return June 16 to deal with other vetoes.

Don’t worry, they’ll veto the rest when they get back.  Our legislators need for spending our money is more powerful than an addict’s lust for crack.

Conservative groups called on South Carolina legislators Tuesday to pass a measure that declares the state has the right to ignore any federal law or policies it deems unconstitutional. Republican legislators say they want to send a message to Washington that the federal government is overstepping its bounds. Democrats contend it’s a partisan issue directed at the federal stimulus package, and the measure will have no practical effect.

The Democrats are right if it’s only words that nobody is going to stand behind.  I’m not at all confident that our state legislature would actually stand up to the Feds and refuse to obey a law that was passed because they felt it was unconstitutional.

Gay rights advocates on Tuesday protested the exclusion of gay and lesbian relationships from a South Carolina bill meant to curb teen dating violence. Limiting dating violence prevention to students in heterosexual relationships further discriminates against students who are already vulnerable to bullying, depression and self-doubt, the advocates said. The measure requires school districts to create dating violence prevention policies for sixth- through 12th-graders and print the policies in school handbooks or Web sites by next summer.

One, there is no reason for the state to even require this to be distributed in the schools anyway.  Make these damn parents parent their own children for once.  Secondly, I don’t see why they couldn’t print this up in a neutral way to where it covers general abusive relationships.  Abuse is abuse whether it’s between a straight couple or a gay couple.  These people bicker over the dumbest issues.

So basically, the week of May 18th nothing got done in Columbia, which as far as I am concerned is a win for the people of South Carolina.  The less they accomplish, the better off we are.

Awe, too bad.

The Senate Finance Committee scrapped a plan Thursday to raise the state’s cigarette tax use the proceeds to provide health coverage for uninsured residents.

That means the seven-year bid to increase the tax faces a tough road to passage with just two weeks left in the session and House leaders still insisting proceeds from a cigarette tax hike be used to help low-income workers and small businesses buy health coverage.

The committee voted Thursday to raise the tax by 50 cents a pack and put the money in a reserve account to be spent later. With Congress weighing universal health coverage, lawmakers — particularly Democrats — want to set aside money to pay the state’s cost of any potential plan.

Lawmakers would decide in a year what to do with the estimated $145 million raised, which brought objections from the bill’s sponsor, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Gov. Mark Sanford and others.

The State

LOL!  Of course!  Let’s just pass the tax, raise the money, and then decide next year if we’re  really going to use it for what we said we would.  What are the odds that they’ll just throw it in the general fund and spend it on whatever?  I’ll take that bet.

Pay attention people!  Those of you who have been slamming me for bashing Rex Rice and the others for sponsoring this garbage, let’s hear from you now.  Do you see what I’ve been warning you about and why I have opposed this tax?  You can’t trust the government with your money.

“This sets up the potential for government to just tax and spend the money elsewhere instead of using tax credits to help people purchase the health care coverage they need,” Harrell said.

Duh, you think?!  That’s why you should have never pushed it through the House in the first place you jackass.

Oh and by the way, if this cigarette tax were to eventually pass and then Congress and the Dalai Bama end up ruining our health care system by forcing universal health care on all of us, do you think the State Assembly will repeal this cigarette tax hike?  After all, it wouldn’t be needed any more, right?

Yes, that’s right.  This bit of legislation is compliments of Senator Thomas Alexander (R-Walhalla), a long time authoritarian sack of monkey shit who has been soiling our state from the Capitol for over 20 years now.  Let’s be very clear.  Alexander thinks you are too stupid to parent your child so he is going to do it for you.

But if Columbia is going to start playing nanny to our children, why stop here?  I think they need to ban the sale bleach and all other household cleaners and laundry detergents sold in our state because children could get their hands on them and drink them.  I think Alexander needs to introduce a bill to ban the installation of all electrical outlets in all homes because children can stick their fingers in them and get shocked like my older sister did when we were kids.  We most definitely need to ban all kitchen utensils.  Those forks and knives are too sharp to risk keeping them in the same domicile as our children.

What do you say Tommy?  Are you up to the challenge?  Don’t disappoint us now.

His quote in The State is what got me more than anything:

“I had no idea these type of lighters existed out there,” said Sen. Thomas Alexander.

He doesn’t know they exist, doesn’t know what they are, but by golly, he knows they’re dangerous and it’s up to him to save us from ourselves.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler’s bill would credit employers $100 for each month the worker is on the payroll, for up to two years. The bill would require employers to hire people who have drawn at least four weeks of unemployment benefits.

The Herald-Journal

I really don’t see how this is going to help anything.  People aren’t unemployed in this state because nobody wants to hire them.  They are unemployed because nobody can hire them.  The economy is way down and the demand for goods and services obviously drops accordingly, hence less workers needed.  What is $100 a month tax credit going to do?  Even if you hire somebody at minimum wage, that’s $6.55 an hour times 40 hours times four or five weeks out of the month.  The cost is approximately $1,100.  So they gain $100 from the government to lose $1,000.  How is this helpful?  Is there a bigger picture here that I’m missing?

We’ve watched North Carolina hook company after company and grow over the years, but South Carolina has grown to a much lesser extent.  We need to do what North Carolina does and provide realistic tax breaks and other incentives and actively pursue companies to set up shop here.  Another thing holding the state back is our piss poor education sytsem.  Education is a major factor companies look at when they are considering relocating or expanding.  Throwing more money at education isn’t the answer.  School choice and educative competition are, but good luck breaking through the status quo blockade.

State Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, filed legislation Tuesday prohibiting service in the S.C. House, Senate, or as a governor’s appointee for residents who either owe the state income taxes or who have failed to file a state or federal income tax return.

In the moment of the day, Ryberg took the Senate floor and said he had obtained information from the Department of Revenue that show 12 House members had failed to file an income tax return for one or more tax years between 1999 and 2007. He would not name those lawmakers.

The State

Oh come on, Greg.  Don’t be such a party pooper.  As we’ve recently found out, not paying your taxes is a prime qualification for the top job of running the IRS.

Information in the April 16 response to the state Revenue Department shows one state senator owes the state $1,300 in unpaid income taxes between 1999 and 2007, while three House members owe the state a combined total of $21,044 in unpaid income taxes for the same period.

Ryberg said no one should serve in such state leadership positions as the House, Senate, or a Governor’s appointee if they are not holding themselves to a higher standard of accountability on the issue of income taxes.

Yeah, that’s just plain common sense.  How can the very people elected to write and uphold tax law be pushing their own dirt under the rug when nobody is looking?  Who ever these four legislators are, their failure to pay their share of taxes is bad ethics and they should be removed from office immediately, bill or no bill.

Senator Robert Ford (D-Charleston) is getting a taste of what it’s like to buck his party and challenge status quo leftists with logic, facts, and reality.  Now, Republicans and us libertarian minded folks go through this daily so we’re well equipped for these kinds of battles, but actually Ford seems to be holding his own quite well.

Black legislative, community and education leaders joined state Superintendent Jim Rex on Thursday in denouncing a bill filed by Sen. Robert Ford that would offer tuition tax credits to students who attend private schools.

The opposition comes two days after Ford, a Charleston Democrat, advocated using public money to allow students to transfer out of failing schools. It’s the latest battle in the state’s ongoing debate about private school choice. While Ford’s bill would give money to public school students who transfer to higher-performing public schools, the most controversial part of the legislation is its redirection of public money to private schools.

“As an African-American and an educator, I’m shocked and appalled that this is the position that someone who is supportive of our community would propose,” said former state Teacher of the Year Traci Cooper. “It’s bad legislation.”

The Post and Courier

A former Teacher of the Year finds it appaling that someone would want to get kids out of dangerous, failing schools.  I wonder if the committee that awarded Ms Cooper with this honor were the same people who gave Yassir Arafat the peace prize.

Here comes the good part.

After hearing the names of those who spoke out, Ford said that none of them have made “one contribution to black people or to education.” None would send their children to a failing, predominantly black school, and they should be more worried about the hundreds of thousands of black families in that situation rather than criticizing him, he said.

Ouch!

I bet that stung and it should have because Ford is right.  All of these Chicken Littles, where do their kids go to school?  What have they done for these communities?  Not a damn thing.

I wonder how long these piss poor schools are to be given chance after chance after chance to clean themselves up before these kids are finally allowed their right to a real education instead of being turned out as a dumbed down deficient product of the government education system.  Then again, I also sometimes wonder if that is really the actual intention of those who would seek no change.

The State Senate, lead by Senator Robert Ford (D-Charleston), is finally going to hold public hearings next Monday and on the 30th about legalizing church raffles and what is being termed as “friendly” poker games.  It would be nice to see South Carolina move into the 21st century and rid ourselves of some of these archaic 19th century blue laws.  The fact that our state wastes resources on raiding homes of private citizens playing Texas Hold’em while we have the highest violent crime rate in the country seems to indicate a set of misplaced priorities, not to mention that it kind of goes against that whole freedom and liberty thing they keep telling us we have, you know?

Public hearings are scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday in North Charleston City Hall and March 30, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in Greenville County Council Chambers.

To speak, attendees will have to sign in when they arrive and comments will be taken as time permits.

The Post and Courier

Like nobody this coming.  The General Assembly is naturally going to supercede Sanford over the porkulus cash.  Sanford may still take the money if he gets the waiver from the President to use the money to pay off state debt, but if he refuses it the legislature can just go around him and get it anyway.

I am not going to beat up on the legislature over this one.  This is a tough predicament to be one.  I agree that borrowing more money is only doing more harm to the country than helping it, but the Feds have already passed it.  We may as well take the money and use it or someone else will.  I am still concerned about future tax increases, however, as a consequence of accepting it.

This week, all House lawmakers are to begin meeting to craft next year’s plan. Among the critical issues is how the state will use $1 billion in bailout cash to prop up programs that have been cut. Some federal cash already has helped the state restore Medicaid services that had been cut.

Despite’s the state’s high unemployment rate, Sanford has been a vocal opponent of federal bailouts, predicting they’ll fail to invigorate the economy and only lead to higher debt and taxes. But the governor has been careful to say that he still may OK the approximately one-quarter of the Washington cash that he can control and has agreed to increase weekly unemployment checks by $25 using the money. Sanford’s decisions on other money is expected this week.

Aiken Standard

Accepting the funds is a double edged sword.  I agree with Sanford that the faux stimulus bill will not do anything to give America’s economy an upswing so if you take the money and restore the spending cuts what happens when that money is gone and there is no way to continue the restored funding?  On the other hand, we have prisons ready to close and prisoners being prematurely released if their appropriate funding is not restored immediately.  Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

“I’m fearful it’s going to help us dig our state in a hole that’s going to be tough to get out of in two years when that money’s shut off,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence.

This is my fear as well and I have been expressing it for a few weeks now.  If the economy were to return to normal within two years and the state is collecting the revenue it was before then the loss of the additional Federal money wouldn’t have an impact.  However, if this does not happen, and based on what we’ve seen from Obama so far there is nothing that leads me to believe the economy will recover in the next few years, the state has a dilemna on its hands.  It’s back to slashing funding again to important state services.

The other caveat that I mentioned not that long ago is the requirement that states who accept the money must also meet certain minimum levels of spending on welfare programs.  Again, what happens when the Federal money is gone?  Massive tax increases will be required to sustain the spending and that will not help the state’s economy a bit.

Do you hear that?  It’s the sound of jackboots marching through the halls of the South Carolina General Assembly and they are being lead by Herr Darrell Jackson (D-Richland) of the State Senate.

Motorists who light up in the car with passengers 10 and under would be subject to a fine of up to $100, according tot a bill that passed a Senate Committee Wednesday.

The bill, which passed the Senate last year and died in the House, would allow law enforcement to pose a fine when there is clear evidence a someone has been smoking in a car with young children.

The bill’s chief sponsor, Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, said the bill is intended to protect children from second-hand smoke.

The State

How far away are we from the government coming into our homes next and regulating what activities we do?  Is it really that far away?  If this bill is indeed to protect the children, as Herr Jackson says, then why isn’t banning smoking in any private residence with children the next logical step?

It’s for the children, you know.  You can’t say no the children.  What kind of cruel, cold hearted bastard would say no to the children??

Senator Ray Cleary, a Republican, the party of fiscal “responsibility,” thinks it’s a grand idea to have free dental checks for all of the Whos in the Whoville.  Cleary just happens to be a dentist himself and it seems to me this program would be a gold mine for …..

(tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick)

Oh!  Dentists!

Senator Cleary is living proof that the ways politicians can use the children to fill the wallets of their friends are as limitless as the universe.

A bill meant to prevent toothaches from hindering South Carolina students’ health and education will be debated by lawmakers this week.

Students can’t pay attention or study in school when their mouth hurts, said Sen. Ray Cleary, a dentist. The Murrells Inlet Republican wants students to receive free, periodic dental checks at school.

“We’ve got children who are just not mentally alert or missing many days because of this issue,” he said. “Our education in South Carolina needs to go forward.”

The Greenville News

While it is unfortunate that so many children out there have complete asshats for parents, it is not within the Constitutional role of our government to be a substitute mom or dad.  Our state just initiated what was probably the largest slashing of the state budget in South Carolina history.  The last thing we need to be doing is expanding the welfare state.  I think Cleary should Go Back to Ohio from whence he came.

“I think our governor would make an interesting college professor,” Ford said. “I think he’s psyched himself out that he’s Mr. Intellectual. . . . He don’t understand that he represents one of the poorest states, and neediest states, in the union.”

The LA Times

Doesn’t, Senator.  He doesn’t understand.  Although, perhaps that was his way of driving his point home that our state is just one big inbred pool of stupid hicks, barefoot and pregnant.