Carolina Politics Online

This is definitely a face palm moment.

Actually, this merits a double face palm.

“If Osama bin Laden ran in this district as a Republican, he would get 38 to 40 percent of the vote in any election year,” says Wayne Wingate, Spratt’s communications director, as he walks alongside the congressman at the festival. “This is a very Republican district. So you’ve got that plus this tea party angst against any incumbent in the world right now.”

Columbia Free Times

So that is the opinion that Congressman Spratt and his staffers apparently have of about roughly 300,000 of their constituents.  They think so lowly of the people they are “representing” that they think we would actually cast our votes for Osama bin Laden, a man who orchestrated the deaths of over 3,000 Americans nine years ago, rather than reelect Jack Spratt.

If I were Bubba I’d be shopping for a new communications director pretty damn quick because for a race that’s down to the wire like this one, he can’t afford to have an insidious douche like Wayne Wingate out and about flapping his yap for him.

Is this the same Wayne Wingate who used to own Durango Bagel?

A petty partisan bickering heads up for you.

ROCK HILL — York County Republicans are calling on local Democrats to cancel plans for a barbecue dinner and campaign rally on Sept. 11, saying the timing is inappropriate.

The day should be reserved for remembering terror attack victims and troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, GOP Chairman Glenn McCall said Tuesday.

“September 11 is not a day for partisan political rallies,” McCall said. “It’s a time for us to look beyond what divides us and come together to remember those who lost their lives.”

The Herald

You know, I’m just not buying into the “outrage” here.

“If Republicans aren’t capable of campaigning or holding a political rally on 9-11 that allows their candidates to reach out to the voters while at the same time being respectful towards that date’s meaning in our history, that’s their problem,” McCrae said. “We, as Democrats, are more than capable of doing so.”

And I completely agree with McCrae.  I don’t know why we’re even still having a reading of the names ceremony in New York.  It’s been nine years people.  Move on, already!  How long is September 11th supposed to be off limits?  What is the statute of limitations on feigned outrage over 9-11 political activities?  Is Pearl Harbor Day off limits too?  What about D Day?  Would it be wrong to have a political gathering on the day the first shot was fired in the War of 1812?

This is nothing more than a petty pot shot.  Nobody is outraged and nobody cares except the Republican political class trying to squeeze some PR points out of a weightless issue.

So Bubba Gump finally paid a visit to us here in York County and left quite an impression with the locals.

“I wasn’t impressed at all,” said Campbell, 29, of Sharon, shaking his head from side to side. “Nice fella, sure, but I sure don’t want him representing me. He didn’t know what he was talking about.”

Since his upset win in June’s Democratic primary over a heavily favored political insider, Greene’s candidacy has stunned and shocked York County, South Carolina and the nation.

The Democratic Party big shots have tried to get him to drop out of the race. But Greene is nothing if not persistent. He does not quit.

He showed courage Monday night.

“He sure seems like a decent young man, but what happened here tonight is just not right,” said Dick Bankhead, a thoughtful 66-year-old political independent from Sharon. “He didn’t know what he was doing up there. The Democrats better save him – from himself. Somebody needs to spend time with him.

“Nobody should have to be a laughingstock.”

Greene answered questions, in fits and starts. But he didn’t say specifically how he would do anything, pay for anything – or, really, why he would do anything – except to put America back to work.

Greene “put on a tutorial on how not to present yourself as a candidate,” said Frank Duncan, 63, from York, by not answering a single question with “coherence” – except by saying that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Other than that, Duncan said, “he didn’t answer a single thing. He doesn’t have a clue. We got a bunch of dingbats up there in Washington, but at least they can speak a complete sentence.

“This was embarrassing. A farce.”

Jeremy Johnson of York, 45, asked Greene why he chose his first foray into politics as a Senate candidate rather than trying something on a local level in his hometown of Manning. Greene’s answer: “I can have the largest impact in a recession. I can do more.”

Still, Greene didn’t say a single specific thing he would “do more” of, or what he would do for “impact.”

But Johnson said Greene tried, and that was good enough for him.

“Even though he doesn’t have the polish, he did pretty good,” Johnson said.

Most in this curious crowd found Greene to be just what they expected – a candidate left hanging out to dry by his political party, trudging through answers like a mailman through heavy snow.

Greene delivered the mail all right; but it was mostly bills and junk mail.

A listener named Don Davidson said Greene won’t be good for the state, but everybody deserves a right to speak.

And speak Greene did, in mostly quiet monotone, for about 45 minutes, saying almost nothing specific at all.

“It’s a change, I will give him that,” said Don Johnson of Hickory Grove. “He tried up there, that’s for sure. I gotta give him that.

“But to elect this guy would be to go from bad to worse.”

Jenny Duncan, daughter of Frank Duncan from Sharon, listened to the whole forum. She was patient and gave Greene the benefit of the doubt.

But afterward she wondered, “How did this guy ever get this far?”

I have never before said I was embarrassed to be from South Carolina, but I might just say that now.”

Charlotte Observer

Yeah, that’s what you want to aim for when running to be a national representative for your state.  Leave everyone with a feeling of embarrassment and shame to be sharing the state with you.  I guess that’s why Bubba Gump can’t break 20% in the polls.

That Jack Spratt is now attacking his election opponent is a sign that he is concerned about his reelection bid.  He wouldn’t be going on the offense against Mulvaney if he didn’t fear his chances of being defeated by him.

Spratt told a Fort Mill audience this week that Mulvaney voted against funding for children’s health insurance, early childhood education and new school buses while in the Legislature, and also proposed eliminating state money for S.C. educational television.

“He basically is against the government,” Spratt told 80 supporters at a fundraiser at McHale’s pub on Gold Hill Road. The York Democrat labeled his opponent “a candidate of the tea party.”

The Herald

This is a problem?  These are the things that he is criticizing Mulvaney over?  That he opposes too much government interference?  That may play well to the far left constituency that Bubba has been pandering to for the past few years, but I doubt most people are going to have a problem with a candidate who believes in fiscal discipline and a limited role in government.  Bubba can attempt to paint Mulvaney as some type of extremist, but Bubba himself is just the opposite extreme, voting in favor of government mandated health insurance and the economy choking Cap and Trade bill as well as being the architect of budgets with trillion dollar deficits.

Mulvaney fired back, accusing Spratt of trying to take the focus off his own unpopular votes.

“While I have listened to my constituents, John Spratt has listened to Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama,” Mulvaney said of the Democratic U.S. House speaker and president. “Where I made tough choices to stay on budget, Mr. Spratt has grown the national debt.

“No matter how harsh Mr. Spratt’s attacks on me become, he will not be able to hide his record.”

Spratt has fielded criticism over his support of health care reform, the stimulus package and the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), derided as a bank bailout bill.

And Mulvaney is exactly right.  Spratt’s voting record reeks of a two week old, messed in diaper.  He won’t be able to hide from his record and it will destroy him on November 2nd.

No, I am not back from vacation. I’m still in Boston, but I’m breaking my pledge to myself not to post while I’m away because, well, this was just too good to pass up.

Nikki Haley will attend an Aug. 16 fundraiser in Rock Hill, marking her first visit to York County since winning the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

About 315 people have signed up for the evening reception at the Magnolia Room at Laurel Creek, and tickets are still available, said party chairman Glenn McCall. Prices start at $35 for individuals and $250 for sponsors.

McCall said he’s hearing from many Republicans who have followed Haley’s candidacy but haven’t had an opportunity to see her in person.

The Herald

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.

Rock Hill solicitors plan to rewrite a city law that allows police to arrest someone for not obeying commands such as “stop” and “cross the street” without a reason – an ordinance that recently was challenged as a violation of residents’ constitutional rights.

Assistant Solicitor Paula Knox Brown said she and fellow city prosecutors agree with some of the weaknesses in the “resisting police” law, pointed out by B.J. Barrowclough, deputy public defender for York County, as violating a citizen’s First and Fourth Amendment rights.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits laws that infringe on the freedom of speech and assembly; the Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Herald

Why did those numb skulls on the City Council pass a law like that in the first place?  Are we living in the Soviet Union?  Policemen are human and with power comes largely inflated egos.  They don’t have the right to simply order you around, although some seem to think so.  The Constitutional ramifications of such a broad and vague ordinance should have been more than obvious when it was written in the first place.

Vice President Joe Biden will headline a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. John Spratt next week during a visit to Columbia.

Biden will be in town July 23 to help dedicate the new Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library at the University of South Carolina. Completed in June, the $18 million library is named in honor of the retired Democratic U.S. senator from South Carolina, a close friend of Biden’s.

An afternoon fundraiser for Spratt will take place at the South Carolina State Museum, the York Democrat’s office confirmed late Tuesday. Ticket availability and prices were not available.

“The vice president is coming for the dedication of the Hollings library and graciously offered to appear at my fundraiser as an aside,” Spratt said through a spokesman. “I’m grateful for his gesture and look forward to the event.”

The Herald

If I were an endangered incumbent Democrat like Jack Spratt that last thing I would want is a member of the current administration holding a fund raising event with me and making a public appearance related to my reelection campaign.  Spratt should be running as far away from the White House as possible, but it’s not surprising he doesn’t recognize that.  He’s not mentally aware enough to see that he is a major part of the problem in D.C.

I wonder what asinine remarks will come out of our gaffe prone Vice-President at this shindig.

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.

More Bubba hypocrisy…

Speaking to a friendly crowd, Spratt, who is chairman of the House Budget Committee, explained the status of the U.S. House’s budget, something he said is in place despite not having a resolution.

“We need something to keep spending in line,” he said. “We need something that causes people to stop and say, ‘Can we afford it?’ We’ve got that in place…. Don’t worry about the fact we don’t have a budget.”

In late June, the budget vote stalled and was replaced by other measures, including an alternative budget resolution calling for a cap on discretionary spending at levels lower than those in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget.

Spratt detailed the country’s deficit and unemployment numbers when Obama took office, talking about its positive turnaround and indicators for the future.

The Herald

Spratt tells you one thing, but does another.  He is the budget chairman.  He ushered through a budget last year with a deficit of a trillion and a half dollars and he’s going to usher another one with similar financial deficiencies.  Spratt helped pass the health care bill, creating yet another entitlement program that this country cannot afford.  Now he stands up before an audience of his sheep and lectures about responsible spending?  But here is the real kicker.  In 2006, it was John Spratt who said “If you can’t budget, you can’t govern.”

And what positive turnaround is Bubba referring to?  The real unemployment rate has remained in the mid teens and is worse than it was when Obama took office.  This Congress and administration have had more than enough time to start producing results.  It’s clear to me the only way to get the country back on track is to throw bums like Bubba out and stop the disastrous agenda coming from the White House.

WASHINGTON — Too many Republican leaders are acquiescing to a poisonous “demagoguery” that threatens the party’s long-term credibility, says a veteran GOP House member who was defeated in South Carolina’s primary last month.

While not naming names, 12-year incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis suggested in interviews with The Associated Press that tea party favorites such as former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and right-wing talk show hosts like Glenn Beck are the culprits.

The Washington Post

I’m neither a big fan of Beck nor Palin myself, but Bob, you need to stop pointing the finger at others for your own failures.  You lost because you stopped representing the people that elected you and pushed policies they didn’t want nor support:  a carbon tax, the Wall Street bailout.  Your arrogance and holier than thou attitude were your own undoing.  Oh, and you have diarrhea of the mouth.

Inglis, 50, who calls himself a Jack Kemp disciple because he has emphasized outreach to minorities as the late Republican congressman did, thinks racism is a part of the vitriol directed at President Barack Obama.

“I love the South. I’m a Southerner. But I can feel it,” he said.

That feeling is your head being smothered by your ass because you have it stuck up there.  Maybe if John Kerry and Al Gore and Bill Clinton and Michael Dukakis and Walter Mondale had won South Carolina when they ran for president you might have a point, but being that none of those Democrats were able to win here either, you don’t.

I had to read this three times to make sure I was really reading what I thought I was reading.

A 65-year-old Rock Hill woman told police burglars broke into her home, cleaned her TV and watched VH1.

The woman left her home around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and returned home at 4:15 p.m. to find that her Standard Street apartment had been entered by an unknown suspect, according to a Rock Hill police report.

She normally places tape on her door knob, but the tape had been removed. Also, she told police she sets up traps behind her door with bottles and powder, and the boxes had been moved, the report states. There was no forced entry.

She noticed her television was on VH1, a channel she doesn’t watch, and suspects the burglar cleaned her TV because the television had a layer of dust on it before she left, the report states.

The Herald

It’s strange enough that someone broke into her house, not to rob her, but just to watch tv after cleaning it for her.  But then to read on that she normally sets booby traps before she leaves?  What the hell?  Who does that??  Is it a common theme for people to illegally enter her home and clean it against her will?

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??

FORT MILL — A lawsuit against York County Councilman Paul Lindemann was decided with a judgment ordering Lindemann to pay $14,800 to plaintiff Diane O’Brien.

Lindemann said he has not been following the case and was not aware the judgment had been handed down in May.

O’Brien has not been repaid, and the judge ruled that Lindemann owes O’Brien an additional $4,800, to cover interest and attorney fees.

The Herald

No Paul.  Of course you aren’t aware of the judgment.  Of course you haven’t been paying attention to a lawsuit in which you could be forced to pay out thousands of dollars.  Who pays attention to stuff like that?

“I’ve never not paid someone back and I’m not going to start. I can’t help the bad economy,” Lindemann said.

That’s right.  Paul has never not paid anybody back except for John Long, who had to sue Lindemann to get the money owed to him, or former Congressman Tom Tancredo who had to call the York County Sheriff after the check Lindemann gave him for a few thousand dollars bounced.  Then there was Virginia Faircloth who Lindemann wrote a bad check to from a closed account in the amount of $4,230.  And we can’t forget the $10,000 check bounced to Winthrop University.  Nope.  He’s never not paid anybody back.  He gets around to it…. eventually.

“There’re under [a non-disclosure agreement], so I can’t talk about them, but I’ve got one deal going that could pay everyone back in one fell swoop.”

He’s got a deal going on.  I wonder if it’s anything like the deal he had with Advantage Financial.  I’m pretty sure everybody in York County has had enough of Mr. Lindemann’s “dealing.”  Hopefully, Paul will lose today’s election and then go crawl in a hole and stay there.

It’s not really that surprising.  Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC04) has slowly transformed into Lindsey Graham Jr.  Inglis represents a very conservative district and has taken some positions in recent years that haven’t been popular with that crowd.  It looks like it’s finally caught up to him.

It looks like there’s a pretty good chance South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis will be the next House member not to survive his party’s primary this year. The 4th District Republican race is likely headed to a runoff with Inglis at 33% trailing challenger Trey Gowdy’s 37% standing. David Thomas and Jim Lee are each polling at 9% right now with Christina Jeffrey further back at 5%.

Inglis’ problem is the same as what we’ve seen for many establishment Republicans this year. Voters in his district are not happy with the direction of their party, and they’re taking it out on him. 45% of GOP primary voters in the 4th say they don’t like where the party is going compared with just 26% who approve of its current course. Gowdy leads Inglis 42-31 with those voters who think the party’s going the wrong way, accounting for his entire lead.

Public Policy Polling

If there is one universal rule of politics it’s that incumbents do not trail opponents in polls and end up winning.  Inglis is done.  If he can’t muster enough to avoid being forced into a run off election then he is finished.  People who are going to vote for Inglis are probably going to do it the first time.  If Trey Gowdy gets more of the vote in the primary and the two of them head to a run off it’s more than probable that Gowdy is going to win.

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.

U.S. Rep. John Spratt was late in paying property taxes on two occasions at his home in Washington, D.C., resulting in $1,382 in late penalties and interest, his office confirmed to The Herald.

Meanwhile, Republican challenger Mick Mulvaney’s development company made late tax payments on four different properties between 2005 and 2009, according to York County tax records.

Spratt said he paid the bills as soon as he discovered the missed deadlines. One payment was made three weeks late in September; the other was five days late in April.

The Herald

As far as I am concerned, this is a non-story.  So they both made a few tax payments late.  It happens.  It would be one thing if they completely dodged them altogether, you know, like five of Barack Obama’s cabinet nominees, including the current Treasury Secretary who actually heads up the IRS, but that is not the case here.

But GOP operatives pounced on Spratt’s late payments as a campaign issue, pointing out the York Democrat helps run the federal budget as chairman of the House Budget Committee.

“Be it willfully or mistakenly, is it any wonder the nation’s balance sheet is deep in the red when Barack Obama’s budget chairman can’t manage his personal finances?” asked Andy Sere, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Spratt supporters fired back Thursday that Republicans shouldn’t be so quick to criticize.

And they shouldn’t be.  It’s hypocritical for the NRCC to criticize Spratt for his late tax payments when Mulvaney has had the same problem.  Sure, Spratt is a shitty budget chairman, but the two issues are mutually exclusive.  The NRCC should follow Mulvaney’s own advice and focus on the issues people actually care about.