Carolina Politics Online

A poll conducted last week by Rasmussen of the Republican gubernatorial primary in South Carolina shows Henry McMaster the current favorite.  Out of the four candidates he leads with 21% of the vote.  He also has the highest favorable ratings.  Lt Governor Andre Bauer comes in second with 17% of the vote, yet ironically has the highest unfavorable ratings by a mile with 21% of respondents viewing him very unfavorably and 22% somewhat unfavorably.

1* 2010 South Carolina GOP Primary for Governor

There are a slew of candidates running to replace Congressman Gresham Barrett (R) in South Carolina’s Third Congressional District.  As you probably know, Banker Bailout Barrett is trying to become our next governor (fat chance of that) and his R+17 district virtually guarantees that a Republican will succeed him next year.  Of the six candidates running I had the pleasure of interviewing State Representative Jeff Duncan of State House District 15.

Duncan is the father of three boys and has been married to his wife, whom he met in high school, for 21 years.  He got elected to the State House in 2002, but don’t blame him for the 40% increase in state spending and all the pork and waste racked up by our legislative assembly during that time.  Duncan was one of the good guys, consistently opposing the largesse of our trough feeding state legislative leadership.  Yes, Bobby Harrell and Glenn McConnell, I am talking about you, amongst others.  Duncan has received multiple high marks from the South Carolina Club for Growth, a taxpayer hero award from Governor Mark Sanford, and commendations from the South Carolina Policy Council.  In fact, it is this invariable commitment to small government policies that Duncan feels is what makes him the best candidate to receive his party’s nomination and go on to be an effective representative in Washington D.C.

South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.  I asked Duncan specifically about what could be done in Congress to improve our state’s economy.  He supports overhauling the tax code and regulatory environment.  Banking regulations, he says, have frozen access to capital for many businesses preventing expansion and an increase in jobs.  He also advocates slashing the Corporate Income Tax, which is the second highest in the world, and getting back into the business of nuclear power.

I also asked him about health care costs because that’s been a huge issue lately across the country.  One criticism I’ve heard from some of my more conservative friends is that they hold some blame on the Republicans for this health care disaster we’ve been seeing in Washington.  They say the rising cost of health care and insurance has been a complaint from many Americans for years and during all that time the GOP held the majority in Congress they could have addressed that issue, but they didn’t.  Now we have the Democrats on the verge of destroying the entire system.

Duncan says that Congress could take advantage of the interstate commerce clause in the Constitution and use it to bring down state boundaries in health insurance to allow companies to sell across state lines.  Competition will drive down the price.  He is also a supporter of some type of tort reform.  Furthermore, Duncan says that individuals who purchase health insurance outside their company should be allowed a dollar for dollar Federal tax deduction to help pay for it.  Additionally, associations in an industry should be able to pool together to purchase insurance at a lower cost.  He cited the National Association of Realtors, for example.

I also hit Duncan up about the Boeing deal that just happened a few months ago.  Boeing ultimately decided on South Carolina over Washington State to locate their plant that will assemble their new 787 jetliner.  This decision was based on the state’s cheaper labor costs and also targeted tax breaks for the company.  There has been criticism by some groups over these tax breaks, referring to them as corporate welfare.  Duncan, who voted in favor of the deal, said that while it probably isn’t good policy, to not go along with it would put the state in a non-competitive spot due to other states engaging in the practice.

Some additional information.  Jeff Duncan would support a Constitutional amendment imposing term limits on all Federal elected officials and he also is of the opinion that we do not have enough small business owners in D.C. who understand economics and what it takes to run a business in America.  Small businesses make up 75% of all American industry.

The primary is June 8th of this year.  Aside from Duncan, State Representative Rex Rice, State Senator Shane Massey, businessman Richard Cash of Anderson, Easley attorney Neil Collins, and Dr. Mike Vasovski of Aiken are also vying for the nomination to run in the November general election.

A poll released by Inside Advantage shows the current match up for this year’s gubernatorial elections in South Carolina.  The numbers weren’t too surprising, but there was one ranking that stood out.  Gresham Barrett is tanking.  As I predicted a year ago, his Wall Street bailout vote was political suicide.

If the Republican gubernatorial primary were held today, the results would be as follows: Henry McMaster and Andre Bauer would tie with 22%, Nikki Haley would follow with 13%, Barrett is fourth with 9%, and Larry Grooms brings up the anchor with 6%.  28% are undecided at this point in time.

On the Democrat side of the aisle, Jim Rex leads with 21% followed by Dwight Drake with 15%.  Vincent Sheheen comes in third with 8% and Robert Ford and Mullins McLeod trail each with 6%.  The undecideds are much higher among Democrats, 44%.

No general election match up was done yet to see how who would fair against who.

U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett said he’d consider talking with the NAACP to end its continuing boycott of South Carolina in opposition to flying the Confederate flag on the Statehouse grounds.

Barrett was among five Republicans who hope to be the next governor of South Carolina. The candidates, who included Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, Attorney General Henry McMaster, state Sen. Larry Grooms and state Rep. Nikki Haley participated in their first debate Tuesday night.

The Greenville News

Ah yes, the shameless pandering begins.  Former Governor David Beasley was the one who ordered the flag to come down off of the Capitol dome and be placed in front of the Statehouse.  We saw how well that gesture worked out for him in the end.

Does Barrett honestly believe that by promising the South Carolina NAACP he’ll have the flag removed will get them or 90% of the rest of the blacks in South Carolina to vote for him?  It may win him a handful more than most Republicans get but he’ll lose ten times the votes from his base so he’d be writing his political epitaph.

I’m not a native southerner so I don’t particularly care what happens to the flag. It has no meaning for me and I understand the arguments on both sides of the issue.  Quite frankly, I’m amused by the whole controversy.  However, I’m not dumb enough to believe that slavery wasn’t a primary factor in secession nor am I dumb enough to believe the NAACP actually wants equality.

Barrett would be wise to simply pay no attention to the NAACP.  They have about as much political clout in this state as Lyndon Larouche and Joe Wilson’s outburst has probably turned more tourists away than their “boycott.”

Today in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 whizzed through the House by a vote of 331 to 83.  This takes your hard earned money and hands it over to the unemployed for another 13 weeks.  It’s a good thing that “stimulus” bill is putting all of those back people to work, huh?

So instead of our Congress implementing real economic growth policies that would take the unemployed off of the unemployment roles as they begin to find work again, the Congress decided to add to our $11 trillion national debt in more welfare handouts.  All so they can send out glossy pamphlets to their constituents that say, “Vote for me!  I gave you more of other peoples’ money!”

So which House members, you ask, in our Carolinas are responsible for the passage of this bill?  The answer is easy.  All of them, except for two.  Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) was the only representative to vote for fiscal responsibility.  But I said two didn’t vote for the bill.  The other was Congressman Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03).  He didn’t show up to vote.  I guess he is too busy running for governor.

Just an FYI, Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02) cosponsored this bill.

The Club for Growth has released their annual RePORK card that gauges how responsible our Congressional representatives have been with our tax dollars.  The result is usually pretty atrocious and this year is no different, but we do have a few responsible representatives in our states’ delegations.  The ratings are based on 68 amendments introduced in the House that would have stripped wasteful earmarks out of 12 annual spending bills.  Representatives who voted for all of the amendments received a score of 100%.  Those that voted for none received a zero.  So how did our guys and girls stack up?

Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) was the only member to receive a perfect score of 100%.  However, there were a few others who weren’t far behind her.  Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) received a 99%, voting against only one of the amendments.  Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03) and Sue Myrick (R-NC-09) both received a 97%.  Bob Inglis (R-SC-04) a 96%.  All others were below 90% which means the rest have some work to do, some a little and some are completely worthless.

Two more Congressmen that stood out to me were our two Blue Dog Democrats in North Carolina:  Heath Shuler (NC-11) and Mike McIntyre (NC-07).  Bear in mind that the Blue Dogs are supposed to be fiscal conservatives.  Apparently, these two didn’t get the memo.  Shuler supported only one amendment out of the 68 and McIntyre found the only way to top his poor showing by voting for none of them.

Also on the wall of shame for frivolously throwing your tax dollars away are the following pigs who received a zero score:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Jack Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-11)

It’s interesting to note that all the high scoring members of Congress are Republicans and all the ones with the shitty scores are Democrats.  That really illustrates the differing views the two parties have on the role of the Federal Government.

Barrett is reported in The State today to have acknowledged that he is still learning about the state’s economy.  No kidding.  A lot of us figured that out when that ass goblin voted for the Wall Street Bailout.  Here’s a lesson in South Carolina Economy 101.  Unemployment is over 12%.  If Barrett isn’t familiar enough with our state’s economy, how in the hell has he been able to effectively represent the people in the Third Congressional District all of these years?

Also from the same article:

Barrett said his priorities include restructuring the state’s tax system — including the 2006 statewide property tax reform plan — streamlining state government and improving schools and colleges.

Sounds wonderful.  What does it mean?  Statewide property tax reform better not include raising my property taxes to pay for the rug rats of York County’s failing education.  I’m sick of listening to the school districts bellyache about not having enough money.  They have more than enough to do their job.  What in government does Barrett intend to streamline?  How is he going to improve schools and colleges?  I wasn’t aware our colleges needed improving.  The one I go to seems to be doing a fine job.  Until there is a how to go along with the what, these are just empty platitudes.  Unless I am one blind mofo, you can’t even find the answers on his Web site.

The second quarter gubernatorial campaign finance reports are in and here are the fundraising results:

• State Representative Nikki Haley (R), the reform candidate, pulled in over $204,000 in just six weeks!  Not too shabby!

• Congressman Gresham Barret (R), the establishment candidate, pulled in $755,000 this quarter, with total cash on hand of $975,000.

• Attorney General Henry McMaster (R) who has not yet declared raised $232,000 and has $1,153,000 cash on hand.

• State Senator Vincent Sheheen (D) raised $227,000 and has $459,000 cash on hand.

• Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod (D) raised $165,000 and has $155,000 cash on hand.

• State Senator Larry Grooms (R) raised a whopping $3,500 and has the same on hand.

By a vote of 219 to 212, the House narrowly passed the Cap and Trade bill that will cost us millions of jobs and devastate the American economy even more as it starts going into affect. Just ask Spain how well it went for them?

This still has to pass the U.S. Senate of course and that is nowhere near certain. They need 60 ayes just to be able to vote for it and I imagine there will be Democrat defectors there just as there were in the House.

Those who voted to raise your energy bills by about $1500 a year to “save the planet” are as follows:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Those who voted to protect your liberty, labor, and livelihood were:

• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

Four competitors for the GOP nomination for governor were applauded repeatedly Saturday at the biennial convention of the Greenville County Republican Party, but only one, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, walked away with a quantifiable prize.

Barrett, 3rd District representative, won a straw poll with 253 votes, topping the 183 votes that went to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and 110 for Attorney General Henry McMaster.

Furman University political science professor Brent Nelsen’s name wasn’t on ballots, but he garnered 37 write-in votes.

The Greenville News

Not surprising.  Barrett’s name ID is high I am sure being that he represents a district just next to Greenville.  Plus, neither McMaster nor Bauer have officially declared.  I don’t know why Nelsen was left off the ballot.  Is it because he’s not a political insider?

Party straw polls are pretty much meaningless.  I’ve seen status quo candidates get their party’s nod time after time to end up either losing the election or come close to it.  I don’t know how Barrett’s bailout vote is going to affect his campaign.  His challengers are sure to bring it up every chance they get, but people may not care by next year’s primary.

I made the drive out to Greenville yesterday evening to attend the anti-tax, anti-spending tea party at Bi-Lo Center that was put together by the Upstate Young Republicans. While they were the organizers of the event, this was far from being a Republican pow-wow. I saw people there of all ages and political stripes, and yes, even racial minorities (the leftist extremists reading this are hyperventilating now) holding up a festive collection of signs and flags across a sea of people that the Greenville News estimated to be about 3,000.  I would concur with that number.  On the other side of the arena, another gathering took place of people demanding that Governor Sanford accept the stimulus money and “save” our schools.  They numbered a paltry 200.

Speakers consisted of several state representatives:  Tommy Stringer (R-Landrum), Rex Rice (Easley), and Eric Bendingfield (R-Mauldin) as well Greenville County Councilman Joe Dill who encouraged the audience to show up at the next county council meeting and voice their opposition to a resolution being voted on by the council to demand Governor Sanford accept the stimulus money.

Governor Mark Sanford and Senator Jim DeMint were the highlights of the event, but not every speaker was welcomed.  Congressman Gresham Barrett, who voted for the $700 billion bailout, for some reason got the idea that people would want to hear him speak.  He was booed nonstop during his entire speech.  His spokesman told the Greenville News that the boos came from “a vocal minority of the crowd.” I guess B.J. didn’t attend the same rally I did because the minority were the people that didn’t hoot and hollar and turn their backs on Barrett when he got up on stage.  But hey, I recorded it, so judge for yourself.

600 AM radio’s Dr. Tony Beam also gave a rousing speech to the crowd and State Rep. Tommy Stringer reminded the Republicans in the crowd to make sure they hold their party accountable too as they started this mess.

I have various pictures and videos below you can watch:

I was able to make the drive out to Greenville this evening and attend the tea party put together by the Upstate Young Republicans.  I don’t know why Congressman Gresham Barrett was invited to speak at this event because the UYRs should have had enough sense to know that he would not be well received due to his vote for the Federal bailout of the banks.  It didn’t go well.

Though it’s a year and a half away, the race to decide who will be the next governor of South Carolina is in full swing.  Congressman Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03) in just three weeks since declaring his candidacy has raised a staggering amount of $372,253.76 as of April 10th. State Senator Vincent Sheheen (D-Camden) has amassed a war chest of $278,516.26 as of the same day’s reportings. None of the minor candidates earnings come close to matching either of these two.

With previous campaign cash on hand, Barrett has already passed the million dollar mark. Attorney General Henry McMaster also has over one million dollars on hand, although he has not declared his candidacy yet.

The Republican from Westminster cited recent “tea party” demonstrations against government spending in Greenville, Cincinnati and other locations when introducing the Taxpayer Empowerment and Advocacy Act. Among other things, the bill would limit federal spending growth to the inflation rate for fiscal years 2011-2014.

“Taxpayers have had enough” with overspending in Washington and are voicing outrage in “modern-day tea parties,” Barrett said.

He said the legislation is also intended to let voters know “I’ve gotten the message.” Barrett, a four-term congressman and former state House member, is running for governor.

The legislation would hold discretionary spending for fiscal year 2010 below the level of fiscal year 2009 and tighten the definition of “emergency” spending, said Barrett spokesman B.J. Boling.

It would also make mandatory entitlement spending “pay-as-you-go” and reduce existing mandatory entitlement spending by 5 percent, except for Social Security and interest on debt, Boling said.

The Greenville News

This bill won’t pass, but someone has to try.  It sure would have been nice if  the Republicans had been screaming about out of control spending when they held the majority.  Funny how they’re suddenly concerned about it once they’re out of power.

A lot of hay has been made about the $160 million AIG handed out in bonus money to its employees after they were given near $100 billion in taxpayer dollars to keep them afloat.  If that is what makes your blood boil, so be it.  Of course, the real outrage should be over the $75 billion of taxpayer money that AIG used the vast majority of to pay debt it held with several foreign banks.  If you didn’t already know that, which isn’t surprising because the media has only been harping over “Bonusgate,” yes, the Federal government gave AIG tens of billions of dollars to send right out of our economy while it is in the crapper.  Brilliant, huh?

Anyway, this is just a reminder to you to not forget which of our Carolina representatives voted to make all of this possible:

Voting for the bill:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) will announce Wednesday morning he is running for governor, South Carolina sources told The Hill late Tuesday.

The Hill

An expected announcement.  I had my hopes on Barrett to begin with but his careless lack of judgment on the Wall Street bail out really disappointed me.  How will he able to convince South Carolinians that he can be a fiscal steward of our tax dollars when he was complicit in giving hundreds of billions of our tax dollars to failed Wall Street CEOs, unsuccessful speculators, and political cronies?  I’m not saying he can’t win me back, but he’s got his work cut out for him.  I don’t generally condemn someone for one mistake here and there, but that was no small error.  That mistake was the equivalent of like ten.  And the fact that he was “shocked” and “surprised” when it turned out that the money wasn’t going to what Congress was originally told it would be for?  Well, hello McFly!  Anybody home??

The speculation of who would run to replace him in Congress also caught my eye.

Three members of the South Carolina state House are expected to vie to replace Barrett in Congress in next year’s Republican primary. State Rep. Michael Thompson represents Anderson County, the district’s most populous. State Rep. Rex Rice represents parts of Greenville and Pickens Counties, also in the northern part of the district. And state Rep. Jeff Duncan represents a district closer to Columbia around Clinton and Newberry.

Rex Rice?  Is there a punch line somewhere hidden in there?  Would this be the same Rex Rice that suggested raising the gas tax a nickel when gas prices were $4 a gallon?  Would it be the same Rex Rice that cosponsored a bill last year raising taxes to expand the welfare nanny state?  What we do not need in Congress is another fiscal abomination and breeder of a large authoritarian government like Rex Rice.

Camden state Sen. Vincent Sheheen took his first steps toward entering the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial campaign, filing paperwork Friday to begin raising money for the race.

And another Midlands Democrat, Rep. James Smith, said he will not run for governor.

The first Democrat to launch a campaign, Sheheen said his ability to raise money over the next few months will determine whether he becomes a full-fledged candidate.

The State

I believe this officially makes Sheheen the first candidate in the race.  He has a record that leaves a lot to be desired.  He voted against the immigration reform bill that requires employers to verify citizenship or resident alien status.  He also voted in favor of raising the cigarette tax to expand the Medicaid welfare state.  The South Carolina Club for Growth gave him a rating of 10, which means he is an enormous spender and waster of our tax dollars.  He received a rating of 100 from the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, a 100 from both the Conservation Voters of South Carolina and the South Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club.  Additionally, the latest rating received from the South Carolina Education Association is 80 which means he supports the failing status quo of the public education system in our state.

I didn’t think I’d be all that impressed.  We can definitely do better.  Gresham Barrett was my leading horse in this race (should he have entered it), but he lost my support once he voted for the Wall Street bailout, so I have no idea who I will get behind at this point.  It definitely will not be Mr. Sheheen.  He is not what we need now or, quite frankly, ever.

Gresham Barrett was just interviewed on WBT regarding a motion he proposed to recommit the bill authorizing the remaining payout of the Federal bailout.  He was upset that it didn’t pass.  Perhaps if he hadn’t voted for the bailout in the first place we wouldn’t need to be concerned about it now.

It’s been known for some time now that Lt Governor Andre Bauer (R) has been eyeing the Governor’s office.  Further speculation that Congressman Gresham Barrett (R) would jump in the race appears to be coming to fruition as well as that of Attorney General Henry McMaster (R).  Three well known Republican figures in the state will make for one hell of a primary.  If Bauer has a government view similar to that of Sanford’s he would be my pick, but I’m not all that familiar where he stands on the political scale.  Barrett is going to have a lot of explaining to do about his vote for the $700 Billion Wall Street bailout and you can absolutely guarantee those other guys in the primary and the Democratic nominee, should Barrett move on to the general election, will beat him over the head with that and remind the public of that vote every chance they get.  How will Barrett be able to talk about fiscal responsibility with a straight face?

Congressman Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03) has elected to donate the cost of living increase he will receive this year to charity.  While this is an admirable act on his behalf, it attempts to underscore the fact that this raise should not even go through in the first place.  After all, it’s our money he is giving away.

This Congress has presided over the worst financial crisis in 70 years, a historical and astronomical national debt, rising inflation, a devalued currency, rising unemployment and a botched foreign policy.  And for this they are going to be receiving an automatic $4,000 raise today.  It doesn’t have to be automatic, though.  They could vote to stop it or change the law to require a vote on it every year.  Bills were introduced to do just that, but they never got out of committee.  These failures in Congress will walk away with a larger pay increase than the vast majority of their constituents and they will do so because you let them do it.  The American people reelected 90% of these guys and have refused to hold them accountable.  Therefore, they will continue to rip us off.

And regarding Barrett, don’t get me wrong; he is not to blame for any of this.  He is one of the few members of Congress who has petitioned to stop these automatic increases, but don’t let that distract you from the underlying problem.