Carolina Politics Online

Columbia attorney Gregory Brown has entered the Democratic primary for South Carolina’s Sixth Congressional District, challenging Congressman Jim Clyburn.  I don’t know what this guy’s chances are of defeating Clyburn, but I wish him all the luck.  Jim Clyburn has been an epic fail of a representative.  Higher debts, larger government, and a worsening of the “Corridor of Shame” has been Clyburn’s legacy for nearly 20 years now.  The only reason he got elected to Congress in the first place was because the Supreme Court forced the state to carve out a district just for him.  He’s never received any serious opposition.

HR 3962, the infamous Pelosi health care bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night by a mere five votes.  This doesn’t mean that we’re doomed.  The U.S. Senate still has their own version to pass and then it has to be reconciled with the House bill and both chambers have to vote on the final combo bill.  It is unlikely this will all happen before the end of the year, so there is time for the American people to stop this.

I want you to understand what this bill does.  It is going to cost in excess of $1.2 trillion over the next ten years.  This is all new spending on top of what our government spends today.  Bear in mind, we have a $1.7 trillion budget deficit this year alone an $11 trillion debt.  It’s actually even worse than that, though.  The $1.2 trillion figure is what the House reps are saying.  The CBO has a much, much larger price tag.

Senator Gregg: Updated CBO Estimate of House Bill Pulls Back the Curtain on Majority’s Intent to Grow Government by $3 Trillion

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee today commented on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) more detailed cost estimate of the manager’s amendment to the House health reform bill.

Senator Gregg stated, “The CBO estimate released last night finally sheds light on the smoke and mirrors game the majority has been playing with the cost of their health care reform proposal. Over the first 10 years, this legislation builds in gross new spending of $1.7 trillion – and most of the new spending doesn’t even start until 2014. Once that spending is fully phased in, the House Democratic bill rings up at more than $3 trillion over ten years.

“Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense – we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit.

“If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.”

This bill will fine employers who do not provide health insurance to their employees.  This is a double edged sword.  Many small business, for one, don’t provide it because they can’t.  Of those companies that do, the fine that would be implemented by the Federal government will actually cost less than providing the benefits.  The obvious result is that many companies out there will simply drop employee health benefits and force them onto the public “option.”  Personally, I think this is by design because the Democrats have been very open about wanting a single payer government run health care system and that is exactly the path we will go down.

This bill will make your current insurance policy even more expensive.  Remember how the whole point of health care “reform” was to lower the cost.  Yeah, that’s out the door.  Taxes on medical devices and supplies as well as on insurance companies and mandates requiring them to cover anyone who walks through the door regardless of age or preexisting conditions will raise the price of your insurance.  This will put many more Americans on the public “option” because they won’t be able to afford the premium increase or their company will stop offering the benefits and just pay the fine.  We are headed towards a two-tiered health care system.  High quality health care for the elite rich of our nation who can afford to pay outside the public “option” and a watered down rationed system for the rest of us.

This bill was 1,990 pages long.  Everyone that voted for this bill doesn’t have the slightest clue what is in it.  They haven’t had it long enough to know and many of them have already admitted that they don’t read the bills anyway.

Probably the most destructive part of this bill is the individual mandate.  Never in the history of our nation, one that prides itself of personal freedom and liberty, has our government passed a law forcing the American people to  buy a product.  This is blatantly unconstitutional and I imagine that if the Senate companion bill passes with the same mandate, which it does possess, and this is signed into law there will be Constitutional challenges to this piece.   I want you to understand the ramifications if such a mandate is held up by the Supreme Court.  Going forward our government will have no limitation of powers.  Once they are told by the highest court in the land that they are allowed to tell us what to buy based upon the court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause or providing the general welfare, they will have complete control over the American people.  Our nation as we know it today will be a thing of the past.  We are heading into a Soviet style government.  Make no mistake about it.

All Republicans in North and South Carolina voted against this bill.  Democrat Congressmen Larry Kissell, Mike McIntyre, and Heath Shuler also voted against the bill.

The following Democrats voted to throw you in the gulag if you don’t buy health insurance.

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

H/T Hot Air Pundit

This is an audio of Congressman Jim Clyburn’s interview on Air America in which he explicitly states that the Democrats made little effort at bipartisanship on health care “reform” and that reconciliation in the Senate is still on the table.

Everyone knows the story now.  The President gave a public address to the Congress on health care.  Congressman Joe Wilson called him a liar.  There was “shock” and “outrage.”  Wilson apologized.  His opponent raised a ton of money.  The White House accepted Wilson’s apology.  Life moves on, right?  Maybe not.

So, with all this going on, of course, the Democrats would just step back and let Wilson and the Republicans stumble around, right? They would follow that old adage of not getting in the way of your opponents when they’re in the middle of self-destructing, right?

Apparently not.

House Democratic leaders plan to bring a resolution to the House floor next week to admonish South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson if he does not apologize on the House floor for his outburst during President Obama’s joint address to Congress, according to several House Democratic leadership aides.

“He’s violated the rules of the House with inappropriate conduct and he’s subject to reprimand,” said Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina.

Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had said that Wilson violated House rules — but also said that it was “time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson.”

Pelosi would be wise to get her troops in order and not let this resolution gather any steam. This looks like the Democrats piling on one member who has already apologized both in an official statement and in a personal call to the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Obama took the high road Thursday, accepted Wilson’s apology and said it’s time to move on. Trying to keep the story going into a second week makes congressional Democrats look like they’re more interested in crafting political advantage than in trying to uphold parliamentary protocol. Besides, a case can be made that Wilson might, technically, not have violated House rules. A determination would ultimately come down to a party-line vote. But do Democrats really want to have a lengthy debate that might come down to the parsing of the president’s words in a speech — and Wilson’s interpretation of them? Probably not.

NBC

George has a valid point.  If the Democrats keep the feigned outrage going they risk looking like bullies and Stalinists attacking a member of the Congress for expressing an opinion they don’t like.  The public is tired of political shenanigans.  They make great political theater for the mindless masses, but ultimately, the public is not that interested.  They just want things to get done.

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.

Fox News

Health Care for America Now, a coalition group organizing support for Obama’s proposal, e-mailed a four-page memo to activists across the country on how to provide “cover” to lawmakers at the town halls. The group, whose members include ACORN, the Service Employees International Union and the National Council of La Raza, urged activists to contact lawmakers before the town halls to plan ways to preempt opposition.

My apologies to Dallas Woodhouse but his brother Brad is a left wing hack that not only cannot, but would not tell the truth. The Democrats have the Purple Shirts beating up the opposition. They have ACORN and it’s 350 shadow organizations committing fraud and influencing corruption in Democratic officials. The White House spokesman Gibbs is unwilling or lacks the knowledge to say who is on the enemies list and how are people getting blast emails from Axelrod. And the willingness of people like Pelosi, Clyburn, and Reid to smear average hard working citizens is despicable. This is why the left wing Democrats are losing the argument with the American people.

The Republican Party is not perfect and we understand that. We are all imperfect unique individuals in this country and world. Conservatives, Moderates, and your independent middle of the road Americans do have great ideas on many subjects, including health care. We all can contribute to the effort to make our country better in areas like health care, national defense, and on many subjects at the local, state, and federal levels.  We just need to stay away from more government control and higher taxes. The more the government does the less freedom we have. The more the government takes from you the less freedom you have.

All I can say here is I do not like what I am seeing and I cannot stand by when government tries to cram something down my throat. And unlike the hypocrites on the left I will criticize someone in my own party if I know they are wrong. Obama needs to clean up his own house and get our budget in order before trying to take over 16% to 20% of our American economy.

HANDS OFF MY HEALTH CARE!

LOL!  Some things never change.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Rep. James Clyburn, (D-S.C.), said that there was “absolutely” an analogy to be drawn between the horrid experience that he went through as a civil rights leader and the boisterous conservatives who have disrupted health care forums.

“I have seen this kind of hate before. I have seen this discussion before,” he said. “I have seen snarling dogs going after people who were trying to peacefully assemble. I have seen the eyes of people who were being spat upon.”

Huffington Post

I’m glad Clyburn said this because it reassured me that we are winning the battle against the government take over of our health care system.  Racism is always the last tactic the far left has in their playbook.  They trot it out once they are backed into a corner and have no other defense left.  Clyburn can’t defend this massive theft of our freedom and he knows it.

“This is all about activity trying to deny the establishment of a civil right. And I do believe that health care for all is — a civil right,” the House Majority Whip argued. “And I think that is why you see this kind of activity. This is an attempt on the part of some to deny the establishment of a civil right.”

This is his second mistake.  Civil rights prevent governement from intruding on personal liberties.  They do not entail the government giving you a free hand out at the cost of your neighbor nor taking control of an entire industry.  Civil rights do not mean the government taking from those who produce something and giving it to those who don’t.  For someone who was a participant in the Civil Rights Movement in this country, you’d think Clyburn would know the difference between the government promoting liberty and the government taking it away with the largest power grab in American history.

Clyburn, a veteran of the civil rights movement, said he was particularly appalled by the use of the Swastika symbol at some of these town hall events. Noting that one had been painted on the office of Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), an African-American, Clyburn insisted that was proof enough that some of the protests were racially motivated.

Get out.  I had no idea the Nazis were black.  Hitler must have been using the Michael Jackson bleach treatment all of those years.  The things you didn’t know you didn’t know.

The video says it all.

Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, said the results of health care reform will be staggering, and not only in the way it will change lives.

“I think what you will see is our economy take off like it’s never taken off before,” Clyburn said. He added that providing health care was the biggest drag on the American automotive industry, causing it to lose a competitive edge to foreign-made vehicles.

Obama wants health care reform that will control rising costs, guarantee a choice of doctors and make coverage high-quality and affordable, according to the official government Web site on the issue.

The Post and Courier

How is the economy going to massively take off when the government is going to be hiking taxes at all levels to pay for this “free” health care which isn’t deficit neutral?  The CBO has already said the Democrats’ health care bill will cost far more than they are claiming.  The government will be pulling even more money out of the economy than there is now to pay for this “free” health care.  And can Clyburn explain exactly how government controlling costs is going to result in high quality affordable health care?  They always say this, but never explain how this massive government power grab will achieve this.  The bigger question is, has Clyburn actually read the bill?

Clyburn, 47, was nominated by President Barack Obama in April to fill a seat on the Federal Communications Commission, an agency with broad authority to regulate Internet communications, the allocation of airwaves, public broadcasting standards and media ownership.

During a Senate committee hearing into her nomination Wednesday, Clyburn said she wants to preserve net neutrality and openness on the Internet, that she would hesitate before allowing more media consolidation and that she wants to foster as much competition as possible in the free market.

“We must ensure that all Americans have access to and can make productive use of the communications tools essential to making the American dream a reality,” Clyburn said in her opening statement.

McClatchy

I really don’t know anything about Mignon Clyburn.  I haven’t heard of her until today.  My main question is has she been nominated for this position because she is qualified or because she is Congressman Jim Clyburn’s daughter?  I’m not big on nepotism, particularly in government.

Another question I have is whether or not a conflict of interest exists with her nomination and her father’s request to the FCC and Tim Geithner a few months ago that minority owned broadcasters receive a government bailout like Wall Street and Government Motors, etc.  If confirmed, which I’m sure she will be, Mignon Clyburn will now be sitting on the FCC board.

South Carolina needs to quit mourning the loss of Big Tobacco and King Cotton and harness the possibility of switchgrass, soybeans and sugarcane as the future, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told the 2009 South Carolina Energy Summit Monday.

South Carolina should carve out a niche and develop native plants that other states, such as Minnesota and South Dakota, use to produce bio-fuels, Clyburn said. But bio-fuels won’t carry future energy needs alone: nuclear needs to be part of the solution, he said.

“We need visionary leadership,” Clyburn said in a nod to the entrepreneurs in the room.

The Post and Courier

Clyburn has a point.  At some juncture you need to let go of the past and become forward thinking.  Bio-fuels are the way of the future, even though that future may be quite distant at the moment.  It’s also nice to see he supports nuclear power.  That is just common sense.  Nuclear energy is the cleanest there is.  It’s time to get over Three Mile Island already and start building more nuke plants.

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)

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)

DATE: March 16, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Carmany
EMAIL: chairman@sclibertarians.org
PHONE: 864-933-2679

NEWS RELEASE: South Carolina Libertarian Party Unanimously Passes Resolution Supporting Governor Sanford.

The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and all the other unconstitutional spending recently passed by the United States House of Representative, United States Senate and signed into law by President Obama are the largest departure from U. S. fiscal and public policy in the history of this country-larger than the civil war and larger than FDR’s New Deal.

It is our contention, that the departure itself is so large as to necessitate a constitutional amendment agreed upon by both houses of the US legislature by a two thirds majority or ratified by three quarters of the states in accordance with Article 5 of the United States Constitution in order to be implemented.

Moreover and to the point, it is not only unethical, but blatantly unconstitutional for the federal government to pass legislation that circumvents any branch of any state government. It is a violation of the separation of powers and states rights – the federal government may not prescribe how a state government must function.

We support Governor Mark Sanford’s suggestion to reject spending $700 million in federal stimulus money unless there is a waiver to spend $700 million of stimulus to plug various budget holes or on state debt and liabilities connected with the state’s retirement system.

Legislators were not waiting: the South Carolina House of Representatives gave final approval to a $6.6 billion budget infused with almost $1 billion of stimulus cash; and the chairman of the South Carolina Senate Finance Committee said he is preparing a resolution to bypass Sanford and directly seek the money. Congressman Clyburn inserted language in the stimulus bill that allows legislators to seek the money if governors reject it. If the South Carolina General Assemble had followed the Governors suggested budget during his tenure and not overridden his budget vetoes, South Carolina would be in much better financial condition.

The following resolution was approved, unanimously, by the South Carolina Libertarian Party Executive Committee on Saturday, March 14, 2009:

Whereas, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina has attempted during his tenure to guide the state in a fiscally responsible direction; and
Whereas, Governor Sanford stood up for personal privacy in leading the opposition to the Real ID Act; and

Whereas, Governor Sanford has correctly interpreted the consequences of accepting Federal bailout funds; and

Whereas, neither the Democratic nor Republican leadership of the South Carolina General Assembly has supported Governor Sanford in his efforts to fight government waste and usurpation of state prerogatives by the Federal Government; therefore

Be it resolved, the South Carolina Libertarian Party commends Governor Sanford for his actions and thanks him for his courageous and principled stand for liberty.

As President Barack Obama sent Congress his first budget, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn introduced a $26 billion bill to quadruple the number of community health centers that now treat 16 million uninsured and low-income Americans, including 300,000 in South Carolina.

Money for Clyburn’s Access for All Americans Act, which Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced in the Senate, could come eventually from the $634 billion health care fund Obama set up in his budget.

Clyburn said he felt compelled to write his new measure because the community health centers have a three-decade track record of providing primary medical, dental and mental health treatment to Americans who often don’t have access to other care.

“This is the next step to comprehensive and universal health care for all of our citizens,” said Clyburn, D-S.C.

The State

Clyburn certainly doesn’t hide the ultimate result he hopes to get from this bill, nationalization of health care.  What Congressman Clyburn and his fellow Socialists want is to create a two-tiered health care system in this country, one for him and one for the rest of us.  Socialized health care is a boondoggle in Europe, Canada, and other nations that have it.  Proponents argue that their health care costs per capita are far lower than ours and they’re right.  It’s because the quality of their health care sucks.  Notice when you hear politicians debating this issue they always talk about better access to health care for everyone, but never the quality of it.  Why is that exactly?

Once the government passes universal health care most employers will drop employer subsidized insurance, thrusting almost all of us into the government system.  The drug rationing and surgical waiting lists and the five hour emergency room waiting times will inevitably hit us just like in Europe.  The thing is the rich folks like Clyburn won’t have to deal with that because they’ll be able to afford to continue paying for their own private health insurance, guaranteeing the best health care possible, while the rest of us are stuck with the government sub par garbage.

What Clyburn and his ilk intend to do is create an aristocracy with them at the top and you as a serf on the manor.  This is not the America I learned about as a child, but ignorance, complacency, and laziness have taken us where we are today.

Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC-6) is the worst kind of hypocrite.  Just days after he had the nerve to accuse several governors of cheating blacks out of stimulus money he goes and votes in the affirmative on today’s omnibus bill that does the following:

Democrats also inserted a provision into the bill to end a program that allows students in the District of Columbia to use federal funds to attend private schools of their choice. Boehner, who helped establish the program as part of a political bargain several years ago, called the move “hideous.”

The AP

This program has allowed close to 2,000 poor D.C. children, mostly black, escape the failing schools in the Washington D.C. public school system.  Why would the Democratic Party that claims to be the champions of the poor and down trodden want to eliminate a program that gives exactly those people a better opportunity for success?  The answer is obvious to me.  The NEA hates vouchers and any other attempt to improve the failure we call education in this country and the Democrats in Washington, like all politicians, are bought and paid for, in this case by the teachers’ unions.  Political donations are more important to our Congressional leaders than the interests of the people.

Let’s not forget Clyburn’s quote from the other day:

“Now the (South Carolina) governor says, ‘I don’t want to accept the money,’” Clyburn told CNN. “That’s why I called this an insult. That’s why I said this is a slap in the face — because a majority of these counties are, in fact, inhabited by African-Americans.”

The highest-ranking African-American member of Congress on Friday accused Southern governors opposed to economic stimulus spending of indifference to the plight of poor blacks who might benefit from the federal funds.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, amplified earlier statements that the governors’ hesitation in accepting stimulus money had insulted him because “these four states are in the heart of the black belt.”

Clyburn singled out Republican Govs. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Haley Barbour of Mississippi for criticism.

The State

Give me a friggin break.  Yeah, I’m sure that Bobby Jindal, a man of 100% Asian-Indian ancestry, first generation American and only the second minority governor in Louisiana’s history just spits on black people, right?  I’m so sick of this kind of irresponsible dialogue coming from people like Clyburn who constantly want to use their race as a crutch to give them victim status 24-7.  These governors are opposing this money for good reason.  The porkulus bill is reprehensible.  It’s adding almost a trillion dollars to our already dangerous level of national debt which is selling more and more of our country’s financial viability to China and the Saudis and the bulk of the bill is nothing but Monopoly money being wasted on paying back the special interests who have given financial backing to the Democratic Party.

Clyburn said the measure reserves some funding for census tracts in which more than one-fifth of the residents have lived at or below the federal poverty level for the last 30 years.

Yeah, so apparently the trillions we’ve been pissing down the drain the last 40 years for all of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs haven’t worked, yet somehow throwing billions more at them will suddenly change it all, right?

“Now the (South Carolina) governor says, ‘I don’t want to accept the money,’” Clyburn told CNN. “That’s why I called this an insult. That’s why I said this is a slap in the face — because a majority of these counties are, in fact, inhabited by African-Americans.”

Oh boo-hoo-hoo……

If Clyburn was so interested in helping these people he’d be out there telling them to get off their asses and start taking some responsibility for their lives.

It should come to no surprise that the House of Representatives have furthered the nationalization of American industry by wasting another $15 billion of tax money that doesn’t exist to bailout the gross mismanagement of the Big Three automakers and their blood sucking unions. Here is a list of how our Carolina representatives voted:

In Favor of Socialism:

• Bob Etheridge – D-NC-02
• David Price – D-NC-04
• Mel Watt – D-NC-12
• Brad Miller – D-NC-13
• Jack Spratt – D-SC-05
• Jim Clyburn – D-SC-06

Against Socialism:

• G.K. Butterfield – D-NC-01
• Walter Jones – R-NC-03
• Virginia Foxx – R-NC-05
• Howard Coble – R-NC-06
• Mike McIntyre – D-NC-07
• Robin Hayes – R-NC-08
• Sue Myrick – R-NC-09
• Patrick McHenry – R-NC-10
• Heath Shuler – D-NC-11
• Henry Brown – R-SC-01
• Joe Wilson – R-SC-02
• Gresham Barrett – R-SC-03
• Bob Inglis – R-SC-04

Democratic U.S. House Whip James Clyburn made a stop in Oconee County Thursday afternoon to campaign for fellow Democrat Jane Ballard Dyer.

Democrat Jane Ballard Dyer is challenging Republican incumbent Gresham Barrett for the 3rd District Congressional seat and Republican Nancy Harrelson is challenging Clyburn for the 6th District Congressional seat.

“All over this country people feel very strongly that this country is on the wrong track,” stated Congressman Clyburn. “Over 50 percent of Americans polled are now saying that they want to see one party in the White House and one party running the Congress and they want that one party to be Democrat.”

The Independent Mail

Yeah, great idea, because the last time one party controlled everything it was just swell, you know?

It’s good that Barrett has opposition because every race should be contested, but this is not a race anyone needs to pay much attention to.  Barrett has nothing to worry about.

Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06) debated his Republican challenger Nancy Harrelson yesterday and they delved into one of my favorite issues, the Fair Tax.

They disagreed most pointedly on the Fair Tax, a plan to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.

Harrelson, 54, a Republican political newcomer who works as a construction manager in Marion, supports the Fair Tax, which she said would stop jobs from leaving the United States.

“There are only so many people who can work at McDonald’s and Hardee’s, but without other jobs, people won’t be able to afford to eat at McDonald’s and Hardee’s,” she said.

Clyburn, 68, who is seeking his ninth term, said the Fair Tax would result in people paying a 30 percent tax whenever they bought something. He noted that anyone making less than $200,000 a year would be hurt by the change.

“It is anything but fair,” he said. “You’ll be paying an extra dollar for every gallon of gas you buy.”

Of course, in Clyburn’s descent he only tells half the story.  Sure, we would be pay a 30% tax on all new goods and services, but what is he doesn’t tell you is that you will no longer be having any Federal tax witholdings taken from your check, so you’ll be getting almost the entire thing.  Furthermore, all of the taxation that would take place in each phase of manufacturing a product is also wiped away which will cut roughly 25% to 30% of the price we pay for goods and services, so you’ll still be paying close to the same prices as today, but you’ll have considerably more money at your disposal.

The Fair Tax will never become reality however, because the tax code is really what makes the politicians so powerful in D.C.  They wouldn’t be able to use it as a wedge issue any more at election time and gain favor from certain special interests by putting protections in the tax code for them.  This is why we’ll never see it passed.

Clyburn is going to easily win reelection.  This district was carved out to specifically elect a black Congressman so Harrelson is nothing more than a sacrificial lamb in this race for the GOP.  Another good reason to away with gerrymandering.