State House Squirrels Gettin’ Their Nuts

ON YOUR DIME, PEOPLE

FITSNews – February 20, 2008 – Believe it or not, that’s actually a squirrel from the South Carolina State House grounds, and believe it or not, it’s actually eating a nut. Which would make it not unlike the dozens of taxpayer-funded lobbyists who showed up for today’s preliminary state budget hearing, a gathering that marks the beginning of the government’s annual effort to stick it as far up every one of our asses as it possibly can.

Last year they did a bang-up job collecting nuts for their various special interest clients and state agencies, the end result of which was a $7 billion state budget that grew government twenty times faster than your ability to pay for it.

Getting rid of taxpayer-funded lobbying – a practice which Thomas Jefferson once referred to as “sinful and tyrannical” – has been House Majority Leader Jimmy Merrill’s mission ever since he came to Columbia, but today’s precursor to the annual spending orgy showed just what an uphill battle he faces. The University of South Carolina, for example, had three taxpayer-funded lobbyists in attendance – and that’s just one state agency out of hundreds.

“Taxpayer-funded lobbying? I detest that stuff,” Merrill told FITSNews today. “The truth is we’ve been fighting it the past eight years. Unfortunately, they continue to win, which is a real testament to their strength.”

Merrill, who has filed a bill banning the practice every year he’s been at the State House, said that the legislation could have passed “were it not for those yo-yos in the Senate.”

Senate President Glenn McConnell took issue with Merrill, citing his support of a revenue cap that he says will actually get at the heart of the spending issue by “cutting off the spigot.”

McConnell also chided Merrill for his “yo-yo” comment, saying “if they want to swing the bat, I’m ready.”

“The truth is, we could have had a teacher protection act, immigration reform and a DNA database bill had it not been for those procrastinators in the House,” McConnell told FITSNews. “The language for that teacher protection act has been in place for three years now.”

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