Hmmmm …

By fitsnews • on August 13, 2008

SHANE MASSEY - REAL DEAL? OR ANTI-REFORM “REFORMER?”

FITSNews - August 13, 2008 - When Shane Massey was elected to the South Carolina Senate in a special election last year, his GOP primary opponent was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat … making it pretty easy for Massey to position himself as the “reform” candidate.

Of course, pulling Massey’s strings behind the scenes was none other than Warren Tompkins - the ultimate anti-reform consultant.

We know you can’t judge a candidate by his or her advisers, but Massey always struck as more than a little suspect during his campaign. Specifically, we were never quite sold on his overly-enthusiastic championing of a strongly-worded (but thinly-defined) “reform agenda.”

This week, Massey joined S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley in supporting a bill that would require roll call votes on all state legislation with an economic impact - basically forcing individual politicians to show how they voted with our tax dollars. Unlike Haley, however, Massey’s support for the measure came after the fact - in response to a S.C. Policy Council study showing that our state’s leaders only vote in the open 5% of the time.

We’ve already said we like Haley’s legislation but we don’t think it goes far enough … but, could the same be said of Shane Massey?

We honestly don’t know yet.

To many of our friends in the conservative movement, Massey is the greatest thing since sliced bread. They love his youth and energy, and they tell us he’s being smart by not marginalizing himself in a Senate Chamber that’s ruled by the biggest big government RINO in state history.

“What is it you would have Shane do?” one conservative asked us rhetorically. “Hold (Sen. Greg) Ryberg’s microphone cord? There’s already one contrarian too many from Aiken County, and his path is not that of the victorious reformer.”

Alright, we’ll grant that point … Ryberg is a lone fiscal conservative reed in the Senate (and an incredibly sanctimonius and cantankerous one at that).

But he is standing up for what he believes in … is Massey?

If his first legislative session this year was any indication, the answer is an unequivocal “no.” Or maybe he is standing up for what he believes in, and just lied to everybody in Aiken County during his campaign.

Like his predecessor Tommy Moore, Massey has consistently sided with the status quo forces in Columbia. In fact, he has been all but assimilated by the “Tompkins borg” of big government sell-outs.

We’re glad to see him (belatedly) endorsing a worthwhile “open government” reform, but after-the-fact endorsements of partial solutions don’t cut it in our book.

Massey ran on “shaking up Columbia,” but as far as we can tell the only thing he’s “shaking” in Columbia at this point is Sen. Leatherman’s martini …

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Comments

By Kind A. Saad on August 13th, 2008 at 9:50 am

So your point? He’s not a reformer because of who he hires? (The same guys who do work for other anti-reformers like DeMint, Ryberg and Ballentine) With that logic Murrell Smith and Nikki Haley must be guilty of Criminal Domestic Violence. Kinda sad that you can’t site another example. Are you that filled hate and envy?

By Johnny Utah on August 13th, 2008 at 9:52 am

No offense, SW, but you probably should delve a little deeper into the details before you cast judgment. The very first thing he did was to push the Senate for earmark reform, which was rebuked by Leatherman. As a freshman, he didn’t sit on the sidelines and keep quiet until the old guard told him it was alright to speak. He called them out on their profligate spending the first day he entered session.

You claim that his “support for the measure came after the fact” of the Policy Council’s report, as if the Policy Council hand-delivered a copy of the report to his house… or that he was riding the coattails of your darling, Mrs. Haley. Last I checked, Haley has been in the House for four years, so she’s had countless more opportunities to effect such change than Massey.

Again, I say to you that you shouldn’t rush to judgment on someone you know little about.

By fitsnews on August 13th, 2008 at 10:03 am

#1-

You are right … it is our hate and envy that spawned this article. God it feels so good to finally admit that! Now our only hope is that we can get some treatment - perhaps like the 26-week anger management course that Sic Willie took! He’s so much better now!

And as for you, #2, show us, don’t tell us. “Calling them out on their profligate spending” is great … in fact, we do it every day it’s so much fun. What’s the point?

Obviously, there’s a whole lotta love for Massey in this room. Which is sweet, but we stand by our assessment.

-FITSNews

By Billy Chappell on August 13th, 2008 at 10:08 am

Nice “point break” reference Johnny. But don’t you and Mr. Saad get your panties to bunched up. Shane wont be here to kick around much more. Tompkins and his friends are going to lose that race to in November. Tompkins can’t win the tough ones and that district is strong for the Democrats

By okie from muscogee on August 13th, 2008 at 10:13 am

A good question after reading this article would be, “Who paid Sic Willie to write this post?” Total hatchet job. Nice work.

By fitsnews on August 13th, 2008 at 10:37 am

#5-

Well, let’s see … based on the people Sic has been accused of working for in the past, it could have been Gov. Sanford, the McCain Campaign, the insurance industry activists, Rod Shealy, big oil, Reform SC, SCRG, the Club for Growth, the Chapin mafia … hell, pretty much anybody, come to think of it.

And the last time we checked, “Muscogee” was a nice office down on Gervais Street funded by the Claimant Attorneys (sorry, the “injured worker advocates”) and the Trial Lawyers (sorry, the “south carolinians for justice” or whatever they’re calling themselves these days).

Wonder if Massey is as plugged in with those folks as you are, “Okie.”

-FITSNews

By Andy Groucho on August 13th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Greg Anderson will win that Senate seat back for the Democrats in a cakewalk. So I ask, who the Hell cares what Shane Massey wants to do or has done? He’s toast.