S.C. Senate President Glenn McConnell bit off a little more Jenny Sanford than he could chew this week, as South Carolina’s First Lady publicly ripped what she called “cheap political shots” made by McConnell in the Charleston Post and Courier on Friday.
The spat started earlier this week when Jenny’s husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, said that lawmakers should refuse taxpayer reimbursements for their participation in next week’s emergency budget session – something many of them are already doing.
That suggestion prompted Sen. McConnell – whose contempt for Sanford has grown more public of late – to not only reject the idea, but use the dispute to portray Sanford and his family as out-of-touch with ordinary South Carolinians … or at least ordinary South Carolina legislators.
From Friday’s Post and Courier:
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell was not at all pleased with Sanford’s suggestion. He said that not all elected officials are “rich people” and are not “independently wealthy enough to reach into their pockets” and pay for this little overtime session.
“I am not going to ask them to (refuse reimbursements).”
McConnell said Sanford “is sitting over there in a taxpayer-paid mansion with staff and with paid chauffeurs and drawing a salary many, many times what they are getting.”
Ouch. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for Mrs. Sanford to fire off a sternly-worded letter to the editor rebuking McConnell …
In contrast to the Legislature growing government by over 40 percent over the past four years, the Mansion Commission and I have taken extraordinary measures to try to be good stewards of this historic home where our family now resides.
We have cut operating expenses by roughly half, saving approximately $250,000 annually from the previous administration for a total savings of about $1.5 million over the past six years.
Of course, those of us who know her instinctively recognized that Jenny was just getting warmed up. Having staked out her own fiscal conservative credentials, she moved into Keyser Soze-mode.
As for chauffeurs, unlike the roughly 20 security agents who are assigned to take House and Senate leadership to receptions and parties across Columbia when they’re in town, Mark does have a security detail because, among other things, he’s the last person to sign off on inmate executions — and that’s just one of the things that he does that at times upsets people.
It’s worth noting that when we came to Columbia, there was a brand new BMW sitting in the driveway. The practice, going back to the Campbell administration, was that the first family could use this as a personal car. Mark declined it and instead bought me a minivan — which I now chauffeur our four boys back and forth to school in.
I found the senator’s spending comments especially interesting given his near single-handed push to have taxpayers spend more than $30 million related to restoring a Confederate submarine. Then again, those actions fit with his efforts to have taxpayers hire drivers for the lieutenant governor when the previous lieutenant governor had dismissed them more than 10 years earlier, saying it was a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.
You know, as much as we’ve got a mutual admiration thing going with Sen. McConnell, there’s really no way to describe this exchange that doesn’t end with us telling you that his testicles are now in a jar over at the Lace House.
It may be relatively easy to get “one up” on the Governor, but you don’t mess with Jenny Sanford, people.
By Catherine October 18, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Perhaps Glenn can have AT&T foot his bill. Last I checked, they’ve “invested” more than a million or so to get his votes. Not to mention what other institutions have invested in his pet project in order to win favor(s). Perhaps the Senator can tell me about the return on investment we’ll never see on all that Hunley money down the drain. Jenny — we all owe you a bottle of wine for the great letter!
By Motoring Man October 18, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Drill Jenny Drill
By Mark Johnson October 18, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Way to go Jenny.
By Mike Honcho October 18, 2008 at 9:06 pm
It would have only been a fair fight if the First Lady returned fire.
I’m sure The Palmetto Scoop will unleash it’s impotent rage on her soon.
Don’t mess with Team Quinn.
By Cady October 18, 2008 at 10:09 pm
While the Sanfraud’s are always quick to blame the legislature for their out of control spending, they actually spent $60 million LESS than Sanfraud’s proposed executive budget. Why hasn’t that made your blog, Will?
By Marcy October 18, 2008 at 10:49 pm
McConnell is donning his Confederate General’s uniform and rolling his toy cannon towards the governor’s mansion as I type…
You’d think the Sanford’s would be in a better mood…they have shamed the legislature into coming back, AND they love cutting government and laying off state workers. The stars have aligned
And McConnell’s Hunley money– from the state budget and millions from AT&T– is safe and sound. Can’t we all just get along?
By BIN News October 19, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Yes, sic(k) willie, Jenny is the smartest of the Sanfraud klan. When she heard McCain was looking for a VP with international experience, she was the first to scream, “Pick Mark-ie-Mark, he can almost see Georgia from our plantation.”
International experience! Wonderful! But we all know his experience only comes close to Georgia if he takes the penthouse elevator in their kid’s tree house.
Okay! That is not his only international “experiences.”
But his other international “experiences” are between Jenny and Mark. Got to love those taxpayer funded trips.
BIN News Editorial Staff
Flair and Balanced
By Speaking Veritas October 19, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Cady: No one on the face of the planet is going to swallow that ridiculous line of fiction. To get that number, the legislative leadership had to have all spending for this year and then ignore the fact that the projected deficit for the prior year and the new shortfall for this year forced the General Assembly to cut their spending and clear out reserve accounts. They would never have spent less than the Governor on purpose.
Then they forget that the Governor proposed cutting $70 million in line-item vetoes when the budget came to him.
The story is even funnier if you go back to EVERY previous year.
So, yeah, no one is going to believe the Governor’s budget is part of the problem.
By rick October 20, 2008 at 8:38 am
Wow Bin, and you have the nerve to say Willie’s aligations have no basis in fact? What a load of unsubstantiated manure you just spread….
Keep saying it Jenny, the thinking people in the state are listening. November 5th is coming….
By Darkness Curser October 20, 2008 at 11:09 am
What fun seeing Jenny make Glen bleed from every orifice. I just hope it doesn’t cause Glen to bail-out on Sanford’s drive to provide more accountability to voters. Surely Glen will join with our governor to demand roll call voting.
The goal of any good government should be to foster the trust of the public in the work it’s doing. As simple as this concept seems, its implementation has been made harder by the cloak of secrecy (read: the current Senate rules) that seems to cover even the most basic legislative transactions government undertakes.
No decision made in the dark of Leatherman’s office (which has a dimmer swith and one of those gay little faux waterfalls for mood setting) is in the best interests of the people. Whether its roots lie in benign neglect fostered by practices from long ago (again, the Senate rules) or for insidious reasons in certain instances (e.g., when the legislative members of the B&CB get together privately before public meetings), the fact remains that what our government does is a mystery to the average South Carolinian. In fact, it remains a mystery to (not to mention beyond the intelligence of) most legislators.
Taxpayers need to be able to find out how a legislative measure was enacted and how it is being implemented. Only then will there be confidence in what our state is doing and that it is doing it as well as it can.
If legislators like Glen feel justified in spending millions of taxpayer dollars on the Hunley, or shaking down AT&T for private contributions, they should be required to vote yes or no so people at home can hold them accountable.
However, there is allure in the status quo that is cherished by sentimental traditionalists like Glen, and its supposed safety can seem seductive to government officials. But by giving in to this false sense of comfort, we prohibit ourselves from doing what needs to be done to make our state better.
People across the state must demand that transparency and sunshine be the cornerstone of government. They must light candles rather than simply curse the darkness. With apologies to Bruce Dickinson, we don’t need more cowbell, we need more candles. 4 million candles is an ass-load of candles, people. Hell, it would be almost like a sunrise ushering our state into a new day of accountability.
So here’s hoping the Glen can put the thorough ass-kicking he got from the First Lady behind him and do what’s right for the people.
By Been there-done that October 20, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Way to go Mrs. Sanford! Keep up the good work! One day people will realize(some of us already do)that Mark Sanford will be recognized as the GREATEST Governor South Carolina has ever had. He won two terms, so that’s saying a lot. I respect and appreciate all that Governor Sanford has done for South Carolina. He has tried to bring our state into the 21st century but when you have the “good old boy” system alive and hard at work all the time, it is a difficult thing to do. Both of you keep up the good work!.
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By retract that June 24, 2009 at 11:09 pm
That last poster must be saying “doh” now!
By kinnew June 24, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I hope she can find that set of balls again and use them to kick his sorry behind to Argentina, where he CLEARLY wants to be anyway. He didn’t give a press conference, he replayed a love story gone awry.
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By T. R. Ucknuttz June 25, 2009 at 2:45 pm
She must be really proud of her fierce advocacy in defense of her husband, written by his staff. No puppet she!
By Pliny June 26, 2009 at 7:18 pm
“You know, as much as we’ve got a mutual admiration thing going with Sen. McConnell, there’s really no way to describe this exchange that doesn’t end with us telling you that his testicles are now in a jar over at the Lace House.”
– ever heard about “vagina dentata” ? The Romans knew all about it.
By Molon Labe June 27, 2009 at 4:56 am
Jen, run for governor once milquetoast is impeached.
By Molon Labe June 27, 2009 at 4:59 am
@kinnew: Are you kidding? No South American woman is going to put up with that teary-eyed pantywaist. He’s SOL. Jen should run for governor.
By theresa June 28, 2009 at 8:29 am
Jenny for President!