SC

FYI: The SC Chamber Of Commerce Is Not Your Friend

BIGGER GOVERNMENT, HIGHER TAXES, MORE CORRUPTION … || By FITSNEWS || Earlier this month the uber-liberal S.C. Chamber of Commerce (a.k.a. the “unified voice of business” in the Palmetto State) released its annual legislative scorecards for members of the S.C. General Assembly. You may have seen them, you may have…

BIGGER GOVERNMENT, HIGHER TAXES, MORE CORRUPTION …

|| By FITSNEWS || Earlier this month the uber-liberal S.C. Chamber of Commerce (a.k.a. the “unified voice of business” in the Palmetto State) released its annual legislative scorecards for members of the S.C. General Assembly.

You may have seen them, you may have missed them … but we’re about to tell you all you need to know about them.

According to a release accompanying the scorecards, the Chamber listed “infrastructure” as one of its top priorities for 2015.  In fact this infrastructure issue figured prominently in the grades this organization doled out to lawmakers.

“The House passed an infrastructure plan by a two-thirds vote, and sent it to the Senate, which was a major step,” the release stated.  “The Senate was another story with back-and-forth infighting that precluded the body from ever debating a comprehensive infrastructure bill on the floor.”

Hmmmm.  Infrastructure … infrastructure … infrastructure.

What legislation are they talking about?

Oh right … they’re referring to a gasoline tax hike.  Or rather one of the multitude of gasoline tax hikes proposed by various “Republicans” during the 2015 legislative session.

Never mind that dirt poor South Carolinians already pay a higher percentage of their incomes on fuel than residents of any other state (save West Virginia or Mississippi).

Never mind that over the last three years, funding for the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has soared from $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion.

Oh, and never mind that SCDOT is corrupt to its core, incapable of prioritizing projects based on anything other than politics.

None of that matters to the “Chamber of Communists.”  Its leaders want to raise taxes so that their members (and powerful lawmakers with vested interests in the status quo) can continue profiting off of profligate government spending.

That’s not “infrastructure,” it’s insanity … and the people of South Carolina can’t afford to continue subsidizing it any longer.

Thank God one Senator had the balls to stand up to these leftist goons … who had the audacity to label opponents of the gas tax as “business unfriendly.”

Amazing …

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce is not the “unified voice of business” in the Palmetto State.  Instead, it is the voice of bigger government, higher taxes and more corruption … a.k.a. the status quo that continues to hold South Carolina back.

S.C. governor Nikki Haley used to understand that … in fact she was once among the Chamber’s most vocal critics.  But then she became part of the status quo, too.

Sad what the “business community” has become, isn’t it?

***

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33 comments

Mitch August 24, 2015 at 8:33 pm

I dropped my membership 5 years ago and never looked back. It is a group of business guys that are looking for handout from all levels of government. To hell with them all.

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Sic Semper Tyrannis August 24, 2015 at 8:56 pm

Help Defund SLED.

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Businessman August 24, 2015 at 8:59 pm

Nikki’s former chief of staff runs it. She and her cabinet (a certain directors name withheld) ran off the former CEO as payback for not endorsing her and for opposing that agency. They teamed up with the board to oust the old guard. It may have been dirty politics but the result is better. Too many people making money off the old leadership.

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JJ August 24, 2015 at 9:02 pm

It has not changed much. They are welfare Queens driving Mercedes Benz. they want lots and lots of your money.

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Al from the Upstate August 24, 2015 at 9:49 pm

Name names Businessman. If you have info please share it.

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Haley's a failure August 25, 2015 at 4:09 am

Haley and her sycophants/lap dogs ran off a number of outstanding employees, with impeccable and outstanding records in order to gain control of programs and funds. She replaced these exceptional employees with far less qualified and less capable people. Some, I know of, had been nationally recognized for their work.
Haley has screwed SC more than the average person is aware of.

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Accuracy August 25, 2015 at 6:45 am

They ran off a bunch of status quo bureaucrats. I’m no Haley fan but that’s one good thing they did

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bamburger August 25, 2015 at 10:23 am

Mrs. Pitts would be rolling in her grave,

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Inside the Dome August 24, 2015 at 9:47 pm

The Chamber is always for a tax increase. Every time.

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Native Ink August 24, 2015 at 10:38 pm

I wouldn’t call them liberal. Obama has pushed for states to spend at least 60% of road funding on repairing roads instead of building new ones. The Chamber’s position is mainstream Republican- build new roads because real estate developers and road builders are huge political donors.

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The Buzzman August 24, 2015 at 11:40 pm

It’s been a long time since you called them “The Chamber of Communists.” Glad to see you’re back to that. It’s true, to an extent. But they are also fascistic, in the extreme.

It’s not just the SC Chamber, of course. It’s the parent org that sets the standard. Look to the Powell Memorandum for the beginnnings of that. At the juncture when that was put out and circulated, they made a major move to replace old-school conservative values with crony capitalism and stateist corporatism at every level. They sell it to conservatives as conservative, moderates as moderate, and liberals as liberal. The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is a 5-Star Affiliate of that organization. That should tell you something.

It’s why a zero-charisma visionless jerk like Brad Dean is one of the most powerful people in the state of South Carolina. The power to get a federal investigation squashed like a bug has to come from something that is, in many ways, bigger than the government itself. Think Barack Obama is in charge? Think again.

They can’t sell it to libertarians though. Even though it’s ultimately unworkable, itself, the libertarian ideal soundly rejects what the chamber has become. That’s why I don’t reject it outright, and why I even embrace some of its more salient tenets.

^^^^ The ravings of a madman? Keep thinking that, all of you who do.

Will is right on this. They are a fucking menace to true freedom. SC allows them to do as they will at its own peril.

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BB August 25, 2015 at 7:16 am

I agree 100%. I have moved, regrettably, in those circle for year-always just on the edge of those groups- and their self-interest is all that matters.

Bump the State Chamber. They will take your wallet then go looking for your checkbook. They want it all.

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RogueElephant August 25, 2015 at 7:16 am

It has also been called the “Chamber of compromise” I wonder why ??????

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Republican BS August 25, 2015 at 7:40 am

All you Republicans yakking about the C of C?

Here’s the bottom line…

They’re all going to be voting Republican just like you,so can the self righteous BS!

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The Buzzman August 25, 2015 at 8:32 am

That’s nonsense. You probably imagine that there is really a war on between the chambers (US, state, local) and Barrack Obama, too. Just as you probably believe that Wall Street and the POTUS are entirely at odds.

You know why you are suffering under that delusion? You’re blinded by your partisanship and ideology.

Just as they want you to be.

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Sic Semper Tyrannis August 25, 2015 at 8:53 am

Can you explain that in another way for us not so smart types ?

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The Buzzman August 25, 2015 at 10:52 am

I won’t buy into any judgement about how smart anyone is on here. Some people play dumb for a reason. But here’s what I mean:

If we look at Obama as a communist (and there are many compelling arguments on that, both pro and con), that should mean he is absolutely opposed to the GOP, on principal. But let’s not forget that disaffected followers of Leon Trotsky actually founded the “neocon” wing of that party. Also, the fact that China is still “red”, in the old sense of the term, even though it has become highly competitive as a “capitalist” player in world markets. Obama has opposed much that the US Chamber has done, but not all of it. Some of what the O admin pushes for is just for show. Stuff that is sure to be voted down, like the mandate on roads spending. Some of the biggest corporations in the US are members. O is not about to piss them all off in a big way. This is why you don’t see MSNBC hitting them hard, in the way that a Thom Hartman or Amy Goodman does.

At the state level, taking SC as an example, you have hard-core supporters of the chamber who are Dems. Dick Harpootlian. Vince Sheheen. Sheheen, if you’ll remember, was endorsed by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, over Nikki Haley, when the latter first ran for governor.

At the local level, again using the MBACC as an example, there are many Democrats who not only belong to it, but are in positions of power and authority within it. Brant Branham was one. The Brittains and Chapmans are, as well. Many others. Their tool, Rep. Tom Rice, is from a family of Democrats. His mentor, Doug Wendell, has a deep history in that party, and still has his old contacts and allies, such as Robin Tallon and John Jeanette. Rice’s daughter-in-law works for him and Wrenzie, and she campaigned for Obama.

It’s simply a myth that the chamber, on any level, is all about the GOP. Or even that it is conservative. Let’s not forget what they are doing now to support candidates who are likely to topple the most conservative incumbents in state races. In some cases, that means funnelling money to opponents who happen to be Dems.

See what I mean?

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Tellus August 25, 2015 at 6:42 pm

Buzzman needs to change his name to Bugman of West Columbia .. Curtis Loftis… Sick infected man. Why is an elected official in the State of Carolina. posting on Fits , under aliases, on tax payers time, in an office provided by the tax payers, on a computer provided by the tax payers? Why is Fits printing his shit… The man is sick… Fits is violating the tax payers and the citizen of SC. You need to be exposed Fits and Curtis Loftis. Do you sleep together? Being married and having kids do not keep you from this… Come clean FITS and Loftis.. Tell us the story.. We want to know.

RogueElephantisCurtis August 25, 2015 at 7:26 pm

RogueElephant needs to change his name to Fits or Curtis Loftis.. Fits=Curtis Loftis=RogueElephant=Buzzman= Aliases .. so readers will read the posts. Attacking people’s integrity and their honesty is a way to get readers and money coming… Do not expect positive outcomes from these posters. They exist in cyberspace to post false allegations and accusations without proof … and Fits is providing them a way … Sick and Loftis is a big part of this cyberbullying . Expert from way back… Read Alt.talk.Royalty. 2003/2004.

The Buzzman August 25, 2015 at 11:06 am

To my other response, I’d add this:

Taxes, taxes, taxes, taxes, taxes. When does the chamber ever make a serious effort to lower taxes? Answer: Never.

That gives them something in common major with the DNC and Obama, right there.

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Republican BS August 25, 2015 at 3:33 pm

Oh give me a break Republican.

Any damn fool knows that the C of C FOR YEARS has been the backbone of your party .

Your FAKE blasting of them is equivalent to a damn Democrat saying “screw the Black vote.”

Do blow off a little bit Bo,then join your “friends” at the C of C in voting Republican,

Then join the rest of your fellow Republicans here for some more of your daily BS about how you hate this and that about the Republicans right after you walk in the polling booth and pull that Republican lever.

The Buzzman August 25, 2015 at 5:22 pm

Thank you. I needed the reminder that telling the truth, and being logical, pragmatic and non-ideological is a surefire way to make the loonie left and right finge-o’s spout illogical, partisan bullshit that is far off the mark.

You’re just more polite than pogo/flip, Grand Tango, etc. But no less delusional.

Krazy Kat August 25, 2015 at 8:54 am

The cronies!
United!
Will never be divided!

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you know me August 25, 2015 at 10:35 am

Oatie is far better off after leaving. What’s the difference between the chamber and the mafia? Only one of them is organized.

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Rocky Verdad August 25, 2015 at 10:44 am

We need a new Super Highway from Pelion to Swansea damn it!!!!

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Elfego August 25, 2015 at 5:40 pm

The Chamber of Commerce is just pushing another form of slavery!

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The Buzzman August 25, 2015 at 7:27 pm Reply
Lone Ranger August 25, 2015 at 8:36 pm

That’s right, folks—Slick Willie Folks actually wants you to
believe he’s a “friend” of the “little people”—you know—like black and white
Confederate patriots and all

Yo…Will Dumbazz—it WAS you who lied about sleeping with
Haley and helped her and I-Lie-To-Conservatives-Joe Wilson rip down the flag—yep—we
DO recall !!!

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SCJR August 26, 2015 at 5:59 pm

Why is anyone surprised? SC Chamber is run by Haley suck-up Ted Pitts who was once a halfway decent Representative until he got hooked up with Haley and now this bunch of tax and spend yahoos. This group has opposed more jobs than it has ever advocated. Otis Rawl was a joke and only a matter of time before someone kicked his butt back to Lexington County. Isn’t it odd how both Pitts and Rawl are both from Lexington? As is Haley. No wonder this state is so screwed up.

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Bingo August 27, 2015 at 6:03 am

Pitts is just like Rawl– a hack for the special interests that run the state chamber. Neither are qualified to represent businesses.

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Bingo August 27, 2015 at 5:54 am

All these chambers do is suck money from members to advocate higher taxes and promote the special interests of their leadership. SC and Columbia chambers are nothing but lobbying shops and they don’t give a shit about individual members. Stories of how state chamber intimidates its members to support its agenda are reason enough to run far away from that cabal.

Reply

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