By A. Citizen

A chill wind blew through the S.C. State House last week, but amid all the noise over the “stimulus” fight, no one seemed to notice. Our State Senate, already part of the most unchecked legislative body in the nation, decided it should have even more power. Now, lawmakers want their own legislative law enforcement agency: the Capital Police Force.

The CPF: sounds harmless enough, right?

We should be mindful of our history, though.

While our nation’s founding fathers adopted a Constitution intended to prevent any of the three branches of government from usurping too much power, in each of the seven constitutions that have governed our state, our legislature has specifically rejected this idea.

We adopted our first state constitution in 1776. We adopted a new constitution in 1790, after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. At the time, legislators rejected the federal model and maintained absolute control, electing all state and local office holders, magistrates and even the governor.

After the Civil War, Confederate States were required to rewrite their constitutions. Our legislature was forced to do so three times and the 1868 Constitution represented the closest our state had ever come to a true separation of powers.

In the 1870’s, though, democratic legislators began to take measures to regain control. To assist their efforts, the Klan first appeared in South Carolina. Using physical violence, economic intimidation, and voting fraud, democrats recaptured the legislature. These efforts to disenfranchise African-Americans and regain power culminated with the election of Governor Ben Tillman and his call for a new constitution.

Like it or not, the Constitution of 1895, our current constitution, is the result of Tillman’s efforts.

Here is the point: In our state, separation of powers has always been a one-way street: the legislature has jealously blocked checks on its power with one hand, while controlling and meddling in the other two branches with the other hand.

Against this historical backdrop, Senate Bill 576 – the “capital police force” bill – goes far beyond its stated goals of ‘protecting visitors, school children and the statehouse.’ First of all, such protection is already provided – but even if it wasn’t this could easily be accomplished by legislation, or even a budget proviso, requiring that the Department of Public Safety staff and operate the new security system at the statehouse.

Ronald Reagan reminded us that government agencies – once created – are practically eternal. They grow and they grab more power.

This bill clearly establishes a framework for future abuses. But, one need not ride that ‘slippery slope’ to oppose this bill; this bill immediately creates a statewide, legislative police agency that answers to a single political branch in all matters: administration, personnel, budget, and operations.

No checks. No balances.

While Section 2-4-70 (A)(6) of the bill specifies the statehouse grounds as the area where the CPF has primary jurisdiction, the bill contains no jurisdictional or subject matter limits and no requirement for any connection to statehouse security. This bill does not merely move the previous statehouse security apparatus to the legislative branch; it also specifically removes the previous limits on law enforcement certification and jurisdiction.

Section 2-4-60 (A) of the bill provides that CPF officers will have “the same arrest power and power to serve criminal processes… as officers of SLED…” and… “shall also have the same power and authority of officers of SLED for the enforcement of the criminal laws of this state.” By this unambiguous language, the CPF would be a legislative police force with complete and total statewide jurisdiction and power to investigate any crime!

The bill also specifically provides that the new legislative police may require SLED and other law enforcement agencies to do its bidding. From Section 2-4-60 of the bill: “The Chief of the CPF shall coordinate investigations conducted on the capital grounds with SLED… and…The Chief of SLED must provide assistance in criminal investigations when requested by the Chief of the Capital Police Force.”

Our legislative branch already shields itself from many of our ethical and civil laws. By requiring “assistance,” this bill effectively ensures that the legislature’s own police force would have to be included in criminal investigations into the conduct of any lawmaker.

Think about that for a moment.

If a lawmaker suspected he was being investigated for corruption, he could simply arrange for the CPF to open a case and ask for SLED’s “assistance.” Used that way, the language of this bill could “uncover” any independent investigation of statehouse activities by SLED or any other state law enforcement agency.

That way bribery and all the other corrupt activities that go on at the State House could continue – no more embarrassing “Operation Lost Trust” investigations to worry about.

Who would control this CPF? The bill vests control in a nine member committee, three from the judicial branch and a guaranteed majority of six legislators. The result is a police force controlled totally by politicians in the legislature.

After all, aprinkling in three judicial appointments means very little in a state where the legislature alone appoints and removes judges. And, since the judiciary would now be involved in the executive function of law enforcement, there would be no independent branch of government to turn to for relief. This is the genius of the proposal: by giving the Supreme Court representation and its own Marshall’s Service, pesky constitutionality questions about this bill may get more favorable review.

By unambiguous language, this legislation would empower the legislative branch to open and direct investigations on anyone, anywhere in the state; to arrest political opponents anywhere, anytime; and, to control access to capital grounds such that candidates, opponents, and opposing viewpoints could be silenced.

Senate Bill 576 is on the internet and it is clear that this legislation is not about the safety of school children or other State House visitors.

It is a power grab, pure and simple.

As you read the legislation, you may be reminded of another political body that passed laws and directed its own police force: the Soviet Politburo.

The KGB: sounds harmless enough, right?

Editor’s Note: “A. Citizen” is an anonymous column written by FITS readers just like you. We accept submissions from any reader on any topic, and do not disclose anyone’s identity under any circumstances in the event we decide to (or not to) publish them. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary. To submit a column, just e-mail Sic Willie at w@fitsnews.com.

When GOP-bashing FITS News editor and former gubernatorial spokesman Will Folks ran an article a few days ago regarding former Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, we noticed that at least one commenter latched on to the word “toxic” to describe any association between Giuliani and Karen Floyd in her quest to become the next chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.

It is obvious that Mr. Folks did not expect anyone to “go there.”

After all he loves Mayor Giuliani (whom he calls “Hizzoner”), and he really loves Karen Floyd.

Maybe that is why Mr. Folks has refused to dig any deeper to figure out why a link between Giuliani and Floyd could be so problematic for her candidacy.

A quick tour of Floyd’s campaign website makes it perfectly clear why she doesn’t want voters to make this connection — because Rudy undercuts every plank in her platform that matters to actual Republicans.

Floyd’s website says that she is “an active member of the Pro-Life community and for many, many years has supported Pro-Life proposals, participated in Pro-Life rallies and events, and has donated her money and time to various Pro-Life crisis pregnancy organizations.”

But her choice for President is a professed pro-choicer. He favors abortion rights at nearly every turn, and he has publicly supported using tax dollars to fund abortions.

Like new RNC Chairman Michael Steele (who we in the Republican base refer to simply as “The Fraud”), Rudy cops out behind the “Well, I personally don’t like it, but it’s not up to me” excuse. Talk about a facade.

When it comes to abortion, it’s hard to tell these folks from Ted Kennedy since they all seem to use the same excuses to justify their pro-abortion position.

The same is true on immigration. Floyd’s website says that she “will oppose attempts at amnesty by standing up to misguided officials and standing for the rule of law.”

Rudy, on the other hand, has no problem with undocumented immigrants. Everyone found out during the presidential race that he ran the “Big Apple” as a big sanctuary city where police officers were forbidden to turn illegal immigrants into the INS—even though that was part of their job description.

On gun control, it’s the same story all over again. Floyd tells audiences that she’s a hunter, and her website says that she “believes strongly in protecting the Second Amendment from governmental encroachment.”

But Rudy tried to disarm gun owners. He pushed for federal legislation restricting gun ownership. He also sued gun manufacturers and distributors because, you know, they are involved in the industry that makes it possible to actually exercise Second Amendment rights.

And he has also characterized members of the NRA as “extremists.”

You get the point. Everything that Floyd’s website tries to sell is exactly contrary to Rudy’s position — and frequently avoided by Mr. Folks on this website.

We understand that FITS News has expressed pro-life, anti-immigration and pro-gun positions in the past, but these expressions are few and far between.

In fact Mr. Folks frequently bashes the people who defend these core GOP principles, recently referring to the one conservative in this race as a brown noser.

Why does this matter? It’s called the transitive property of equality.

And since Mr. Folks likely didn’t ace algebra back in his days as a pimple-faced high schooler, sound the bell — because class is in session.

It’s no secret that Karen Floyd was Rudy Giuliani’s campaign manager when he was running for the Republican nomination for president.

She lent her name and political reputation to his candidacy and campaigned for him all over South Carolina, receiving payments from Giuliani in excess of $135,000 for barely one year’s worth of service. According to Giuliani’s filings with the Federal Election Commission, his campaign doled out payments of $10,000 or more to Floyd’s consulting company every month from February 2007 to February 2008. Throw in several more big payouts for “catering” and other soft charges, and we’re talking about some serious cheddar.

But this spending spree was a two-way street.

According to FEC filings, Floyd gave Rudy money, too. She was a maximum contributor to his presidential campaign, giving the highest possible amount to his primary race on March 15, 2007, and giving the highest possible amount to his never-got-off-the-ground general election race on May 14, 2007. (This last payment was refunded after Giuliani’s candidacy flamed out in the primaries, including getting a woeful 2% of the vote from South Carolina Republicans).

But the giving wasn’t limited to Floyd herself. Her company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Suzanne Long, also gave the highest allowed contribution to Rudy’s campaign, and Eaddy Roe Willard, a Richland County GOP gadfly and “Midlands Director” for Karen’s company, was also a heavy contributor.

Floyd maintains a Facebook page that allows her to update everyone she has ever met with her every thought and movement. And like an ill-advised teenager, she maintains a database of pictures from her campaign on Facebook.

Who have we seen among the cast of characters in those pictures? Rudy’s political operatives, who apparently have come back to South Carolina to run Karen’s race for chairman.

Yes indeed. The same bunch of out-of-state operatives who tried to trick South Carolina’s conservatives into thinking that Rudy was a genuine Republican back during the presidential primary season are at it again.

Ryan Meerstein, who crawled down to South Carolina from the Rust Belt to serve as Rudy’s “executive director” in South Carolina. This obviously worked out well for Rudy.

Then there’s Rudy’s regional field director, Matthew Nichols, and of course who can forget Jon Lerner, whose Maryland-based consulting firm was desperate to convince voters to back Rudy.

According to Floyd’s filings with the State Ethics Commission, she paid Lerner’s group an unthinkable $880,000 during the course of her failed campaign for Superintendent of Education. And we thought that AIG and Merrill Lynch had cornered the market on excess compensation for absolutely zero return.

This is where Will Folks “covering fire” is brilliantly employed, though.

We all “know” Mr. Folks doesn’t like Jon Lerner. He is frequently reminding us of that — in a very, very public way.

But consider this – isn’t FITS News frequently complimentary to Gov. Mark Sanford, who is Jon Lerner’s biggest S.C. client? And what about his love for the S.C. Club for Growth, which is also connected to Lerner?

The connections between Rudy’s and Floyd’s campaigns are not limited to out-of-town operatives, though. There are plenty of homegrown Giuliani disciples making up the rest of Floyd’s “Activist Army,” as she likes to call her troops. Problem is, Floyd’s activists look an awful lot like left-wing activists based on their love for Rudy.

The “Draft Karen” movement apparently went through John Cattano, who was a member of Rudy’s “South Carolina Business Leaders” team.

Barry Wynn is one of Floyd’s Statewide Campaign Co-Chairs and was one of Rudy’s “Co-Finance Chairmen.”

Mark Kelley is a member of Floyd’s “Statewide Steering Committee” and was one of the “Pee Dee Co-Chairs” for Rudy’s campaign.

We could go on, but you get the picture.

We doubt Mr. Folks will run this article but in the unlikely event that he does, you will see that the “Rudy Factor” he alluded to in an effort to proactively dispense with the issue for Karen Floyd’s campaign is a deep connection that cannot be easily dismissed.

Editor’s Note: “A. Citizen” is an anonymous column written by FITS readers just like you. We accept submissions from any reader on any topic, and do not disclose anyone’s identity under any circumstances in the event we decide to (or not to) publish them. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary. To submit a column, just e-mail Sic Willie at w@fitsnews.com.

The silence is deafening.

S.C. House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper and Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman – the men who fancy themselves as the most powerful leaders in state government – are absolutely silent on their masterful management of our state’s finances.

But while this stands in stark contrast to their usual braggadocio, their sudden disappearance does not absolve them of the disaster that they have wrought with regard to our state’s finances.

For the past four years, these two crowed and spent.

They bullied their peers and ran roughshod over responsible legislators in the House and Senate.

Loudly, they poo-pooed each of Governor Mark Sanford’s executive budgets and ignored all of his suggestions about restraint and saving money for the inevitable rainy day.

They publicly announced their disregard and disdain for the budgets put forth by the elected CEO of our state, as well as the opinions of South Carolina’s elected comptroller general, Richard Eckstrom.

Time and again, they made a point of proving that they have exclusive power over state spending, overriding vetoes with glee and literally gloating over their unsustainable spending increases.

When the governor suggested a more responsible course that included restoring reserve accounts and funding core services like law enforcement, Emperor Leatherman announced, with a smirk and a giggle, that the governor was nothing more than a “chicken little.”

Now, the senator has sky all over his face.

Yet in typical self-serving fashion, the little man ducks and dodges responsibility while the rest of our state suffers.

Year after year, they rejected sound advice and made self-serving decisions.

What we need here is some Enron style accountability.

If these guys were CFO’s of a private business they would be fired. If they were working in corporate America, they would be fired and tarred and feathered in the media. In that context, they would also likely face prosecution. At the very least, the indictment would read something like this:

“… for violating their fiduciary duties to shareholders by ignoring the advice of the CEO and the comptroller, for ignoring all sound and reasonable budgeting practices and for failing to target waste, excess, and carryover funds in education, universities, the Budget and Control Board, and in the legislative branch.”

Federal prosecutors have locked-up corporate leaders for much less.

Our politicians have long insulated themselves from the laws governing financial accountability. They have granted themselves immunity. At the federal level, Congress literally forced banks to make bad loans to people who could not afford them and not a single member of Congress will ever face a judge or jury.

Likewise, these two financial “geniuses” will never face criminal or civil penalties for their mismanagement.

However, the rank and file of the Senate and the House should hold them accountable. They have embarrassed those two bodies and they have embarrassed our great state.

Leatherman, Cooper and Speaker Bobby Harrell have long been in charge of the state budget and for the second time in seven years, they have led this state into a disaster while arrogantly ignoring sound advice and clear signals from their members, from the executive branch and from the economy itself.

Some positions are too important to be chosen based on seniority and politics alone.

And both the House and Senate are replete with members of greater intellectual capacity, and more extensive and proven financial experience and wisdom.

These two financial geniuses had their chance and they failed miserably.

While the recession may have been inevitable, our state will pay a heaver price than most of our neighbors. Once again, our broken system of legislative domination, under the fiscal leadership of Cooper and Leatherman, has pushed us first and deeper into a national recession than most other states.

And, as usual, we will be the last state out.

Citizens are suffering, infrastructure is crumbling, and public safety is at risk as billions are wasted on a failed educational model and unnecessary programs.

Yet, in a House and Senate where the lack of courage often reaches shameful proportions, there will likely be no effort toward accountability.

Ben Tillman is indeed smiling from his grave: his racist, constitutional design of absolute legislative power with no accountability is alive and well in South Carolina.

Editor’s Note: “A. Citizen” is an anonymous column written by FITS readers just like you. We accept submissions from any reader on any topic, and do not disclose anyone’s identity under any circumstances in the event we decide to (or not to) publish them. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary. To submit a column, just e-mail Sic Willie at w@fitsnews.com.

PART I of III

By A. Citizen

In politics, business, relationships and life, there is one commodity you can never have enough of … credibility.

Credibility goes beyond respect and trust for an individual; it implies a level of confidence in someone’s abilities.  Maybe that ability is building a deck, organizing a charity fundraiser or simply teaching your daughter how to play soccer.

In almost every circumstance in real life, credibility isn’t something you can purchase. But life under the dome at the S.C. State House is anything but “real,” and that’s where one man focused on personal gain has managed – for the moment – to buy credibility.

This is the story of Frank Knapp, his liberal allies, the birth of the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCOC) and how he has used slick marketing gimmicks to gain personal treasure and organizational credibility where neither was deserved.

Our story begins in 2000, when the SCSBCOC was formed because its founders felt that “the interests of small business were not considered by the General Assembly when new legislation affecting the general business community was being debated.”

The new “chamber” had several ringleaders:

Tim Wilkes, a former Democratic State Representative who was implicated but later cleared in the Lost Trust scandal.

Richard Davis, a well-heeled Democratic lobbyist who has made his living forming new trade associations then charging them lobbying and management fees.

Rod Shealy, a veteran political consultant who claims Republican lineage but has worked for candidates in both parties.

Frank Knapp, a public relations consultant who dabbled in political consulting with Democrats and the defunct pro-Confederate flag group The Palmetto League.

Many others have been involved with the SCSBCOC, such as current and former state legislators Andre Bauer, Jake Knotts, Ernie Passailaigue, Becky Martin, Glenn Reese, Mac Toole and David Mack. But the face of this organization, and the one person who has profited from it most, has been Frank Knapp.

Besides children and law enforcement, you would be hard-pressed to find a special interest group that enjoys such broad public affinity and strong legislative support as small businesses.

These are your mom-and-pop restaurants, local auto repair shops, florists, plumbers and small manufacturers.

In other words, they are not faceless corporations out to maximize their stock price; they’re people you see at the July 4th parade and at the local Friday night high school football game.

That’s why representing small businesses to state government is like representing small town values and apple pie.

Except there’s one problem – that’s not who Frank Knapp is representing.

In fact, the whole premise underlying the SCSBCOC is completely false.

In 2000, there were many small business organizations lobbying in South Carolina: the Homebuilders, the REALTORS, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Truckers, the General Contractors, numerous local chambers of commerce, etc.

Small business wasn’t without representation at the S.C. State House, and these groups tended to work extremely well with each other even though they represented different industries within the small business community.

They still do.

But Frank Knapp – a poor man’s P.T. Barnum – has continued to scam legislators, the media and the public into believing that he alone speaks for small business. He has amassed substantial credibility in the political arena with a cleverly-named organization and slight-of-hand when it comes to his membership.

The name of the SCSBCOC is pretty obvious.

In fact, if you didn’t know any better would naturally assume that the “SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce” speaks for small businesses in South Carolina.

But when you scratch just below the service, you see that something is missing at the SCSBCOC: small business members.

The SCSBCOC is not unlike the existence of Randall Stevens from The Shawshank Redemption: it only exists on paper.

The membership roster of the SCSBCOC simply co-opts membership rolls from other organizations.

Most interesting of the co-opted membership includes the SC Association of Trial Lawyers and the SC Association of Claimant’s Attorneys.

Ask any small business owner or entrepreneur about trial lawyers and personal injury attorneys, and you’re likely to see their blood pressure rise to untold heights.

In addition, these two associations comprise the bulk (by some published estimates as much as 80%) of the 5,000 members claimed by the SCSBCOC.

Amazingly, Frank Knapp has managed to maintain credibility with “pro-business” legislators despite this inherent conflict and the fact that he doesn’t have any “real” small business members.

After you’ve peeled away this layer of the onion, you have to remove another juicy bit of irony.

If you didn’t now any better, it would be reasonable to assume that Frank Knapp lobbies for small business issues under the cover of the SCSBCOC. If that was the case, with 5,000 members, one would presume this would be his primary employment.

Once again, that presumption would be false.

Frank Knapp’s first priority is a radio talk-show he produces each weekday called “U Need 2 Know,” hosted on WOIC, Columbia ’s progressive talk radio.

For two hours during the afternoon drive each weekday, Knapp bumbles and blathers about all things liberal and progressive. But what goes unsaid is the time it takes him to prepare for his shows.

A rule of thumb used by many in the industry is that you should put in at least an hour of preparation for each hour of airtime.

So at a minimum, if Frank Knapp is preparing for his show like most hosts, he would have to spend at least 20 hours per week on his radio show, which means lobbying for small business clearly isn’t his top time commitment.

In fact he is better described as a member of the media than a member of the lobbyist corps.

So … to recap Part I of this three-part expose on the ongoing scam of Frank Knapp and the SCSBCOC, we learned that there wasn’t a need for small business lobbying in the Statehouse because there were already plenty of organizations lobbying for all kinds of small business issues.

We also learned that the SCSBCOC only exists on paper with co-opted membership that is often at odds with real small business concerns.

Finally, we learned that Frank Knapp’s first priority is as a member of media, hosting a liberal radio show, than showing up to the Statehouse to lobby for small business issues.

That’s all for now … but we’ll continue this magical mystery tour about the credibility of the SCSBCOC and Frank Knapp next week with some first-hand accounts of Frank’s famous statements, ridiculous rants and why he always sits with the trial lawyers at committee hearings.

Editor’s Note: “A. Citizen” is an anonymous column written by FITS readers just like you. We accept submissions from any reader on any topic, and do not disclose anyone’s identity under any circumstances in the event we decide to (or not to) publish them. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary. To submit a column, just e-mail Sic Willie at w@fitsnews.com.

By A. Citizen

“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

-Ronald Reagan

A New Year

The New Year and a new Presidential Administration provides us of the Republican perspective a much needed chance to reevaluate our current predicament, and to mark out a deliberate path forward. Our goal is of course a return to political respectability, but more importantly public responsibility because while electoral success is important, a more crucial task, I believe, is earning back the trust that taxpayers and voters once gave us.

There’s an old saying that you have two ears and only one mouth for a reason. I’ve taken this advice over the years and observed more than I’ve opined. But serious times call for serious words, and with all due respect to the Republican Party, I feel compelled to stand up and speak out against what I view as the unraveling of the political tent I still call home.

Lately, the GOP is a shrinking shell of its once proud self. There are no two ways about it. That said, national political trends provide an appropriate backdrop for what has happened and may soon get worse here in South Carolina.

Republicans across the nation have by and large been driven from power and into the shadows, frightened and emasculated. Alan Greenspan explains this seismic political shift leftward by saying, “The Republicans in Congress lost their way. They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.” The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson went so far as to label the GOP “a mess and a fraud,” asking rhetorically if “any Republican candidate [can] claim with a straight face to represent the party of small government?”

Meanwhile, Democrats not only hold strong majorities in both houses of Congress, and the White House, but they’ve successfully jumped aboard a progressive zeitgeist demanding “change” and are using this momentum to push through a decidedly non-conservative agenda that will shape our country for decades to come.

Needless to say, the Grand Old Party finds itself in quite a pickle. But not so in South Carolina, right? Republicans hold eight of nine statewide elected offices, both US Senate seats and four out of six US House seats. Republicans also control both state chambers, and the political headwinds plaguing the GOP nationwide seem to wane when you step into the ruby red Palmetto State.

Yet the truth is not so clear. In fact, I see the same Republican rot that spoiled the national party eating its way through our state as well.

A New Focus

“Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, can never willingly abandon it.”

-Edmund Burke

To say the Republican Party has lost its focus is sort of like telling Steve Spurrier his offenses have become anemic. It may be obvious, but it’s still a problem.

Republicans were born the party of Lincoln, grew up under Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower, matured under Goldwater, and came of age with Reagan. But we’ve now lost our bearings. Drunk on power for the last decade plus, we left our conservative roots and made our home in the squishy middle, trying to out-earmark and out-Democrat the party of big-spending liberalism. Two prime examples of this are the fact that the national debt nearly doubled under President George W. Bush and federal government spending has grown by 106 percent since the “Republican Revolution” in Congress

This national hypocrisy was mirrored here in South Carolina with Republican legislative leadership preaching fiscal responsibility but practicing otherwise, growing the state budget by nearly two billion dollars, or 42 percent, from 2004 to 2008.

Millions of taxpayer dollars went to balloon festivals, Elvis impersonators, parades and other pork – all under Republican leadership.

And even this year, with painful budget cuts limiting government’s growth (because our elected leaders in Columbia chose not to), some Republicans have the nerve to blame tax cuts for the state budget predicament we’re now in.

This is ironic because Republicans didn’t actually cut taxes, they swapped them – bowing to the altar of a state policy of “revenue neutrality.”

This outright apostasy can be explained in part by the fact that many old school South Carolina Democrats simply changed parties decades ago when they realized their seats were in jeopardy.

And it turns out you can put tusks on a donkey, but that still doesn’t make him an elephant.

It’s also a sign the Republican brand is tarnished.

Brands are important because they mean something. Just ask Chick-fil-a.

Tragically, the Republican brand now stands just as much for corruption, earmarks and big spending as it once did for free market economics, tax relief and individual responsibility.

Returning to our conservative brand a commitment to liberty, to limited government, to lowering people’s tax burden, and to serious government reform will be an uphill battle, but I believe there are glimmers of hope.

This hope is predicated on some decisive action, taken now.

First, the GOP must re-focus on ideas, on reason, and on arguments. Its philosophical cupboard is anything but bare, and I think we’ve got the principles in place; it’s just the political courage we’re lacking.

So when a Republican proposes expanding government to the detriment of individual liberty and taxpayers’ wallets, he or she should be resisted en masse.

When a Republican advocates a tax increase or condemns tax cuts as anti-growth, he or she should be opposed, with passion.

When a Republican supports selective business tax incentives that endanger the free market and eliminate a level playing field, he or she should be defied.

And when Republican bosses’ oppose a conservative Republican governor at nearly every turn as he tries to lower South Carolinians’ tax burdens, improve their quality of life and increase the state’s competitive advantage abroad, they should be challenged.

For no matter how contentious the personal relationship is between the Governor and the legislature, there is no excuse to oppose common sense reform and in essence forsake the Republican creed to keep your power and pride intact.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that this re-focusing on the conservative Republican brand is beginning, ever so slowly, here in South Carolina. Nearly a quarter of the state House and Senate Republican Caucuses are new members this year, and there’s a growing desire for a return to bedrock principles, starting from the ground up. Everyday South Carolinians are making their voice heard, and vote by vote, call by call, email by email, Republican leadership seems to be at least squirming, if not listening.

A New Challenge

“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.”

-Abraham Lincoln

It would be poor sportsmanship on my part if I didn’t offer any constructive way out of the GOP’s current morass.

Our state’s challenge must be met with a new attitude, a vibrant and bold declaration that the title “Republican” actually means something, and that diluting the brand by acting like Democrats will no longer be tolerated.

This change will require statesmen (and stateswomen) who will not sacrifice their principles for power, and instead, stand strong against the state’s status quo of glad-handing corruption and growing government on the backs of the taxpayer.

And most importantly, meeting this challenge involves each one of us engaging in every level of government.

I’d encourage you to step out of your comfort zone; talk to your neighbors; call your state legislators; write your US Senator and Congressman until your hand hurts. Take heart that together our efforts will matter.

That’s because America was founded not by the timid but by the bold – those men and women who prized liberty above tyranny, prudence above privilege, individual rights above state solutions, and the entrepreneurial spirit above a dependence on government.

Now, again, is the time not for timidity but courage; courage for our nation and for our party. We can not accept politics as usual, politicians as usual, and political parties as usual.

We can take back the momentum in this New Year with a new focus on proven conservative principles and the core Republican brand.

We can, and together, we will.

Editor’s Note: “A. Citizen” is an anonymous column written by FITS readers just like you. We accept submissions from any reader on any topic, and do not disclose anyone’s identity under any circumstances in the event we decide to (or not to) publish them. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary. To submit a column, just e-mail Sic Willie at w@fitsnews.com.

By A. Citizen

Last Sunday’s edition of The State newspaper offered a mild rebuke of Gov. Mark Sanford for alluding to conflicts of interest in Columbia, but not naming names.

Since he decided not to, I’ve got a short list that might raise some eyebrows:

- Senator John Land is involved in the selection process for the judges who decide workers compensation cases. It’s no wonder, then, that his personal injury law firm made nearly $4 million in workers’ comp cases over the past few years. Wouldn’t most lawyers win their cases if the judge knew a few words from that attorney might mean the difference in them keeping their livelihood?

- In addition to being Speaker of the House and owning an insurance business, Bobby Harrell also owns a drug packaging business. Last year, it was reported that he badgered a state agency into doing business with another firm called Select Health, which has since spent thousands with the Speaker’s company.

- Senator Brad Hutto fought against strengthening DUI legislation, and fought to keep loopholes in. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he represents drunk driving suspects.

- Representative David Mack has sent $700,000 through South Carolina State University to a Columbia-based non-profit. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that he works there.

- Senator John Matthews has sent a total of $350,000 through South Carolina State University to the Lower Orangeburg-Upper Dorchester Community Development Corporation – where, I’m sure it’s equally coincidental that he and his wife serve on the board.

- Speaking of non-profits, Representative Dan Cooper served on the board for a balloon festival in the Upstate, and sent a $250,000 competitive grant their way. I’m sure more non-profits would love to have that kind of powerful patron!

- Many legislators like to keep it in the family, too. Senator John Land’s son is on the Santee Cooper board, for example, and even though his term has expired, the Senate is allowing him to continue serving.

-Senator Hugh Leatherman’s son-in-law was a member of the SCDOT Commission until the SC Supreme Court declared his (and other members) appointment to be invalid. Speaker Harrell’s father was also on the DOT Commission, and his brother serves on the state Judicial Merit Screening Committee.

- Another legislator who likes to keep it in the family is Representative Ken Kennedy. He asked DHEC to send $18,000 to a hometown nonprofit that serves the elderly. Kennedy’s niece ended up being awarded money from a scholarship funded by that nonprofit.

- And speaking of DHEC, former Representative Joe Mahaffey asked them to send him a $24,000 check made out to the Middle Tyger Community Center. Mahaffey is on the nonprofit’s board.

- Sometimes it pays to be a legislator. Representative Harold Mitchell got a $500,000 grant for Regenesis Community Health Center. Shockingly, Mitchell’s day job is executive director of an affiliated Regenesis entity.

- Cronyism is institutionalized at the state Budget and Control Board, where they left in place a no-bid contract for insurance work for a firm connected to a former legislator. In this case, the state was being sapped for a couple of million dollars each year above the market value of the contract. Most people I talk to doubt the rest of us would be so lucky.

- All three commissioners at the Employment Security Commission are former legislators paid more than $100,000 in salary and thousands more in travel reimbursements to attend a few meetings a month.

-The cushy salaries don’t stop there, and aren’t limited to Columbia. U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s daughter is a Public Service Commissioner making nearly $100,000.

The Bible says you can’t serve two masters. Sadly, far too many of our elected officials appear to be doing just that.

Editor’s Note: “A. Citizen” is an anonymous column written by FITS readers just like you. We accept submissions from any reader on any topic, and do not disclose anyone’s identity under any circumstances in the event we decide to (or not to) publish them. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary. To submit a column, just e-mail Sic Willie at w@fitsnews.com.