Lots Going On July 20, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 2 comments
SC POLITICOS BUSY AS BEAVERS DURING SIC WILLIE’S ABSENCE
FITSNews - July 20, 2008 - While our founding editor was sunning his delectable buns and capturing yet another Atlantic Ocean Bodysurfing Championship last week, things were humming right along in the S.C. political blogosphere. In fact, here are a couple of stories we “missed” during Sic Willie’s break which he insisted we bring to your attention. Oh … and sorry about the “delectable buns” comment. We don’t like that image any more than you do …
TOMPKINS TRUE COLORS - In case any of you were still in the dark on the big government leanings of “GOP” consultant Warren Tompkins (or the big government leanings of the S.C. Senate Republican Caucus, for that matter), prepare to have the cobwebs swept away. The Palmetto Scoop reported last week that Tompkins gave $5,000 to the Senate Democrats last month while his firm was on retainer with the Senate Republicans. The Scoop speculated on this development as yet another example of Tompkins’ duplicity, but to us it’s another example of how there really isn’t a nickel’s worth of difference between the two political parties in South Carolina.
SANDIFER’S SPECIAL INTERESTS - Of all the status quo politicians bitching about the “evil influence” of out-of-state money in South Carolina, none has been any shriller or more annoying than Upstate Rep. Bill Sandifer. That’s why it surprised us somewhat to see a new report published in The Voice which showed that Sandifer has taken more than $25,000 from out-of-state special interests during the current election cycle. Predictably, the vast majority of these out-of-state interests have for-profit business before the General Assembly, and in particular the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee on which Sandifer sits. And just as predictably, left-wing bloggers don’t seem the least bit concerned about Sandifer’s hypocrisy.
STATUS QUO CHALLENGER COMES UP SHORT - Of all the primary losses that angered South Carolina’s liberal education establishment, the defeat of House Education Chairman Bob Walker stands head and shoulders above the rest. No wonder then, that these purveyors of the world’s worst education system actively participated in an effort to place an “independent” challenger on the ballot against Republican Joey Millwood, who sent Walker into early retirement last month. According to the Other Brooks Brothers (and their smokin’ hot sister), that effort thankfully came up just short last week, but the fact that such an effort was made at all against a victorious reform candidate should serve notice that the left is intent on playing hardball heading into the November elections. Nothing wrong with that, of course, we just hope conservative candidates are ready for it …
Taxpayer Funded Lobbying On The Rise In SC July 19, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 6 comments
YOUR MONEY BEING IS SPENT TO SPEND EVEN MORE OF YOUR MONEY
FITSNews - June 19, 2008 - Every year, House Majority Leader Jim Merrill introduces a bill that would ban the budget-busting practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying in South Carolina … and every year big government backers in the Republican Party team up with the Democrats to make sure Merrill’s bill goes absolutely nowhere.
It’s an annual exercise in futility, as powerful government interests use your money to retain ethically-challenged lobbyists to help them perpetuate their own growth.
According to a report from the S.C. Policy Council, the problem of taxpayer-funded lobbying is only getting worse in South Carolina, jumping from $2.5 million in 2005 to $3 million in 2006, the most recent year for which numbers are available.
Sure, that’s chump change in a $7 billion budget - until you realize that money went directly to feeding the growth of that budget, and that lobbyists only have to bill for the time they actually spend working directly with lawmakers. (more…)
Fake Immigration Reform In South Carolina July 16, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 51 comments
BEHIND STATE LAWMAKERS’ PANDERPALOOZA
By Tim Manning, Jr.
FITSNews - July 16, 2008 - Immigration reform in South Carolina was a slow debate.
President Bush passed federal reform with the stroke of a pen on June 6, but in South Carolina, it took our legislature seven months to pass an identical bill. Our legislators periodically brought it up from December through June, throughout the entire year’s legislative session. They did lots of public grandstanding on it, all the while fevering fiendishly over how much pork they could sneak in under the radar.
The grandstanding I’m talking about is the E-Verify system endorsed by Tom Tancredo.
And, no, Tancredo is not guilty in this. In fact, he is perhaps the most abused. The source of the problem is the legislators in South Carolina and their benefactors who took his idea and passed a fake version of it. (more…)
The Power Is Back On …
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 5 comments
… AND AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
FITSNews - July 16, 2008 - The road to relevancy for our little website over the past year-and-a-half has been a steady, arduous climb. What began in December 2006 as an occasional forum for a handful of die-hard S.C. political insiders is now an online juggernaut boasting nearly a quarter million visitors each month. Persistence, perversion and perspicacity … it’s just how we roll, baby.
We never anticipated anything resembling that sort of growth, of course, but we can certainly point to a few key moments in our Internet infancy which bear responsibility - not the least of which was the release of our Palmetto Power 100 list in August 2007.
Originally conceived as a way to keep people tuned in during the dog days of summer, our detailed assemblage of the 100 most powerful South Carolina political figures was a tremendous hit - boosting our credibility as well as our audience (and getting our founding editor Sic Willie in some serious trouble with several would-be important folks who didn’t like their ranking - or lack thereof).
Anyway, since the Power 100 was such a surprise smash last year, we’ll be releasing the 2008 edition this summer - on the third Sunday in August, to be precise. And since last year’s success would have been impossible without the hundreds of thoughtful suggestions we received from our loyal FITS fans, we’re hoping to hear from you again this year.
As always, feel free to post your suggestions anonymously below or e-mail them to us at info@fitsnews.com …
Mark Sanford - Not Ready For Prime Time July 14, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : Presidential Politics, SC Politics , 30 commentsNOW WE KNOW WHY THEY CALL HIM “MOONBEAM”
FITSNews - July 14, 2008 - It turns out S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford isn’t being vetted for the Vice Presidency after all … which is only surprising to those of you who weren’t reading our little website back in February. Anyway, after the governor’s shaky appearance on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer yesterday, he’s probably not being vetted for any job that requires talking to people or remembering things correctly, either.
Here’s an excerpt from the train wreck:
BLITZER: Are there any significant economic differences between what the Bush administration has put forward over these many years as opposed to now what John McCain supports?
SANFORD: Um, yeah. I mean for instance, take, you know, ummm, uhhhh, take for instance the, the issue of uhhh, of um — I’m drawing a blank, um, I hate it when I do that, particularly on television. But take, take for instance the contrast on NAFTA. I mean, I think that the bigger issue is credibility in where one is coming from … on … are they consistent where they come from.
Yikes-a-roni. In addition to being incorrect (both George W. Bush and John McCain have consistently supported free trade in general, and NAFTA in particular), Sanford actually managed to sound marginally less intelligent than Miss Teen SC Caitlin Upton. Remember her? She’s the Lexington County native who infamously bombed a beauty pageant question by bumbling incoherently about how South Africa, “the Iraq” and a bunch of Asians stole America’s maps.
Seriously, people. In case you couldn’t already tell from our education system, we put a whole lot of “stupid” in the water supply down here …
Howie Bin Laden? July 13, 2008
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 18 comments
EDITOR AT LA SOCIALISTA COMPARES MANHATTAN SCHOOL CHOICE SUPPORTER TO OSAMA BIN LADEN
FITSNews - July 13, 2008 - We already knew that Brad Warthen - the whiny, one-issue editorial page editor over at La Socialista - doesn’t like the notion of parental choice very much. He’d rather keep pouring billions of additional tax dollars down the same “government school sinkhole“, and his editorial board has written at least eleventy kabillion columns to that effect. We also already knew that Warthen doesn’t like school choice supporters very much, unless you consider calling someone a “cancer” to be a compliment.
Well, this week Warthen took his visceral hatred for a parent’s right to choose to a whole new level, comparing school choice supporter Howie Rich to terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Which is even more insulting when you consider that Rich is from Manhattan, where bin Laden’s “planes operation” killed 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
Warthen made the comparison in this column, but quickly removed the link after receiving some criticism and inserted this disclaimer:
Sheesh. Some of y’all were so sensitive about the link I put on that last sentence, that I cut it out, even though it was simply a straightforward link to what this video reminded me of.
First of all, Brad, don’t be a pussy. If you’re going to compare someone to a mass murderin’, America-hatin’ no good terrorist son of a rag-head bitch (just because you don’t agree with them), then stand by it … and leave it up there for people to see it.
Second, and most importantly, thank you for demonstrating once again what the “pro-public education” movement in South Carolina is all about - demonizing anyone who dares to offer real solutions to their ongoing and increasingly expensive failure to educate our children.
Meet The Gay Anti-Gay Alabama AG
Posted by fitsnews in : SC Politics , 9 comments
TROY KING ALLEGED TO BE A QUEEN
FITSNews - July 13, 2008 - Get this … the Attorney General of Alabama, who has made a name for himself by hatin’ on homosexuals and trying to ban sex toys, is apparently using a homosexual as his personal sex toy.
According to Wonkette and other outlets, Republican Troy King got caught having sex with a male aide by his wife … on their bed, no less. And according to the Locust Fork Journal in Alabama (because where else would Locust Fork be), the King who would be Queen might be preparing to resign:
A spokesperson for Alabama Governor Bob Riley denied that Attorney General Troy King is preparing to resign in the wake of a massive rumor campaign that has yet to be fully confirmed. The word is, according to multiple sources in Montgomery and elsewhere, that King was recently caught by his wife in a gay affair with a male aide and banished from his home.
According to Tara Hutchison in the executive office of the governor they have heard of no plans in the works for King’s resignation. She said she had not heard that he had been kicked out of his home because of a gay affair.
Governor Bob Riley’s press office refused to return multiple phone calls from this independent press outlet even though some sources accuse Riley of perpetrating the leak. The attorney general’s press office also declined to return phone calls seeking comment.
There are few things in the world that satisfy us quite like watching worthless Bible-thumpers getting caught with their pants down … with other men. Venti mocha frappucinos and strawberry-banana smoothies are certainly on that list, but we honestly can’t think of anything else off the top of our heads at the moment.
