Just one month into his second two-year term, S.C. “Republican” Party chairman Chad Connelly has resigned his post. The former Amway salesman – who breezed to reelection as chairman at last month’s SCGOP convention – is giving up his job to take a position with the National Republican Committee (NRC).
“My time as Chairman of the [...]
SCGOP Chairman Resigns
Lexington Ring: The Buzz Is Back
This website has written extensively about the “Lexington Ring,” a cabal of corrupt cops and crooked elected officials who have allegedly been running a video poker ring based out of Lexington County, S.C. for several years.
For those of you unfamiliar with state law, video poker is illegal in South Carolina – part of the Palmetto [...]
SC Labor Participation Rate Inches Up
South Carolina’s labor participation rate inched up in April from a record low in March … climbing from 58.5 to 58.9 percent, according to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW).
That figure is still well below the rate, however, which inched up from a 34-year-low in April to its current level of 63.4 percent.
The [...]
SC Governor To Wield Bigger Veto Axe?
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is poised to wield a bigger veto axe this year, several fiscally conservative lawmakers tell FITS.
In previous years Haley has faced withering criticism from fiscal conservatives for her failure to make deep cuts to the spending plans passed by the S.C. General Assembly.
A year ago, Haley issued seventy-four budget vetoes totaling [...]
SC School District In Chaos
Want a good look at how government-run education “works” in South Carolina? Travel an hour outside of the state capital of Columbia, S.C. to the city of Sumter … where a rural district is staring down a rash of violence, teacher defections and a testing scandal that has prompted a criminal investigation.
The Sumter, S.C. school [...]
Wire: Witches, Court, Business, Buds, Etc.
We get lots of tips, comments and questions about stuff we write … and stuff people want us to write.
Wanna share a link? Suggestion? Criticism? Question? Submit it (anonymously or otherwise) via our tip wire … and remember, in addition to confidentially investigating your leads we also publish letters to the editor and guest editorials (even anonymous ones) if you’ve got more [...]
John Scott: Senator For Hire?
Less than a week after S.C. Sen. Robert Ford (D-Charleston) was forced to resign his office amid an embarrassing ethics investigation, another black Democrat is being accused of some ethically questionable behavior.
S.C. Sen. John Scott (D-Richland) moved this week to block legislation that would have created new consumer protections for South Carolinians who fall victim [...]
Jean Toal Shocker!
Months after telling her colleagues she planned on stepping down as chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court, former liberal activist Jean Toal shocked her fellow justices this week by informing them of her intention to seek another term.
Or part of another term, anyway …
According to state pension law, the 69-year-old Toal is prohibited from serving [...]
“Ethics Reform,” Nullification Dead In SC Senate
The S.C. Senate shut down debate this week without passing watered-down ethics reform legislation – and without even debating a Tea Party-backed bill that would have nullified U.S. President Barack Obama’s socialized medicine law.
That means both bills are dead for the year.
The defeat of the ethics reform bill was a major setback for S.C. Gov. [...]
#SCHacked: The Ransom
Seven months after we exclusively reported on the bizarre ransom-related aftermath of #SCHacked – last fall’s unprecedented state-level hacking incident at the S.C. Department of Revenue – a South Carolina Senator is finally asking questions about the alleged payoff.
For those of you who missed our post from last October, it broke down like this: While [...]
Gut Check Time, Black Lawmakers
On a key education vote this week, black lawmakers in the South Carolina House of Representatives have a choice to make …
They can either support expanded parental choice options proven to benefit their low-income constituencies … or they can continue kowtowing to a failed government-run education system that keeps generations of poor, mostly minority children [...]
