Greg Ryberg – a curmudgeony, confrontational presence in the S.C. State Senate for the last two decades – will not seek reelection in 2012, according to The Aiken Standard.
“It has been a reward to have 20 years of service. The next 20 I’m going to spend with my wife and family,” the irascible lawmaker told [...]
Greg Ryberg Won’t Run Again
Club: Seven “Republican” Senators Bring Back B&CB
Friends,
There is good news and bad news.
The good news is that on Tuesday the Senate, in a historic vote, finally eliminated the archaic Budget and Control Board. In its place they voted to implement a sensible structure similar to the one used by the forty-nine other states.
Senators Davis and Massey, who helped author this amendment, were [...]
SC’s Sagging Income Levels
While S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and the “Republican-controlled” General Assembly in South Carolina continue to grow government at recklessly exorbitant levels, the ability of Palmetto State taxpayers to pick up this soaring tab continues to shrink.
According to data published by the U.S. Census, South Carolina’s median household income fell to $42,018 in 2010 (from an [...]
Greenville Tea Party Scorecard Rips Upstate Republicans
The Greenville, S.C. Tea Party has released a legislative scorecard for Upstate members of the S.C. General Assembly … and it ain’t pretty.
Four State Senators – Mike Fair (RINO-Greenville), Billy O’Dell (RINO- Anderson), Thomas Alexander (RINO-Oconee) and Larry Martin (RINO-Pickens) – received failing grades. So did eighteen State Representatives – including each member of the [...]
Tea Party Scorecard Rips SCGOP Senators
A legislative scorecard released by one of South Carolina’s most credible Tea Party organizations offers fresh proof that the Palmetto State’s “Republican-controlled” Senate is really in the hands of free-spending Democrats. You know … as if the passage of the two largest budgets in state history (here and here) required any supporting documentation.
Only three Republican [...]
A Surplus? Not For SC Taxpayers
South Carolina lawmakers spent a record $20.8 billion during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2011. Actually, they spent more than that – including a pair of $100 million bailouts for S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s Medicaid agency.
But when it was all said and done … was there any money left over?
“The state ended [...]
Luke Rankin Switching Parties (Again)?
S.C. Sen. Luke Rankin – who switched parties in 2004 – could be on the verge of switching again.
The Democrat-turned-Republican is contemplating becoming a Republican-turned-Democrat. Why? According to our sources, so he could mount a bid for the as-yet-undrawn Seventh Congressional District.
Rankin (RINO-Horry) would obviously fare much better as a Democrat running for a moderate [...]
Six SC Senators On “Hit List”
Several “Republican” State Senators are on a new “hit list” being circulated by Tea Party leaders – and GOP activists – a sure sign that the 2012 legislative primaries in South Carolina are going to be contested and competitive.
One Tea Party missive identified six “Republican in Name Only” State Senators that its author says need [...]
Leatherman Sounds Tax Hike Trumpet
S.C. Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman – the Palmetto state’s “Godfather of Pork” – sounded the tax hike trumpet during a publicly-funded trip to Arizona this week.
While attending the National Conference of State Legislatures fall forum in Phoenix (on your dime), Leatherman declared that disproportionately poor and out-of-work South Carolinians would be beating down his [...]
Sheheen’s Education Funding Problem
S.C. Senator Vincent Sheheen voted against legislation that would have required a higher percentage of education funding to go toward classroom expenses – a pro-bureaucracy position that’s distinctly at odds with the Democratic gubernatorial nominee’s recently unveiled “education plan.”
Sheheen, a staunch defender of South Carolina’s failed status quo, proposed earlier this week that teacher salaries [...]
Republican Activists Push Voter ID Bill
By FITSNews || With S.C. lawmakers returning to the state capitol one last time on Tuesday to take up gubernatorial vetoes, GOP activists are pushing hard for the passage of a voter ID bill that has been blocked by Democrats Senators – four of whom happen to be wearing Republican labels.
In fact, after the SCGOP [...]
RINO Removal: The “Why” Matters
By FITSNews || There’s a movement afoot to boot S.C. Senator Jakie Knotts from the Republican Party – a movement we enthusiastically support, by the way.
But why? Is it because Knotts called GOP gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley a “raghead” on a local internet talk show earlier this month? No, although his racist remark is certainly [...]
