Camden, SC – Today, Sen. Vincent Sheheen spoke to the Columbia Rotary Club about the consequences of failed leadership and broken government in South Carolina, and his vision for how to move the state forward again. The state senator and 2014 gubernatorial candidate focused on the need for better leadership and true accountability in the governor’s office, as well as common-sense ideas and a pragmatic approach to deliver results.
Below are excerpts from his speech, as prepared for delivery:
“All too often I have friends who call from out of state, who’ve just seen Jay Leno or the news, and they ask: what in the world is wrong with South Carolina? And I tell them: broken government and failed leadership.”
“Right now, we have an administration that operates in secret. Their first instinct is to keep things from the public. People’s tax information was stolen, and the Governor kept it secret for two weeks before telling the public. There’s a secret report in the Governor’s office detailing what happened with the hacking, but the public can’t read it. We’ve seen the destruction of emails, the purposeful use of non-government email accounts and cell phones so the public can’t know what’s going on. And of course, DHEC kept information about a TB outbreak in Greenwood secret for months, and now dozens of children have tested positive for TB. That’s just wrong.”
“I have been fighting to streamline and reform state government for years. During the last decade or so our state streamlined the administration so that governors would be accountable and could control the DOR, DHEC, DSS, the Dept of Workforce, and the administration of the DOT. The goal was improved results and accountability. Under Nikki Haley, we have gotten the exact opposite.”
“We can rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic all day long. But if we don’t have leaders who lead, it doesn’t matter. If we don’t have leaders who accept responsibility and act accountable it doesn’t matter.”
“The Governor should hold her appointees accountable and should be held accountable herself. Because there is a pattern here. These failures of government have progressed beyond the individual agencies.”
“Agency heads need to get fired for major failures and incompetence in their agencies. Letting failed leaders linger on until they feel like resigning is unacceptable.”
“Fixing state government doesn’t end with firing agency heads. We need leadership to fix this broken government from the top down, and we need it fast.”
“We can get South Carolina back on track, but we have to do a lot of things differently. In addition to improving accountability, we must: continue to expand 4-year-old kindergarten and improve public education; make higher education a priority and bring down tuition costs; invest in road and bridges; support businesses within South Carolina by lowering the industrial property tax and investing in people; reduce all the wasteful spending in state government to make the best use of tax dollars; and so much more.”
“Together we can accomplish all of these things with the right priorities, common sense, and new leadership that focuses on bringing people together and getting things done.”
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2 comments
Meh.
Meh.