SC

SC Gas Tax Hike Going Down In Flames

“LET IT BURN …” It hasn’t drawn its last breath just yet, but a concerted, well-funded, multi-year effort by virtually the entire South Carolina political establishment to raise gas taxes on Palmetto State motorists is on its deathbed. “It’s in hospice,” a source familiar with the status of the proposed $800 million a…

“LET IT BURN …”

It hasn’t drawn its last breath just yet, but a concerted, well-funded, multi-year effort by virtually the entire South Carolina political establishment to raise gas taxes on Palmetto State motorists is on its deathbed.

“It’s in hospice,” a source familiar with the status of the proposed $800 million a year tax increase told us.

Multiple lawmakers in the S.C. House of Representatives and the State Senate – of all ideological orientations – confirmed this prognosis.

“It’s not going to pass,” one told us bluntly. “Not enough votes for any of the compromises.”

Good.

Damn good, actually.

We’ve been fighting against this tax increase for the last two years … and we’re not going to lie, watching it going down in flames is immensely gratifying.

It’s also immensely gratifying to watch the entire South Carolina political establishment – legislative leaders, crony capitalists, lobbyists, liberal media, party officials etc., take it squarely up the @$$.

Seriously … it couldn’t happen to a nicer crowd.

Braggadocio aside, though, here’s the thing: South Carolina doesn’t need to raise taxes on gasoline in order to manage its infrastructure needs.  How do we know this?  Because the liberal leaders trying to sneak this tax through the back door are flat out lying about the so-called “shortfall” in infrastructure funding that a gas tax hike would ostensibly address.

They are also lying about the amount of recurring new money that they have been throwing into the state’s colossally mismanaged, chronically corrupt Department of Transportation (SCDOT) … with a whole lot of nothing to show for it.

Also, even if they were telling the truth about the situation dirt poor South Carolinians simply cannot afford to pay more out of pocket on anything than they are already paying.

The math simply doesn’t add up.

Anyway … plenty of people are cashing fat checks on both sides of this debate (and taking credit for its current status).

That’s fine.  Success has many mothers.

We’re not going to call anyone out by name (ahem), but here’s the bottom line: There is one person (and one person alone) who deserves credit for defeating this tax hike: S.C. Senator Tom Davis.

Seriously … if you are a Palmetto State taxpayer who is tired of picking up the tab for your wasteful, shamelessly self-serving government, THANK THIS GUY.

Davis certainly has had some help this go-round – an election year in which everyone is clamoring to be as “conservative” as they can – but last year, when all of the stars seemed aligned to ram this thing through, he took a major gamble and stood firm against it.

Frankly, we can’t believe he succeeded …

But he did.

As we noted earlier this week, Davis’ filibuster against this proposal wasn’t just “about stopping a totally unnecessary gas tax increase, it’s about putting a corrupt system on trial – following the money and taking a magnifying glass to the shady deals, wasteful bureaucracy and self-serving projects” in state government.

“Of course on a more fundamental level it’s about even more than that …” we wrote. “It’s about one politician – at long last – finally showing some backbone and standing strong against the status quo.

Indeed it is …

Finally.

Thank you, Tom Davis.  You’ve done more to restore our faith in the process than anyone in recent memory.

***

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18 comments

idcydm February 26, 2016 at 5:57 pm

Good I hope it does go down in flames. I don’t want to give the state or feds anymore money than I do already. They can’t manage what they get now, if we give them more do you think they will suddenly become better money managers, hell no they won’t. Let them drive around in one the same roads we do and bitch about them, because they will bitch louder than we do.

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Sic Semper Tyrannis February 26, 2016 at 6:43 pm

Your last sentence is good, but they will never figure it out.

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idcydm February 26, 2016 at 6:50 pm

Of course you’re right but I did say “maybe”.

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Mary Smith February 27, 2016 at 3:12 am

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HL February 26, 2016 at 6:22 pm

My name is Leatherman and you damn well better get used to the idea of a gas tax. It is gonna happen or I will cast a plague of locus on SC.

And that Tom Davis is going to pay, and I mean pay! I want my money and that upstart anit gonna keep me from it.

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erneba February 26, 2016 at 6:56 pm

I am sure many people would not have known about this ruse if it had not been for FITNEWS. A hat tip, a big wave, a grunt,and a hearty Thank You to you and your crew for keeping us posted..

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FitsLose February 26, 2016 at 6:59 pm

I wonder what FitsNews thinks about Trump wanting to open the libel laws up making it easier for journalists to be sued? Just another freedom and first amendment conservative that Trump is…

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link

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Flip February 27, 2016 at 12:29 pm

Freedom of the press to get taken to the cleaners…

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SandyToesSC February 28, 2016 at 9:19 am

When a news outlet knowingly lies for a political agenda, the victim of that lie should be able to get justice. I am not talking about inuendo, misunderstandings, difference of opinions etc. I am talking about outright lies. Just because the target of the NY Times is a public person is no reason for them to get away with deliberate libel.

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Spin The Bottle February 27, 2016 at 1:54 am

Dozens of federal lawsuits will be filed against these rogue and lawless lawmakers if they pass a gas tax hike. Do they really want to risk going to federal prison?

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Thomas February 27, 2016 at 1:55 am

The gas tax hike is much more to SC than roads. The South Carolina Retirement System (think defined benefit pensions for the worker and spouse after the worker dies) and tax payer subsidized cadillac healthcare plans (think coverage for spouse and the kids to age 26 paid for by one worker’s premium) that has been sucking our general revenue funds from every state department and county. They must raise tax revenue one way or another.

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Old Retired Guy February 27, 2016 at 3:57 am

Thomas,

The pension system is the state’s single most significant issue of this decade yet it remains unaddressed. My former boss Mark Sanford pointed out the dramatic and disasterous trends as long as 10 years ago but nothing was done to stop the cost from piling up.

Under Nikki Haley’s leadership the unfunded liability has doubled. This financial crises is being hidden from the public by virtually every public official in Columbia.

If not fixed soon the taxes needed to pay for retirement cost will be horrendous and will drown out government employee pay raises for a decade.

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Flip February 27, 2016 at 12:32 pm

Or worse the government will destroy the system and screw people out of their retirement.

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Paula February 27, 2016 at 3:12 pm

If the fuckers stop paying huge bonuses to their friends who manage it the funds would be stable and they have already addressed the pension system. They are all stable right now so stop spreading bullshit lies.

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SandyToesSC February 28, 2016 at 9:28 am

Pensions and health insurance benefits need to be reformed. State Government employees need to start picking up much more. Why should taxpayers be paying for gold-plated benefits that we don’t get in the private sector? John Edwards was right about the 2 America’s, but he just had the participants wrong. It is those that live off of government vs those that are sucked dry by government.

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James February 27, 2016 at 3:14 pm

Bullshit! They are paying out huge bonuses to their buddies that manage the pension system..

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Bible Thumper February 27, 2016 at 10:55 am

The Democrats are going to be embarrassed by the low voter turnout for today’s SC primary — Less than 300,000. 370,000 would be half of the turnout of the Republican primary.

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Slartibartfast February 27, 2016 at 11:25 pm

Kum & Go? Do they supply towels?

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