McMaster, Sheheen, Kitzman endorsed

MAY 21, 2010 — After almost eight years of a running battle between the governor’s office and General Assembly, what South Carolina needs for the next four years is stability and real leadership that focuses on outcomes that help people.

In other words, South Carolina needs experienced, open-minded leaders who will work hard to help all South Carolinians, not just people who are in one party or the other. Our leaders should work for the common good of the state, not partisan personal preferences on policy proposals.

1st district candidates sound mostly like cardboard cutouts

MAY 3, 2010 – With more than a dozen candidates running to replace grizzled and crusty U.S. Rep. Henry Brown in the First Congressional District, it seemed like a good time to try to make some sense of the election. …

Legislators need more issues training

MARCH 5, 2010 – The opposite of a leader is a lemming, a political metaphor for a follower who will do just about anything, including blindly jumping off a cliff, to back a leader.

South Carolina’s General Assembly is full of lemmings – so much so that one top lawmaker privately confided this week that some legislators wouldn’t know where babies came from if they had not been personally involved.

Cut the cutting: Budget from view of state’s poor

FEB. 26, 2010 – Maybe state lawmakers should think about how their budget proposals look to someone who doesn’t earn much.

The House Ways and Means Committee this week approved a $5.1 billion budget recommendation that will be the focus of legislative debate starting March 8. Due to the tepid economy, state revenues aren’t robust. In fact, the budget is $5.1 billion – more than a billion less than just a couple of years back.

Making liberal use of the amendment process

FEB. 12, 2010 – Anybody care to guess how many bills are in the legislative hopper to amend the state constitution? A dozen? Twenty? Thirty? Try more than 80. By our count, state lawmakers since last year have filed 83 bills that seek to amend the state constitution.