The Power to Depose Us

I have shared a few things about the Restructuring Bill the Senate passed last week. A few times I made reference to the legislators voting themselves “subpoena power” for private citizens.

I got a clarification on that … they now have the power to depose us. Which is different than subpoena.

Either way it is granting themselves EXTRA power, instead of contracting the government and expanding our freedoms they’ve done the opposite.

But we’ll get the terminology right :)

February 22, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Roger Nutt means it. No More Business As Usual. I encourage you to have his back.

If you keep up with Spartanburg County Council you KNOW how Roger Nutt has fought for good government. Well perhaps not the extent of it, the hours, the phone calls, the emails, the interviews, the meetings. I’m asking for you to have Roger’s back in a very tangible way … support him financially by clicking on this link and donating to his campaign.

I know many folks don’t have even one elected official who represents EXACTLY their convictions. I am lucky enough to have a few. Roger is one of them.

He’s doing his part. This is our part.

From Roger:

Two years ago when I started campaigning, I assured voters that we would push for “no more business as usual”. We committed to taking a serious stand against over regulation and government intrusion on our private property rights. We vowed to do the right thing for the taxpayers of Spartanburg County even when it wasn’t popular or convenient. We vowed to always stand firm on principle.

Great strides have been made over these last two years, but the campaigning has not slowed down. I still continue my door to door approach every year as if my election was right around the corner. I firmly believe that I am not asking for your vote, I am asking for your trust. Trust is not something that is earned once every four years – it is earned every single day.

Because our campaign is ongoing, I really need your help. It would mean a great deal if you would take some time out of your day to write a check to this campaign (or go to my link on the left side and use PayPal) so that our campaign will have the resources it needs to continue this unique approach. An unconventional campaign like this takes money and resources to really get the message out – and to receive your message and feedback. I’ve got a number of great ideas and plans for getting timely information to, and from, a wide number of taxpayers so that I can truly represent the desires and wishes of our district. Only with your help will we be able to succeed.

Most of you know that I don’t talk about money very often and rarely ask for it. I know how tough times are for everybody. I do believe that this is important enough and that everyone of us has a true stake in what happens in our County, and has seen what a difference this type of principled approach can make. Please don’t think that any amount is too small, and don’t feel bad that you can’t give more than $1000! We need to raise approximately $13K to get our campaign out of debt and to a point where we can start making real progress. Please just give what you can and let the past two years be your collateral.

Mail your check to :

Nutt For Council
3211-B Reidville Road
Spartanburg, SC 29301

Thanks to all of you for standing by on the right side even when it seems very lonely. With your help we will be able to reach more people and build a well informed, very involved group of taxpayers that will share their voice and know that it will be heard. We will truly have a government Of the People, For the People, and By the People. Oh, yeah….and that “No more business as usual” thing…we really did mean that.

February 22, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Americans for Prosperity Joins our FOIA Campaign

Many of you have sent FOIA requests this week asking your senators, representatives, and our Governor to provide their correspondence on the so-called “restructuring” bill. thanks!

You’ve heard me praise Americans for Prosperity many times for their relentless work to make Americans freer, and of course, Obama regularly mentions them as “evil”. That oughta tell ya where they stand!

I’m happy to be able to share with you that Americans for Prosperity has asked their 15,000 South Carolina members to join our effort! In fact, if you go to that link, they’ll make it easy for you to FOIA any senator, representative, and of course the Governor right there.

Here is what they are sharing with their members:

Much of South Carolina’s state spending is done behind closed doors with no input from hardworking citizens like you. The secretive process at which South Carolina spends your tax dollars allows politicians to skate by with no accountability to you, the taxpayer.

With $56,539,512,000 in state debt, it is time for more transparency here in South Carolina.

Politicians being politicians passed a phony bill last week addressing this issue, calling it the most significant restructuring plan this state has seen in decades. Ultimately, however, South Carolina chose not to restore power to the citizens of South Carolina, but to diffuse accountability, shuffle a few agencies around, and preserve – or expand – their power.

South Carolinians should be enraged, many of our elected officials promised to bring transparency to state government spending, and instead, they passed a meaningless bill that brings no true transparency or responsibility to state government.

What happened? That’s what we’d like to know!

February 22, 2012  Tags: ,   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Upcoming Furman Events

“Cruel and Usual: Islamic Law, Women, and Minority Rights” with author Nonie Darwish
March 1 at 7 P.M.
Johns Hall 101
Nonie Darwish will discuss Sharia law and its severe consequences for women and minorities.

“History, Politics, & the 2nd Amendment” with NRA President David Keene
Introduction by Rod Smolla, President of Furman University
March 20 at 8 P.M.
McAlister Audtorium
$5 admission cost (free for students) – e-mail maryann.sane@furman.edu to reserve ticket(s).
NRA President David Keene will outline the politics involved with the second amendment, including threats to gun owners and how we can effectively fight to maintain our Constitutional freedoms.

“Chinese Girl in the Ghetto” with author Ying Ma
March 27 at 7 P.M.
Burgiss Theater (2nd floor of University Center)
Ying Ma, a Chinese scholar with Young America’s Foundation, will discuss foreign relations with China and her personal experiences as a Chinese immigrant.

“The Looming Crisis Over Free Speech” with professor Eric Daniels
March 29 at 7 P.M.
Patrick Lecture Hall (Science Building)
Dr. Eric Daniels will discuss the threats to first amendment rights on campus and in society, including so-called “hate crimes” and politically correct discourse.

You can find more information about the events on our website, www.furmancsbt.org.
A campus map can be found at: www.furman.edu/campusmap.

Thanks for all of your help! All the best,

Mary Ann

Mary Ann Sane
Chief Academic Officer
maryann.sane@furman.edu

February 22, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

SCGOP Legislative Agenda 2012

Thanks to Charleston GOP from whom I stole this list :)

Comprehensive Tax Reform: A thorough look at both corporate and personal income tax systems. This should include supporting Governor Haley’s agenda of phasing out the corporate income tax to encourage new businesses to locate in the state as well as reducing the state’s manufacturing tax (now 10.5 percent).

S 0142 General Bill, By Campsen and Rose
Summary: S.C. Business Tax Elimination Act
Status: 01/11/11, Senate, Referred to Committee on Finance

S 0274 General Bill, By Grooms, Campsen, Davis, Rose, McConnell, Cleary, Campbell, Massey, Thomas, Bright, Bryant, Shoopman, Rankin, Ryberg, Cromer and Elliott
Similar (H 3993)
Summary: Fair Tax Act
Status: 01/11/11, Senate, Referred to Committee on Finance

H 3993 General Bill, By Taylor, Bedingfield, Edge, Herbkersman, Merrill, Quinn, Forrester, Viers, McCoy, Huggins, Loftis, Erickson, J.R. Smith, Norman, Hardwick, Hamilton, Atwater, Bikas, Parker, Spires, Corbin, Barfield, Bingham, Allison, Gambrell, Patrick, Frye, Brannon, Sottile, G.R. Smith, Bannister, Chumley, Clemmons, Cole, Cooper, Crosby, Daning, Delleney, Harrell, Harrison, Hearn, Henderson, Hixon, Horne, Limehouse, Long, Lowe, Lucas, D.C. Moss, Murphy, Nanney, Owens, Pinson, Pitts, Pope, Simrill, G.M. Smith, Tallon, Thayer, Toole, White, Whitmire, Young, V.S. Moss, Brady, Putnam and Southard
Similar (S 0274)
Summary: Fair Tax Act
Status: 03/30/11, House, Referred to Committee on Ways and Means

Economic Revitalization of the Manufacturing Industry: Focusing on eliminating antiquated regulations or misdirected “green” regulations as well as other environmental regulations which penalize businesses unfairly or inappropriately.

School Choice: To include choice in private school, homeschool, and public school, not just choice from within a broken bureaucracy which only seeks to protect itself. Public schools make up the largest government entity, impacting taxpayers more than 10 billion dollars each year in our state from more than 200 funding sources. This cost doesn’t even include the economic impact our state suffers with our inability to provide the educated work force needed to attract more companies to South Carolina. We must have free market solutions for education and Republicans must adhere to our platform.

*House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Rep. Brain White, and Rep. Eric Bedingfield have drafted a proposal to pass school choice as part of the 2012-2013 state budget. The House and Ways Means Committee will begin budget deliberations on February 21 at 10:00 a.m.

H 4576 General Bill, By Bedingfield, G.M. Smith, Simrill, J.R. Smith, Bingham,
Lucas, Barfield, Herbkersman, Limehouse, Loftis, Merrill, Hardwick, Bowen,
Clemmons, Crawford, Delleney, Erickson, Hamilton, Harrison, Henderson, Hixon,
Long, Lowe, D.C. Moss, Nanney, Norman, Patrick, Putnam, Quinn, Ryan, G.R. Smith,
Sottile, Taylor, Thayer, Tribble, Viers, Murphy, Bikas, Owens, Toole, Stringer and
Spires

Summary: Special education income tax credit
Status: 01/11/12, House, Referred to Committee on Ways and Means
H 3407 General Bill, By Herbkersman, Owens, Quinn, Simrill, Stringer,
Bedingfield, Barfield, Bowen, Clemmons, Corbin, Delleney, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrison, Henderson, Hixon, Limehouse, Loftis, Long, Lowe, McCoy, D.C. Moss, Murphy, Nanney, Patrick, Pitts, Ryan, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.R. Smith,Sottile, Taylor, Viers, Crawford, Spires, Tribble, Lucas, Brantley, Edge and Bingham

Similar (S 0414)
Summary: Educational Opportunity Act
Status: 05/25/11, House, Tabled
S 0414 General Bill, By Grooms, McConnell, Ford, Ryberg, Bryant, Campsen, Davis,
Fair, Rose, Shoopman, Verdin, Thomas and Bright

Similar (H 3407)
Summary: Educational Opportunity Act
Status: 01/20/11, Senate, Referred to Committee on Education
School District Consolidation: Study the idea of consolidation as a cost-saving measure. Simply put, there is no justification for 85 school districts in 46 counties. The obvious waste and fraud which exists must be removed so our children, parents and taxpayers are better served.

H 3238 General Bill, By Herbkersman, H.B. Brown, Harrison, Daning and
G.M. Smith
Summary: Counties
Status: 01/11/11, House, Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works

Partisan School Board Elections: Make all school board and county council elections partisan so the voters may gain a more clear understanding of where their elected officials (which have control over vast amounts of taxpayer dollars) stand on key issues.

Ban Union Check-Off: It is simply wrong to allow state workers’ unions to collect their dues through taxpayer funded sources.

H 4652 General Bill, By Sandifer, Harrell, Lucas, Bingham, Hardwick, Harrison,
Owens, White, Allison, Atwater, Bales, Ballentine, Bannister, Barfield,
Bedingfield, Bikas, Bowen, Brady, Brannon, Chumley, Clemmons, Cole, Corbin,
Crawford, Crosby, Daning, Delleney, Edge, Erickson, Forrester, Frye, Gambrell,
Hamilton, Hearn, Henderson, Herbkersman, Hiott, Hixon, Horne, Huggins,
Limehouse, Loftis, Long, Lowe, McCoy, Merrill, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy,
Nanney, Norman, Parker, Patrick, Pinson, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Quinn, Ryan,
Simrill, Skelton, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.R. Smith, Sottile, Southard, Spires,
Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Tribble, Viers, Whitmire, Willis, Young,
Battle, Hayes and Anthony

Summary: Labor organization to file certain information with LLR
Status: 02/09/12, Senate, Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry

H 4194 General Bill, By Limehouse, Corbin, Delleney, Hiott, Hixon, D.C. Moss,Norman, Owens, Sottile, Taylor and Young
Summary: Prohibit collective bargaining concerning labor matters
Status: 05/05/11, House, Referred to Committee on Judiciary

GOP Platform: Take an active interest in the legislative calendar for items specifically pertaining to the Republican Platform and work to hold our legislators accountable.

H 4709 General Bill, By G.R. Smith, Bingham, Corbin, Bannister, Toole, Huggins, Taylor, Parker, J.R. Smith, Daning, Allison, Putnam, Erickson, Long, Brannon, Ryan, Bowen, Bedingfield, Nanney, Whitmire, Atwater, Clemmons, Cole, Delleney, Hamilton, Harrell, Hearn, Henderson, Horne, Limehouse, Loftis, Lucas, McCoy, D.C. Moss, Murphy, Pinson, Pope, Quinn, Southard, Stringer, Tallon, Thayer, Viers, Willis and Young
Summary: Cut, Cap, and Balance Act
Status: 02/01/12, House, Referred to Committee on Ways and Means

H 3066 General Bill, By G.R. Smith, Daning, Ballentine, Harrison, Allison, Hamilton, G.M. Smith, Bingham, Long, Henderson, Erickson, Horne, Willis, Weeks, McLeod, Pope, Simrill, Lucas, Norman, D.C. Moss, Clemmons, Harrell, Atwater, Bedingfield, Funderburk and Edge
Similar (S 0134, S 0238)
Summary: S.C. Restructuring Act
Status: 02/16/12, Senate, Roll call Ayes-40 Nays-0 SJ-14

February 22, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

For The Children!

I’ve brought you a substantial number of posts on the shameless selfishness of the teachers’ unions. But this one is almost beyond comprehension.

Evan Walter at The Foundry:

In Buffalo, N.Y., the local education union has secured a compensation package that allows all of its teachers to get free plastic surgery as part of their contract. CNN reports:

As thousands of teachers face layoffs across the country, teachers in Buffalo, New York, are getting lipo? Yep. And nose jobs and whatever else they want. All on the taxpayers’ dime. How is this happening?

Dr. Kulwant Bhangoo has been a plastic surgeon in Buffalo for almost four decades. He says, “I feel the teachers have paid their dues, and it would be wrong to take it away from them.” Bhangoo has a large number of customers who are Buffalo teachers and says he advertises his services in the teachers union’s newsletter along with other prominent area plastic surgeons. Buffalo firefighters and police have a similar policy in their union contracts.

The Buffalo Board of Education, headed by Louis Petrucci, has stated that the school system spent $5.9 million on plastic surgery last year and is running a $42 million deficit for the next fiscal year. Worse still, three out of four Buffalo schools are on administrative watch for poor performance.

The complimentary plastic surgery perk is not a new benefit, either. Union head Phillip Rumore says the policy had been on the books since the Nixon Administration. But with taxpayers across the country demanding more fiscal austerity at all levels, Rumore has said that his union will agree to come to the table and take a scalpel to its plush plastic surgery perks.

February 22, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Tea Party Groups Battle the IRS

David Martosko of The Daily Caller reports:

On Tuesday, Jamie Radtke, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Virginia, asked California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa to investigate what she said was unfair treatment of tea party groups by the Internal Revenue Service. Issa chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Radtke is a former president of the Richmond Tea Party, a group which applied for tax-exempt charitable status in December 2009.

“After waiting two and a half years for approval,” Radtke wrote, “the IRS recently communicated a new set of overly-burdensome and invasive demands for information that exceed the scope of the IRS code.”

Those demands, Radtke said in a press release, included the answers to “12 additional questions in 53 separate parts.” The Richmond Tea Party was also ordered to hand over a list of all its donors and volunteers.

“The IRS,” Radtke added, “states that such information will be made available for ‘public inspection.’”

I think that Trey Gowdy also sits on that committee. He’s always very responsive to phone calls and emails. I think I’ll give him a call myself asking what he knows about this.

February 22, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Check this out … your FAVORITE movie!

Favorite Movie

You MUST try this !!! AMAZING — don’t look @ movie titles until you’ve totaled your score!

It’s a simple mathematical exercise which can predict your favorite movie . It must have been created by a real genius. Don’t know how it works,but it works every time! Be honest and don’t look at the movie list below till you have done the math…Try this test and discover a simple series of mathematical manipulations can “know” which movie in the list is your favorite . It really works!

Movie Quiz:

1. Pick a number from 1-9.

2. Multiply by 3.

3. Add 3.

4. Multiply by 3 again.

5. Now add the two digits of your answer together to find your predicted favorite movie in the list of 18 movies below:

Now, check the answer!

Movie List:

1. Gone With the Wind
2. E.T.
3. Blazing Saddles
4. Star Wars
5. Forrest Gump
6. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
7. Jaws
8. Grease
9. The Obama “Farewell Speech of 2012″
10. Casablanca
11. Jurassic Park
12. Shrek
13. Pirates of the Caribbean
14. Titanic
15. Raiders of the Lost Ark
16. Home Alone
17. Mrs. Doubtfire

Now, isn’t that amazing!?!?

February 21, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

The Nerve reports on SC budgeting process

Here is a great example of the reporting that The Nerve does to let us know what is happening in Columbia.

You should be on their email list.

It doesn’t look like any sunlight will shine for now on the traditionally secretive process that the S.C. General Assembly uses in adopting budgets for its own chambers, which have grown significantly in recent years.

Since January 2011, The Nerve has pointed out that the Legislature typically doesn’t follow the budget process most other state agencies use. The two chambers, for example, don’t submit their proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year by a Nov. 1 annual deadline as required by state law.

And, unlike many other agencies, the Legislature doesn’t vet its proposed budgets before budget-writing committees in public hearings.

What typically happens is that the clerks of both houses work out proposed budgets for their respective chambers privately with legislative leaders. The public usually doesn’t get its first glimpse of those budgets until March when the House Ways and Means Committee adopts the first version of the upcoming state budget.

But there was a sign last week of some possible movement toward more transparency – at least in the Senate.

Contacted by The Nerve, Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville and co-chairman of a Senate Finance subcommittee that handles the chambers’ budget requests, said he would ask Senate Clerk Jeffrey Gossett to appear before his subcommittee to publicly discuss the Senate chamber’s proposed budget for next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

“Let’s add some transparency; let’s add some sunshine,” Fair said Wednesday.

By Monday, however, Fair’s position apparently had changed.

Click the link above to read more.

February 21, 2012   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

H. 4740: Should you know about crime in your neighborhood?

From an editorial at SHJ on February 12. Please contact your Representative and express your thoughts.

A bill has been introduced in the S.C. House of Representatives that would keep people from learning about crime in their communities and eliminate any public accountability of law enforcement agencies.

The bill, which was referred to the House Judiciary Committee last week, would amend the state Freedom of Information Act — the law that stipulates which public information has to be actually disclosed to the public.

Under current law, police incident reports are public records. Law enforcement agencies must release these reports to the news media or interested members of the community. Police agencies are allowed to redact sensitive information from the reports such as the identities of crime victims who would be harmed if they are identified.

The reasoning behind this law is obvious. People have the right to know what kinds of crimes are being committed in their neighborhoods. This is essential information for protecting themselves, their families and their property.

People also have the right to know how their law enforcement agencies are conducting their jobs, whether they are responding appropriately to crimes, whether they are solving these crimes, whether they are protecting everyone in the community equally.

This bill, H. 4740, would take those rights away from South Carolinians. It adds a new category to the list of public records that can be hidden from the public. It is an enormous exemption to the law that police agencies could use to hide virtually any record they chose.

The bill would exempt from disclosure “information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action or criminal prosecution.” That’s basically anything produced by a police department or sheriff’s office. Every police incident report is information that will “be used in a prospective law enforcement action.”

Click the link above for more …

February 21, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments