Spartanburg Tea Party

The South Carolina Policy Council is a watchdog group (my definition) who performs the task of watching and reporting on the SC Legislature. I urge you to bookmark their website and visit often.

The link above is to one of their many fact sheets/reports where they help inform SC voters what the SC Legis is up to, and how we as citizens need to keep our eye on what’s what, stay informed and demand changes. Here is one of this articles key points:

Unlike the other three members of the BCB, the legislative members of the board are not elected to statewide office. In fact, the Senate Finance chair is in no way accountable to voters statewide and holds his position based solely on seniority.

I think we can do better. This is an area the Tea Party needs to focus on, and it is within our power to make these changes … by voting out the network of legislators who are more interested in status quo power than transparency.

I had a chat with Bill the other night, who is quite concerned about recent rumblings like those outlined in this article by Adam Schaeffer of Cato@Liberty which makes it sound like Nikki Haley may be less enthusiastic then many voters would like her to be re: school choice.

This is NOT an issue I’m well versed on, so I urge Spartanburg Tea Party members to call Nikki or visit her at one of her appearances and ask the question directly, and then please blog your interview and I’ll post it here. Please use the comments section also to share your thoughts and any facts you may have about any of Nikki’s recent remarks re: school choice that may help us figure out whether this is a departure from earlier campaign convictions or hers, or just some “thinking out loud” on her part, or the part of bloggers/journalists.

The Times Examiner offers this reprint of the Greenville GOP rebuke of Senator Lindsey Graham, which happened at their August Executive Committee meeting. (Full text of the rebuke below the fold)

I have not heard anything indicating that the Spartanburg GOP intends to take up a rebuke of Graham. Neither have I heard they won’t. I know that some emails have been sent to County Chair LaDonna Ryggs, and a few other precinct executive committeemen. I’ve not gotten word of any replies that may have been received.

So … I’m urging each of you, if you have a conviction about Graham’s representation of you and SC, and whether or not his votes, public statements, and responsiveness to his constituents is in line with the GOP platform, to call your precinct executive committeeman today and ask them whether they intend to take up this issue at the next Spartanburg Executive Committee meeting. Ask them directly if they will advocate for a rebuke and if they will vote in favor of it.

If you need to know who your Executive Committee person is and how to get in touch with him/her, contact email County Chairman LaDonna Ryggs and she can give you that contact information.

I’ll let you know when the next Executive Committee meeting is in Spartanburg. It is open to the public.

(more…)

Jim DeMint will make a campaign stop this Friday, August 20 at the Beacon in Spartanburg! He’ll be there between 3:00 and 5:00 pm and Bob McLain from radio station WORD will be broadcasting live from the Beacon.

Let’s show Jim how much we appreciate the stands he’s taken in Congress … in endorsing conservative candidates and putting $ into their campaigns … and for being a true conservative leader in Washington.

and for not being Graham.

Observers of local politics have had a week of drama here in the Upstate.

Last week, as Jason Spencer reports in SHJ, the Spartanburg GOP dealt with a former chairman pushing a legal maneuver to keep a candidate off the ballot.

This week, (VIDEO) the Greenville GOP voted 61-2 to rebuke SC Senator Lindsey Graham for cooperating with with Obama’s and Democrats’ liberal agenda, for his votes on Kagen and Sotomayor, his vote for the bank bailout among other things. They stated that Graham will no longer be invited to attend Greenville GOP meetings and events.

In Spartanburg, a letter was sent out by former GOP County Chair Rick Beltram signed by fourteen members of Spartanburg County GOP to discuss McMillan’s candidacy. These fourteen members are:

Jeff Mason – Zion Hill A precinct
Gary Towery – Moore-Switzer precinct
Ken Roach – Westview B precinct
Zora Massing – Campton B precinct
Rick Beltram – proxy (?)
Dennis Kimbrelll – Chesnee precinct
Doug West – Pauline Glenn S precinct
Jane Johnson – Woodland Heights precinct
Deane Brown – Silverhill Methodist precinct
Paul Walters – Landrum precinct
Bill May – Cowpens A precinct
Kathy Behlert – Gramling precinct
Jim Herzog – Glendale precinct
Janelle Caddell – Boiling Springs A precinct

However, the night of the meeting several of the “undersigned” were sharply critical of Beltram’s letter, stating they had not given permission for their names to be used for that particular purpose. Rita Allison’s attorney, Todd Kincannon, explained Allison did not want this action taken. Doug Smith, the state GOP counsel, said that Spartanburg County GOP would have to foot the bill for any legal action. With county party chair LaDonna Ryggs presiding, the meeting was adjourned with no action taken by a 32-12 vote.

Spencer’s article ended with this quote from State GOP Executive Director Joel Sawyer:

“But the bottom line, for (Beltram), this was less about getting Jim McMillan off the ballot and more about getting his name in the newspaper.”

Hey Spartanburg Executive Committee … how about calling a special meeting to join the nineteen (and growing) Tea Party/Liberty group organizations in censuring Lindsey Graham? Or to join with Greenville GOP in rebuking Graham? There were members of the Spartanburg county GOP in 2007 who made an effort to rebuke/censure Graham. What happened back then? Rick Beltram, who was the county chair at the time squashed it.

I say it’s time for Spartanburg County to revisit that issue.

I urge you to contact your precinct executive committeeman or email County Chairman LaDonna Ryggs and ask them to rebuke/censure Lindsey Graham during the next quarterly meeting.

Here is the CNN story on last nights Greenville County GOP meeting where Lindsey Graham was rebuked by a vote of 61-2.

We, the undersigned Tea Parties of South Carolina, are issuing a censure of Senator Lindsey Graham. Sen. Graham, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, recently voted to approve Elena Kagan’s nomination out of committee and to the Senate floor for a full vote. As the lone Republican voting to approve Ms. Kagan, Sen. Graham’s rationale appears to be that as President, Obama has the right to appoint anyone he wishes to the Supreme Court. However, the Constitution’s balance of power requires the Senate to confirm the nominee as being fit for the role. If the President appoints someone who is unfit, it is IMPERATIVE for the Senate to check his power and vote NO. As part of the oath of office, Sen. Graham is required to uphold the Constitution. All of the available evidence indicates that Ms. Kagan is completely unfit for this office and will not uphold the Constitution, but will instead use her powers to legislate from the bench. Ms. Kagan has no experience as a judge, and her graduate thesis reveals her belief in judicial activism and that it is “not necessarily wrong” for judges “to mold… the law in order to promote certain ethical values and achieve certain social ends.” Her time at Harvard also showed that she favors international law over our U.S. Constitution, and she fought all the way to the Supreme Court to ban military recruiters from Harvard. It is clear that she will not uphold our Constitution and will legislate from the bench, helping to destroy our country in the process.

Sen. Graham, if you believe that since elections have consequences and therefore Obama can do as he wishes, without any fight or impediment from those who oppose his radical agenda for America, then we suggest that you step down now and let the people of South Carolina find someone who will fight for our country, our freedom, and our ideals. If you continue in office, understand that We the People are watching you closely, and we will continue to hold you accountable for your failure to uphold the Constitution and Conservative principles, and we will be working hard for your replacement in 2014.

Signed:
Laurens Co. Tea Party
Columbia Tea Party
S.C. Black Conservatives Movement
Seneca Tea Party
Boiling Springs Tea Party
Tea Party of the Lakelands
Myrtle Beach Tea Party
Spartanburg Tea Party
Patriots R Us (Walterboro)
Aiken Tea Party
Tea Party Patriots of Florence
Anderson Tea Party
Rino Hunt
Hilton Head Tea Party
Fairfield Co. Tea Party
Greenville Tea Party
Bluffton Tea Party
Greenville 912 Project
Carolina Patriots

A short while ago I wrote a letter to the editor in SHJ expressing my outrage that SCGOP Chair Karen Floyd and the SCGOP leadership chose to protect Jake Knotts after his racist comments rather than bring up a vote to expel him from the party.

and then … Holy Long Reaching Newspaper Batman! … Glenn McCall over in York County responded to my letter.

Exactly what happened in the closed door meeting in Columbia on June 26 … only those in the room know. I think one of the points to be made is that there WAS a closed door meeting … this was dealt with out of sight of the voters who were there, and the media. The end result lacked the dignity owned to South Carolina voters who, while they may not reside in Knotts’ district, are subject to the legislation he votes on, and are shamed by him representing our state. And it’s just too reminiscent of all the closed door meetings that Reid/Pelosi held to make deals and retain power in DC.

Several times during the June 26 meeting both Floyd and McCall called for “UNITY! UNITY!” Chairwoman Floyd even commenting during the public part of the meeting that I was in attendance for that there was “an elephant in the room” but that we should “get the November elections over, and get these good Republican candidates into office and we can deal with these issues after the elections.” Really. So more of the same Vote Republican for the sake of Unity! while ignoring the caliber of those candidates, their voting records, and their adherence to the GOP platform. Just an “R” behind their name ought to satisfy us.

Are you satisfied with that recommendation from the SCGOP leadership?

> A Republican majority in the SC Congress did not manage to get Voter ID passed.

> A Republican majority in the SC Congress did not manage to get State Government Reform passed (having major political positions all from one party, or by appointment)

> A Republican majority allowed passage of a cigarette tax, which violated some members’ “No New Tax Pledge”

> A Republican majority voted for receiving Stimulus funds

It seems to me we may have a RINO problem here in SC. What good does uniting behind the SCGOP or even candidates here in Spartanburg with an “R” if these candidates are unable to deliver to constituents these basic conservative principles of representative governing, the transparency we are demanding, and a decrease, not increase, in our taxes and state government spending? Are we satisfied in acceding to the SCGOP leadership’s plea for unity, in electing/re-electing candidates with an “R” rating and trusting their promise to “deal with the elephant in the room” after the elections? I say we’ll have lost our leverage to hold the SCGOP leadership and the RINOs accountable, to move them to the right, to pressure them to listen to our voices by November.

In the months leading up to the November elections we have the opportunity to decide whether an “R” rating is good enough, or whether there are any options in the upcoming elections to draw SCGOP leadership’s attention to our discontent in how the GOP majority in Congress failed us this past session, and how shielding one powerful GOP Senator who has shamed our state has really pissed us off.

Time: August 7, 2010 from 10am to 1pm
Location: Statehouse
Organized By: Allen Olson

Event Description:
South Carolina Black Conservative Movement

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Rowena Booker, SC Black Conservative Movement IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: (803) 445-9483

SOUTH CAROLINA BLACK CONSERVATIVE’s Plans a

ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION RALLY

July 19, 2010, Columbia, SC, The newly-formed Black Conservative Movement of South Carolina will sponsor its first major event on Saturday, August 7, 2010. The “Anti-Illegal Immigration will be held from 10 am to 1 pm at the Statehouse in Columbia. The rally is being held to express support for Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law and to show support for South Carolina bill S1446 that will allow law enforcement to ask for proof of citizenship status if that person is suspected to being in the U.S. illegally, after said person is suspected of committing a crime.

Featured speakers will include Tim Scott, Jim Pratt, and Sheri Few Congressional candidates, Charles Daley, Charleston TP Activist, and Roan Garcia-Quintana, of Americans Have Had Enough, and many more

Rowena Booker, organizer of the Black Conservative Movement, stated, “ We oppose illegal immigration-migration, including amnesties in all of its forms, because it is not only an invasion of the United States of America, but it is blatantly racist at its very core against American Black U.S. Citizens, i.e., Emancipated Slaves. It robs us of our National Birth and Citizenship Rights Mandated under the 14th Amendment.”
For more information about the South Carolina Black Conservative Movement, contact SCBCM2010@hotmail.com or facebook.com/southcarolinablackconservativemovement.

SC Senator Tom Davis has a piece at Islandpacket.com titled “SC should follow Arizona’s lead on immigration”

here’s an excerpt:

What does all of this mean for us in South Carolina, and how should our state legislature respond?

Well, first it should fully fund the tough illegal immigration law that it passed in 2008. Private businesses must now comply with stringent employee background checks, and this year’s budget provides $2 million to pay for the state audits that will ensure compliance.

But our state legislature has not funded the part of the law that calls for a contract between the feds and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division to provide local governments with the training and facilities to arrest and process illegal aliens. Beaufort County Sheriff P. J. Tanner, has shown tremendous initiative in this regard, but he has limited resources. The state needs to properly fund this initiative.

Finally, South Carolina’s legislature should enact an Arizona-type law to further empower local enforcement of federal immigration laws. I am a primary sponsor of such a bill (S. 1446) that was filed last May. We should not be deterred in the least by the federal government’s recent challenge of Arizona’s law. The opinions of each and every federal court decision on this issue support the authority of Arizona to enact its law. The current lawsuit is federal bullying, pure and simple.

Let Senator Davis know how much you appreciate his stand on immigration = tom@senatortomdavis.com

Then … email this article to YOUR Senator and ask him to support Senator Davis and S. 1446.