Author: Paul Gable

Haley’s Ethics Defense

Gov. Nikki Haley’s defense for alleged ethics violations during her time as a House member became obvious this week when the House Ethics Committee voted to hold a full scale investigation.

Haley’s lawyer has said she did nothing more than other lawmakers do and to investigate Haley’s actions would bring those lawmakers’ actions into question. He said he would provide the committee with a list of lawmakers who work for lobbyists’ principals.

That’s the old ‘everybody’s doing it so it’s okay’ defense.

Haley claimed the original investigation (of which there was none) was dismissed based on fact, but the investigation has now been reopened for political reasons. Haley asked that she be left alone to “do her job”, whereupon she almost immediately left for Wisconsin to campaign for Gov. Scott Walker in his recall election.

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Huckabee Endorses Bauer for 7th District

Huckabee backs Bauer in new television ad beginning today

( Myrtle Beach , SC )…Saying “He’s just the kind of true conservative leader we need in Washington “, Governor Mike Huckabee today endorsed former Republican Lt. Governor Andre Bauer in South Carolina ‘s 7th district congressional race.

In his endorsement, Huckabee goes on to say, “Andre Bauer protects the right to life of the unborn, honors our Christian heritage and defends our God-given liberty.”

“I am proud and honored to have the support of one of our nations leading conservative leaders,” said Bauer. “There is no questioning Mike Huckabee’s credentials and his commitment to strong moral leadership in our country.”

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Ballot Controversy in Georgetown County

We continue to receive evidence of the Republican Party picking and choosing which candidates were to be left off the June 12, 2012 primary ballots, despite a very clear decision by the S.C. Supreme Court on May 2, 2012.

The latest information we have received comes from Georgetown County where auditor candidate Rod Stalvey was left off the ballot while others who followed the same instructions he did are included on the ballot.

Stalvey sent a letter to the South Carolina Republican Party questioning his exclusion from the ballot, but did not receive an answer to his questions.

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Brittain Gains Important Endorsements

Seventh Congressional District Democratic candidate Preston Brittain gained five major endorsements yesterday, pushing him to the front of the field of four contesting the upcoming June 12th primary for the new U.S. House seat.

Congressman Jim Clyburn, former Congressman John Spratt, former Governor Jim Hodges, and state Senators John Land and Vincent Sheheen announced their support for Brittain’s candidacy through a conference call Tuesday.

Each candidate praised Brittain’s understanding of the needs of the entire district as well as his desire to bring the Interstate 73 project to fruition.

The endorsements by five of the most important and recognizable Democrats in the state appear to make Brittain the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

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Haley’s Ethics Problems

The ethics investigation into actions of Gov. Nikki Haley while she was a member of the House could cause the governor considerable problems with ethics laws.

In a complaint to the S .C. House of Representatives, Republican activist John Rainey alleged Haley “traded on the influence of her office (representative) for her personal benefit and the benefit of those paying her by (1) lobbying a state agency, (2) failing to disclose that her reason for recusing herself from voting on legislation was because the legislation’s beneficiary was secretly paying her, (3) failing to abstain from a vote authorizing payment of public money to a corporation paying her, (4) soliciting money from registered lobbyists and lobbyist principals for the benefit of her employer and (5) concealing all of this activity by making false and incomplete public disclosures.”

The S.C. Ethics Commission defines a lobbyist, “as any person who is employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by another person to influence by direct communication with public officials or public employees.”

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The Lesson of Alexander Hamilton

We take money for granted — most people can’t tell us which way George Washington is facing on the quarter. They can tell us that Ben Franklin is on the front of the hundred, but they can’t tell us that Independence Hall (where he helped draft the Constitution) is on the back.

One might think that as denominations get smaller and more common, the pictures on them would become more famous and well-known. The ten-dollar bill features Alexander Hamilton on the front. Since he was never a president himself, one wonders how many Americans could explain how he got on the note. A hint is on the back, where there is a picture of the U.S. Treasury. In short, Alexander Hamilton was the first secretary of the Treasury.

But it was how he handled that position that garnered him immortality on our money.

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Will Haley be Next Political Casualty of 2012?

In this strangest of all political seasons, the number of political casualties continues to rise by the week as new disclosures are made about challengers and incumbents. And it is not over yet by a long shot.

Over 200 state and local candidates for elective office have already been removed from the June 12th primary ballots and more seem destined to be disqualified in the upcoming weeks.

Two front running candidates for the new 7th Congressional District seat ended their campaigns after being arrested for what can only be called “extremely stupid acts” on their part.

Now, Gov. Nikki Haley’s ethics, while a state representative, are getting a second look and it appears that there is a lot more fire than smoke in the complaint against her.

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Harrell Responds to Haley Accusations

The fight over alleged ethics violations by Gov. Nikki Haley when she served as a member of the House is being heard far and wide from Columbia.

The governor claimed House Speaker Bobby Harrell was interfering with the House Ethics Committee investigation, which could be an ethics violation in itself. Harrell responded to those charges yesterday.

“Statements made by Governor Haley today at a press conference are simply not true.”

“It is not true to claim that lawyers for the House Ethics Committee were ‘directed’ to refuse to meet with the Governor’s lawyers in order to accept the documents the Committee requested. The truth is, the Governor’s lawyers did in fact present those documents directly to counsel for the Ethics Committee…”

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Certifying Unqualified Candidates, Is the GOP Playing Favorites?

A new hearing on the never ending candidate filing controversy is scheduled for the S.C. Supreme Court on June 4, 2012.

A very clear ruling on the requirements of state law pertaining to candidate filing requirements, specifically Section 8-13-1356(B), was issued by the S.C. Supreme Court on May 2, 2012. Irrespective of that decision, it appears some candidates got onto the June 12th primary ballots anyway.

The new hearing resulted from of an affidavit the Florence County Republican Party submitted to the Supreme Court in which it acknowledged only one of the 15 candidates it certified for the June 12th primary ballot actually filed the proper paperwork on time.

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Statement from Bauer on Raising Debt Ceiling

In a Republican debate May 22 in Georgetown, SC (Congressional race in South Carolina’s new 7th district) Tom Rice was the only candidate who said he would raise our nation’s debt ceiling for a local pork project.

Today’s statement from Andre Bauer on raising the debt ceiling…….

“I have pledged that I would not vote to raise our nation’s debt ceiling. We cannot afford it. Our children and their children do not deserve being burdened by our increasing debt and careless spending. We must have the capacity to say NO…and we must do it now. I congratulate the other Republican candidates for agreeing with me during last night’s congressional debate in Georgetown,SC.

However one candidate said that he was in favor of raising our debt ceiling, Tom Rice. This is a major area in which Tom Rice and I differ tremendously. As a conservative, I will say no to spending we cannot afford. Apparently, as a moderate, Tom Rice believes that more spending whether it be a project in South Carolina or a “bridge to nowhere”…is not a big deal.

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