Politics

IRS Abuse

IRS Abuse Allegations Need Real Investigation

The increasing revelations of the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups for increased scrutiny are the potential political scandal that Congress should be investigating.

In addition to groups with the words “tea party,” and “patriot” being targeted for extra IRS scrutiny, we learned over the weekend groups criticizing the government and those seeking to educate people about the Constitution were also given extra scrutiny.

It is now obvious that these acts were not the isolated, random acts of a couple of low level IRS employees as they were first characterized. The head of the IRS tax-exempt division was made aware of this activity as early as June 2011.

Using the IRS for a political agenda was the second article of impeachment prepared against President Richard Nixon.

It has been written that use of the IRS against political opponents goes back at least to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Use of the IRS or any other government agency to target political opponents by either party is absolutely unacceptable and investigations of such alleged activity and prosecution of those responsible should be pursued to the absolute maximum.

The major question to be answered is what did President Barack Obama know and when did he know it?

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Benghazi: Searching for Truth, Exposing Failure, and Saluting Heroism

Benghazi: Searching for Truth

Wednesday’s Benghazi hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee gave Americans the first public eyewitness account from anyone actually on the ground in Libya on September 11, 2012.

Gregory Hicks, the former number two at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, walked committee members through that fateful night. The testimony of the witnesses was totally gripping, extraordinary, and very emotional. Even if some of this account had already been made public, hearing it live was nothing less than tragic.

Unbelievably, it took eight months for this hearing to happen. Credit goes to the great courage of the three witnesses—Hicks, Mark Thompson, who leads State’s Foreign Emergency Support Team (FEST), and Eric Nordstrom, former regional security officer for the Middle East. And credit also goes to the persistence of committee chairman Darrell Issa (R–CA) to shine a light on the terrorist attack that took the lives of four brave Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Most impressive were the glaring contrasts contained in the testimony. Hicks’s on-the-ground testimony shows both the glaring inadequacy of Washington’s response and the heroic efforts of the embassy and CIA teams on the ground in Libya. Both aspects of this case should be explored.

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SC Public Pension Plans Dying on the Vine

The S.C. Budget and Control Board heard from S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom Wednesday that S.C. public pension plans are “dying on the vine” due to declining funding levels.

A combination of factors including investment returns, contribution levels and benefit-allocation amounts all contribute to what amounts to a train wreck waiting to happen. Eckstrom said unfunded liabilities of the various pension funds are increasing.

According to the latest numbers we have seen, the state’s pension fund assets are approximately $26 billion with unfunded future liabilities of approximately $17 billion. According to Eckstrom, the unfunded liability grew by approximately $1.5 billion in the past year.

Who is on the hook for making up the shortfall? That’s easy, the state’s taxpayers.

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Mark Sanford Returns to Washington

Republican Mark Sanford will be returning to Washington to again represent the citizens of the South Carolina 1st Congressional District after a nearly 12 ½ year break.

Sanford easily defeated Democratic opponent Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a special election to fill the seat after former representative Tim Scott was elevated to the Senate earlier this year when Jim DeMint resigned to head up the Heritage Foundation.

Despite turning off some voters with his 2009 antics of disappearing for several days to visit his Argentinian mistress while serving as governor of South Carolina, Sanford was never really in danger of losing this election.

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Ethics Reform – Not So Fast

A House bill on ethics reform passed the important second reading vote Tuesday, which will allow it to pass with a majority vote in the Senate, if one can be arranged, before the end of the current legislative year.

However, before we get too excited about ethics reform occurring in South Carolina, let’s consider some of the provisions of the proposed legislation.

The bill would do away with the House and Senate Ethics Committees and replace them with a Joint Committee on Ethics to hear complaints filed against members of the General Assembly.

The committee would be made up of sixteen members, eight legislators and eight members of the public.

The makeup of the legislators would be four senators, two each elected from the majority party and the largest minority party in the body. Four house members will be elected to the committee in the same manner.

The eight public members would be elected four each by the House and Senate with two each from the majority caucus and the largest minority caucus in each body.

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Chad Connelly and the SCGOP

A heated battle for the chairmanship of the South Carolina Republican Party has brought some interesting details to light as the contest enters its final days.

Last week, current SCGOP chairman Chad Connelly and the party were named defendants in a lawsuit alleging Connelly slandered Cherokee County GOP member Brian Frank in an e-mail and during a speech to upstate party members. Frank has been active in supporting Sam Harms, Connelly’s challenger in the upcoming chairman’s election at the SCGOP convention Saturday.

An e-mail from Harms claimed he was denied access, by SCGOP headquarters, to the list of county delegates to the state convention from 44 of the state’s 46 counties. Apparently this denial was in the hope that Harms’ campaign for chairman would be hurt by this denial.

An e-mail from Connelly, allegedly endorsed by 90 county party officials and members, claimed to “set the record straight” on Connelly’s record in his two years as chairman. However, while claiming facts about Connelly’s actions while chairman have been distorted by his opponents, Connelly’s e-mail contains its own distortions.

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Brian Frank – Chad Connelly’s Chosen Villain

As a result of a controversy created by Chad Connelly as he seeks to be re-elected as state party chairman at next week’s SCGOP convention, I decided to take a closer look at Connelly’s designated antagonist Brian Frank.

As we reported yesterday, Connelly viciously attacked Frank through e-mails last week and during the Cherokee County GOP meeting Monday night (captured on video).

The only apparent reason for these attacks is that Frank has been actively supporting Connelly’s opponent for the post of state party chairman, Sam Harms, primarily through the use of You Tube and Facebook.

During Connelly’s diatribes, he has inferred Frank is similar to the recent ‘Boston bombers’, accused him of “rant(ing) endlessly hateful stuff” and said Frank “has threatened me and my family.”

It is interesting to note that Frank attended the Cherokee County GOP meeting Monday night without speaking to Connelly. When Frank was prevented from taking video of Connelly’s speech, he chose to leave the meeting. It was only after Frank’s departure that Connelly, pointing to Frank’s empty chair, gave his 47 second rant against Frank, which was captured on video by another individual.

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SCGOP In-Fighting — Updated

With a little more than a week to go until the SCGOP state convention, things are beginning to get a little personal.

S.C. Republican Party chairman Chad Connelly sent out an e-mail rant against upstate member Brian Frank late last week, at a time when you would think Connelly would be concentrating on the upcoming convention and his hopes for re-election as state party chairman.

Actually, maybe he is.

Connelly’s e-mail inferred that Frank may fit into the same category as the two Boston bombers, “As we close in on the end of our conventions and in light of the world in which we live where terrorists try their best to blend in with our culture, we cannot take anything for granted and cannot allow ourselves to associate with people who rant endlessly hateful stuff.

“I want to warn those of you in upstate meetings where I have seen this person that you do not need to let him near your meetings.”

Maybe the most telling part of the e-mail is where Connelly named Frank as a primary supporter of Sam Harms who reportedly is challenging Connelly for the state party chairmanship.

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Surfside Beach Dog Park – No Barking Allowed!

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, some elected official does a little thinking and comes up with the brilliant idea of outlawing barking at the Surfside Beach Dog Park.

We know ‘elected official thinking’ is an oxymoron, but the proposal by Surfside Beach town council member Randle Stephens is, frankly, nuts.

He has submitted a resolution, which would outlaw the name “Barc Park”, at the town’s dog park, because it encourages barking by the dogs visiting it. Stephens also submitted an accompanying sign that reads “Please be courteous and respectful to your dog park neighbors. No dog barking and loud noise.”

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Curtis Loftis, SCRSIC Supreme Showdown Fizzles

The anticipated showdown Tuesday between S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis and the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission over transparency of investment details by the commission fizzled out Tuesday.

Loftis, a voting member of the commission, was holding out on signing a check for a $50 million investment, approved by the commission, until he received certain assurances in writing from commission attorneys.

As a result of Loftis’ initial refusal to issue the check and an impending default deadline for the investment, the remaining SCRSIC commissioners sued Loftis to force him to act.

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