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The State Ruling Class Cashes In
An investigative report reveals how our South Carolina state politicians (both Republican and Democrat)  take care of themselves at the expense of the private sector.
State Legislators collect Pension while still in office.

 

Broken State Tax System

There is trouble with a Capital T in Columbia.  

Download a Presentation on South Carolina's State Taxes.  Learn how some taxes are too high, there are too many special deals and in other areas, needed revenues are lost because of bad tax laws.  

  Click here for download.

Visit   www.oldeenglishconsortium.org/  

 

 

South Carolina State Government

Members of the Greenville Tea Party and Americans for Constitutional Government visited the State House in Columbia on a day of great progress.  On Wednesday,  March 16 after years of obstruction and evasion, the South Carolina Senate finally passed legislation that would require both the House and Senate to record votes for every bill that has the force of law.   

 

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The Tea Party visited the South Carolina Policy Council located at 1323 Pendleton Street
Columbia, SC 29201.    Dr. Jameson Taylor gave a briefing on South Carolina's State Budget which is in need of great cuts for 2011.    The  waste and excess spending caused by proviso was a big concern.

Stop budget proviso waste 

www.scpolicycouncil.com/     

Below are useful  facebook and websites for state issues:
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Don Rogers, left, organized the orientation trip for politically active conservatives.    William Allen, center, attended the Senate Hearing on the Senate Bill 414,  "South Carolina Educational Opportunity Act".    Larry Ware on the right has the "Roll Call" sticker signaling support for  the H3004 Roll Call Vote Bill. 
S414 offers more school choice with the prospect of lowering the costs for educating our children.  

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South Carolina State Agency Spending Exceeds Legal Limits

Is there any accountability in the State's  Health and Human Services Agency?   This agency went significantly beyond its budget by over $100 million dollars.   Isn't it a crime to spend more than the General Assembly authorized?   

The Budget and Control Board is useless as an enforcer.   Who broke the law?      Agencies are suppose to report on a quarterly basis how they are spending.   Health and Human Service Agency defended the spending that it was beyond their control.  No good explanation, just an assertion.   

Watch this video as State Senators discuss the fiscal mess:

http://senatormassey.com/2011/02/10/deficit-spending-is-unbelievable/
 
 

Visit :  Campaign for Liberty - South Carolina

Visit:   the Nerve    A Government Watch Dog in South Carolina

 

Reforms to make South Carolina better:

Too much concentration of power in the South Carolina legislature was created by a defective state constitution and later codified by decades of legislative encroachment of powers. 

The South Carolina Judiciary is subordinate to the Legislature.   All judges are hand picked by the Legislature.   Only a very few legislators make the selections.   Most likely your Representative has no role or influence.   Therefore, the citizen has no meaningful influence even at election time.

 The Governor of South Carolina heads a very weak executive branch.   It does not have the power that a safe distribution of power warrants to prevent tyranny.   The signers to the U.S. Constitution would see the problems immediately.   Our South Carolina Governor can use a veto, and use the "bully pulpit".    The Governor does not pick his Lieutenant Governor, and most agency heads in the state are beyond the Governor's control.   The citizen being abused by arbitrary state bureaurcrats and inspectors cannot call the Governor's office to get relief.    The legislative branch cannot stop anything if its not in session and when it is, it takes a protracted period of time to seek a remedy.

The Governor needs authority to suspend any agency "rule" or "mandate" until it is at least reviewed by the Legislature and explicitly passed by a vote.    When a citizen or small business is being bullied by a regulatory agency,  they cannot wait for a legislative session to mitigate real time damages caused by a bureaucrat.    There has to be an avenue to protect citizens from overreaching and arbitrary regulatory agencies.

 

William Voegeli wrote that

 "liberalism promotes 'policy without law' by having Congress delegate real governance, and vast discretion, to administrative agencies that go on to regulate with... 'a vigor that is matched only by its unpredictability.' The consent of the governed, expressed through elections that let the people turn unsatisfactory officials out of office, is trivialized."

Video - Ashley Landess

South Carolina's State Government

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SC Policy Council President Ashley Landess speaks at  the Spending Revolt in Columbia.

The Imbalance in Power

If you moved to South Carolina from another state, you probably think the Governor is the most powerful elected official in the state.  But, no.   The legislature has power over both the executive and judicial branches of government.   And because of seniority rules, there are 4 super Legislators that  have concentrated far more power than all the other members in the state senate and house.   Two senators and two House Representatives have the most power in the state.   Most residents of South Carolina do not get to vote for these four.

Roll Call Voting, Anti-Voter Fraud Protection and other legislation that protect or help the citizens to know what their state government is doing did not pass.    These laws might have helped reform our government and dilute the concentrated power of a few legislators.

The situation is bad and invites corruption and abuse.   

The3 most powerful people in state government are currently these individuals:

  1. Bobby Harrell, Speaker of the House
  2. Glenn F. McConnell, President Pro Tempore of the Senate
  3. Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. Senate District 31

Seniority Rules make these four power brokers.

The SC legislature makes laws, executes laws and elects judges that interpret laws.
You cannot get your taxes cut, and you cannot get votes on the record.
The legislative branch in South Carolina controls more than 420 appointments to the Executive Branch of governments. 150 of these appointments to the most important boards and commissions that run the state are made by just 4 legislators. These appointments are to the Budget and Control board that runs the state and to the South Carolina Research Authority that is suppose to run the state economy.  Four Legislators make appointments to the Judicial Merit Selection Committee that screen candidates for the Judiciary. The problem with South Carolina's next Governor is that she will have no real power to change anything. Power is unwisely concentrated in one branch of government.  
People are shut out by seniority rules.    Most citizens of South Carolina did not get to vote for any of the 4 above individuals.   The representatives we elect are not on even footing with the other Representatives and Senators in Columbia.    All power is concentrated based on seniority rules.
The longer the Legislator holds office, the more support and entanglements they get from lobbyists,
and the less responsive they are to voters of South Carolina.
Our country's Founders understood, any power that might be abused will be abused.

Change will come when the voters of South Carolina break the tyranny by seniority.   Bobby Harrell's reign as Speaker of the House stifles many reform efforts.

 

Listen To Ashley Landess talk about the problems in State Government in South Carolina.
 

She explains why the waste, corruption and lack of accountability persists in Columbia.  

http://palmettoinsider.com/2010/09/14/join-ashley-landess-at-columbia-tea-party-meeting/ 

 Also on the same web page is an excellent video where State Senator Tom Davis explains what stopped an important reform for government accountability.