SCNewDems Blog

Good News and Bad News for Jim DeMint

Jim DeMint, we've got good news and bad news.

First the good news:

The Tea Party folks just love you.  Really!  Politico said you were a "rock star. Unemployment might be at double-digits in SC, but we understand.  Your new found celebrity has got you busy criss-crossing the US endorsing candidates and lining up US Senate candidates for contentious primaries in Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada and Texas--just to name a few.

You've been so busy, you've been entrusted with the title of "kingmaker" for national GOP senate candidates.  That's right, as South Carolinians pinch pennies to pay next month's mortgage, you've generously raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to distribute national Republicans running for political office outside South Carolina.

Now for the bad news:

Unemployment - Today, SC officials noted that nearly 25% of the state's adult workers were unemployed, underemployed, or had just stop looking for work.  This comes after the latest numbers revealed that overall unemployment reached a record high 12.1% in South Carolina in October.

Paul Krugman makes no bones about it:  "Failure to act on unemployment isn’t just cruel, it’s short-sighted."

Income inequality - 16 South Carolina counties saw 30% or greater increases in the use of food stamps compared to 2007.  Food stamps feed more than half the children in Jasper County alone.

But last month, you voted to block action on a bill to extend unemployment benefits to more than 250,000 out-of-work South Carolinians.

And on a conference call with members of your Political Action Committee, you even said, "Every vote I take is not about South Carolina."

Which begs the question:  Who are you voting for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone here at SC New Dems.  Enjoy some relaxing time with family and friends.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

The State: Andre Bauer unfit to be governor?

Cindi Scoppe made some minor news yesterday during an interview with Michele Norris for NPR's All Things Considered, noting that The State has not called for Governor Sanford to resign because of "concerns" over LG Andre Bauer's assuming the office.

Listen to the whole thing below, but the good stuff starts around 3:10.

Here's the transcript:

NORRIS: Is there much talk about a Sanford replacement, should he be impeached or decide to step down?

Ms. SCOPPE: Well, yes, in fact, that's something that has driven a lot of the thinking about this. If Mr. Sanford were impeached or if he were to step down, the lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer, would automatically become governor. Mr. Bauer is one of five Republicans and one of 10 candidates who's running for Mr. Sanford's job. The election is next year. There is a lot of concerns in our state about Mr. Bauer and his fitness to be governor, and frankly, that's the number one reason that our editorial board has not even called yet on the governor to resign because of our concerns about Mr. Bauer assuming that office.

SC high school test scores drop after three years of gains

A little bit of sobering news from state Education officials today--SC high school students saw a slight drop in passing rates of reading and math scores for the first time in 4 years, and after record passing rates on last year's exams..

From WJBF (Aiken/Edgefield):

The number of South Carolina high school students passing the state’s exit exam dropped this year for the first time in three years. Results released by the state Tuesday show only 76% of the state’s students passed both the math and English sections on their first try this year. Last year, 81% passed.

Jim Rex responded:

"We've been seeing very positive scoring trends, including the highest scores ever just last year," Rex said. "So these results are not what we expected. But trends are what you look for in student testing, and we'll have to wait a year and see if this is the beginning of a downward trend or just a random blip."

Click here to view the statewide breakdown

UPDATED: Clemson/GE to get $95M for first-of-its-kind wind turbine facility

UPDATE:  As reported in The State on Tuesday, the Dept of Energy grant will account for $45M, and an additional $53M raised will also be contributed to the program, bringing the grand total to nearly $100M for research at the former Naval base.

---

Capping off an already-big October/November so far for North Charleston, today the Department of Energy announced a $45,000,000 grant to research development of offshore wind turbine technology in a 86,000 sq foot facility on the former Naval base.  General Electric is already producing wind turbines in the SC Upstate, an advantage which surely played into the DoE's consideration of the Naval base as a recipient of the first-ever grant to research ocean-based wind turbines in the US.

From Live5:

The Clemson Restoration Institute and General Electric were notified Monday that the Naval base would be the first ever testing facility for the renewable energy source, putting South Carolina and Charleston on the "cutting edge of research and development of renewable energy," said a source.

Not to be outdone by last month's news of Boeing's decision to expand in North Charleston, sources are already saying the impact of continued growth in the sector could rival Boeing:

The new lab will create at least 600 jobs immediately, but has the potential to create as many as 10,000 jobs if the North Charleston facility can procure a long-term contract to develop and build the turbines.

Sources say this deal may prove to be bigger than the recent Boeing announcement to build a second 787 Dreamliner facility in North Charleston.

Wind turbines present a clean alternative to already-widespread plans to expand coal and nuclear power, which both cause long-term measurable harm to the environment in the form of carbon emissions, prolonged negative impact on the natural landscape, complications from disposal of hazardous biproducts, among others.

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Sanford to face same scrutiny as NC's Easley?

Yesterday's findings of probable cause into the investigation of Gov. Mark Sanford brings to light some interesting parallels between the allegations facing Sanford and the charges that former North Carolina Governor Mike Easley is facing in federal court. 

While the specifics on Sanford won't be crystal clear at least until the Ethics Commission's first report is released next week, and some aspects of Easley's case are clearly different, early indications show some similarities between the two cases:  failure to disclose travel expenses, accepting flights from political allies and friends, misuse of state airplanes, and discrepancies regarding use of campaign funds and public funds for travel.

Last month, Easley's campaign was forced to pay $100,000 as a fine for not reporting airplane flights and currently faces a criminal probe from prosecutors.

Here's The State's take on the allegations against Sanford:

Misuse of state airplanes. State law bars any use of state planes other than for official business. Sanford, according to state documents, used a state plane to ferry family members and to attend political functions, possible violations of state law.

Using expensive airfares on foreign trips. State law requires the use of the most economical travel available. Sanford used more expensive airfare, according to state documents. Sanford has defended himself, arguing other governors have paid for similar travel.

Failure to disclose private plane trips. The Associated Press reported Sanford accepted 35 rides on private planes that he did not disclose in his state ethics report, a possible violation of state law. Questions have arisen since about whether Sanford should have paid federal taxes on those plane trips.

Use of campaign funds. Sanford has refused to say publicly why he reimbursed himself more than $1,800 for expenses from his campaign account in the past 18 months. The Ethics Commission has likely reviewed those expenses.

And here the short version from The Charlotte Observer of the allegations facing Fmr. NC Governor Mike Easley.  Click here for more details on the Easley case:

The elections board penalized his campaign $100,000 for not reporting flights worth $60,000, and $40,000 to reimburse the elections board for the cost of the investigation. And it referred the case to the local district attorney's office for possible pursuit of criminal charges.

New Dems in the news

Recently, the Columbia Free Times took a few minutes to talk with SC New Dems President Phil Noble about internet access and efforts to broaden broadband penetration to more remote areas of SC:

Gov. Mark Sanford has made a habit of vetoing bills that mentioned a public wireless cloud. Anyone asking why clearly hasn’t been paying attention.

If wireless Internet ever became synonymous with garbage pickup and water supply, private telecommunications companies operating in the state would lose an incredible amount of money. The barriers set up by the telecommunications industry and the people who are handsomely paid to represent them haven’t gone unnoticed.

“The problem is that politics, greed and shortsighted politicians are a bigger barrier than the technical barriers,” says Phil Noble, president of the South Carolina New Democrats, when discussing the possibility of a free, statewide Internet network.

The New Democrats, an independent reform group, lists obtaining universal wireless broadband for every family in South Carolina as one of its five big ideas for the 21st century.

Noble and the New Dems have also been part of an initiative to provide an innovative $100 laptop to every school child in the state. “The laptops are like a race car to educational improvement,” Noble says. “Broadband would be supercharged fuel.”

The quotable Joe Wilson

After his outburst in September, we all know Rep Joe Wilson marches to the beat of a different drummer--just under 65% of people in a recent poll said they opposed his actions that faithful night.  That begs the question, who is Joe Wilson listening to?  As first reported by the New York Times, in last week's debate on health care reform, Wilson along with a handful of Republicans and conservative Democrats took a page, literally, from the health care interests that have padded their campaign coffers for years.

Wilson, and the troop of House Reps were busted after entering statements that they received from lobbyists for health care giants like Roche and Genentech, word-for-word into the Congressional Record.  Industry lobbyists insist this type of jockeying for votes is regular practice.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics OpenSecrets.org, Wilson has been a major recipient of campaign contributions from health care interests, having taken in nearly $465,000 since taking office in 2001.  Wilson subsequently voted against the bill that would go on to pass the House of Representatives 220-215.

Here are some highlights (even if they are a little repetitive) as reported by Firedoglake:

Joe Wilson

I have criticized many of the provisions of this bill (H.R. 3962) and rightfully so. But in fairness, I do believe the sections relating to the creation of a market for biosimilar products is one area of the bill that strikes the appropriate balance in providing lower cost options to consumers without destroying a healthy and functioning industry in this country.

Kay Granger [R-TX]

Mr. Speaker, I have criticized the majority of the provisions in H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and I will vote against it. However, I am pleased that H.R. 3962, as well as the Republican Substitute Amendment that I support, both include language relating to biosimilar products.

Lee Terry [R-NE]

Mr. Speaker, I have criticized many of the provisions of this bill and rightfully so. But in fairness, I do believe the sections relating to the creation of a market for biosimilar products is one area of the bill that strikes the appropriate balance in providing lower cost options to consumers without destroying a healthy and functioning industry in this country.

[...]

Joe Wilson

One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country.

Kay Granger

One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country.

Lee Terry

One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country.

Be sure to check out Firedoglake for the exhaustive list of similar entries.

Marlboro Co. Super imagines economic boom from focus on schools

Yesterday's The State had a great op-ed by Frank Roberson, Superintendent for Marlboro County, where he used a recent trip to a Bennetsville plant outfitted with an innovative new bio-fueld steam turbine power generator, to stress the critical importance of a well-educated workforce to a thriving and growing economy.

Read the full article here:

As we left the groundbreaking ceremony, my seatmate and I exchanged comments about the intricate structures and mechanical systems that were situated on the plant site. He commented: "There had to have been some very smart people to design this operation." I concurred.

"Some very smart people" -the comment stayed with me long after I had parted ways with my new friend. I finally discovered why the phrase lingered so: My job as superintendent of education is to produce those "smart people" that my new friend alluded to. Education in South Carolina must be able to produce the "Domtar effect." All of our schools, no matter how rural, urban or in between, have to be of such quality that they produce the type of thinkers who are required to manage and grow globally useful industry like Domtar.

Each high school graduate contributes an estimated $290,000 to the economy over his or her work life. Each college graduate contributes an estimated $790,000. A high school dropout costs the economy an estimated $150,000 over his or her work life (for a total of $2.25 billion across the state over that period). There is a paternal relationship between high quality schools that focus on preparing students with the skills needed in the local market and a flourishing economy.

To learn more about SC New Democrats' ideas for reforming South Carolina and making education a priority, check out our 5 Big Ideas for improving our state.