SC Politics 9/7: Haley Releases New Campaign Ad

Corrupt Commissioner Calls For Treasurer’s Resignation

Reynolds Williams – a corrupt member of the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission (SCRSIC) who has used his powerful perch to advance his law firm’s financial interests -  is hypocritically calling for the resignation of State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, the one public official in South Carolina who has been working to hold this ethically-challenged agency accountable.

Crazy, huh?

Not in South Carolina, where taxpayer advocates are routinely targeted for such treatment.

Oh for the love of God and Gays

A new S.C. license plate that will be available Monday advocates equality for gay residents in a state that bans gay marriage and any other type of domestic union.

The executive director of South Carolina Equality said Friday the plate provides a way for people to show they support equality for lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual residents. Christine Johnson said the need for equality extends beyond marriage to more basic issues, such as employment and housing.

South Carolina is one of just three states with the plate. Maryland was the first in 2008. Indiana started offering the plate this year.

Get the Keystone XL Pipeline Up and Running

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), a division of the Library of Congress, has very recently given a bit of a boost to newly introduced legislation that would get the Keystone XL Pipeline project moving. A shovel-ready, jobs-creating project funded by TransCanada would bring crude oil safely and inexpensively from Alberta, Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. Senate Bill 2041 would “approve the Keystone XL pipeline project and provide for environmental protection and government oversight.” And respect for state and local laws, along with private property protection rights are built into the legislation.

President Obama denied a permit to implement the pipeline proposal on January 18 saying the White House and State Department didn’t have enough time to review all the material and make a decision. However, an earlier Keystone project was approved and up and running in less time than the three years Obama has taken to reject this one. He continues to insist that he is committed to “American-made energy that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on oil.” Which, if evaluated on face value, is not exactly an endorsement of the Keystone project.

Grading USC’s 2012 Class

(Bleacher Report) South Carolina’s recruiting class lacked sizzle, sparkle and drama. That’s quite all right with the head ball coach; there aren’t any holes in this class. There is one project-type player, and the rest can contribute—some right away. There are potential stars. Most are high-character kids and highly recruited by big-name schools. Make no mistake, South Carolina’s class is still widely regarded as one of the top 12-18 classes in the country. There is no Jadeveon Clowney or Marcus [...]

Growing certainty that Israel will attack Iran

  By Rick Moran David Ignatius: Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June – before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of immunity” to commence building a nuclear bomb. Very soon, the Israelis fear, the Iranians will have stored enough enriched uranium in deep underground facilities to make a weapon – and only the United States could then stop them militarily. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want to leave [...]

Mistakes of the Father

by C. Speight Political campaigns are as delicate as they are brutal. No matter how hard a candidate pushes and pulls, (s)he is vulnerable to disaster by their own words. Whether innocently misspoken or candidly honest, a turn of the phrase can turn a run for office into a run for the exits. Read more of this post Tweet

Haley, Ryberg Orchestrated Loftis Hit-Job

In news that will come as a shock to absolutely no one following Palmetto State politics (and in particular, those eying prospective match-ups for the 2014 Republican gubernatorial primary), the sitting governor of South Carolina is doing everything within her power to pistol-whip some bad news on the heads of her enemies/ perceived opponents.

As a bonus, she and her appointee to the state’s woefully mismanaged pension fund are also exacting a measure of revenge in the wake of some stinging criticisms lodged against their recent corrupt deal-making.

According to our sources, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and State Sen. Greg Ryberg – who mounted two unsuccessful campaigns for the S.C. State Treasurer’s office – teamed up with executives at the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission (SCRSIC) to help orchestrate a public relations “hit” on State Treasurer Curtis Loftis.

The move was intended as retaliation for Loftis’ investigation of former SCRSIC director Bob Borden – who was forced from his post back in December.

Gowdy repeats call for Holder to resign

South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy reaffirmed his call for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation “the easy way,” or impeachment “the hard way,” during an interview with The Daily Caller after Thursday’s House oversight committee hearing during which Holder testified about Operation Fast and Furious.

While he was questioning Holder at the hearing, Gowdy explained that officials at the Department of Justice’s headquarters were aware of Fast and Furious and gun-walking tactics long before a “demonstrably false” letter was sent to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley claiming otherwise. Since the DOJ sent that letter, which stated it never let guns walk, it has withdrawn the letter because it of its inaccuracies.

“I think he wound up admitting at the end [of the hearing] that Main Justice knew of gun-walking, so this notion that we’re going to blame it all on the United States Attorney’s office in Arizona or ATF – I went through a litany of people, all of them were Main Justice employees who knew about gunwalking both in Fast and Furious and before which means the letter that was sent to Senator Grassley was demonstrably false,” Gowdy told TheDC.

Trump: Mitt is it!

Celebrity business magnate Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, telling reporters he will not mount an independent campaign if Romney is the Republican nominee.

Trump, who has repeatedly flirted with the possibility of his own White House bid, revealed his decision in Las Vegas two days before Nevada’s Saturday caucuses.

It was unclear whether Trump’s decision will have any impact on the Republican race. A Pew survey last month found that 64% of definite and likely GOP voters said an endorsement from the reality television star would make no difference to them.

In the survey, 13% said it would make them more likely to back a candidate, while 20% said it would actually make them less likely.

Live from Indianapolis, Super Bowl Week

(Editor’s note: This post was submitted by a Horry County native who now writes for a daily newspaper in the Indianapolis, Indiana suburban market. As he is also my son, I asked him to share his thoughts on covering his first Super Bowl Week with Grand Strand Daily.)

As a young sports fan in middle and high school, I rooted for Deion Sanders at Florida State and Michael Irvin with the Cowboys. Tuesday I got to meet both up close and personal as we all now share the tag “media” at the events in and around Lucas Oil Stadium this week in the run up to Super Bowl XLVI Sunday.

Sanders and Irvin were both great athletes, but they are even better as human beings – funny, witty, down to earth and more than willing to share a little time talking with those of us covering our first Super Bowl Week.

Donald Trump: An Endorsement?

(WSJ) Update: Donald Trump plans to endorse Mitt Romney, a Romney campaign official said this morning. Donald Trump is back. Again. An adviser to the real-estate mogul and reality TV star circulated a cryptic advisory Wednesday night that The Donald will make “a major announcement” early Thursday afternoon local time at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas. “The announcement will pertain to the presidential race,” Trump adviserMichael Cohen wrote in an email. Read more >> Tweet

SLED Investigating Pension Fund Allegations

(FITSNews) That didn’t take long … Just days after S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis opened up a can of whoop ass on our state’s underperforming, chronically mismanaged pension fund – the good ol’ boys in Columbia fought back – alleging that one of Loftis’ friends is at the center of an elaborate “pay-to-play” scandal involving the fund. In fact it could be much worse than that … Mallory Factor – the Charleston businessman (and Citadel professor) who has been linked to the alleged [...]