No, There Won't Be THAT Many People At West Florence High Tomorrow, But Copy and Paste This, So You Won't Feel Lost ..
The time has finally come - the first 7th Congressional District Convention! While most conventions are not much of a big deal, we here in the Pee Dee and Grand Strand are acting like we haven't had one of these things in 80 years or something.... Oh right - we haven't!
Although we are not insiders to this whole thing, we have had plenty of access to those who have been involved with this whole shebang, and we have lots of observations, and we're gonna tip you off on things to look for in front and behind the scenes behind what is expected to be a big - and long - day? It's not all glitz and glamour, so here's some the of the poop and fireworks, before we hopefully drop any issues, and leave a team of happy campers....
$15 - Just to WATCH ?
This has been the biggest question that all non-delegates have been asking. We thought it was a misprint, until we heard it from Bill Pickle on his show. It's a bit confusing.. Yeah, the Florence County GOP could use the cash, but the checks -and therefore the money - are going to the SCGOP. To us and others, it seems a tough sell to get people involved in the party if you have to pay go get in..
To My Good Friend, _______, Love Nikki...
Governor Nikki Haley will be there to open the convention, and then to sign her book 'Death Is Not an Option'.... wait, it's 'No Is Not An Option'. The capitalism continues.. Still, it is cheaper than going to a NASCAR race or a MLB game - but that depends how many books you buy. We're still working on John Stossel's 'No They Can't'...
The Campaign Was Great, Until I Gave That Speech
Everytime we go to one of these events with a full slate of candidates, one or more of them gives a bomb of a speech, or they piss someone off. Then they fall off the radar. We're not sure if all nine candidates are coming, but Dick Withington is our top choice, with a possibility of Renee Culler. Our dark horse pick? Tom Rice, who is getting a reputation of needing to have his pulse checked when he speaks to make sure he's still alive...
What's Up With Pickle and Bellamy?
They'll probably both deny it, but the Florence and Horry Chairs are having some static going on right now. It's nothing that can't be fixed when this is all over, but there's been funny things going on. Horry is none too pleased at the 800 start time, which means some Grand Strand delegates will have to get up at 500am for this event. Add to that, Johnnie Bellamy was waiting for weeks to be able to leave a Facebook post on Florence's page, and wasn't getting an answer. So, when Pickle left his endorsement of Elijah Jones on Horry's FB page, she probably got pissed. BTW, Bill's endorsement is fine with us. He and Elijah are tight, so it's not really him trying to influence an election - and it wouldn't work by then anyway. Lastly, this event is so practiced, they actually have a script. Not sure who will get screenwriting credits for it, but we don't expect any Oscars for it..
Editor's Note: We did get a correction. The convention starts at 1000am, and registration starts at nine. We had the start time right, but were wrong about the registration start - it begins at 900, not 800. That aside, we are getting phone calls from delegates that are staying hotels in Florence due to the early start...
Will the Grand Strand Vote As a Block?
Bill Pickle may call it innuendo and trash, but we know we know a little more about this than he does. The facts are that both Pee Dee Chair candidates got calls from Horry, and were told that Horry and Georgetown were voting as one for Carroll Padgett and Jerry Rovner, and offered them the Secretary job, which both told them they would pass. The odd part is they can't decide the race, because they don't have a majority of the delegates (59 of 125 is just a bit short)... Will it happen? Maybe not. Horry is a splintered group of many subparties, and both candidates aren't exactly working hard for these spots. We'll see who's right. We're not trying to divide the party - it's just the way it's playing out.
Will Elijah Jones and Tom Grimes Unite in the Second Vote?
According to all parties involved, the first vote will not decide who the Chair is.. Padgett will have the beach, Jones will almost sweep Florence, and Grimes is strong in the rural counties. Our guess is Padgett 55, Grimes 42 and Jones 27. So, it'll go to a second vote. In this case, whoever is third from Florence needs to drop out. If Grimes is second, Florence will need to bite the bullet, and vote for the guy they don't like much - or give up all control of anything in the District..
Will Brad Richardson Be There?
Our buddy The Maverick has been going through hell the last few weeks. Word from his Facebook page is that he got out of the hospital today, so knowing him, our guess is that he's going to be there. Whether his illness hurts his race or not is beyond us, but it definitely hurt his campaigning effort. The good thing is.....
The Vice Chair Race Appears to Be Wide Open..
Like we just said, Brad's been real sick, and that's hurt him some. Luckily, the field isn't the strongest ever.. Tommy Phillips has been out there, and he's got all the experience needed to assist the rural counties build from the ground up, but he's got baggage, especially in Florence. 2008 wasn't that long ago. Jerry Rovner's pet project is the Waccamaw Neck GOP, and he made comments that doing this wasn't particularly important to him. Like we said, Horry made little to no effort to run, but the block vote might get him in this seat, because Phillips and Richardson don't seem to have gotten the dominating votes that Jones and Grimes got...
And the National Delegate Entrants Are???
No one we have spoken to even knows who the people running for National Delegate are. Either SCGOP or Pickle have dropped the ball, or tucked inunder their shirt. I know we in the 6th had the list out by the Monday before. It's probably not a huge deal, because picking delegates is usually a five minute decision. To be a convention delegate, you have to know SOMEONE, and it's usually at least a couple National Delegate candidates... We'll live, but it's nice to know beforehand..
How Late Will This Go On Until?
Like we said, Florence is planning on not just making this a convention - they want to make it an EVENT... Most are hoping to have the officers elected before lunch, eat, elect National Delegates, and be home hopefully before dinnertime! With a little luck, it'll go quickly and no one will need EMS assistance...
One last thing before we end it here. This is just a fun look at the day tomorrow... There is always a little friction before these things go on, and that's natural. Once it's over, we'll all be back together as one - unless some dummies hold grudges. I know we won't if our guy loses, which you all know is Tom Grimes. We've lost before, and still been part of the team. Hopefully, if the tables or turned - or not - they'll be the same. After all, our goals are the same... See you tomorrow!
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Yes, even I - a New York Yankee fan - will admit it.... Fenway Park is the best ballpark in the major leagues. No, I've never been to it . Hell, I've never even been to Connecticut, and I lived in Long Island! Why? Because there is nothing in New England that I need to see. Fenway Park might be the only thing. OK, I'm sure there are other things, but the Old Ballpark would probably be first...
I've been to the old and new Yankee stadiums, and they're nice. There is a little bit of magic inside the place, but Fenway really hasn't changed much over the years, and that's what makes it great. It's such a weird park: the Green Monster. The way the right field wall goes almost straight backwards from the foul pole - and it's only three feet high. The center field area where the monster meets right center. The scoreboard that is still manually operated. It's by far the most inteersting park out there, and always will be. And it's 100 years old this weekend...
Best of all, the Bronx Bombers are coming to town to celebrate the event. The two franchises are forever intertwined, thanks to the Babe Ruth trade. It survived the Curse of the Bambino, and it will continue to be baseball's best park. Even if the Red Sox suck.... Happy Birthday Fenway, and GO YANKEES !!
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Happy April 20th !! It seems we have all forgotten that this is the anniversaries of Waco, Columbine and Oklahoma City. Instead, everyone on Facebook are more focused on the unofficial pot smoking day. Guess they want to keep things positive, so who can blame them?
This pic is from my old boss, Charles at Florence Toyota... If someone is motoring along with a 420 credit score, they better not plan on buying anything unless it's with cash...
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It's a 7th District Kind of Day in Marion County ...
At long last, the touring of all the counties before the District Convention has ended.. Yeah, eight counties in the 7th District isn't too much driving a round, but when you consider we had to finish up in the 6th (another dozen counties), we've been doing a lot of running around. For now, the end of the campaign trail is coming to end - and we're looking forward to it!
It's definitely taken it's toll on everyone running. I've been sick for two months with whatever this is I've got, Tom has a bad cough, Elijah's got a bug, and Brad Richardson has been in the hosptial for a week. Compared to us, he's been in much worse shape, but hopefully he got out, and will be at tomorrow's convention. It's pretty sad when Tommy Phillips appears to be the healthiest one out of all of us!
But, we did have one last stop at the Marion County GOP meeting at the Beeson Building last night. It was supposed to be featuring three candidates for the 7th Congressional District seat, but Chad Prosser was a no show. We were disappointed, because we hadn't heard him before, but the whispers that PRT didn't stand for Parks, Recreation and Tourism, but Prosser's Rarely There came out again. We're sure he'll be there tomorrow, so we'll wait another day..
The other two scheduled candidates, Randal Wallace and Renee Culler, did show. To say that the meeting got off to a bumpy start was an understatement, but it got better quickly. Chairman Eric Fry allowed Culler's husband, Tony, speak first... We won't get too much into details about it, but there was been some bad blood between Culler and Florence First Vice-Chair Stephanie Rawlinson for a couple months, and it came to a head at Monday's first debate - and both happened to be here last night. Tony Culler spoke for a minute, and Fry hoped it was going to be a short, conciliatory speech, but it's rare for a parent to be forgiving when it involves your kids. Fry had to cut Culler off, and he gave Rawlinson a minute to give her side of things, and it was overwith. Not to sound unfeeling, but these things happen when you get two people who say what they think. It's one of those situations that we're sure they didn't find any humor in, but being outside of it, it's not too big a deal. Hopefully, it'll blow over..
Now, onto the rest of the night - what we'll call domestic bliss, comparatively speaking. Fry is not only County Chair, he is also running for Jim Battle's old seat in the SC House. No, it's not a very red area, but our guess is there are many more closet Republicans there than numbers indicate. Fry is a solid Republican, and he will be a good representative for our party, win or lose.. He's young, and should be around for the GOP there for a while..
Next up was Renee Culler. We've seen here before in one of her first speeches in Williamsburg, and she was much sharper last night. I joked with her that her on air interview with Bill Pickle sounded 'like she had a couple too many cups off coffee' that morning, but she was a lot better. Calm, reserved and friendly, she made her points, didn't go too long, and outlined why she felt her qualifications were unique. Considering the distraction of the first couple minutes, she was solid. In this race, it may not help much in the polls, but how you look in the end is just as important as how you did in the primary...
Lastly for the candidates was Horry Councilman Randal Wallace... Armed with a chart showing the difference between how much the Federal Government spends, and what it collects - and where it goes - Wallace is a pretty realistic candidate. He is fully aware that to get any closer to balancing the budget, tough decisions will need to be made. That, and whoever has the guts to make those decisions will be subject to a ton of criticism and exaggerations... Social Security, Medicare, Discretionary Spending and Defense all will need to be reevaluated. He also is aware that our tax system would need to be simplified. He mentioned a liking to FairTax (like Culler), but admitted it is too unrealistic to ever be passed, and a Flat Income Tax would be the way to go. We'll take it any way we can! To his credit, he was the last person to leave the meeting as well..
In between, both Tom Grimes and Elijah Jones gave their last speeches before Saturday's convention. After months of running around, and both having been here before, they know most of the delegates' minds are made up. That being the case, they both kept it very short, thanked everyone for listening and being involved - and that was about it. Short and Sweet...
Not including the congressional candidates, the work for the district candidates is just about over... We're looking forward to getting this overwith, and knowing who our leadership will be. See you there !
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Legendary Member of The Band Passes Away at 71....
And the bad news continues... Today, we got the news that drummer, singer and mandolin player of the classic rock group, The Band, passed away after a lengthy battle with throat cancer. He was 71.. You might think we never heard of the group, but in the extremely early days of HBO in the 70's, they played their classic farewell show documentary, 'The Last Waltz'...
Levon Helm was the heart and soul of the group, and for some of you, you know him elsewhere.. Ever see 'Coal Miner's Daughter'? Yeah? Well, Levon Helm played Loretta Lynn's father in the film. I don't think he ever acted before that, but he played that in an unbelievably understated way. Too many people playing Southern go all crazy over the top, but Helm was Southern, so he knew how to do it. Great job in that film..
Even though The Band broke up 40 years ago, he played until the very end. In tribute, we're playing my favorite track, 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'. Rest in Peace, Levon...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VShpcqd3zE
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The Secret Service Determines That Guitar Is More Dangerous In Ted's Hands Than the Rifle... At Least For Obama!
Ahh, life is never dull when you're Ted Nugent! I'm sure if I said everything he did, I'd never end up in jail, or under Secret Service investigation - or in the news as the scourge of the entire liberal establishment... Hell, we already know that, because we've probably said half of the things he has...and no one's bothered to call. And we like it that way.
But, when you are Terrible Ted the Riflehead, the mysogynist who's been married to the same lady for 30 odd years, you get away with nothing.... It's kind of stupid that people actually thought he was talking about killing Barack Obama if he got re-elected this year. Saying 'If he gets re-elected, by this time next year, I'll probably be dead or in jail' sounds more like someone would kill him, he'd kill himself, or get thrown in jail more than a real threat to the President. Luckily for everyone, the Secret Service called him, got a clarification.... and closed the case. Now, it's back to the Colombian prostitutes! Yes, his timing couldn't have been any better. Sexist mysogynist? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone...
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We apologize for the lack of posts today. We're not sure what happened today - we woke up, just felt tired, and proceeded to sleep most of the day away. It was probably a good thing, because we had a couple things come up with this weekend's 7th District Convention come up. Lots of side shows and jockeying going on, and one really funny argument. But, when your goal is to accumulate delegates in a tight race, ticking people off doesn't help, so we're staying quiet for now. See, we do have a filter - more than most of you guys!
Anyway, we don't normally do memorials for people that everyone has done, but sometimes we have exceptions. Yes, we are od enough to remember Dick Clark from his heyday, not just New Years Rockin' Eve... My sister reminded me that as kids, we would watch cartoons on Saturday morning, and right afterwards, American Bandstand would come on. For decades, Dick Clark made stars in the music business. If you made it on there, you were headed for the big time. If not, you better be Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. He had that much power in music.
Clark's power went well beyond that. His production company made lots of other shows and almost every awards program on TV. He was a giant - and an icon. For you kids out there, anytime your hear an old fart joke 'It's got a nice beat and it's easy to dance to', there quoting American Bandstand. Starting in the 70's, after Guy Lombardo passed away, he essentially OWNED New Years Eve. Like most people are saying, Ryan Seacrest is nice, but....
Dick Clark had a famous nickname - The World's Oldest Teenager. Mostly because he always played music for the kids, but also because he looked 20-30 years younger than he was. We all swore that he would never die, but after his stroke a few years back, we knew that wasn't the case... The fact is, we cannot look (or act) our age, but we all go eventually. In Dick Clark's case, he is gone at age 82, but he is immortal. We'll have to explain him to our kids and grandkids, but the rest are copies. It was nice to get to see the original. From what I remember, he always kind of saluted when he signed off AB... Right back at ya', Big Guy!
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Look, Up In the Sky!! It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's - The President? Obama to Become the Man of Steel.. Or Is That Man of Steal?
(Bogota, Colombia)- Frustrated by repeated mistakes in judgement by various Cabinet members, government agencies and Congress, President Barack Obama has decided to fire the entire US government - and do it all himself!
It's been a frustrating period for Obama, particularly the past two weeks. The recent wasting of over $825,000 by the Government Services Administration (GSA), combined with members of the Secret Service hiring Colombian prostitutes during his recent visit and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton partying it up with beers and dancing at just about the same time has put Obama at the end of his rope. Add all that with Attorney General Eric Holder's Fast and Furious fiasco, and the Democratic Senate failing to pass a budget, and the President made his mind up - EVERYONE needs to see the doorway.
But it's not just that... Obama has relieved everyone at every branch of government, from Dept Secretaries to office secretaries.. In the past 24 hours, the President has been spotted at the welfare department, issuing Food Stamps in Florida, to delivering the mail in Ohio. Yes, despite being the sole Federal employee in America, Obama is still focusing on the swing states first. Hey, the guy still has an election to win....
The reaction to Obama's decision has been a mixture of surprise from Democrats, and usual disappointment from Republicans. A former White House staffer, who was let go yesterday said, "It's kind of awe inspiring, seeing him trying to do it all. He's been pretty giving it the old Knute Rockne -
although he DID miss a meeting with the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe today. Hey, his motto in 2008 was Yes We Can. It's still that, except it's just Yes I Can now." As usual, even this effort is not enough to satisfy Republicans... Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) noted "We hoped by letting everyone go, we'd see a significant decrease in the budget deficit, but apparently, he's just given them all a paid leave of absence, so we're out of luck. It's pretty disappointing for America."
Though we personally haven't seen the President in action at his new duties, we picture a scenario reminiscent of Jim Carrey in 'Bruce Almighty' - except God CAN do everything, and be there for everyone..
We feel for you, Buddy!
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Say Hi to Beth Myers... Who? You'll Know Soon Enough
Welcome to Post Number 3500!! OK, who exactly is this quite ordinary looking lady? She is Beth Myers, and she is the person in charge of vetting Mitt Romney's Vice-Presidential pick - or wannabes... The decision is pretty much up to her. Well, mostly. If you have a particular person in mind, our advice is to find her Facebook account or e-mail address, and put in your two cents. Hey, you never know - she might listen.
Romney is keeping this decision close to the vest, as Myers is a very tight member of team Romney, as she ran his 2008 campaign. No, she didn't pull it out for him then, but apparently he trusts her, and it's not going to be an easy choice.... Conservatives are clamoring for a far right idealogue to counter Romney's moderation, which he is - all posturing aside. It's not a sin.. At the same time, she doesn't need to find a 'game changer' like John McCain had to in 2008. Barack Obama's juice isn't nearly as hysterical as it was four years ago. He has a record that he will be forced to run on. Lastly, she has to consider whether any of the possible Veeps can turn a swing state in Romney's favor. Most of the states are already decided, thus it will be in the hands of 10-11 of them.
Do we have any idea who she'll recommend, and if Romney will take her advice? Nope, it's way too early. However, it's not too early to do the homework. Last time proved that if you wait til the last minute, your homework ends up being sloppy, and there will be missed assignments... We'll surely do a far in advance, tea leaf reading soon - but we're usually wrong. That never does stop us, does it? OK Beth, the bell has rung - start your project!
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'Alright Boy, Go Out and Fetch Daddy Some Campaign Cash !!'
Is it just us, or does Bo look a little uncomfortable with his master here? It's a funny thing.. When your goal is to raise $1 Billion for your campaign, you'll go almost to any lengths to achieve it - even using your dog!
Yes, it's true.. The Obama campaign noted the 3rd anniversary of the President's Portuguese Water Dog (or Russian Wolf Hound, something like that) by sending e-mails to donors from Bo, to celebrate the emininently huge event - with donations. Call it Duckets for Dogs... or Bo-nations! Yeah, that one's better.
Just like Bud Fox asked Gordon Gekko, we're wondering how much is enough, and the answer is the same. It's NEVER enough.. What's next - giving cash to note Sasha and Malia's birthdays? Stay classy, Mr. President!
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Through the Art of Negotiation, Carolinas Hospital and Myself Work Out a Settlement of Some Hefty ER Bills...
We're sure most of you regular readers knew that we had a pretty rough time the past couple months with allergies and it included a pair of ER visits, two blood tests and a bunch of office visits. Though we're not 100% sure what the hell we had, the most important thing is we fell a lot better.. Unfortunately now, we have the real pain - all the bills!
Yeah, $3000 is medical expenses when you're unemployed is a hard pill to take. This past week, we had to sell the Harley that we saved up and dreamed of for years, but gotta do what you gotta do. Yeah, our savings got pretty much wiped out, but when COBRA says you have to pay $490 a month just to keep your health insurance, you take your chances. That is one thing about Obamacare that scares the shit out of us - I take home $1400 a month on unemployment, and I don't qualify for Medicaid. I'm a prime candidate for getting fined by the mandate. But that's an argument for another post...
Nope, yesterday was a day for resolving stuff. The first ER visit was pretty fair - $326 for the visit, 214.00 for the doctor (maybe not SO fair). The second one was nuts - $1739, and another $214 for the doctor. Breaking it down, it's easy to see where hospitals go apeshit with the charges. $500 for a two minute EKG, which I had my doctor do 2 days earlier for $54. Guess they misunderstood by 'breathing constriction', I meant the allergic reaction was slightly hampering my breathing - not that I was having a heart attack. The best was the ER room charge - $1025 for sitting in a bed for two hours, mostly unattended with no machines or IV's hooked up to me. The cortisone shot was $175, but since I don't know what they cost, I didn't fight them. However, I know for $1025, I can get a pretty classy hotel room for more than two hours, including someone pretty hot to watch me!
So, we have $2065 in bills. I could go through the charity route, and hope to get someone else to pay the bill. However, we weren't thrilled about going that route. Yeah, maybe we woudl have qualified technically, but I wasn't askign for someone to save me from myself. There's only so much available for charities to help needy people, and I'd be using someone else's money... I was willing to pay this off - but not to get ripped off. So, I did what makes America great - I negotiated.
I made my points, and the first answer I got was Carolinas can't change the price of the services. Their first offer was 10%, but I told them I was already offered 20%... She figured numbers for about a minute, then countered with $1100 ( I already paid $300). My counteroffer, as Cousin Vinny Gambini would say, was 'Make it $1000, and I'll cut a check right now'.. Deal! then she sent me to the Doc's billing office, where they gave me another 30% off their charges, and I paid them too. My over $2500 in bills was cut down to under $1500, without using charity or spending $2500 in premiums since December, plus whatever deductibles I'd have...
Don't get us wrong... We'd be glad to have insurance, and look forward to finishing training, getting a job, and having all the perks again. But make no mistake - right now, I CHOOSE to not have Health Insurance, because there is no feasible plan that fits in my budget. I'm pretty healthy for now, and hopefully, I won't need to worry about what the bill is. But, for the second time in four months, we have solid proof that health care costs border on outrageous at times, and they are more than willing to avoid the Insurance companies and government - and work with you - if you can.
If Medicare, Medicaid and the possibly upcoming Affordable Care Act were doing the same, I'd feel more confident, but I'm sure they aren't. I saw a review statement from an office visit last year where Aetna paid $175 for it - in cash, my Doctor here charges $67... Negotiating is what makes America great. Neither of us got ugly, and it was done in five minutes. Congress and DC could learn a lot from us..
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Local Candidates and Delegates Come Out in Waccamaw Neck, But the Guy From FairTax Seemed Incapable of Telling the Truth...
It was back on the road again last night - this time to totally foreign territory. Welcome to Waccamaw Neck, Georgetown County, folks! Basically, it's the Pawleys Island/Litchfield Beach area of G'town. Once solidly in the 1st Congressional District, we had never been here before, so it was no surprise that we had not met anyone before until we saw RL Port from Pleasant Hill. Small tidbit of SC6 info: Pleasant Hill was the only sizeable precinct that we won in 2004, and RL Port was the reason why. Aside from him, there were a lot of new acquaintances for me to make.
While it seems like the 7th Congressional candidate debate in Conway would be a better place to lobby delegates, the Tommys and Elijah Jones have spent time there before, whereas Waccamaw Neck IS basically the G'town delegation. It would have been more interesting for me, but there will be other debates to catch. The ironic part also is it's the home of Jerry Rovner,who is also running for Vice-Chair of the 7th - although he had some odd comments about it. We're not really sure how much interest he has in the Vice-Chair gig, stating he was kinda talked into it. But, we'll see what he has to say Saturday in Florence. For a GOP subgroup, Rovner did have a good crowd of about 50...
In attendance were Senator Ray Cleary, and a slew of candidates for County Council, Treasurer, Auditor (2) and State Representative. But, the most interesting part of the night were a couple local reps from the FairTax Group. To say the least, it was an odd night.... I've heard the FairTax people for years now, and though they have a habit of telling the truth of half of the story - and not much else - the guy they had last night had some of them signed, sealed and delivered. The rest of us were howling in a mixture of laughter and outrage...
bt
Maybe it's the time we've spent in politics and learning all the ins and outs of policy that make us more attuned to total bullshit, but we heard more flat-out lies by the main speaker, who's name we didn't get, than anyone we've ever seen at a GOP event. We've heard John Steinberger a few times, and even though we obviously disagree on FairTax, he's been honest about it. This guy was flat out lying.. My personal favorite? We don't need a Flat Tax because our current system is ALREADY a Flat Tax! Uhh, what are all those different brackets for - along with the 1600 pages of Tax Codes? Oh, and we won't need the IRS to collect it either... Really? Exactly WHO collects the money?
Then we have deceits about affects between taxes between the varying stages of production, and taxes will be levied on new home purchases, but not new ones -
but it won't affect the overall price? Maybe not, because you will basically eliminate ALL new home building and new car sales in South Carolina... It was ridiculous. The other guy was a bit more honest, by at least admitting that 'adjustments need to be made'. If that is the case, then we don't need to implement this plan until the bugs are worked out. My right arm was quivering, wanting to blow a shotgun through this plan in public, but I was there to help these guys get delegates, so I held off. Besides, I had lots of help from people who actually understand the ludicrousness of this plan..
The other oddity was them spending 30 minutes on the Federal Plan, which has been dead in Congress for 10 years, and five on the State Plan, which is very weak. Why? Because we already have a Flat Tax in place in South Carolina.. Steinberger himself admitted that the net effect would be 7% lower taxes, so a much simpler plan would be to just cut the Income Tax by 1/2 point, and avoid all the government intrusion of the Prebate checks - which we will no doubtedly screw up at some point.
The important part I took out of last night is that I spent the night with a group of dedicated Republicans, and most of them smelled the BS like I did! Tom Grimes and Elijah got to speak and Tommy Phillips was introduced as well.. As for who the delegates came out for, who knows. Obviously, this is Jerry Rovner's home group, so both Phillips and Brad Richardson will have little luck here. The one thing I got out of it is a reminder of just how FAR AWAY Litchfield and Pawleys Island are from Florence! At least we only had one deer on the roadside during the 1100pm ride back..
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The IRS Has Given You an Extra Day, And It Has Nothign to Do With Any Federal Holiday Or Law - DC Needs MORE Days Off.
It probably doesn't affect you - at least if you've already filed your taxes. For the rest of you, you have not only one, but two whole extra days to file your Federal taxes. Normally, since April 15th fell on a Sunday, you'd have to file today. However, since we only have ELEVEN national holidays - in addition to the days before and after major holidays - the District of Columbia celebrates Emancipation Day today as well...
A lot of you might not know this, but Washington DC was a slave area. Yesiree, Bob... As Abraham Lincoln was engaged in a war to free slaves, the city he did it from had them. Sounds crazy, but it's true. The first place where lincoln actually freed the slaves was Washington DC... Easy enough, they were still part of the Union. So, that was the first place where slaves enjoyed their new freedom...
Unfortunately for taxpayers, DC STILL celebrates that every year, and it happened to fall on the day after Tax Day - the third Monday in April. Since DC is filled with nothing but Federal employees, and it is about 90% African-American, no one is at work today. As far as federal employees elsewhere, we think they're working. Basically, the head is asleep, but the rest of the body is working....
Obviously, it doesn't happen every year, or most years, so we suppose it's not much to make a big deal out of. However, we felt the need to at least explain why you didn't have to cut a check today and mail off that return... You got ONE DAY!
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See your future, be your future.. If I only I live that long! I got this one from my old High School friend, Theresa.
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Here it is, in case you hadn't heard it before....
"Castro is very reflective, and a policy wonk with a great sense of history and a great sense of self, Clyburn said. I was really pleased with his whole sense of history."
"The best way to put more democracy in Cuba is the way we're doing it in China," he said. "I will be an active proponent."
If you think this was what Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said, think again... Nope, this was a direct quote from our Congressman - Jim Clyburn. It was during a visit Clyburn made to Castro in 2000, with two members of the Congressional Black Caucus. His goal was to open trade with Cuba, which is a direct violation of the US Embargo on the oppressive Communist island. He also tried to make an agreement with Castro to have US med students train there in an exchange program. Great idea - let's have doctors train in backwards, communist Banana Republics, then treat us. Sounds about as smart as the 1979 floatilla!
So, as opposed to Ozzie Guillen, who has never met him, and was saying that he was impressed that he has managed to beat back opponents for 50 years, Clyburn has ACTUALLY spent time with him - and he still thinks he's a great guy. And just like most old guys, he has no sense of mortality...
"In almost 40 years, it has not worked," Clyburn said at a press conference in Columbia. "And there's nothing to indicate Castro's going anywhere now."
Oops, got that one wrong too... Any chance of him getting suspended too? I could fix a lot stuff in five days.
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Republicans and Democrats Aren't Engaged In a War On Women... It's a War FOR Women - Whatever It Takes to Win.
As a male, we basically have been impassive bystanders for the past couple months as both political parties have engaged in what has become known as the War on Women. Whoever is engaging in the 'war' part obviously depends on which party you're in. But, there is no doubt both sides are in it: Democrats attacking on the Susan G. Komen defunding then refunding Planned Parenthood and supplying contraception. The GOP returning fire with the Catholic Church on forcing them to mandate birth control. Then the Democrats came back during the Supreme Court hearing on Obamacare by inferring they wanted to take health care from Mom's children, and other social programs. Lastly, Mitt and Ann Romney came out guns a-blazing for stay at home Mom's and that 92% of all jobs lost under Barack Obama have been women. Game on.....
While it may seem like women are being attacked, this is hardly a War on Women.... it's a War For Women. Yep, just like we men often do, all the slings and arrows beign tossed around are supposed to be meant as compliments. Why? Because men don't change their views on anything. That would be admitting you were wrong earlier. Ladies, every try to correct directions to a man even when HE knows he's lost? We admit nothing. The battle for men is pretty close, with Romney having a slight edge. The women are where the fight will be decided...
We've seen it all before..... Soccer Moms, Hockey Moms, Security Moms, NASCAR Moms, Mama Grizzlies - they always try to classify them into subgroups every four years, but right now, each side is throwing all the poop they can against the wall, and seeing what sticks. They'll see what works, then tighten up the message to rally the ones they attract.
The funny part is a lot of these women aren't as flexible as the campaigns would hope. Who is getting jacked up over Hillary Rosen's comments? Certainly not liberal women. They do feel that they are better than stay at home Mom's, probably out of jealousy. Meanwhile, conservative women don't feel that the government should be involved in anyway with supply them abortions or birth control. Most of these fights are falling on deaf ears..
But, there is a very, very small slice of women that could be in that wedge between the two. Forget about the total group of independents determining our next president - it's the independent women. This election could very well be decided by 6-8% of the voters. Talk about feeling important. So, if you're a woman, don't feel like you're being attacked from all angles, because you're not. It's us showing you how much we love you! No, it's not understandable, but that's how we do it....
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We Cracked Open Our Wallet, And Bought Our First Book in Ten Years - And We Might Buy a Second.....
For someone who blogs, we have to admit - we're not very well read. We'll read magazines and newspapers, but books make us cringe... We figure that we were forced to read enough of them in school, so for us to read one, it has to be a topic that really grabs us. Usually, it involves history... Yeah, we have about a dozen Civil War books (and the PBS Series on VHS), along with a few autobiographies by people you might not think. Like both Howard Stern books, and Al Franken's 'Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot', which, politics aside, was actually pretty entertaining.....
No, none of these were recent at all, and we had no plans on buying any. That is, until we saw John Stossel's special 'No They Can't'.... While it sounds like an all out attack on Barack Obama by replying to his 2008 campaign slogan, it isn't completely a Anti-Dem hackpiece. It focuses on government's promises to solve all our problems - while in fact, they are incapable of doing so, and make it worse with every attempt...
I know a lot of people don't like Stossel. In the 80's and 90's, he was that idealistic liberal invetsigative reporter that people loathed: he seemed a bit arrogant and kind of a prick. Some things he did were actually helpful, but some things made you want to smack him on the side of his head - and it literally did happen. He once did a report on whether wrestling was real or fake, and Dave Schultz open-fisted him upside his head. Wrestling may be fake, but the strength of the guys in it are real....
Yeah, Stossel was on the wrong track, but as he went along, he turned that laser focus and attitude on the government itself. Over time, he has become a self-admitted Libertarian. While we may not go that far, his book has tons of examples of government at every level and of both parties, where cronyism, lobbyists and inability to make tough decisions for fear of not being re-elected have thrown America into a tailspin...
The special was pretty enlightening at programs that flat out have no effect on the economy or whatever goal they were created for... For example, HeadStart has spent over $200 billion, and it's own study found that while their kids were ahead when they started kindergarten, by first grade, they scored NO BETTER than those that didn't attend. It makes sense.... Once they get to public school, they are trained the same, thus that 'head start' is obliterated quickly. Teach them the same, they end up the same.
I'm about a quarter of the way through it, and hopefully, I'll pick up some ideas to fix our budget deficit with as little negative effect as possible. If you'd rather watch his special, it is on Fox News tonight at 900...
Meanwhile, book number two may be in the hopper soon. With little interesting news out of DC this week, we half slept through the Sunday shows, until Chris Matthews came on. Rather than obsess over his usual GOP-smashing with Andrea Mitchell, he focused on a subject we both share - Presidential history. His main guest was Mike Duffy, who with Nancy Gibbs, co-authored 'The Presidents Club'. It basically involved an actual club - with a real office and all - between the living Presidents of the United States. It was started 60 years ago, when at the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower, former Prez Herbert Hoover suggested the club.
It was actually a novel idea. Being President is not an easy job. Like most jobs, those who know it best are the ones who have done it. The problem is that there are usually only 3-4 guys who know what it's like, but their insight can be invaluable. Duffy's book gives great examples of every President from Hoover to George W. Bush putting politics aside, and assisting the current leader at the time in times of need: Eisenhower advising JFK on Cuba and LBJ on the first days of his administration. Nixon being a father figure to Bill Clinton, but not being so thoughtful for Gerald Ford. Perhaps the funniest one was Ronald Reagan calling Clinton to teach him how to correct his limp salute with a sharp, snappy one. Sometimes it's the little things other Presidents notice. And yes, even Dubya has been there very often, despite Barack Obama blaming him for everything to this day - though it appears that might be over this week..
Reading is a sure-fire way to actually become educated on subjects. Like everything, you need to decipher the biases in the source. But, the more you read, the more you know. Life is not all about a three minute screaming debate on Cable News.... Things are ALWAYS more complicated than that, and it takes time and effort to learn. Even we forget that sometimes. What's our advice? Whatever interests you, read more about it. Only good can come from it, and you'll kick the crap out of anyone you're debating !!
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"The confidence of the people will easily be gained by a good administration. This is the true touchstone."
- Alexander Hamilton, 1788.
Easy enough, isn't it? If government does a good job of being responsible and puts their constituents' best interest at heart, the people will have confidence in them... Needless to say, we don't feel that's the case right now. However, we have a bit more confidence in Barbara Meier. She has all the traits we prefer - red hair, pale skin, thin, nice lips. Touchstone indeed...
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After all of yesterday's excitement, we're maxing and relaxing today... The big news this week, of course, was Rick Santorum's dropping out of the race, thus clearing a path to the nomination. Looks like that Bag O' Cash finally whacked one of his opponents...
Meanwhile, the economic numbers are all over the place this week: Unemployment is down, but new filers are up... Foreclosures down, but the Stock Market is up. So, this artistic interpretation of it was pretty spot on...
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Meet the New Leadership Team... Chairman Bill Connor, Vice Chair Jim Pratt and Secretary Sandra Hicks Bryan !!
Like we said in our last post, our official postholding in the SCGOP came to a close today, as the 6th Congressional District held it's quadrennial convention today. It was a long day of sign hanging, envelope filling, snack preparation and registering delegates. No, we were far from the most active in doing these things... The credit for that needs to go to June Brailsford, Nancy Cave and Barbara Ardis from Clarendon County, who did an unbelievable amount of work to make sure everything went smoothly today - and it did.
We've been to a few of these district and county conventions, and they are not the prettiest things. There are usually lots of internal battles, which often cause the people involved to hold grudges for way, way too long. The 6th District doesn't have that problem... We're all involved in an almost impossible to win area, and that allows us to work together in a common cause - with a common enemy: Jim Clyburn. So, today was a gigantic lovefest of 100+ delegates and others in attendance, and it translated to a smooth selection and transition to the new leadership - Chairman Bill Connor, Vice Chairman Jim Pratt, both from Orangeburg, and Columbia's Sandra Hicks Bryan. All won by acclamation, with literally no opposition - and really, there shouldn't have been..
Why? Because everyone got who they wanted. We had been petitioning Connor for months (we being the Four Horsemen), and Connor brough along Pratt, who was a great second choice. Bryan expressed an interest soon before the convention, and VOILA! - we had our team.
Seriously, it all went smooth as silk. Even the ten-way national delegate race was friendly. They all kept it under the two minute limit, and those who won didn't go overboard, and those who didn't weren't pouting. Congrats to Moye Graham and Dr. Joe Flowers of Walterboro for winning (Moye got an amazing 87%), and here's hoping that Janis Blocker and Celestine Parker get to go as delegates, and not alternates once the RNC gives us our full slate back...
Yeah, we had a pretty sweet array of guests from the party: SCGOP Chair Chad Connelly, RNC Committeemen Cindy Costa and Glenn McCall, SCGOP First Vice Chair Lin Bennett and Third Vice Chair Adam Piper... Also getting some mic time were candidates from Senate 36 Rev. Leon Winn (Sumter/Clarendon), House 97 Jordan Bryngelson (Dorchester) and House 91 Ben Kinlaw (Barnwell/Orangeburg).
But before they arrived, I had the priviledge (and pressure) of being the first speaker. As usual, I went a bit long, but I riled the crowd into a total frenzy with my farewell address, which I could best describe as a hybrid of MLK's 'I Have a Dream' and Reagan's Berlin Wall speeches. At least that's how I saw it, but I could be wrong..
Then Tom Grimes gave a pretty heartfelt goodbye after 14 years of District leadership... Yeah, he got a little teary ( I OTOH am incapable of crying due to damaged tear ducts from a freak onion peeling accident), which made me feel bad, because I knew I had a napkin - but I couldn't find it! Turns out it was in my coat pocket. Sorry buddy!
Tom got a lot of props from almost everyone in attendance (he actually got a standing ovation), which was well deserved, but also made me realize something - a lot of the State Party leaders have no idea who I am! It's understandable, but all the 'Hey Pal's while staring at my nametag let me know that I have some work to do - one that I will rectify. So, last night's anonymous commenter was partially right...
Overall, it was a fast meeting with NO infighting - just a slew of Republicans having a good time, taking care of business and working as a team. Thanks to all the delegates who came to Manning, and to Todd Kincannon for being Convention Chairman...
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