Voting Under the Influence

2012 is going to be nasty because hogs love the mud

2012-01-28T02:47:00.002-05:00

If one thought the push polls and rumor campaigns in South Carolina during the South Carolina Presidential Primary were bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Look at how Romney and Gingrich go at each other in Florida. Fact checkers catch both their campaigns in flat out lies about each other. Yet millions of dollars continue to be spent in promoting those allegations.
Frankly, such political nonsense, from all types of campaigns is allowed to go on because both mainstream and blog media types sternly tell us it is not about the facts, it is about the seriousness of the charge. Let that sink in. Some politico either paid to do so or with some personal agenda concocts some charge, leaks it to a few bloggers in the know, and then the media, out of both laziness and the desire to be in the center of things, run with the "allegation" story.

Those allegation stories are created by political consultants to define the opponent. It does not matter to them if the matter is true or not. What matters is creating an image of the opponent to run against. Campaigns are no longer about ideas or running against who an opposing candidate really is. They have become about saying anything to create an image that can be defeated. It is at all levels of politics and robs people of a real choice in politics and it is part of the reason this country is in the mess it is in. Political operatives of all stripes are guilty. And, it happens at all levels.

A case in point is the State Senate race in Lexington County. Blogger Will Folks, known for his on again off again support of Nikki Haley and her cohorts and her agenda and for a sense of the sensational, ran a recent blog post about State Senator Jakie Knotts. The allegations in the post had all the elements of a tailored made allegation to attempt to create an image of Knotts to run against for Katrina Shealy, a Haley cohort running against Knotts.

Folks reported that Knotts was alleged to have “roughed up” a prostitute years ago in a motor home at a flea market. The elements make it seem consultant made. First, Shealy wants to define Knotts as a hothead, out of control. Thus he roughed up a woman. Shealy also wants to define Knotts as sleazy, so it’s a prostitute he roughs up. Third, Shealy wants to define Knotts as a redneck, so the alleged encounter is in a motor home parked at a flea market. Further, Folks tips his hand in the matter by quoting an anonymous source supporting Knotts who refers to the Governor and her husband and “titty bars,” again reemphasizing the point about Knotts and his supporters as redneck and sleazy. There is an offhand remark in the post about being able to prove the charge, but the damage is done, and the message is out there.

This post is not to pick on Mr. Folks or the Shealy campaign. They are just doing what they do. However, as such things continue to happen at all levels of politics, true debates on issues are lost. Good people with sense avoid public service. And, that pleases those in it just fine. It has happened in America before. America suffered through some sorry Presidents and politicians during the era of the muckracker and yellow journalism when the newspaper became a new modern media. The internet media is now going through that phase and political operatives are taking advantage of it.

The problem now is that the state and nation are in real trouble. In other such trying times, politicos and media types were jolted to sift through the manure and give people real choices. But, this year that is not likely to happen. There is too much money to be made and too many egos for those types to put the state and country first. The election of 2012 is going to be nasty, false and people are going to make choices based on whatever some well paid consultant or blogger comes up with next. VUI hopes to be proved wrong by political leaders and media types, but realistically, it’s not likely. Hogs love the mud too much.

Newt had his Reagan moment in South Carolina

2012-01-23T06:23:00.005-05:00

Back in 1980, the former Governor of California, Ronald Reagan had a moment in a New Hampshire debate where he expressed disgust with the moderator and it propelled Reagan to the nomination and the Presidency.

You can see Reagan's moment of frustration here.

And here is Newt Gingrich's comparable moment.

Gingrich's outrage matched Reagan's in a campaign dealing with hard national times. Being angry with nonsense is how people feel, including Republicans and Independents. If you want to know why Gingrich won so big in South Carolina, look no further. This moment won the race.

A helluva Presidential Primary

2012-01-21T07:02:00.000-05:00

As predicted by the staff of VUI, this has been one helluva of a primary season in South Carolina. We have received emails about Ron Paul not supporting marriage, Newt Gingrich wanting an open marriage and wanting one of his wives to commit an abortion, and Rick Santorum being in the mafia and his wife having an affair with an abortion doctor. And, then there was the stuff about Mitt Romney,not only do his attackers call him liberal, they offer that he does not believe in Christ and believes in 12 Gods in 12 universes. We are not kidding. That is the stuff pitched to us to urgently run with.

We ran with none of it. As VUI predicted, this is the ugliest Presidential primary in South Carolina history. Falsified emails, hit mail peaces and constant robo calls have been the political staple of late.

The nonsense is not limited to emails to political bloggers. The mail and phone calls to South Carolina voters has been bombarding. Good people who dare to have voted in previous primaries have been subjected to constant mail and phone calls. Folks can not eat their dinners in peace without some robo call interrupting it. It does not even stop there. VUI has learned that a Midlands school district office has had to deal with robo calls to one of their phone lines. In other words, people who work for the taxpayers have to waste their time answering such calls. Now, that is conservative, right?

Frankly, whomever wins the South Carolina Presidential Primary will leave South Carolina bloodied and battered. The only real winners will be the people of South Carolina, who will be finally relieved of all the nonsense that they have been dealing with lately and President Obama, who looks better as as the mud storm continues.

Betting on South Carolina

2012-01-12T07:04:00.000-05:00

Every four years it seems South Carolina goes through this. Presidential candidates, especially Republican ones, show up for meet and greets throughout the state wearing either blue jeans or khakis and open collars. Told, of course, by some consultant, that us folks down South have to be catered to. You know us hayseeds love our blue jeans.

It is almost comedic to see some guy like Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich with their casual clothes saying things like "you all." The national media chimes right in, talking about how South Carolina has to be appealed to.

Fair enough. But, the negative nature of the ad campaign in the next week or so will really be uniquely South Carolinian. Millions of dollars from Morman businessmen will flow into the Super Pac for Mitt Romney to attack Newt Gingrich and whomever else Romney's allies sees as a threat. Not to be outdone, Newt Gingrich has a Super Pac funded partially by billionaire Sheldon Adelson that promises to spend over three million dollars in South Carolina exposing Mitt Romney's business practices. Others are certain to follow suit. In other words, it will be political ad silly season in South Carolina from now until January 21st.

Such is not new to South Carolina. Outside billionaires such as Howard Rich have tried to influence Palmetto State Republican politics for years. Some say Governors Sanford and Haley are the Governors from Rich, not South Carolina.

As insulting as the wardrobe changes, the bad use of colloquial language, and the money from outsiders on negative ads is to South Carolinians with common sense, the truth remains such things have worked in the past in South Carolina Presidential Primaries and are likely to work again this year. The big money from all sides in the Presidential race are betting on it. They are betting on South Carolina being South Carolina.

And it going to get nasty in South Carolina. There will be an onslaught of negative ads. There will be push poll phone calls. There will be negative mail outs. The next week will likely make the battle between George W. Bush and John McCain in South Carolina in 2000 look like a church social debate.

One thing is certain though. Win, lose or draw, Mitt Romney needs to drop the attempt at being a Southern Good Ole Boy. At least the President can drink a Coke. Besides, good ole boys don't wear tailored made blue jeans with their tailored made open collar button down shirt. Those are the kind of clothes some yankee wears when he comes down here to shut a plant down and lay off people. Besides, this Southerner likes the idea of someone wanting to be President actually wearing a tie. It shows he takes the office seriously. After all we are not selecting someone to be the spokesman for Old Navy or the Six o'clock News weatherman, we are selecting someone to run for President of the United States. It would be refreshing if the candidates acted like that instead of betting on those of us in South Carolina to be the embodiment of their stereotypes about us.

South Carolina to be Texas Governor Rick Perry's Alamo Stand

2012-01-05T06:43:00.001-05:00

The battle of the Alamo was fought in Texas back in March of 1836. Leading the soldiers of the Texas Republic who would all die in that battle was South Carolina native William Travis. One of the last letters that Travis managed to get out from the besieged Alamo was marked on the envelope "Victory or Death" and its contents described how he thought he was doing God's Will.

So it is fitting that the Governor of Texas makes his grand stand in South Carolina. Rick Perry made very big gaffes in debates and came in fifth in Iowa. Perry has little chance of doing better in New Hampshire. The situation caused Governor Perry to pause for a moment to reassess his chances. Then, he chose to come stand in South Carolina.

It is not a bad political move. South Carolina has not warmed to Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum is the flavor of the week in the GOP, but his lack of money and organization could derail his dream of being the challenger to Romney for the nomination. Bachman is out of the race and Gingrich seems to be staying in to go after Romney. Paul is a spoiler at best.

Thus, Rick Perry makes his stand in South Carolina. If Perry somehow wins the Palmetto State, his money and contacts, and frankly, his record as Governor of Texas, all come into play and present a real challenge to Romney as the campaign heads into Florida and beyond.

So its victory or Presidential political death for Governor Perry in South Carolina. We are guessing Governor Perry would have it no other way. After all, where better for a Texas Governor to either win or go down swinging than the state that gave Texas one of its greatest heroes?

Can a man who believes drinking coffee and tea is a sin be elected President?

2012-01-03T23:33:00.000-05:00

The results in Iowa are good news for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He will finish in the top two, with upstarts Rick Santorum and Ron Paul close to him. As things stand at this posting, it is Romney, Santorum and Paul, in that order.

That is good news for Romney. Romney should have a solid win in the New Hampshire. That will give him momentum going into South Carolina. But, there is where the questions will start.

We ask the most basic of questions, will people vote for a President who thinks that drinking coffee and tea are a sin? Romney is a devout Morman, not some lip serving follower, and according to the Word of Wisdom, supposedly revealed to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith, by God, the consumption of tea and coffee is a sin. So is the consumption of a Coca Cola.

Now in the South, even the most devout among us like a good cup of coffee in the morning and iced tea or Coca Cola with our meals. Think about it. Millions work hard every day, pray to God, go to Church, tithe, and are loyal to their families. Yet, according to the Mormons they live in sin because they have a cup of coffee in the morning or drink a Coca Cola.

Do not get VUI wrong, if Mormons want to believe that, so be it. They are not lesser human beings for doing so. But, do we want the leader who represents all of us to be someone who has beliefs that are so contrary to the rest of American values?

Further, the irony is the Tea Party. The consumption of tea is so ingrained in our history, both Southern and Northern. It was the tax on tea that led to the real Tea Party before the American Revolution. Now, will the new Tea Party really back a candidate for President whose faith contends that the consumption of the beverage they are known for is a sin? It really makes no sense.

Romney has money. He has friends with money. He is polished. But, do we really want a President whose Faith directs that a good cup of coffee on a cold morning and a cold glass of tea on a hot summer day are sins?

The nation turns to Iowa

2012-01-03T07:39:00.000-05:00

President Obama is ripe for defeat by most political standards. The burning question is can the Republicans nominate someone that the middle of the road voters who actually decide Presidential elections can back?

The process of answering that question starts today, in the heart of Bowl Season. While a good many Americans are worried about how college football games turn out and about the NFL Playoff match ups, the playoff for a shot at the greatest job in the land begins today in Iowa.

The Iowa Caucuses are a thing of wonder. Unlike primaries, where voters simply go the polls and secretly cast their ballot, people in Iowa will caucus. That means that people will actually stand up with friends and neighbors and literally stand with the candidate that they support for President.

Historically, although it is the first contest of Presidential contenders, few winners of the nomination in both parties have been selected in Iowa. Its results have made things more interesting as the primary season develops.

That said, VUI breaks down the GOP field and who must do what to survive the race.

First, former Senator Rick Santurom and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachman must do well. They both trail in national polls but have invested a lot of time and resources in Iowa. If either of them finishes in first or second, they will make the race interesting.

Second, Congressman Ron Paul must do well. Nothing less than second place will keep his rebel campaign alive. Paul has moved considerable resources to Iowa and is counting on a ground game.

Third, there is Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas. Perry raised a lot of money and looked like a real contender until his debate flubs. Now, he needs a solid showing to hold on to South Carolina.

Fourth, there are the guys who do not want to be embarrassed. That would be former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Both men have some following in national polls, but either or both could be embarrassed with a bad showing in Iowa as they have not put the time and the resources into the state.

That brings us to former Utah Governor and United States Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman. Huntsman has the resume of a President. But, his campaign has not gained any real traction. If Huntsman, by some miracle, could finish in the top three, it would change the race.

Chances are Iowa will end true to its history. Some upstart, perhaps Bachman, Santorum, or Paul will do really well. The front runner Romney will do respectively, and the race will go on to New Hampshire and then to South Carolina, where the smart candidates will start dropping out and positioning themselves for appointment in 2013.

The truth about South Carolina and taxes and state government

2012-01-02T02:45:00.000-05:00

The Tax Foundation came out with his list of the most taxed and least taxed states to live in and retire in. South Carolina was listed as the second least taxed state in the union, behind Mississippi. (There is always Mississippi to count on in lesser wanted rankings such as health care and education so it figures they would top South Carolina in something we would actually want.)

Such a fact does not deter those activists and bloggers who cry out that South Carolina is an overtaxed, over spending bloated place. They drone on and on about how the structure of government needs to be changed, and how money is all but stolen from people. But, the fact remains South Carolinians enjoy the lowest state and local tax burden in the country, but for Mississippi. And, Mississippi's claim is questionable when one considers that South Carolina collects less taxes per ca pita.

Those who work in once were thought essential government services, such as law enforcement and education do not have to be told we take in less money than most. They deal with cuts that really affect the services that they can provide. If that is how the people of South Carolina want things to be, fair enough.

But, what is nonsensical is the notion that we in South Carolina are taxed to extremes and that our state government is just some bloated mess. The numbers do not have an agenda. They are what they are. Compared to the rest of the nation, South Carolina lives on a spartan budget.

There lies the dilemma for Governor Haley and Republican activists on the web and elsewhere. Do they tout the good standing of South Carolina when it comes to taxing and spending, or do they keep droning on about how bad it is when it really isn't? What is their real agenda? Is to make state government more efficient in how it provides services or is it to have no state government at all?

And, as for those out of state groups and individuals who like to dump their money to campaign for "conservatism" in South Carolina, perhaps they should see there are 48 other states where their money might be better spent. South Carolina seems to be doing just fine on taxing and spending, thank you very much. And, we need political leaders who brag on that so we can attract real economic development and jobs. The naysayers can pack their carpet bags and go back to their home states where the problems really are.

Top 9 Most Powerful SC Politicians

2012-01-01T02:40:00.001-05:00

As the New Year begins, we take a look at who really run things in South Carolina. Here is our take on the 9 most powerful politicians in South Carolina.

9) SC State Representative Brian White, (R- Anderson). As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, White was the handpicked successor to former Chairman Dan Cooper. With that he has the support of establishment Republicans. He also has the support of the Haley crowd at a level. White has youth and power together, which makes him a man people in Columbia have to deal with.

8) SC State Senator Hugh Leatherman, (R-Florence). Leatherman is Chairman of the State Senate Finance Committee, which, with his old boy ties and knowledge of finance and of the rules of Senate makes him a formidable political force to reckon with. Call Leatherman names, call him too old, call him whatever, but in the end a state budget has to get by him.

7) United States Congressman Tim Scott (R-1^st District). Few freshmen Congressman have had the chance to influence power the way Congressman Scott has. Further, Congressman Scott seems situated nicely with all the shuffling around that involved adding another Congressional District to South Carolina. Tim Scott is a real player in South Carolina politics and will be for some time to come.

6) Congressman Jim Clyburn. Clyburn is known for his personal touch and his famous fish fries. Clyburn also has the safest Congressional seat in South Carolina and the ear of the President of the United States. Congressman Clyburn is simply the most powerful Democrat in South Carolina.

5) Congressman Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson’s outburst of “you lie” seemed to define him. Some could have argued that would be in a bad way. But, back in SC, he touched a nerve. And, he hit a home run with people around the nation, both right and left, when it comes to Obama’s health care plan. Add to that Wilson’s incredible constituent service and the fact his oldest son is Attorney General. Congressman Wilson toiled for years in the shadow of his mentor, the late Congressman Floyd Spence. But, now is Joe Wilson’s time. Joe Wilson is the powerful old timer in the room.

4) Senator Jim DeMint. DeMint is the darling of the more libertarian elements of the Republican Party in South Carolina and around the nation. DeMint has almost a cult following that is bolstered by a great constituent service program in his office. Do not be shocked if DeMint is offered the Vice Presidential nomination of the GOP this year. If Romney is the nominee, DeMint would be a perfect fit as VP.

3) Senator Lindsey Graham. Sure, some GOP activists loathe the guy. However, Senator Graham has respect in both parties in the United States Senate. And, his all too easy election and re-election have to be noted as well. Everyone seems to want Graham out until it is time to put him back in. His clout in the Senate insures his mark, and thus South Carolina’s, is on every major issue that the nation deals with. As such, he is often the go to guy in the federal delegation South Carolina politicos go to for federal help. Look for Graham to be considered for either Secretary of Defense or the Supreme Court should a Republican defeat President Obama in 2012. Even if President Obama wins re-election, do not be shocked if Graham’s name comes up for nomination to high office. That is the kind of respect Graham has in D.C.

2) South Carolina House of Representatives Speaker Bobby Harrell. Government at the state level often impacts our daily lives much more than government at the federal level. With such a weakened Governor, the General Assembly is now where the action is. Speaker Harrell made sure of that and will push his agenda fully this session as he has before. The Speaker will tolerate Governor Haley giving a State of the State speech, but have no doubt; the agenda of the General Assembly Session will be his.

1) South Carolina State Senator and State Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell. There is one member of the General Assembly who knows the rules and the ends of out of Columbia better than Speaker Harrell: Glenn McConnell. Even “reform” he proposes seems to take care of him, and no one seems to have the guts to call him on it. Like the legendary Edgar Brown of old, McConnell remains and Governors and other statewide officials come and go. Nothing in Columbia gets done without him. Frankly, Glen McConnell is the reason Governor Haley can feel safe in her job, despite the scandals, and that Lt. Governor Ken Ard can feel safe in his. McConnell does not want to be “elevated” to a position of lesser power. As the most powerful President Pro Tempore of the SC State Senate in history, McConnell seems content to let others appear to play at power while he actually wields it

Again we offer things not to say on New Year's Eve

2011-12-27T05:11:00.000-05:00

New Year’s Eve is a mixed time. People who are glad to throw out the old year and welcome the new one often celebrate to extremes. They often get drunk and out of control and say things that are inappropriate. As a public service, we at VUI will offer the Top 9 things that you should not say on New Year’s Eve. At least they are the things we hope are never actually said. Here we go.

9) Governor, you need to be blogged by someone who knows how. You will want to write a book after you have been blogged by the best.

8) Hey, ya’ll watch this. Junior is gonna launch my sparkler bomb right from my own hand.

7) Look Uncle Will, Dick Clark talks like you and Rick Perry do.

6) Will you guys put me on You Tube if I launch a bottle rocket from between my butt cheeks? I will scream “Sarah Palin forever!”

5) Look at this picture of me, baby. Forget Congressman Weiner or Herman Cain, I got your politics right here, baby. Occupy this!

4) All I am doing is drinking beer, deputy. Wal-Mart ain’t got any signs about me having to wear clothes. I am a customer, and the customer is always right. Naked is right to me.

3) Come on baby, nobody gets pregnant on New Year’s Eve. It’s a law. I used to be in Congress, I know.

2) Newt is your real name? No wonder you are such a jerk, dude. You are the guy with one wife at a time, right? You’re good, dude. Drink up.

1) Trooper whatever your name is, I can’t stand on one leg sober. How in the Hell do you expect me to after all I had to drink? Walk a line now? Do I look like Johnny Cash?

Paul Harvey's Christmas Story

2011-12-25T00:22:00.003-05:00

Enjoy and think about it.

Thoughts about Christmas and the birth of Christ

2011-12-23T04:58:00.001-05:00

Historical academics debate the actual time of the birth of Christ. Some are certain it happened in the summer. Others are quick to point out that that the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ was set by the early Church to coincide with already established Winter Solstice Celebrations. So be it.

Whatever time we choose to celebrate the birth of Christ, it cannot be denied the impact He had or the nature of His birth Christ was born in a manger of a second rate inn that would not have Him and his parents. He was born of the Virgin Mary. But, if one dismisses that as religious hyperbole, there are the teachings of Christ to consider.

The teachings of Christ forever redefined man and the Western world. Christ was the first to set value on women and children and the poor and the downtrodden. Christ taught to treat women and children as human beings, not property. Christ taught us to respect the poor and downtrodden.

Jesus Christ never set foot in a great college. Jesus never ran a big corporation. Jesus was a man who was the step son of a man who had people whisper about his heritage. Today, the Department of Social Services and some Guardian Ad Litem would intervene and try to prove to us all this little kid named Jesus was not being raised right.

But, God had other plans. His only begotten son, born in the most humble of situations, would not only go on to remind us that humble birth has nothing to do with God's Will, but would go on to teach mankind how to relate to one another.

The teachings of Christ have impacted the world like no other. The good guys, such as Gandhi and Buddha, really can not compare in shaping the world in what it became. The evils guys, like Bin Laden, Hitler and Stalin did their thing, but did not even come close to impacting the world as the boy born in a humble manger did.

Think on it. A boy, born in the humblest of circumstances, forever changed the world and it how it dealt with so many things. Truly, only a Son of God could do such a thing.

That said, a lot is done, especially politically, in the name of Christ, that is nothing near what he taught. Christ spoke against the rich and the lawyers. (Gulp). Christ spoke up for the downtrodden, the accused, the women and the children. Indeed, the birth, death and Resurrection of Christ created a New Covenant between humans and God, a New Covenant that was more understanding, more loving, more generous and called for us all to put aside hate.

It is an indictment on humanity that so many of us will embrace Christmas, celebrate it, and then go on to do in our daily lives and in our political lives things that go against what Christ taught.

We should be more aware of that. The goodwill and cheer of the Christmas Season is what Christ wanted us to do all the time. That is why the historical arguments about the birth of Christ do not really matter. Christ was born. He offered his teachings. It is our hard hearts against those teachings and our fellow human beings that makes the world what it is. God tried to help us. Christmas celebrates that. If we refuse the help, it is all on us.

The US House says "Bah! Humbug!" to taxpayers

2011-12-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

Just when it seems that President Obama might be in real trouble, the Republican leadership in the United States House give him a chance to win.

This time they did so by acting like junior high student council members in refusing to compromise to keep the tax cuts for working Americans in place. That is right. Republicans virtually decided to raise your taxes with their actions in the House.

Here is how it happened. The United States Senate voted 89-7 to extend the payroll tax cut for working Americans for two months so the tax cuts would not expire during negotiations. Thirty-nine Republicans joined fifty Democrats in that vote. That is strong bipartisan support. Then, the House leadership decided to not agree to the two month extension, digging in their heels, and thus raising taxes on working Americans.

The negotiations in the United States Senate on the extension were worked out with both parties talking to one another and to the House leadership. But, as habit with the House lately, when the goal was met, it was suddenly moved again.

It shows how out of touch the US House leadership really is with people. In this economy, fifty dollars a month here or there makes a real difference in peoples lives. But, when you have total healthcare coverage, make six digits, and have a paid staff that defers to you, well, it is hard to actually know anyone, I mean really know anyone, who might miss a credit card payment, or make arrangements on an electric bill because of the defacto tax increase.

It is a growing problem. Not only in politics but in business, law, and other endeavors, a divide is growing in the nation. One that has not been seen in decades. Increasingly, people who are in trusted positions choose gamesmanship over statesmanship or leadership. They come up with verbal legerdemain to try to seem earnest about something such as "job creators," but the truth is that they care more about playing the game than serving the people.

That is why Americans are so frustrated, even during the holiday season. But, with Republican Congressional approval ratings hovering in the teens, this act of "bah humbug" might be the first step in the re-election of President Obama.

Why I love Christmas

2011-12-19T05:18:00.001-05:00

Since I was a kid, I always loved Christmas. Of course there are religious reasons to observe and celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, but more tangible for me as a kid growing up were other things.

First, there were the big family gatherings. Those were usually on Christmas Eve. I remember we would go to the home of my father’s parents around lunch time, load up with food and gifts and then go to my mother’s parents’ home a few miles away for dinner and the same. I remember things that seem silly to some. I remember the year that my father’s parents gave me a radio. I remember the year my mother’s parents gave me a set of little toy cars. I remember my father’s parents having a little electronic bell that played Christmas songs. My grandmother found it to put up again this year. I also remember my great grandmother and how she, when I was a boy, trimmed her tree with simple things like paper and stringed popcorn. I also loved Peanuts and Charlie Brown and Snoopy at Christmas.

Most of all, I remember everyone being happy, jovial and full of life, including those who are now gone. Everyone got a gift. It might be cheap or small to some, but everyone, especially the children, was included. I remember my father’s father giving us bags of candy, fruit and nuts, a tradition he continued for us grandkids on into adulthood. That bag and the little electronic bell are seared into my memory forever. So is the stringed popcorn that donned the natural Christmas tree at my great grandmother’s.

For my mom and dad, I also remember the role of Santa, not only for me, but my little brother, who is 13 years my junior in age. My parents might have forgotten, but I have not, one particular Christmas when we lived at Fork Shoals. My dad had been laid off. I had my doubts about Santa. I was a rather intelligent boy. I specifically remember Santa leaving me a hunting knife, a BB gun, and a toy Pepsi truck that had its trailer filled with packs of BBs. That is heady stuff for a young boy. I am sure Santa left other things, but those stand out. That particular Christmas morning came upon the heels of us finding where a fire was as we came home that Christmas Eve from the family festivities. Again, that is heady stuff for a young boy.

My brother, who is now a deputy sheriff, might not appreciate this. I remember, as a young college student, standing guard at his bedroom door so that if he awoke, Santa would not be interrupted in his delivery. Now my little brother stands guard over all of us. But, he is always that little brother to stand watch over to me.

I am also proud of another man, another little brother if you will. I remember how Christmas Day was spent with our neighbors, and a man who grew up like a brother to me who is a half world away this holiday season in Kuwait. The families would gather, have a huge breakfast, and

that man, who is like a brother to me, and I would check out one another’s presents and play with things like the Atari game until exhaustion. And, yes, I still wonder how he managed to kick a 62 yard field goal to beat me in Atari 2600 football. It had to be a glitch in the programming.

There is also the young person I watched grow up all too fast, at least for me and her mother. One day she was all amazed at the lights at Riverbanks Zoo, the next it seemed she knew everything. But, I remember the tot on my shoulders. I helped Santa out with her as well. Now, I beam with pride over her college grades. And, she probably will not like it, but she will always be my little buddy, all excited about Christmas. No one else would make me search all over for the best Princess Carriage for Barbi. That young person and her mom gave me the greatest gift: the desire to be better.

God help me, I remember it all. Everything.

I was asked recently why I loved Christmas so much. Well, the above and more are why. Not only do we that profess the Christian faith celebrate the birth of our Savior, but memories are brought back. Things that really make us who we are deep down are remembered. Some might be even saddened by such memories of such things. But, I am not. I feel blessed. I lived those memories. They are mine. They are Christmas to me. And, they are the reason I find myself of good cheer and sport the colorful lights this time of year. They inspire me to make more memories.

Merry Christmas. Be of good cheer. Embrace the memories.

Top 9 things you don't want to hear at Christmas

2011-12-19T01:14:00.000-05:00

VUI kicks off Christmas week with the Top 9 things you don't want to hear during the Christmas holidays. Here we go:

9) “Hey baby, when’s the last time you got your stocking stuffed on Christmas Eve?”

8) “Sorry about that Santa, but it is deer season.”

7) “Daddy, I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, and Santa looked a lot like Herman Cain.”

6) “Come down my chimney you commie fat ass, and you got a 12 gauge pump shotgun waiting on you. I will shoot the red off of your long haired, bearded hippie ass. I got a Tea Party waiting for you.” Then former Governor Palin was moved away from the cameras.

5) “Merry Christmas from your wife and her attorney, sir. You have been served.”

4) “Dear little Johnny, next year instead of cookies and milk, could you please leave bourbon and your mom’s oxycotin?” Santa

3) “Officer, I am drunk, but my reindeer are not.”

2) “Just because you name your baby Jesus does not mean I am going to pay you child support.”

1) “But, Santa, that blogger told me being naughty with him was being nice. Besides, I am the Governor. ”

The 12 Days of Political Christmas in SC

2011-12-18T04:57:00.000-05:00

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

12 Tea Partiers

11 Occupiers

10 Reps. Pipin'

9 scandals a leakin’

8 Dems a prancin’

7 staff as lemmings

6 donors syawin’

5 wives for Mitt

4 Vodkas served

3 years for Ard in the pen

2 bloggers love

And a failed Guv named Haley

Haley faces more scandal as she plans for the holidays

2011-12-16T02:00:00.004-05:00

As we posted earlier this week, the political tigers are in the tall grass waiting to pounce on Governor Nikki Haley. The pouncing is now commencing.

There are now published reports about three different potentially scandalous activities by the Governor. First, there is a report about the Governor letting T. Poone Pickens pay for her to travel to his Texas ranch and have a nice weekend there. That brings back memories of the yacht ride. Second, there are reports of the Governor's handpicked Department of Natural Resources Board members removing a DNR Director liked by sportsman and environmentalists but disliked by real estate developers. Third, there is a damaging story about Haley's South Carolina Health Planning Committee and how she supposedly manipulated the committee's role in deciding whether or not South Carolina should have a health insurance exchange.

The later story is especially damaging to Haley. Reporter Renee Dudley from the Charleston Post and Courier paints an ugly picture inside the Haley Administration. Here is the quote that stands out in Dudley's article published in The State:

"In a March 31 email thread that included Haley, her top advisers and the committee member who eventually wrote the report, Haley wrote, “The whole point of this commission should be to figure out how to opt out and how to avoid a federal takeover, NOT create a state exchange,” which is eventually what happened."

That might not seem much until one realizes that the state of South Carolina took a one million dollar grant to form a commission to study the feasibility of the said insurance exchange. The grant was conditioned on a non partisan commission looking independently at the idea. That email shows that was not adhered to by the Governor. Mayors in this state have went to jail for not spending grant money correctly.

Also, the Governor's response to questions about the committee was just bad. When pressed by a reporter after the South Carolina Budget and Control Board meeting about the issue, the Governor was silent, and let a security guard do the talking. If someone advised the Governor to do that, they were wrong. It just added to the sense more and more South Carolinians are having that Governor Haley is smug and aloof. That adds to the feeling of betrayal. See the video for yourself.

To make matters worse, Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey, in published reports, suggested that the Governor had responded to the questions but could not now because she was busy preparing for the holidays. Just what holiday preparation was the Governor making when she was standing there waiting on an elevator while the reporter was brushed away by someone else?

It is all troubling. It is troubling that the Governor appeared to dictate to a board she took federal money for to be independent. It is troubling that the Governor and her staff seem so inept, first by even emailing such things, and second, by a response that just invites more questions and even contempt from reporters and politicos. Add to that the fact the State Senate is going to look into the DNR matter. One expects that eventually, some Haley staffer will email "Look, Ken Ard ends up Governor if you keep this up, you want that?"

What a mess. It makes one nostalgic for the days when a Governor simply went AWOL to meet a extramarital lover.

Thoughts on state retirement changes

2011-12-15T01:22:00.000-05:00

State employees are in an uproar. A South Carolina House Sub Committee approved changes to the South Carolina State Retirement System. There a reason that such was addressed. The long running South Carolina State Retirement System, which has been benefits based instead of contributions based, is in long term financial trouble. Thus, lawmakers are looking at how to save it.

Those lawmakers are hampered by legal decisions involving state retirement. When TERRI, a retired teachers incentive program meant to keep teachers who retire on the job, was implemented, the South Carolina Courts ruled it had to apply to all employees in the South Carolina State Retirement System. Now, on the flip side of that, physically demanding jobs such as firefighters and police are lumped in with all other jobs in the South Carolina State Retirement System when elected officials consider ways to save the system.

On a common sense level that makes little sense. Other states and municipalities recognize that physically demanding and dangerous jobs such as firefighting and policing are separate from being a government clerk or dare we at VUI say, teaching school or the like. Those in such demanding and dangerous jobs are justly rewarded in those other venues for their service with relatively earlier retirement plans.

But, in South Carolina, we lump everyone together. Thus, the changes proposed effect all members in the SC State Retirement System, from the State Trooper to the paper pusher.

Here are the proposed changes that will be in force, if approved, for all SC State Retirement System participants who have 23 years or less of service:

1) Participants will pay 7.5% of their salaries into the system instead of the 6.5% that they currently pay.

2) The benefits based formula for retirement payments will consider the last five years of salary instead of the current three year salary consideration.

3) Participants can retire after thirty years of service, but will not be able to collect any benefits until age 62. Thus, a 22 year old State Trooper can work the roads for thirty years, but will have to wait ten years to draw a check.

4) Those receiving benefits will not have the now automatic one percent cost of living adjustment, but instead the South Carolina General Assembly will determine the amount of, if any, adjustment that is made.

All of that seems well and good for people who have jobs similar to those in the private sector. VUI has contended for a long time now that such people should have a contribution based retirement plan supplemented with Social Security like the rest of us who work so called "normal" jobs do.

But, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders should be treated differently. It might offend teachers and other government employees, but so be it. Those in law enforcement, fire fighting and first responding are at another level in the physical demand and danger that they face. They are also at another level in the service that they give the state and local communities. They protect lives. They save lives. They protect and save our very way of life on the front line. For that, they should be rewarded with a retirement plan that recognizes what they do.

Again, teachers and other government employees can and do make a difference in this world. There is no arguing that. But, they are not asked to protect us from the guy with a gun, rush into the burning building, or save our lives as we ride in the back of an ambulance. There is a difference. And, it is a travesty that South Carolina's leaders do not recognize that in their reform efforts of the South Carolina State Retirement System.

South Carolina's crush on Nikki Haley is over

2011-12-12T02:35:00.001-05:00

A year ago, it seemed everyone in South Carolina had a political crush on Nikki Haley. She had not even taken office yet, and politicos were wondering if she would be nominated for Vice President. A book deal was done. If a man had video and DNA about an affair with Haley, the South Carolina press would have ignored it.

34% approve of Governor Haley

Haley and her minions were in a strong position to really influence South Carolina. For the better or worse, it appeared Haley would be a force in Columbia to be reckoned with. That has not happened.

Instead, Haley ranks as one of the most unpopular and ineffective Governors in the nation. A Winthrop University poll has Governor Haley's approval rating at 34%. Only 52% of Republicans surveyed support Governor Haley. Another poll has President Obama's approval rating at 44%.

Those are dismal numbers for a Governor who has not finished a year in office and a drop of nearly 30 points.

Ironically, Governor Haley is going through exactly what President Obama went through in sudden unpopularity. Like the President, Governor Haley was the anti establishment candidate who had incredible good will from the press. People were truly inspired to vote for her as they were for President Obama.

Then, reality hit. The Governor and her staff have proven to be typical politicians, with the pettiness and the selfishness that people were already fed up with. Their confidence, outsider status and youth, once thought of as refreshing, is now seen as smug and inept.

The drop began with a rather arrogant act by the Governor and her people. Only a few months into office, they decided to issue "report cards" about members of the General Assembly. Those report cards were based on how a member agreed with Governor Haley on a set of issues. They made it clear from the start of the session that legislators would be punished. Thus, Haley and her people tried to use political coercion instead of persuasion. It smacks of the Chicago style tactics President Obama's former chief of staff used at the the start of the Obama Administration.

Such tactics, especially in the midst of a bad economy, will and did backfire. The goodwill from the press and the chattering people around Columbia is over.

Indeed, some of those people are angry and motivated. Things that might have been once overlooked, such as questionable political ties to the Savannah port deal, the activities of the Mansion Chef, the First Spouse wanting a modern wine cellar, the free booze, the yacht ride, etc., get focused on.

Such things have happened before under a South Carolina Governor. Rumors about luxurious excess, affairs and defacto bribes have circulated before about a number of Governors. People expect that from politicians.

But, when a politician gets elected by playing the victim of dirty tricks and a promise to be open and clean in a time of great trial for the state, and opens up by attacking people who criticize or disagree with her without a real effort at persuasion and compromise, the political tigers start waiting in the tall grass, ready to pounce.

The people pay attention to those political tigers because they are hurting and expected more from the Governor than politics as usual. People feel fooled.

People also do not like being told that the man or woman that they elected from their community is not worthy to serve because some person they never heard of who works in the Governor's office thinks so. When a Governor who is attending "high roller" fundraisers in Atlanta and riding a yacht goes after a member of the General Assembly who people in his community know personally and like, the Governor loses goodwill. And, the member of the General Assembly is actually empowered more not to do what the Governor wants.

Some will argue that the economy is the reason. It a reason in that people demand more from politicians. However, it is more likely that a young Governor and her staff, elected with a modern marketing campaign in a time of trial, lacks the depth of experience to understand how things work with people, and further seems to lack the respect for people, elected officials and the state to actually try to learn instead of demand.

Flounder floundering on his staff?

2011-12-09T06:18:00.001-05:00

A couple of blogs in South Carolina, and our sources confirm, that State Rep. Thad Viers is having a campaign staff shakeup going on.

Loyal readers know Viers. We call him Flounder. Because no one in South Carolina politics reminds us more of the Animal House character than Viers. Not only does Viers look like the character, he has acted like him over the years. Who can forget Viers having to get legal counsel after his nasty phone calls to his soon to be ex in laws? And, his reputation in Columbia, well it is Flounder worthy.

Now, South Carolina's Flounder wants to be a Congressman. The newly drawn Seventh District of South Carolina gives him the chance. And, really, who can blame the guy? If getting loaded and calling people up is your talent, among other things, why not join those in Congress?

The problem appears that Flounder's campaign is, in a word, floundering. Despite some nice fundraising numbers, Viers can not get traction in the race. So, South Carolina's Flounder is borrowing from the Dean and tossing out some political hands. Good for him. Now, if he will just say "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life...," we might have some respect for him.

But, for now, we at VUI will remain "fat, drunk and intelligent," and say the latest developments in the Viers campaign for Congress will likely keep him from joining his cohorts in D.C. But, we do hope Viers runs for re-election in the SC House. It would be boring to comment without him. Who knows. "Fat, drunk and stupid," describes most member of Congress so Viers might just make it after all.

Thank you, Rep. Viers for the material.

Top 9 things you might want to avoid giving as holiday gifts

2011-12-07T05:15:00.000-05:00

It is the Christmas Season. A time that people feel the need to give gifts to the kids, friends and loved ones in their lives. It can be confusing. We at VUI are here to help. We offer the Top 9 things you might want to avoid giving as gifts.

9) The Lego Meth Lab set

8) Fruitcake and tea…it ends up in a Tea Party

7) Monopoly, the Chinese version…where the Chinese own all the mortgages on the streets and Board Walk is Board Wok, and when you land on it, you get a collection notice from the Chinese government.

6) Women’s wear from the Ken Ard Collection… but we hear it is discounted by campaign funds.

5) The conspiracy book named, “Why NASCAR always turns Left: The Truth about how that ‘forergner’ Obama is trying to lure Rednecks to Think Left and Be Liberal”

4) Cookies and milk for Santa. Let’s face it the guy is overweight and probably has high blood sugar. You really want to give an elderly overweight diabetic cookies and milk?

3) The video game named “Penn State Ball Boy Challenge”

2) The Nikki Haley action doll. You squeeze it and it goes, “Give me some money and I will give you your port” and “I never messed around with bloggers” and “It is a great day in South Carolina.”

1) The “Herman Cain and Friends Very Special Christmas” DVD. Trust us; it’s not for kids and most adults.

Seventy Years Ago Today

2011-12-07T00:09:00.000-05:00

Sunday, December 7th, 1941 started out as a typical Sunday morning in Hawaii. United States Army and Navy personnel were either nursing hangovers or preparing to attend church. But, as the sun rose on Hawaii, the Japanese Navy task force attacked Wheeler Air Field and Pearl Harbor Navy Base. It ranked as one of the greatest surprise attacks in military history and dealt a solid blow to the United States.

Yet, it turned out be a blunder. For the surprise attack on the United States awoken a sleeping giant who would prove to be terrible in its resolve. Japan would four years later be devastated. The United States would take the stage as a world superpower.

That said, there were sailors and soldiers lost that day. Those who survived that day are now dwindling in their numbers. But, we should never forget what happened that day and the spirit of nation awoken to defend itself.

VUI offers Franklin Roosevelt's stirring speech on December 8th, 1941 below. Never forget Pearl Harbor!

Welcome to Newt Land

2011-12-02T07:09:00.000-05:00

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has not held elective office since he resigned over thirteen years ago. But, the former House Speaker is enjoying the political spotlight as he has become the new front runner for the GOP nomination in Iowa, Florida and South Carolina. Gingrich is also gaining poll number ground in New Hampshire, long thought as Romney country.

Gingrich was politically dead in June of this year. Professionals were leaving his staff. Pundits wrote Gingrich off. Gingrich seemed too old, too Washington, too brainy for the GOP. After all, politics has become the only profession in America were having the least experience and being the least knowledgeable is an asset. It resulted in our past two elected Presidents, President George W. Bush, who had a little over five years as Governor of Texas, and President Obama, who had yet to serve a full term in the United States Senate.

But, with two wars and a sagging economy, perhaps America is changing. Maybe Americans, even Republicans, want someone who knows how to get things done in Washington. At least that is what Gingrich is hoping for.

But, the road to the GOP nomination and the White House for Gingrich has a big road block named Mitt Romney. Romney is a private business man, whose only political experience is one term as a moderate Governor of Massachusetts and a stint heading up the Winter Olympic Games. But, Romney has been running for President for five years now.

There is not doubt that since the Herman Cain scandals, America has become Newt Land. Gingrich is surging in the polls, on television, making news. But, his baggage still remains. Will Gingrich be just another failed alternative to Romney of will Gingrich get the nomination?

Remember the previous alternatives to Romney. Michelle Bachman had people all fired up, then America learned she was on prescription mood altering drugs. Rick Perry came in with big money and then he came across as just flat dumb. Herman Cain and his 9-9-9 plan captured the GOP nation's attention until woman after woman emerged and Cain was dubbed "Spermin' Herman" by comedians.

Now there is Newt Gingrich. Gingrich is the smartest man in the room when GOP candidates meet. So was Richard Nixon. Will Gingrich's personal baggage catch up with him?

Gingrich's two road blocks to the White House, Romney and the President of the United States, have sterling personal lives. And, both are smart and accused of being computer like as Gingrich.

Then, there are intangibles. Romney is polished, fit, comes across as the local tv news anchor with a picture perfect family. President Obama still has some of that rock star status that elected him in the first place. And, even as the President seems inept at times, people like him, his wife and daughters. Gingrich, full of ideas, still comes across as the chubby old college professor that made us think in the classroom. Gingrich is a guy you might turn to for advice on something, but Romney and the President are the guys people are more likely to choose to see everyday on television.

It is said that President Obama was a law school professor who got elected President. But, in reality, the last professional academic who was a professor and academic solely for his living that was elected President was Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Wilson benefited from former President Theodore Roosevelt dividing the vote with President Taft.

There has never been a former Speaker of the House elected President. Thus, an academic like Newt Gingrich has to know that history is against him.

But, history was against a black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama being elected President of the United States. So, who knows?

Gingrich has showed the intelligence to embrace the 21st Century in his campaign and dwells on issues. It is re-mindful of how Richard Nixon tapped into the fears of a nation tired of war in 1968 and tired of protests in 1972. But, Nixon never had to deal with the instant visual and informational world we live in today.

In the end, VUI believes that will end the quest for Newt Land. Romney will win the GOP nomination and then be narrowly defeated by President Obama. If somehow Gingrich is the GOP nominee, it will be good for the country, because those debates with President Obama will ones for the ages. But, Obama still wins a close one.

The GOP has to ask, Jeb Bush, where are you when we need you? Bush would win Florida and have a big bank roll, and that would give him the win.

Is the icing about to be put on the Haley political scandal cake?

2011-11-29T04:34:00.001-05:00

Some folks are taking lightly the charge by South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Hartpootlian that Governor Haley is using her chef to handout birthday cakes to pet staff members. Sure, it might seem small stuff, and it has likely been done before by a Governor. But, Hartpootlian is an old political pro. He knows what he is doing. His press rant about the cakes is the icing on the Haley political scandal cake.

It started with reports about the Governor having her bodyguards fetch drinks for her and her guests. Then, there was the famous yacht ride. That was followed by the state paid for trip to Paris. Wisely, the Haley trip to India was put off. Then bloggers and others reported that she got free booze from a Columbia liquor and beer distributor and that her husband actually wanted tax payers to pay to keep the wine chilled. Let’s not forget how Haley waffled on the Amazon development to appease Wal Mart and its power political operation. The Govenor’s staff has destroyed public emails, and their salaries are frankly very good.

But, all of that: cakes, booze, trips, it pales in comparison to the allegations being made about the Savannah port deal. Governor Haley’s freshly appointed DHEC board gave the go ahead for the state of Georgia to dredge the Savannah River to expand the port at Savannah to be a deep water port that rivals that of Charleston.

There has been a lot of head scratching over that decision by a number of political and business leaders. Several years ago, then Governor Sanford struck up a deal with then Governor Purdue of Georgia to create a Jasper County port that would bring jobs and revenue to South Carolina. Governor Haley seems to have broken the unwritten code of Governors of South Carolina, both Democrat and Republican, to keep to their predecessors’ word on things related to economic development for the state.

Frankly, acting outside of the political box is Haley’s forte. She is a rebel, have no doubt about it. But, is she a rebel for good or for herself? That is the question. Blogs, such as FITSNEWS, and other sources we checked out have confirmed that Georgia businessmen with ties to the Savannah port held a fundraiser for Haley. Then, Haley’s DHEC board gives Georgia the go ahead on Savannah, all but killing the Jasper port idea and any notions of expanding business at the Charleston port. We are not saying there was any quid pro quo. VUI is just saying that kind of thing looks bad, like deleting public emails does.

It looks so bad that State Senator Harvey Peeler, (R-Gaffney), the Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Medical Affairs Committee of the State Senate that oversees DHEC, asked the Governor and her staff to come testify to his committee. The Governor refused. She did offer to turn over some emails and things like that. That is either funny or outrageous when one considers the Governor’s email deletion scandal.

Such events make clear one of two things is going on. First, the Governor and her people are such true believers and so inept that they keep stumbling into situations that more experienced politicos would avoid. Or, they have fallen in love with their poll numbers and the handful of jobs they have announced and think that they are above the political fray and can do what they want with no consequences.

Either scenario is dangerous for the Governor. After all, the Governor is not even a year into her term and scandal seems to be the talk of politicos. And, make no mistake, Dick Hartpootlian is an old experienced chef who knows how and when to put the icing on the political cake.

All that said, here is the ad being ran in the Lowcountry against Haley:

This stuff must be exposed and stopped

2011-11-28T04:19:00.001-05:00

Syracuse University announced it fired assistant men's basketball coach Bernie Fine after ESPN aired comments between Fine's wife and one of the young men who accuse Fine of molesting him. The remarks were damning, not only to Fine, but to legendary Syracuse head coach Jim Boehiem, who with all his wins and championships, looks really bad. Boehiem not only defended his friend and assistant coach Fine, but he attacked the accusers.

The courts will have to deal with all the allegations and who knows how that will work out. But, things are bad in the coaching profession. Joe Paterno already has been fired over the allegations against his assistant, Jerry Sandusky at Penn State. Now a legendary basketball coach seems in trouble. Add to that the situation right here in South Carolina, where the Citadel, with its sterling reputation, faces its own molestation scandal. Indeed, former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, a Citadel man with his own problems, wrote publicly that the Citadel President should resign.

The situation is disgusting for someone like me. I have coached youth basketball and football. I currently coach interscholastic football. I have coached championship teams. I have coached a losing team. I have coached with great men and lesser men. I coach for the love the game, and to see young people learn and have fun. Never, for one moment, have I thought I coached with a pervert.

And, lets get it straight, perverts are what these men are if they take advantage of their relationship with kids as a coach. Such men are sick and just evil in the damage that they do to kids. And, frankly, it is just as evil for head coaches and administrators to gloss over such behavior to protect their winning programs or institutions.

One coach I spoke with recently presented an example that made me cringe. He suggested that if a college recruit in a place like Bamberg or Allendale had a major college assistant coach visit him, and take his younger brother out for ice cream, and acted perverted, the little kid would not be believed. After all he is just some poor little kid from a rural town. His big brother not only would not get the chance to get a scholarship but would be labeled a trouble maker. So, the abuse has a chance to flourish.

As a coach and as a human being, I say such must be exposed and stopped. The NCAA is all about its rules. But those rules often lack common sense. Maybe a coach should not be alone with kid. That actually protects the coach from unfair allegations and the kid from a chance to be abused. Frankly, what is worse, some assistant coach paying for a kid to attend his grandma's funeral, or going years abusing children? The NCAA will put a program on probation for buying a kid the plane or bus ticket, but seems silent on coaches abusing kids.

Further, what is really outrageous is the Penn State situation. Supposedly a coach saw another coach abuse a kid. That coach sat on that information for week or so and told the head coach, Joe Paterno. Paterno followed university procedure and left it at that. The assistant coach hired the abusive coach later to help him recruit, with Paterno watching over it all. Paterno and Penn State were more worried about winning and the reputation at Penn State then sending someone with abuse allegations against him out into the community representing them. Penn State was right to fire Paterno, but it was too late. It is insulting that the scandal did not break until after Paterno passed Eddie Robinson for career Divison I wins.

Now, we have the legendary Syracuse basketball program. Boehiem acted aggressively against the young men who said they were abused. Fire him. Send a message.

The situation at the Citadel is something we will get into later this week. If true, it too is disgusting.

One thing comes from all of this. Sexual abuse of kids must not be tolerated. Perverts must be brought to justice. The NCAA should step in, and if the allegations prove true, give the death penalty to any program in any sport that has a head coach and administrators who ignore such abuse.

Frankly, if I were a head coach with Penn State on my football schedule or Syracuse on my men's basketball schedule, I would not lead my kids to compete with them. Programs like that do not deserve the honor of competing in honored games. Coaching, from the recreational leagues to the college ranks is about teaching kids how to compete and grow with honor and be good people. Winning comes through that.

If a coach, a program, or institution sacrifices the well being of just one kid to protect itself, it tarnishes the game and coaching. There is no place for that. Time will tell what the law and the NCAA does with the scandals going on. But, again, this abuse stuff must be exposed and stopped. There is a sacred trust between coach and kid, and when that trust violated, all of us, not only as coaches, but as human beings, must demand that the perverts be brought to justice.

The Sixth Annual VUI Thanksgiving Political Awards

2011-11-23T04:09:00.001-05:00

Again, VUI is handing out its coveted Thanksgiving political awards. This is the sixth year we have done so. This year, we will keep it simple and just list the winners. Here we go.

The Cornbread Dressing Award for Career Achievement goes to former State Representative Dan Cooper of Williamston. Cooper resigned at the end of the session of General Assembly this Spring. Cooper served as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and was often a conservative voice with reason in that position. Cooper resigned to spend more time with his family, something we at VUI applaud. Cooper served the people of South Carolina well in his time in office and earned our recognition.

The Cranberry Sauce Award for Local Government achievement goes to Aiken County Assistant Solicitor Steve Kodman. Kodman lost his battle with cancer on November 14th of this year. But, as he battled cancer, Kodman continued to move cases along as a prosecutor. He showed how a man does things as he goes out. Kodman served the people well until his last day. That said, VUI must mention Kodman's boss, Strom Thurmond, Jr., and how he worked with and honored Kodman.

The Holiday Ham Award, given to the biggest self promoter in South Carolina politics again goes to Will Folks. His self important blogging about his love hate relationship with Governor Haley and the University of South Carolina continues at a high level. Folks is not a bad guy, but no one loves to read his own words on the internet more than he does.

That brings us at VUI to the political Turkey of the Year Award. This one is difficult. There are so many to choose from. Michelle Bachmann comes to mind. Ron Paul comes to mind. Herman Cain comes to mind. President Obama has a claim. But, in the end, we at VUI give the award to Lt. Governor Ken Ard. Ard was a hero a year ago, but remains under investigation for his campaign finance issues now. We give the nod to Ard, because his antics give ammunition to people who want to make his position appointed instead of elected. Few have degraded the prestige of their office the way Ard has. It will only get worse in 2012.

That brings us to the Holiday Fruitcake Award. This one has been controversial. People get upset when their pet political figures are called fruitcakes. Again, Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul come to mind. But in the end we dub the "Occupy" movement. Those folks claim to be for the people, but they urinate and defecate in parks and grounds that belong to the people. When responsible government officials ask to clear them and just clean up, the "Occupy" people sue and go nuts. God bless them for excersing their rights to assemble and protest. But, geez, come on, let people clean up after you. What started out as a legitmitate protest has turned into people disrespecting their fellow taxpayers by defecating and urinating in public places. Grow up people!

The Golden Drumstick goes to the politician or politico with the best performance. Attorney General Alan Wilson deserves some recognition for his performance. Wilson had a lot of naysayers, but he has turned out to be a proven crime fighter and good lawyer for South Carolina. But, the Golden Drumstick goes to Newt Gingrich. Six months ago, Newt was done. The so called professionals left him. Now his idea driven campaign makes him a real contender in South Carolina and for the nomination to be President of the United States. Newt's return from the politically dead earns him the Golden Drumstick.

Newt Gingrich is the smartest man in the room

2011-11-23T01:17:00.000-05:00

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich showed again Tuesday night what we at VUI have known all along, he is the smartest man in the room when Republicans get together to debate.

Gingrich does not throw out red meat for conservative activists on issues like Medicare and immigration. Instead he delivers heaping doses of reality and reason and argues for conservative approaches that deal with reality.

Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan is solid on the economic front. But, frankly, Gingrich has more depth on the wide range of issues that faces a President of the United States. Rick Perry seems lost. Michelle Bachman and Ron Paul's ideological zeal does not embrace reality. Jon Huntsman seems to be running for Secretary of State. The former Senator from Pennsylvania seems to be running for the head of the Christian Coalition. Mitt Romney, despite his money and the fact he has been running for five years, still comes across as a mid market tv news anchor trying to craft his words to keep his market share.

Then, there is Gingrich. He is a man with admitted personal baggage. But, he has the experience and the depth of knowledge to know what he can do and what he can't do. Gingrich is serious and thoughtful. The others seem handled.

Frankly put, a debate between President Obama and Gingrich would be one for the ages. It would rival Kennedy and Nixon. Such a race would give America a real debate and real choice between two heavyweights.

In that match, VUI thinks Gingrich would prevail. But, for that to happen, Gingrich must win the GOP nomination. Nominating Gingrich would be the smart thing for the GOP to do, but the question is will the GOP do it?

It will be a classic showdown. Romney will have the professionally crafted soundbites. Others will throw out the so call red meat. Gingrich will appeal to thinking about solutions to our problems.

One thing is certain, big Obama supporters do not want to face Gingrich. They might act like they are chomping at the bit to go after his personal issues, but more than one Obama supporter has told VUI that they fear facing Gingrich in a debate.

They should. He is the smartest man in the room among the Republicans and would be with the President. To be clear, the President can and will beat the others. Gingrich would make the President seem like a lightweight.

Emails are public record

2011-11-22T03:44:00.000-05:00

Say what you will about the Occupy Columbia movement, but one of the attorneys representing the protesters stumbled upon something that should bother us all. Governor Nikki Haley and her staff routinely delete taxpayer paid for email messages to one another.

Now we all delete emails. Most of our email inboxes are filled with junk emails ranging from schemes to get us to deposit money to get money to things that tell us how to have better sex lives.

But, in this age, government emails are public records. Emails are the typed memos of yesterday that give the public and the press an idea about how decisions are made in government and how state government officials react to events of the day. The people are entitled to have such emails saved and available for public scrutiny.

We now know that Governor Haley and her people delete their emails to one another. Such is self serving and an insult to the people of South Carolina. It is especially insulting when one considers how Governor Haley ran a campaign promising open and accountable state government. Frankly put, deleting emails slaps the face of every South Carolinian who voted for Governor Haley thinking she would be open.

Perhaps Governor Haley and her people are just ignorant. But, one thing is clear. The taxpayers of South Carolina pay for the government internet access and the emails in question. As such, they are entitled to know the contents of such emails that they pay for.

If Governor Haley and her staff have things that must be deleted, let them email via private accounts that they pay for. Otherwise, deleting official emails plays into the hands of conspiracy theorists, activists and others. In other words, it is just plain politically dumb.

If you doubt that, look at what deleting official emails has done to Governor Haley's position on the Occupy Columbia crowd. Haley had ordered them to leave State House grounds by 6PM. Now she is backing off that stand as it becomes obvious that the Governor who promised to be so open is not that open after all.

Chances are there is nothing sinister in the deleted emails. But, the act of deleting them begs the question of what was in them. Such a trivial thing can derail a Governor's agenda. It also shows a marked ignorance of the world we live in today.

For we live in a world in which emails and text messages are the accepted form of communication. When such things are deleted by government officials, it is as offensive to the public as destroying files and memos. And it is certainly not the stuff a Governor and Administration committed to openness does.

Steve Kodman

2011-11-19T04:39:00.002-05:00

I lost one of my best friends recently. Most of you in the political world will never know the name of Steve Kodman. Frankly, Kodman would have it that way.

But, he was my friend, one of my truest friends. I met him way back in 1988 at a scholarship competition at then Lander College. We both were interviewing for full scholarships. Kodman oozed confidence. He spoke to me, right away, about a girl he wanted to date. She was a softball star named Jennifer. Steve and I both ended up at Lander with scholarships and we struck a friendship up that has been one of the richest in my life. Steve taught me how to coach when we coached basketball together.

When Steve’s car was not up to par, I would drive him to Clemson to see his softball star. I was fortunate to be one of the men who stood by Steve as he took Jennifer for his wife back in 1994. I was there when their first boy was born. As fate would have, I was one of the men who toted Steve to his final resting place. All of it was a privilege . Steve was there for me in so many ways.

Fraternally, he was my “big brother,” ushering me through the pledging process. But, more than that, he always was a brother to me. He was a real big brother. He was my coach, my mentor. He was a man who showed me, even sick, how to be a man. I always looked up to him and followed him to USC Law and took his career advice. At my lowest moments, Steve always had my back.

So, it crushed me when I could not have his. After we worked together to get Alan Wilson nominated as the Republican candidate for Attorney General last summer, I learned that Steve was diagnosed with Stage Four Lung Cancer. When he was diagnosed, Steve had cancer that had spread to his bones in his ribs.

Steve spent his life fighting for the right things, as a prosecutor in Aiken, Lexington and Horry counties and in the Attorney General’s office. So when faced with the fight of his life, Steve fought with the courage that defined him. Steve had a way of encouraging people who were trying to encourage him. That was his way. Steve Kodman was John Wayne in a puissant world and I will get sideways with anyone who says otherwise.

But, like so many, Steve lost his fight. I lost one of the best friends I ever had. But my own self pity is tempered when I think how his wife Jennifer lost a beloved husband and how his boys, Patrick, Thomas and Drew lost a devoted father.

I have traveled a lot through this state. I met all kinds of people. God has blessed me with that. But, in all my travels, in all my experiences, I never met a soul more dedicated to doing right than Steve Kodman. He was loyal to his wife and kids. He was loyal to his friends. He fought for justice. I will miss him so much, and this world will be less without him in it. Rest in Peace, my brother.

We will be back soon

2011-10-10T03:17:00.000-05:00

The Editor and staff of VUI have been busy with other endeavors lately, but that does not mean that we do not care about South Carolina. Indeed, as we get things together over the new few days, we are going to be back like never before. We are working on stories about public schools, high school football, the Haley administration and possible corruption in a Solicitors office in SC.

VUI told you state retirement was going broke long before the mainstream media, among other stories. We like to get things right here and not write to see our words in print. So, watch out, we are going to be digging and getting into things full forced and informing and entertaining as we always set out to do.

Rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated. Just wait and see.

Ten years ago

2011-09-11T06:47:00.000-05:00

It has been ten years since that fateful September day. I was standing in a customer's office. The tv in the office was blaring out something about a tragic accident involving an airliner flying into the World Trade Center.

I left that customer's office and started to make my way down to Bamberg, South Carolina, where I had to examine a real estate title. My mobile phone rang. It was my mother. She said another plane hit the other World Trade Center tower. She also reminded me of something I had not thought of, my father was on an airplane headed for Chicago.

I turned around the first chance I got. The title exam in Bamberg could wait. I went to my home. By the time I got to my suburban Columbia home, The Pentagon was hit. I still remember VH1 of all stations having the news on.

I spoke again to my mother. She had yet to hear from my father. I quickly made plans to go to their home in Honea Path. Between the time I left for Honea Path and arrived, my mother spoke to my father. He was stranded in Columbus Ohio with some business associates.

I had a chevy astro van at the time, something I had for NASCAR races and the like. But, it became clear that my van and I were Ohio bound. My father's best friend, a man I call "Uncle Skip" was at my parents house and ready to go with me. "Uncle Skip" was an old army special forces guy, a guy who had been called up to go and rescue the ship Mayaguez during the Ford administration. Having old Skip with me was invaluable. He kept me both awake and sane.

And, there were crazy things Skip and I saw in our trip from Honea Path to Ohio the night of September 11th and the day of September 12th. There was an improvised checkpoint in the state of Tennessee. For what, I still don't know. There was a soldier and his wife we met at rest stop in Kentucky on his way to Ft. Campbell after being recalled from leave. There was gas prices as high as $5 a gallon in Kentucky and Ohio. We both listened intently to President Bush on the radio.

I got tired. I got irritated. But, ole Skip kept me sane. He kept saying things like " we got a duty here boy," and the like.

Eventually, we reached my father and his business associates in Columbus. They cramped into my little van and made their way home. They were grateful for the ride home. For, you see, there were no airflights, and all rentals had been frozen as well.

Many people remember where they were when they heard that an attack had happened. I remember that as well. I also remember the long, weird night into day trip I had with ole Skip to go get my father and his business associates. The time was surreal. So much was so odd.

I will never forget what happened on September 11, 2001, not only because of the tragedy, but because of what I learned about the best and worst of America. The best was ole Skip, a true friend who was a companion in getting my dad back home. The worst was the folks who wanted to charge us $5 a gallon for gas south of Cincinnati.

If I live to be a hundred, I will never forget that day, and the barbarians who threw our lives into surreality. It is something we should remember. I will never, ever,forget the images of people jumping from the trade tower out of my head. I will never, ever, forget the images of the towers falling. I will never, ever, forget the surreal night and day Skip and I had to get my father and his business associates home.

So many of us forget what happened that day. Politics or whatever inspires so many of us to forget. I will never forget. When I later learned that the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania came very close to my father's flight, I cringed.

Ten years later, the memories of September 11th burn in my mind. It is why I am proud that I voted for President Bush twice. At least he got the fact we have to fight the Islamic fascists head on.

Regardless of the politics, I will never forget, and I will always be grateful to ole Skip. He is one helluva man.

Enjoy Labor Day, but drive sober

2011-09-02T05:11:00.003-05:00

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. But, if you a few cold ones, ride home with a friend or call a cab. Two reasons for that. First, you will not be risking lives if you do not drive drunk. The other reason is the boys in blue are out to get you and they will see you before you see them. Thanks to all the deputies and troopers out there who work to keep the roads safe.

Whats wrong with blogging today

2011-08-30T03:54:00.000-05:00

I like blogging. I have broke some stories here that it took the mainstream media a couple of weeks to catch on to. I take pride that not one of those posts were proven false or without merit. But, I do this just to inform and entertain, not to make myself famous or make a buck off of running down someone’s name.

Recently, FITS News , ran by Will Folks, a blog and a man I actually have defended on this blog, posted allegations that South Carolina Gamecock baseball hero Scott Wingo had someone else take his SAT for him. Follow up posts were promised but as of this post, were not delivered.

Frankly, I do not worry about such being posted. Perhaps they will be. But, the great problem with blogging, face book, twitter, all of it is made clear by that point. Some guy tells some blogger some story that will make the blogger famous if it is true. So, the blogger runs with it. Fair enough.

When such happens in politics, it is par for the course, so to speak. Politics is nasty in South Carolina. We are known for it. But, when a kid, a civilian if you will, is maligned over an anonymous tip without digging deep, it shows the problem with the blog media. I am not going to accuse Folks of this, but too many bloggers are willing to post allegations they know are flimsy in the hopes that they prove true and get them on ESPN or Fox News or wherever to drive up their hits and satisfy their ad buyers.

The problem is with the people that are hurt by it. In Wingo’s case, it is extraordinarily difficult to have someone take the SAT in your place. Procedures are in place that are far more stringent than getting a SCDL or voting, even under the new voter identification law. The College Board’s currency is its credibility with the colleges and universities of the nation. To think they would allow a slip up for, at the time, a medium talent baseball recruit at South Carolina is just dim.

Further, Coach Ray Tanner has a reputation of impeccable adherence to rules and ethics. The kid in question has performed in the class room and on the field. To malign Tanner, the University of South Carolina, and some kid who plays ball, to have a shot a ESPN type fame is irresponsible.

But, such happens all the time now. People block ex wives or business partners from seeing their social network pages and blast them on them. Blogs like the Huffington Post fire off with little substance. The list of those types of blogs go and on. The truth gets lost in the din of noise of those who write the loudest.

And, who is hurt? Well, all us are to some degree. But, that kid is hurt especially bad. He has his whole professional life ahead. And, now, with one of the most prominent writers publishing allegations he cheated, that will go with him. Once the allegation is made, there are some people who believe it even if its proven wrong.

That’s fine for politics. But, in sports and other private endeavors, those of us who claim to inform, commentate or entertain have to have some sense of decency, especially when it comes to young people. Again, not making allegations, but if a blogger makes allegations based on anonymous and flimsy information just to take a shot at being famous, well, that blogger has got a hole in his soul.

I imagine the folks like that won’t like how I put things and gun for me. That only will make the hole for them bigger. And, it will make my point stronger,

Polling numbers and the national angst

2011-08-24T03:23:00.000-05:00

Numbers are hard things to argue with. While statisticians and pollsters can “massage” numbers with questions, samples, etc, large numbers just stay about the same. Reviewing some of the GALLUP organization's most recent polling data shows Americans are unhappy not only with the President, but with Congress, the Tea Party, and life.

Nearly half of Americans polled, (48 percent), say they are either struggling or suffering. That national angst is focused on the political leaders.

President Obama has an approval rating of just 38 percent and a disapproval of 54 percent. That is a horrible number for a incumbent President a little over a year away from a re-election contest. In normal political climates, it was be easy to predict Obama’s sound defeat next Fall with those numbers.

However, these are not normal times. The President remains more popular than Congress, who comes in at 13 percent approval, (by far the lowest in polling history), and the chief rival of President Obama, the so called “Tea Party” has only a 25 percent approval rating. Frankly put, the American people do not like any of the players on the current political scene. The majority of Americans simply do not approve of or trust the major players.

That makes 2012 an unpredictable election. Of course paid for consultants, who are actually a part of the disconnect, will argue how both sides are sure to win. But, the situation actually is fluid. A dark horse candidate could win the White House. The President could win re-election in a landslide. Events will be bigger than the candidates for Congress and for the White House. Because when the half the nation consider themselves struggling or suffering, traditional political wisdom is all but useless.

Think on it. The Democrats took the House because the American people were tired of the Republican Congress and President Bush. President Obama was elected in part because Bush was so unpopular. The Republicans took back the House because the Democratic Congress was so unpopular. Now, the Republican House, the Democratic Senate, the Tea Party, and the President all are solidly disapproved of by the American people., There are districts and states in Congress where the Republican or Democrat should win. But, in the middle that decides national power, there is no telling what will happen.

If VUI had to call it, we would give a slight edge to the President. For, at 38 percent, he is the most popular player in the national political game. And, that says a lot about the state of America.

The NCAA should take a different approach with cheaters

2011-08-23T01:09:00.000-05:00

Even casual sports fans know about the scandal involving the University of Miami and a booster who allegedly was a ponzi scheme artist who used is his ill gotten gain to shower athletes with cash, parties, and even women. It is college sports at its worst.

All sorts of rumors about how the NCAA is going to address the situation are floating around, including a harsh probation or even a death penalty for the Miami football program.

The death penalty for Miami is not just and will not deter other cheaters. Here is how. First, new coach Al Golden, his staff and most of the current players had nothing to do with the alleged scandal. How is it just for them to be punished for the acts of others? Further, Miami does not interact in the college football world alone. There are other teams in their conference and elsewhere that have scheduled them, count on the revenue that comes from playing them, etc. How is punishing those programs just?

If the NCAA really wants to do justice and wants to make its rules be taken seriously, it should ban all coaches, players, and administrators guilty of such from participating in NCAA sports as a player or coach for life. Any administrator who oversaw such nonsense should be banned as well. Simply ban those folks from being employed, volunteering, being a booster, being in a Hall of Fame, etc., from any member school in the NCAA. In that way, the culprits get the punishment.

As things stand, a President can oversee an Athletics Director who can oversee a Coach and his staff that allows a booster to cheat. All the before mentioned move on to other schools, with no consequences, and their old school and the new coaches and players are punished. The system as it is seems to reward cheating.

Change it. Punish the culprits and watch people start to get interested in running bad boosters and the like off their campuses.

Think the debt ceiling fight did not matter? Think again

2011-08-14T09:14:00.001-05:00

The debt ceiling fight between Congress and the President made great headlines. It made financial institutions think about things. Some say it led to Standard and Poor's to lower the the US credit rating. It certainly made interesting news for the cable news networks.

Another thing the debate on the debt ceiling accomplished is not not noted. Democrats and Republicans alike do not want this secret out about what their political game playing meant. But, we at VUI, we tell it straight.

Strong sources in the military tell us that military pay checks did not go out on time. The staff of VUI has been told directly, by members of the military, that they did not get their pay checks on time. Their pay checks were delayed. The blame was put on the budget showdown.

Fair enough. VUI made clear, a over a week ago that the SC DOT could not pay its bills. Now the mainstream media is picking up on it. That insult to hard working contractors was and is outrageous.

But, even more outrageous is the fact, and we have verified, the fact that hard working military folks, the folks we ask to defend our way of life, were delayed paychecks because of political points being made, both right and left. While politicians were scoring points, playing golf, getting face time on cable news shows, the men and women of the military were being told, "wait another week" for their pay.

Those folks did get paid. But, that is not the point. With what we pay the military, so many of those folks and their families live paycheck to paycheck. Holding a paycheck for several days puts those folks in a bind. The fact that payment to them was denied because of political gamesmanship on both sides is a dadgummed outrage.

We ask the men and women of the military to give, as Lincoln put it, "the full measure of devotion," to our nation. In return, our political leaders get in a urinating contest that results in folks not being paid on time. It is an outrage. Indeed, the insult to the military and to us all, is deep from these clowns. They would rather score political points then run the country. Consultants say do this to win the Tea Party. Other consultants say this to win the Move On crowd. All the while, actually running the country gets left all alone. No wonder we have the problems we do. We elected them.

High School Friday Nights are back

2011-08-14T05:37:00.000-05:00

All around South Carolina, young men and coaches have been working on the game of football. The fans got their first glimpse of the work the coaches and young men do over the weekend with Jamborees that have teams scrimmaging against each other. Next, week, so called Week Zero to the SCHL, football gets real. A full slate of games follows the next Friday night.

High school football is ingrained in the culture of South Carolina. Even the kids that do not go out for the team have pride in their school's team. At most schools, dozens, if not hundreds of kids work hard to be good football players, good band members, good cheerleaders, managers, and spirit club members. All the students and the coaches, be them paid or volunteer, of the football team, the band, the cheerleaders, they all work hard to put on a Friday night for the fans. Others are involved, like the transportation people who make sure the kids and coaches get the buses and vans needed to get to the games and do not forget the officials and the people with South Carolina High School League and South Carolina Band Directors Association that work to make the contests fair and safe.

All those people come to come together to be a part of the special tradition that is fall high school Friday nights in South Carolina. Life is fast, it comes and goes so quick, but all those involved from the fan, to the head coach, to the band director to the guy volunteering to sell tickets or sodas, to the cop who works for half his pay or free to provide security, they are a part of the tradition of fall Friday nights that lives on.

Indeed, the uniting force and tradition of high school Friday nights brings together all sorts of people. People of different races, incomes, political ideas, agendas, beliefs, talents, they come together to give us the games. When one thinks of that, it is hard not passionate about something that does so much good, even in the worst of times.

Think on it, when it is fourth down and goal at the one and the home team has the ball, down by six with a few seconds left, the liberal and conservatives both cheer for the touchdown for the home team and , if they cheer on the other side, they cheer for the defense to hold. Nothing transcends all our differences in South Carolina like our high school football teams. And, our bands add to it, some of them with outstanding performances that get the same different people up cheering and clapping for the same team.

Having coached two sports now, basketball and football, I believe that every kid counts on a team. The kid who shows up to practice and practices hard makes the starters better. He or she makes a difference. But, in the big scheme, everyone counts on this great tradition that is High School Friday nights. Every role in that night counts and makes South Carolina a better place to live. It is a special thing.

So, if you are looking for something to do in the next several Friday nights, go to a high school football game. Buy a hot dog, watch the game, enjoy the band. Look around and see the best of South Carolina from towns like little McBee to big cities like Columbia. The money you spend for a ticket, for the hot dog, etc., goes to the worthy cause of giving South Carolina one of is finest traditions that brings out the best in people: High School Friday Night.

Health care costs are the problem

2011-08-10T03:06:00.003-05:00

As the United States deals with its debt crisis and deals with Standard and Poor’s downgrading the United States federal government’s credit rating, one of the growing debates is about health care.

The President and the Democrats who had control of Congress passed a so called Health Care Reform Act. That act did absolutely nothing to lower health care prices. What it did was cater to health insurance companies, and make criminal not having health insurance coverage. Now, why the Act offers subsidies to pay the lesser among us some sort of subsidies for that heath insurance coverage, it still was something that did nothing to lower prices.

Let’s face real facts here. The great frustration of rank and file Americans is not having health insurance, it is having health insurance and still being put in a financial hole. A man or woman can spend their entire lives having health insurance, get sick, and be stuck with big bills after insurance pays.

Here is how that happens. America has seen a shift in the health care profession, from being non profit to profit. As health care went to profit, so called financial professionals have been hired by health care providers to maximize profits. Here is how that works. Supposed a procedure will be paid $100, to be simple, by insurance companies. Health care financial experts take that number, then figure out you can pay thirty dollars yourself. So they charge you $130 for the act. Your insurance company pays $100 and you are stuck with the $30 leftover. VUI choose low numbers to make a point simple. But, frankly there are folks out there who paid their entire lives for health insurance, had something like a heart attack and find themselves, after insurance will bills ten or twenty times that after insurance. The health care providers are in the business of maximizing profits. And with people choosing living or dying, getting those profits are like shooting fish in a barrel. You got a $100,000 in your savings after a lifetime, they will take it.

Health care providers will tell you that that Americans have access to the best health care in the world, the most innovative treatments. That is true if you have good insurance coverage and money. What they do not tell you is that millions of dollars of money is spent lobbying state legislatures to make health care malpractice harder to go after. They do not tell you that they lobby to make sure they will not cover simple tests that find things like cancer in the earlier stages. In other words, big health care, spending big money, raises your bills to outrageous levels and spends millions to make it harder for you or you family to recover if your health care provider messes up. No other profession in America enjoys such protections.

That said, there is another part of the health care industry that is outrageous, and that is elderly care. If a man or woman lives their whole life saving some money, and paying insurance, God help them if they get dementia or something like that and need nursing home care. The nursing home health care provider runs through their savings, and takes every dollar of their Social Security benefits. What is even more outrageous is that such care is often provided by people who frankly have no business doing it. It is all about the profit and administrators of such care get relatively big money leeching off people who made their livings working hard. Think on it. There are people out there, with no formal medical training, with not even a Bachelor’s degree in such things, making big salaries and deciding what is good for your grandfather or grandmother, all the while running through the lifetime of savings you grandfather or grandmother built. VUI really does not blame the folks who have to make that decision, but the big for profit folks who hire them for cheap because they do not have the formal training.

That, folks, is what is wrong with America and health care. We live in a country that touts freedom, but if you live your life the right way, save your money, and you get sick, you lose it all to the health care leeches. That is why so many American are tired of things. They see our politicians all but paid off. Indeed, we live in a country in which states must and do regulate things like a cable television bill and a electric bill, but health care providers are free to drain you dry. And, living, that is probably the most irrational economic act people make. Health care for profit folks take advantage of that. Ten dollar aspirins and taking the savings of old folks is the tip of so called iceberg. Nowhere in the world, but America, can a man or woman in the middle class build a small fortune and watch it all go away just to get basic health care, even with insurance. Obama missed that. The Tea Party Republicans missed that. And, that folks is why so many remained so ticked off in this country. And, making it criminal that poor folks do not get insurance will not do a damn thing about it. The for profit health care industry bleeds the middle class and government alike.

President Obama has reached his low point

2011-08-06T08:59:00.001-05:00

Weeks of bickering with Republicans over the debt ceiling did take its toll. Standard and Poor’s downgraded the United States credit rating to AA+, citing the inability of the Congress and President to get their acts together on the national debt. The credit rating agency left them both to blame.
But, there is only one man in the White House, the focal point of credit and blame, and that is Barack Obama. As the news, as odd as it came on a Friday night, came in about the Standard and Poor’s decision, a more pressing matter came into the White House.

In Afghanistan, 31 American troops were killed in one shot from a Taliban supporter’s anti aircraft weapon against a Chinook helicopter. Seven Aghans were killed as well. The war in Afghanistan, thought to be one the United States was winding down victory in, is all too real again.

Add to that dismal economic numbers that came out this week, along with a sluggish stock market. We are indeed a long way from the heady day in January 2009, when the President took office, and even farther from his campaign promises to win in Afghanistan, get out finances in order, and get our economy moving again.

Indeed, this President, whose election was to so many a dream come true, is living a nightmare. The bad news just keeps coming to his desk. And, fair or not, he will take the blame. That is how life in the Oval Office goes. Sometimes the circumstances overwhelms the man holding the job.

It happened in 1968. Lyndon Johnson passed more legislation to help the poor than any President in history. He also did more to fight the communist menace than any President during the Cold War. But it whipped him politically, and he wisely sought no second term on his own.

Perhaps President Obama should think of Lyndon Johnson. The economy suffers, our credit is downgraded, the war he promised to win for us is still hot, perhaps the President should shock the world and remove himself for re-election. It would give his Presidency a boost past this low point and be a real act of patriotism. Besides, a former President Obama will live a comfortable life with book and speaking deals and secret service to boot.

Chances are Obama will run re-election. And, as he does, he will, by the force of campaigning, have to divide this nation. The President will do the very thing that Standard and Poor’s says is the problem. The Republicans will answer him in kind. Doing business in this country is secondary to their respective political whims.

But, one thing is not a whim. Like him or not, President Obama has overseen growing debt and military and economic setbacks. His promise is nowhere near being fulfilled. Indeed, his Presidency, with the recent news is at a low point not seen since that of Jimmy Carter.

Obama Stimulus gone wrong: SCDOT can't pay its bills on time

2011-08-01T00:47:00.000-05:00

The national and regional media are focusing on the federal government’s debt ceiling crisis, making points about who will get paid and who will not get paid if a deal is not reached before the August 2nd deadline. That is a real story.

But, government is apparently already having trouble paying its bills. Sources tell VUI that the South Carolina Department of Transportation is 60 to 90 days behind in paying contractors for paving projects. Such sluggishness in the paying the bills comes in the heart of “paving season,” that is the time of year in which paving can relatively easily be done. As fall and winter approaches, such paving ends.

Now, how are sluggish payments affecting South Carolina roads? Put bluntly, contractors, and their sub contractors pay for equipment, supplies and labor up front. The longer the state takes to pay them, the more stretched everyone in the chain of money becomes. As the days waiting for payment drag on, sub contractors are the first to fold, then contractors simply have to shut down their work. When that work shuts down, projects on roads such as Interstate 385 and 26 will simply end. Secondary road work soon follows.

How is this happening? Well, it appears that the State of South Carolina ordered considerable road work counting on money from the federal government via President Obama’s shovel ready part of his stimulus package. The state contracted with companies to do work that it thought it would get from the federal government in part to pay for. The problem is, the federal payments to the state have not happened.

That has left the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the contractors who do business with it in a bind. One source told VUI that the SCDOT has even went to the South Carolina Budget and Control Board and asked for a temporary loan of $50 million to pay contractors. Another source made it clear, that without payment, his business would have to stop working on state projects altogether. Various politicians know about this situation and are trying to help the unpaid contractors, but without the money, their efforts seem fruitless.

It is one big mess. One that is before any fallout from the debt ceiling crisis. South Carolina is having a hard time paying its bills to private contractors. Blaming the federal government will be easy to do. Whomever is to blame, there is a good chance private contractors can not go on paving in the paving season this year. One thing is for sure, those private contractors are not to blame. They can not be expected to work for free.

Who will the next Lt. Governor of South Carolina be?

2011-07-25T00:37:00.000-05:00

The talk around Columbia is now that at some point in the relatively near future, Lt. Governor Ken Ard will resign his post State Senator Glenn McConnell, as President Pro Tempore of the State Senate is next in line. McConnell does not want the job for all sorts of reasons. There are rumors floating around Columbia about a plan to deal with Ard’s resignation. McConnell supposedly has a letter of resignation from his position as President Pro Tempore of the State Senate ready to deliver if Ard quits his post. McConnell will resign his post, allow the election of another state senator, and then take back his old job after the new President Pro Tempore is elevated by the state constitution to the office of Lt. Governor

There are so many rumors and debate going on about who will be that Lt. Governor. Ard of course, might not leave office, but if the State Grand Jury indicts him, he will have little choice. The political atmosphere has changed since then Governor Mark Sanford faced such charges. An indicted Lt. Governor Ard will have no choice. But, the State Senate is mulling over their choices.

Three names keep coming up in various conversations: Harvey Peeler of Gaffney, John Courson of Columbia, and Larry Martin of Pickens. All three have served the state of South Carolina long and well in the South Carolina State Senate. Peeler, the Majority Leader of the State Senate, would join his brother Bob in being the only brothers to hold the office of Lt. Governor. Courson, long known for his love history, would cap off a long career in the job. Martin, who has served in state politics since 1979, is respected for his work ethic and his demeanor. Any of the three would bring dignity to the office of Lt. Governor, and the office Lt Governor sorely needs that to survive. (VUI will post later about why we should have an elected Lt. Governor)

Old fashioned politics will play a hand in deciding who gets the job if Ard resigns, McConnell is not going to ever take the job. Rule him out. Peeler holds on to a seat in Cherokee County that might go Democrat if he left it, and he does an outstanding job as Majority Leader. Courson holds a seat in Richland County that frankly, some think only he can hold for the GOP. That leaves Larry Martin. He is respected, he can wear the office well, and his seat in the South Carolina Senate is safe for the GOP in a special election.

So, VUI predicts, if Ken Ard resigns, Larry Martin will end up Lt. Governor of South Carolina. South Carolina will not lack with Martin. Martin has served in state politics since 1979, in both the State House and State Senate. Martin is a textile guy, and we like that. Martin has been recognized for his work for the mentally ill and the blind. Indeed, some might say that work is what best qualifies Martin to preside over the State Senate and be Nikki Haley’s Lt. Governor.

We all pay the price of the game of political chicken on the debt

2011-07-23T03:57:00.000-05:00

The President of the United States and the United States Congress are playing a high stakes game of chicken. For those who you do not know about the game of chicken, it is a game, mostly played in rural parts of the United Statres, where men have their egos tested. Sometimes it is cars against cars in a lane, sometimes is tractors against tractors head on. Sometimes it is man against man in some bar. It is a game of egos, not worrying about the consequences.

Frankly, that is what the President of the United States and the Speaker of the House are doing. They had dueling press conferences on Friday. They refuse each others calls. They both are surrounded by sycophants, the Tea Party on the right and liberals on the Left. They all cry dig in. That call goes about while those of us who know something about economics and business know that if the United States defaults on its debts, all economic Hell will break loose.

But, the politicos want it. The game of chicken is in their political calculations for 2012. The economic problems that their game of chicken could cause for the rest of matters not to them.

Frankly put, all involved earned the Southern title of pissants. Here is how. Speaker Boehner broke off talks with the President of the United States. He would not even return the President’s phone calls. The President vacillates. The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution gives the President the right to raise the debt ceiling on his own. Instead, he debates with his legal team, he debates with Congress, he meanders.

Why does the Speaker ignore the President of the United States? Why does the President of the United States fail to act powerfully? The answer is simple. They are playing politics with the future of our economy. The people around both men want to score political points, make moves. The fact that the people of the United States will suffer from a failure to raise the debt ceiling eludes both sides. They want to score political points.

The fault about what could happen lies everywhere. But, the President has the power to act. Forget the Congress. Congress approved the budget we are under that has created the debt. They even raised their own salaries. The President should give up his professor like vacillation and raise the debt limit by executive order. The President should have done that long ago.

But, the President did not. He wanted to score political points. The Speaker wanted the same.

So, here we are. Two sides are dug in over political gamesmanship. Fears of high interest rates, runaway inflation, and disrespect around the world mean little to those folks. It will hammer the American people hard. But, that is all good for the people who think they can win some type of political advantage.

Our leaders have let us down, in both parties. Both sides are scared to death of some political interests. They are beholden to them, not to the dreams of greatness of America. And, as an American businessman, I am scared to death of what their game of chicken will cost us all.

Goodbye and thank you space shuttle program

2011-07-22T01:11:00.001-05:00

On April 12th, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was recovering from a gunshot wound he received in an assassination attempt. The Soviet Union seemed the better of the United States in the Cold War. Most Americans did not have access to cable television. Mobile telephones were elite contraptions found in cars. The personal computer as we know it was basically still a dream. The internet was slow, clumsy and in the hands of the military and academics. Microwave ovens and old VCRS were not even common in American homes.

Also on that date, NASA launched the first mission into space of his daring space shuttle program. The space shuttle named Columbia, with two crew members, launched into space, beginning a thirty year run that would change the world and see the world change.

To understand the magnitude of the space shuttle, one must grasp how difficult it is to go into space. It takes tremendous energy to break the Earth’s gravity and go into space. It is dangerous stuff. While the United States mastered that, it had not mastered doing that with a space vehicle that could land on Earth and be used again. Until the successful mission of Columbia in April of 1981, even elite scientists thought such a thing was relegated to the science fiction writers. Columbia proved them wrong and started a trend toward to technology.

NASA has always been on the cutting edge of technology. The drive to achieve great things in space has given Americans, and all human beings, big dividends here on Earth. Many of the technological wonders we now take for granted have their roots in the space program.

The space shuttle program was no different in what if offered. NASA developed a fleet of shuttles that serviced space stations, put satellites in orbit, and did research that made differences on a seemingly routine basis. For five years, traveling in space on the shuttle seemed routine. People forgot how daring and challenging the feat was.

Then, in January of 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded during its ascent into space. The sadness and shock of America and the world were real, but then President Reagan insisted that the shuttle program go on. Reagan was on of those leaders that thought America dared to do great things.

And, do great things from then on the shuttle program did. All sorts of achievements in space where made. As those achievements were made, Americans found more and more high technology in their daily lives. Lessons learned and well maintained satellites and space stations made technology part of every day life. It was not all the space shuttle, but NASA programs were right in the middle of making things like the internet, cable and satellite television and mobile phones readily available for the masses, among other things we now just take for granted.

We also took for granted as routine the space shuttle missions. That ended on February 1st, 2003. After seventeen years of routine space travel, and almost 22 years after its first flight, Columbia was destroyed reentering the Earth’s atmosphere. Seven lives were lost. Political finger pointing began.

The shuttle program continued, but with a huge political backdrop. Investigations were launched. People questioned costs. That led to President George W. Bush issuing a directive ordering NASA to shut down the shuttle fleet and seek other space vehicles. President Obama went one step farther when he took office, and ironically for a liberal Democrat, moved to shift space travel and the maintenance of the satellites that are now so much a part of daily life to be handled by private entities.

Thus, last night, the space shuttle Endeavour touched down on Earth, bringing to a close the one of the most successful and daring things the United States and, frankly, humanity has ever done. Despite the 14 lives lost during the thirty years of the space shuttle program, the space shuttle made space travel routine, it gave us incredible advances, and showed to the world just how much the United States gives to the advancement of the world. When one ponders the achievement of the space shuttle and how it and NASA changed the world in the last thirty years, perhaps it is fitting the shuttle program ended last night.

For, we now seem to live in a time in which politicians on the right and the left do not believe in Americans achieving great things. They tell us to tax. They tell us to cut. They tell us we can no longer be who we are. They tell is, as the President said, to “eat our peas.” They tell us as the TEA Party folks say that we can no longer afford the price for being great in our achievements and how we treat one another. Indeed, the death of something like the space shuttle program seems to sum up the sorry leadership we Americans get on the right and the left today.

For, we are the nation that went to the moon. We are the nation that created NASA and the space shuttle program. We are the nation that forever changed the world for the better. Having leaders who tell us, on the right and the left, that we no longer are, what Ronald Reagan dubbed, “the shining city on the hill” that “is the best hope for mankind,” defines how we as a people have declined. We must dream. We must have things like NASA and the space shuttle. We put aside those on right and left filled with fear. We are Americans. We dare to great things and to treat one another well.

Thank you, NASA. Thank you to every single astronaut and worker on the space shuttle program for a job well done. You showed the greatness of the United States of America. Congress and the President should learn from you.

Lt. Governor Ard will likely stay in office

2011-07-19T01:54:00.000-05:00

We at VUI were glad to see that someone other than our staff reads campaign finance disclosures and finds interesting stuff. We have been doing it for years. But, when Democratic Party Chairman Dick Hartpootlian and the South Carolina Democratic Party did the homework, the State newspaper ran an article about more problems with Lt. Governor Ard and his campaign finances.

Attorney General Alan Wilson announced he was forming a task force to investigate Ard and other cases of potential public corruption.

So, it does look bad for Lt. Governor Ard. However, unless some major development happens, do not look for Lt. Governor Ard to resign or be booted from office.

After all, former Governor Sanford had more serious allegations and he paid a civil fine and paid that fine with campaign money. Frankly, politicians and political groups in South Carolina play fast and loose with the laws and get away with it. That is the culture of South Carolina politics that gives us all sorts of groups who hide their contributors.

The culture of South Carolina politics is not the biggest reason that Ard is relatively safe. The biggest reason is State Senator Glenn McConnell. McConnell, who as President Pro Tempore of the State Senate, has the most raw power in state government, made clear during the Sanford scandal that he did not want to be Lt. Governor. Some believe that saved Sanford.

Little has changed since the Sanford scandal. McConnell remains a quietly powerful figure. People around the state do not know him by and large, but he rules the State Senate with his wit and his politically iron fist. As President Pro Tempore, he would be elevated to Lt. Governor if Ard resigned, leaving his powerful post to be better known with a lot less power.

During the Sanford scandal, ideas were floated about McConnell resigning his post as President Pro Tempore and letting his replacement become Lt. Governor and then taking back the office after the elevation. That is tricky. Letting Ard stay in office is a sure thing. That is why, again, unless something bigger breaks, Lt. Governor Ard stays.

A tragic night for baseball

2011-07-08T04:04:00.000-05:00

I love the game of baseball. I have followed it since I was a kid. As a kid, I learned to respect what happened in the game of baseball. I could never hit, on a regular basis, the balls coming at me at all speeds. I learned to respect the game.

Recently, my dad pointed out to me that I had coached on championship youth teams in basketball and football. “Son, you need to go coach one in baseball and win one of those to finish it up.” I replied, “ No sir, I will never coach baseball, it is my past time. I just want to watch and enjoy.” Anyone who has ever coached a sport knows that watching games in that sport, you can not help but think about what you would do. Baseball is my brain candy and enjoyment.

Well, my enjoyment was hit by tragedy last night. I root for three teams, the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs and the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are my AL team to root for.

First, baseball is about fun. Going to the park, at the college, minor league or major league level, is fun. You grab a beer and a bad hot dog. You hope to grab a foul ball when you sit in the bleachers like I do. You just hope to have a good time.

That is what that firefighter in Arlington, Texas was after last night. He wanted to have a good time with his young son. A ball player, doing what he thought was the right thing, threw a foul ball up into the stands, that firefighter went for it, misjudged his position, and tumbled head first to his eventual death over the rails. My brain candy became hard reality when I saw the footage. A boy lost his dad, a wife lost her husband, and oh how I feel for that poor guy who tried to reach for him and grab him.

In the coming days we are going to hear all sorts of things. You can bet someone will reach out to the grieving family and help them find a way to sue the Rangers or Major League Baseball. There will be jerks out there who say, “why do that for a just a baseball?”

When all those things come out, I ask you to remember this. A dad took his son to a baseball game. That dad tried to get his son a foul ball to remember the date. It was tragic. But, it was what any dad would do for his kid at a baseball game. What he done was not stupid. What the player for the Rangers did in throwing the foul ball up to the stands was not sinister. What happened was a tragic accident. It was horrific.

But, the great game goes on. There have been fans who leapt to their deaths for all sorts of reasons. There have been players who got killed running into outfield walls and by pitches. But, what hits hard is there was this good guy, a good dad, trying to get the sweet souvenir for his kid. Anyone who loves the game of baseball is saddened by what happened. For that guy in Arlington who died going for the foul ball defines the game. We all want that foul ball. We all want that sweet souvenir. But, even in our brain candy moments, life can be harsh and brutal. Any fan of baseball mourns over that dad losing his life.

VUI offers prayers for the family and friends of the fallen fan.

Both sides in the budget debate miss the point

2011-07-07T01:02:00.000-05:00

The Democrats and Republicans are taking the nation's economy and the world's economy to the brink on the budget and the national debt. Their handlers tell them to do that. Those handlers are well paid and watch the polls and the money flowing into campaign accounts and party accounts well. Drama is the game now. The Democrats, led by the President and his people, hint at invoking the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling. Both sides seem unwilling to budge on their positions. Republicans want to cut spending. Democrats want to raise taxes and close tax loopholes.

The problem is, if both the Republicans and the Democrats got their way, the debt problem would still be there. Simply put, the United States can not cut its budget enough or raise taxes enough to solve the debt problem. Like in times before, we have to grow the economy. What we have now are two sides of fools doing what paid political hands tell them will satisfy this or that group, with no one seeming smart enough to see the solution that is real economic growth.

Let VUI be clear. Combine the plans put together by the paid for consultants who run both parties, and you still have a debt problem. There is no way around it. The numbers are stubborn. However, economic growth will get us out of this mess.

Now, how to grow the economy. For years now, VUI has advocated the Fair Tax. Scrap the corporate and individual income tax, replace it with a consumption tax, and our manufacturing base will return and our revenues will roll in and the government will have more than enough to spend on things that the majority of Americans expect it to. At the least, the capital gains tax needs to be eliminated or at least set way below income taxes, so people are encouraged to invest. It is Economics 101. We have to encourage businesses to stay here and people to invest here.

Sadly, the leaders in both parties are not willing to adopt such measures. They fret about the next elections. They have highly paid consultants who grease the wheels, so to speak on both sides. What we the people get are two groups of people, virtually paid for and living in fear of fringe interests, who stake out their positions hoping that this or that block of voters will support them. Apparently, the days of statesmen, men and women in politics who did their own homework, and thought for themselves, are gone. It is about about what this or that politico tells them to do.

That might be okay in most political things. But,the economy shapes the nation's survival. Where are the great leaders of courage? We seem all too much like Rome in its later days, once the hope of mankind, slumping along with its leaders succumbing to the endless parties and bribes of those who had their ears, leading to government for the few by the few to cause the ruin of it all.

A lifelong politician to consider

2011-06-29T04:02:00.000-05:00

This man spent his life in politics and academics. He studied the ways of man and of science. He wrote. He served in political positions most of his life. He always studied science, making contributions that made real differences in the fields of electricity and meteorology.
His personal life was colorful. He had a common law wife. He had a illegitimate son. He was known for sitting with the windows open in the nude to take an air bath. His religious views were never known, but he was known to ridicule those who were self righteous.

Was this some great liberal that today’s Tea Party folks would hang in effigy? Is it Al Gore or someone like that?

Nope. It is Ben Franklin, one the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was intelligent and irreverent. He spent his life in public service. He actually liked the idea of things like public schools. Indeed, he founded the first volunteer fire department in the United States. His estate actually left small sums of money in trust for the cities of Boston and Philidelphia.

Franklin, like other Founding Fathers, was a champion of freedom, but also a champion of people having good sense and studying and having knowledge when they spoke out. Franklin demanded people know what they were talking about. He loathed those who spoke out just to speak out of emotion.

Other Founding Fathers were like him. Franklin paid the price in his time. Sure, we honor him now in so many ways. But, during his life, especially his earlier life, he was viciously attacked by people who saw him as immoral or eccentric for telling the truth as he saw it.

It is little different today. Suppose a guy with some good ideas came along and presented himself to the current Tea Party or even the Republican Party. What would people say about him when they found out he loved scientific reasoning, was not really married to his wife, had an illegitimate child, and did not go to church on a regular basis?

The irony is those who cry out the most for the values of the Founding Fathers are the least like them. Founding Father John Adams once wrote that “Facts are stubborn things…and those who ignore them do so at their own peril.” That is true of the new GOP. They claim to embrace the Founding Fathers, but are ignorant of them and their histories. They want to lead, but only want leaders who pass litmus tests. Even Ronald Reagan would be a RINO now.

As we prepare to celebrate the Independence Day holiday, VUI will take a look at the Founding Fathers, that group of crazy men who actually gave up their fortunes and lives to create this nation. They did not have lobbyists to steer them to consulting fees like our Governor did in the State House and so many legislators do. They did not look for big pay checks after government service. They lost their homes, their fortunes and some their lives. They did not have some billionaire giving millions of dollars to political groups and consultants.

Yet, we have these politicians who tell us public service is something bad. They run campaigns boasting about their lack of experience serving people. They ridicule folks who work for the government. But, when they hold office, they feather their nests, just as Jefferson and Franklin warned us against. Something to ponder.

Gamecocks do it again

2011-06-29T00:46:00.000-05:00

When the South Carolina Gamecocks won the national championship in baseball last year, the staff of VUI thought we saw a once in a lifetime event. Winning a national championship in any college sport is difficult. When it happens for your school, it is something to savor. Winning back to back titles, well that is incredible. The only other South Carolina college or university to pull off such a feat in any college sport is Lander University. At Lander , the men's tennis team had a string of national championships at the NAIA and NCAA division II levels.

What South Carolina did in baseball this year was simply incredible. They overcame injuries to key players, had key players play hurt, made outstanding plays in the toughest of situations, and defended their national championship with heart and class. Other teams had more talent. But, those others teams did not play like champions like the Gamecocks did.

Congratulations to Coach Ray Tanner, his staff, and his players. We also say " thank you" to them for showing the world what Palmetto State champions are made of.

another guest contributed cartoon...this about Governor Haley

2011-06-26T02:08:00.000-05:00

Cartoon Disclaimer: All cartoons submitted are strictly the opinion of the artist, are not copyrighted and may be used freely as seen fit by the receiver. Jamie W. Walton

Top 9 things a Governor does not want to hear from staff

2011-06-16T23:54:00.000-05:00

9) “I know Governor, but Glenn McConnell has pictures.”

8) “No Governor, we can not make the call sign of a plane you are on Air National Guard One.”

7) “Sorry, Governor, Donald Trump says next years Celebrity Apprentice is already booked up.”

6) “Governor, you got an urgent email from Ex Congressman Weiner. He says he wants you to forget you ever got the pictures he sent.”

5) “ Governor, Jakie Knotts is in pretty good health and is running for re-election”

4) “Sorry Governor but the agents protecting you do not have to serve as wait staff for you and your friends.”

3) “Calm down, Governor, sure, the approval ratings are low, but they are a couple of points above your age, so we got something there.”

2) “No, Governor, you cannot fire members of the State Supreme Court.”

1) “Ah, come on Governor, another blogger? Geeez!”

Atheists and others need to get over it

2011-06-16T04:12:00.001-05:00

We at VUI believe in freedom of religion and freedom from religion. What goes on in Utah, with the Mormans knowing house by house who is a member of their church and not is apalling. That said, equally appalling is the minority religious beliefs that think they can dictate culture.

In the South, even the town drunk pays respect to God at the ball game when prayer is offered. He is not worried about the dollar or so spent of his tax money to allow the prayer. But, the yankee athesist is. Such folks get all bent out of shape, threaten to sue already suffering public schools, all in the name of their No God.

Fair enough, I suppose. But, it does make us at VUI wonder at the arrogance of those who claim to not believe in God or be so offended by the Christian religion. Here is why. Say you are at a high school football game. A prayer before the game is offered. You do not have to join. Frankly no one really notices if you do not join. The vast majority in this democracy of ours embrace such. If you do not, frankly no one cares. We at VUI have been at hundreds of high school football games over the years, and searched the internet. We can not find anything legitmitate about someone being harassed for not praying.

But, you self righteous types come along and you believe the freedom of the vast majority of people to say a prayer is not near as important as you not having to hear it. Further, some of you think that your religious beliefs entitle you to skirt common sense laws like pictures for drivers licenses. It is pure arrogance and a sense of self importance. We do have religious freedom in this country,and freedom from religion, and that also means freedom from religion, including atheism, that a minority would put on the rest of us. Your freedom ends where others liberty begins. Life is not Burger King, where you can get it your way everytime.

Think a bit on it. If you believe that my religious beliefs are so wrong you have to punch me in the nose, your freedom to believe that ends where my liberty to have my nose left alone begins. Such a theory expands. If the vast majority want to acknowledge some prayer at a football game or the like, what right, and what arrogance, do you have to tell folks in a free democracy they cannot? Further, we live in a land in which you can sit silent, not go to church, etc. That is the freedom. If you doubt that, try the ideals of some of those on the left taking over the places like Egypt. They would execute you for not agreeing with them on religion. And, the same folks who worry about prayers at ball games here think those folks are for freedom. It would be laughable if it were not so real.

Another guest cartoon....about Weiner

2011-06-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Weiner problem is really getting big for House Democrats, so we enjoyed this guess sumbitted cartoon and hope the readers get a laugh. Thanks again.

Cartoon Disclaimer: All cartoons submitted are strictly the opinion of the artist, are not copyrighted and may be used freely as seen fit by the receiver. Jamie W. Walton

The other side of life and how state government deals with it

2011-06-12T03:12:00.002-05:00

Most of us do the right things, even if we fail at business, are unemployed, have bad credit, drink too much, whatever, we tend to mostly be a people that have a sense of honor and respect for kids and old folks and to some point, each other. Plainly put, most of us want to take care of the kids and mama and them, despite whatever faults we have.

Perhaps that is why it is hard for folks to understand the value of things like public education and the Department of Social Services. But, the folks in law enforcement, the DSS, and yes even in public education, see firsthand the other side of life. The side that does not care about kids or mama or them. They see the folks that in this world deal real harm to others.

As the legendary Hank Williams once wrote, “in the world’s mighty gallery of pictures…the saddest of all are the pictures from life’s other side.” Those pictures are all around us, if we only dare to see them. There are the kids who live in a home filled with abuse. They could be next door. There is the old widow who has adult children who more worry about who gets her pension check and her car than her care. The stories of abuse of our most vulnerable that law enforcement, social workers and public educators can tell would curl most folks blood. It is out there. It is real. And, our lack of doing something about it defines us a people.

For, we are only as a good of a people as we treat and respect the most vulnerable among us. Christ told us that. But, we do not listen to that any more. State and local governments formed entities to take care of our most vulnerable. Today, we are told such things are not important. Such things cannot be afforded.

Fair enough. But, VUI believes our leaders tell us such because the vulnerable do not have lobbyists who give contributions and throw big parties for them. Public service is about serving all the public, not just those who pay your bar tab.

And for those out there who say, “I take care of mine you take care of yours,” think on this. We all live here together. When you shut an abused kid out of a chance, you create someone who we have to pay for in the criminal system later. And, when you let someone abuse an old person, you just flat go against God, which so many politicians in this state claim to embrace. Is that worth the money spent for some guy in the Department of Commerce to dine like a king?

Let’s be brutally honest. There is no limited government champions anymore. The Republicans, even in SC ,seem to be for who pays them to act and write bills that suit their business interests. So, if there is to be no limited government anymore, then lets have a government that pays for the law enforcement, the social workers, the public educators, and even the health care workers to care for the kids and mama and them. After all, taking care of the kids and mama and them is as important to us as our guns. Read the budget of South Carolina and make your own decisions. We seem bought and paid for and the folks don’t have a chance. Do not get VUI started on legislators and consulting fees that they take from big business. Too bad some abused kids can not hire them to consult. Those kids could really use some help getting funding for programs to help them.

Top 9 things not to do this summer

2011-06-10T00:28:00.000-05:00

We at VUI want you to have a safe and happy summer. But, summer is a time in which the heat, alcohol and lack of common sense seem to join forces to ruin the day. The staff of VUI has seen and heard things that well, defy logic in the summer. So, as a public service, we offer:

Top 9 things to avoid doing this summer.

9) Tie sparklers to a roman candle, hold them in your hand and light the fuse.

8) Anything that makes you say, “hey ya’ll, watch this.”

7) Drink to the point in which you go, “who needs tongs?” as you reach to turn over something on the grill with your hand.

6) Walk around the back yard with nothing on but your Depends underwear.

5) Drink to the point you tell your wife, “That gal down the street can really fill out a bikini.”

4) Shove a cop at a summer festival just to see what he will do.

3) Put on sweat clothes to go running in 100 degree heat to prove how tough you are.

2) Drink to the point you actually walk down the street, in your Depends, and ask that gal in the bikini, “are those real?”

1) Get naked around fishing lures.

Want real reform? Reform state and local government retirement

2011-06-09T06:30:00.001-05:00

Thousands of South Carolina workers work for either the state government or the various local governments. They do sometimes thankless jobs for us all. They also work beside friends and neighbors in the private sector who do just as important jobs.

The difference is the good folks who work for government can retire at a relatively early age with a benefits based retirement plan that pays them nicely, while folks in the private sector must work to the SSI retirement age and have SSI checks and their own contributions to things like a 401{k} get them through the retirement years. State employees rely on us to keep paying taxes.

Perhaps there was a time in which state employees needed such benefits to draw talent to work for the state. That time has passed. We now live in hard economic times, times in which state government struggles to make its way.

So, with the growing number of retirees versus folks who are working and paying taxes, perhaps it is time to reexamine state retirement. Forget who answers what role call in the State House, going after this perk is real reform.

Lets be clear. South Carolina will keep its commitment to all those retired or about to retire. We made a deal with those folks, we have to keep it. But, for others, we can change things.

First, let’s just eliminate the state retirement benefit for members of the House and Senate. Their jobs are part time, and it is absurd that they can make more retired than in office. Again, we keep our commitment to those retired, but we say from this point forward no more of that.

And, we have to go after state and local workers at lower levels. Sorry. It has to be done. South Carolina should phase out the retirement system it has. Even if we raised taxes on the so called wealthy, we cannot afford a benefits based retirement system that pays folks so much for not working. We have to phase South Carolina government workers into the SSI program, offering them a contributions based retirement plan like a 401{k} and leave it at that.

Perhaps there could be some exception for fire fighters and police to retire earlier than most. Their jobs have understandable physical demands. But, for the vast majority of government workers, teachers included, it is time they worked and lived like the private sector. Retiring with a benefits based pension at 50 or so no longer cuts it. Let them participate in SSI and have a contributions based retirement like the rest of us.

I know some will cry foul about such an idea. But, before you do, just think of the mechanic, the construction worker, the manufacturing worker, all of which pay taxes and have to work until the SSI retirement age and all they have is that SSI check and what they contributed to their own savings accounts. Folks like that are the ones that actually help to pay the cushy retirements of state workers. They cannot afford to do so any longer, and we have to see that and take on the state retirement issue.

Putting younger state workers in a contribution based retirement program helps them. It is something that they can count on. Tax revenues for benefit based retirements might be there and they might not be. A contribution based retirement account is solid.

Reforming state retirement is the 500 pound gorilla in the political room. Not even Governor Haley wants to touch it. But, if we want to put this state on sound financial footing, we have to. Let the vast majority of state and local workers live like the rest of us in the private sector. Let them retire at the SSI age, get SSI benefits and supplement their retirements with various contribution based savings. We just cannot pay for what is going on now any longer.

guest cartoon

2011-06-08T22:37:00.000-05:00

We at VUI welcome guest submissions of remarks and cartoons. We got this cartoon about the costs of the Pee Dee Interstate and offer it to the readers. Enjoy. Hopefully there will be more to come.

Cartoon Disclaimer: All cartoons submitted are strictly the opinion of the artist, are not copyrighted and may be used freely as seen fit by the receiver. Jamie W. Walton

Bio: Walton, who lives in Rock Hill with his wife Josette, is a retired Lt. Colonel from the U.S. Army. A native of Lexington, SC, he graduated from the Citadel with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and holds a Master's degree in Journalism from USC. He served as the Managing Editor for the Military Review Magazine. In the Army, he served as Public Affairs Officer for the United States V Corps, Europe and in Washington, DC, where he oversaw media communications related to the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery affairs. He was also a speechwriter for President Ronald Regan for military events. He is a combat veteran of Vietnam and Korea.

Watch out! Haley and hers will hit the SC Supreme Court

2011-06-07T03:34:00.002-05:00

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley got schooled on South Carolina Constitutional law when the South Carolina State Supreme Court ruled against her call to bring back the South Carolina General Assembly in recess to deal with some pet issues of hers that did not get passed this session.

It was a great day for the rule of law in the land and declared that South Carolina was not some third world state that the executive could haul the legislative body back into session to give the executive more power. Of course the Court did not say that, but end the end that is what they accomplished.

Think on it. Governor Haley and those who support her claim to be conservative. But, Haley tried to use her power as Governor to call the General Assembly to do her bidding to centralize power in the executive branch. We at VUI are not kidding around. That sort of thing happens in third world countries, not South Carolina.

The South Carolina Supreme Court said “No.” That has left Haley and her folks in a downright tizzy fit. Haley issued a statement, misleading as it was, rambling on about courts around the country disagree. Wrong answer, Governor. Conservatives believe that each state has its right to rule its own state government. True conservatives do not cry out that South Carolina should do as other states. Further, the courts around the country offer no decisions in the Governor’s defense. She and her people are just flat going nuts, as one old political hand puts it. Perhaps we ought to be thankful Haley can not call out the National Guard to surround the SC Supreme Court.

But, that statement does give us an indication of what is going to happen next. Haley and her well funded operation from out of state money is going to go after the South Carolina Supreme Court. Bank on it. In the coming weeks, VUI predicts Haley and her minions saying all sorts of things unsavory about the South Carolina Supreme Court. How dare they! They opposed Darling Nikki and they must pay! All sorts of things will come out. Regardless, the fact we are state of laws, and not personalities is at stake.

Let’s look at the issue the Supreme Court dodged. The Supreme Court ruled that since the General Assembly was still in session, Governor Haley could not dictate their meetings, essentially. Good ruling on solid grounds without question. But, there is a larger issue. Should South Carolina end up the Venezuela of the United States and have a Governor who keeps calling back the General Assembly in session until her pet issues, especially the ones that give her more power, are carried out?

Is that type behavior really conservative? Or is megalomania? Again think on it. For decades conservatives have championed the idea of the people having a voice in every decision and decentralizing power. Along comes Governor Haley, and she tries to use her powers to call back the General Assembly to centralize more government power under her. The sad thing is, many so called conservatives lap up at the chance to serve her ego and cry out against those who want to check government power.

That is why we at VUI say watch out. The SC Supreme Court, often a voice of reason in the state beyond normal politics, is about to be taken into the political world via Haley and her minions. You do not tell Her Majesty “No” and not pay a cost. Watch the next few weeks and months unfold and remember we told you so.

D-Day

2011-06-05T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sixty-sevn years ago, thousands of Allied forces died during the greatest invasion the world has ever known. Led by Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower, thousands of Americans, British, Canadian and free French soldiers took on the German fortress that was occupied Normandy in France.

Though it seems hard to believe, the issue was in doubt for much of the day. German forces were extraordinarily well fortified and casualty rates for the first waves of attackers were larger than expected. Indeed, the issue was in such doubt that General Eisenhower walked around that day with a statement in his pocket about how the invasion had failed and forces were withdrawing back to England.

Of course, the note was not needed. The drive and intensity of the men fighting that day carried that day. Frankly, we often think of our grandfather when it comes to anything from World War II. Too often people see it as old and slow.

Well, it wasn't. Looking for some way to honor the men of D-Day, the staff came across a tribute video set to Iron Maiden's "Longest Day," which was about D-Day. It shows the intensity and speed of events. Enjoy and look at that old guys a different way. God Bless those Men. They saved the world from tyranny.

Copper is the new gold for thieves, but should we pass more laws over it?

2011-06-01T01:30:00.001-05:00

With South Carolina's economy still struggling, especially in construction and real estate, folks with some knowhow are chasing after the new gold: stolen copper.

Copper thieves strike rural churches and homes especially. Air conditioning units are their usual target. They strip the copper and sell it to scrap dealers for a nice amount of money. Law enforcement around the state is worried about the problem and seems almost helpless in stopping it. The church or homeowner hit ends up paying thousands for repairs. It is a real problem today.

So, the General Assembly is trying to act on it. Everyone from police groups to insurance companies want the General Assembly to pass a copper theft bill that includes a provision that requires anyone who sells more than ten pounds of copper to a scrap dealer to have a permit from the county sheriff to do so. That seems reasonable on some level.

But, State Senator Glen Reese of Spartanburg County is holding up the legislation. SC Senate rules allow just one senator to do so. Some hate that rule, but it might be a good for something like this. Here is why.

First, the vast majority of salvage people are honest and work hard. Getting scrap metal of any kind is hard work and most folks who do that work are not crooks. Adding another layer of government bureaucracy for them to deal with just hurts a sector of our economy already struggling.

Second, the most political and personal of jobs in most counties in South Carolina is the office of County Sheriff. Most of our Sheriffs are good men. But, can we count on that from here on out? Having a Sheriff decide who gets a permit to sell copper and who does not is a dangerous thing. Such a process is just ripe for good ole boy politics and playing political favorites. What is to prevent Sheriff Whomever to decide his brother in law can get a permit but the guy who gave to his opponent can not?

There lies the danger of well meaning legislation carried out in the real political world. That brings up the third reason. New laws made rarely, if ever, make people accountable to existing laws. We have laws against theft and against receiving stolen goods in this state. Politicians like to act like they are solving a problem with a new law to address the lack of enforcement of the laws already there. But, what really makes copper theft more important, then say, plastic or iron theft? Sure it is the problem of the day, but a law is usually forever.

So, we say hooray for Senator Reese in pausing the rush to a new law pushed by high paid lobbyists. And hooray for the framers of our State Senate who made that provision for a senator to slow such things down. Indeed, a new law and a new set of political hoops to jump through for honest people will do nothing to solve the copper theft problem. It will, like most things politicians do, feel good for a moment, but only result in more hassle and little results. If the General Assembly really wants to get serious about copper theft, then it should find some money to give the Sheriffs for more deputies and money for the Solicitors to prosecute thieves. But, no one is taking folks out to dinner and lobbying them for that.

Public education still matters

2011-05-31T03:10:00.002-05:00

It is hip, using the word of the day, to "dis" public education if one considers himself a Republican. The South Carolina GOP now has a purity test on the subject. If one is not for tuition tax credits for private schools, then one is not a real Republican. So be it. This comes for the party that has as it champion a Governor who would rather cater to Wal Mart than work to give people jobs in South Carolina. Governor Haley made clear she would not support jobs in SC through Amazon but she would let the bill to locate them here go unsigned. Haley is no Carroll Campbell. Fair enough. No wonder she stands where she does on public education.

Make no mistake, public education needs real reform. Politicians need to roll up their sleeves and get to work to make the public schools better. After all, the better educated our workforce is the more high paying jobs we can bring in and that adds to the tax base and so forth. Further, educating the least among us gives them a chance at the American economy and keeps them off welfare and out of prisons, things we taxpayers pay for. But, try telling that to Governor Haley and her minions.

They have a narrow focus. They want to give tax breaks to the the well to do and to those who try to be well to do to send their kids to private schools. It is appealing for those folks. Who does not want a tax break on their kids tuition that enables one to have the nice car or the big boat to show off? If Haley and her minions sold that as their purpose, fair enough. But, they do not. They tell us the tuition tax credits for private schools gives poor kids a chance. It is a flat lie.

Think on it. Suppose some single mom in Allendale county has two kids. She wants the best for her kids, as we all do. She gets on a bus and rides to Hilton Head Island to clean hotel rooms. She makes, at the best, thirty grand a year. Her kids go to Allendale public schools. She learns of a private school nearby, which, frankly there is not one that would take her kids. Say the tuition for each kid in five grand, and that is being conservative and low in the estimate. So, this single mom, who makes only about thirty thousand, is told she can give her kids a chance at a better education if she pays out ten thousand, a third of what she brings in at best, and some point in the future she will get it back.

Frankly,no matter her intentions, that single mom can not do it. She has to pay for rent, utilities and health care. The landlord and the power company are not going to wait on her getting a tax credit from the state. So, even in Haley's ultimate world, those kids remain in the public schools.

And, what do they face in those public schools? If we rob tax money from the people to subsidize the well to do to get the big boat and big car, the public schools suffer. The kids in Allendale end up with the least education the state can offer.

I realize that some might say, "who cares?" about such. Fair enough. But, in the end we as a society will spend money through welfare programs, and if not that policing and prisons to deal with the children who are not well educated. Frankly put, the tax break that allowed you to buy the big boat or the Volvo will in the end cost you more in tax money to pay to protect you from the children you chose not to pay to educate.

That is reality. That is life. It might hurt someone's conservative agenda and model, but in the real world, life is what it is. If we really want to fix this state and set it on the right course, then getting public education right is the way. Kowtowing to those outside the system will no do it. Their kids have to live in the real world with the rest of us. What will those kids think when they find out you took a special tax break that kept the guy who held them up from getting a good education?

I know that seems dramatic. But it is true. Educating young folks is the silver bullet for most of our ills. There is a lot wrong with how public education does that. But, public education needs to be reformed, not done away with. Without good public education, we have a weak minded people. For the short term, the rich and ne er to wells might enjoy it. But, in the long run, they will suffer as they have to pay to protect themselves from a public that no longer produces.

Indeed,when you look at the historical writings of our nation, good public education was at the center of good order and a business friendly America. Public education is an American value. But it does lack. For so many who claim to champion our constitution have never read it and can not cite it to save their lives. Most of them are a product of public schools. But before we let a big government program subsidize private schools, lets roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of reforming the public schools, whose graduates make up our state and nation.

9 things that might indicate your summer cookout is not going well

2011-05-31T00:50:00.000-05:00

9) After a few beers, one of your guests goes on about what the founding fathers would want for this country. You ask him to name one. He can’t and calls you a liberal for asking. He drones own about how he should not pay for the beer he is drinking. Deadbeat.

8) Another guest decides now is the time to show her special tattoo of Jakie Knots wearing a turban on a place not usually seen. You just wonder what made her want to put Jakie Knotts there?

7) Your cousin who has talked about Jesus for about an hour goes quiet when one of your police friends on duty stops by for a quick hot dog. “Man, I got warrants” your cousin tells you as he tries to hide.

6) The fifty something neighbor who never wears a shirt after April 1st shows up and talks about all the ladies he has had. People suddenly lose their appetites. Your shirtless neighbor hits on some teenager and goes “giggity giiggity.”

5) One of your neighbors shows up drunk and/or high and asks can “anybody give me a ride to Bi Lo? I will make it worth it.” The shirtless neighbor goes, “alright.”

4) Just when you think the evening is finally going well, a Kyle Busch fan shows up, hellbent on telling everyone how straight Busch is. All you can do is laugh.

3)You learn the hard way that the guys known as Evan Williams, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and Smith and Wesson do not work well together as you wait on the ambulance to arrive.

2) Your cousin’s ex shows up with “his kids.,” and shouts to everyone, “you better love my kids they are his, and he better pay me. That is my baby daddy right there, now feed them.” Your shirtless neighbor seems nervous about it all.

1) As your guests are enjoying the BBQ hash, someone asks, where is your dog?

Another George Jones tribute to those who served and gave that makes us think

2011-05-30T01:08:00.001-05:00

This one haunts me to my core for my own family reasons.

Big and Rich remind us what men did for us to be free

2011-05-30T00:56:00.003-05:00

A tribute from country legend George Jones to our fallen

2011-05-30T00:48:00.001-05:00

Be thankful and respectful of those who gave us our freedoms

2011-05-30T00:13:00.001-05:00

Is this really the best we got?

2011-05-27T04:17:00.002-05:00

After a strong storm moved through my beloved Honea Path, I was feeling pretty grateful. I had the Gamecocks on one television and the South Carolina Senate on the the other. Both broadcasts disappointed me and brought me back to reality.

Of course, the Gamecock that I am, the Gamecocks losing to Vanderbilt in the SEC baseball tournament bothered me, but not near as much as watching the clowns that pass for state senators. No wonder some of those guys want to cut ETV funding, the ETV broadcasts of them in action is embarrassing for us all. Guys like Ryberg, Grooms, Bryant, and even the likable Tom Davis, looked liked little school girls trying to put off who was going to be elected Homecoming Queen when it came to Amazon legislation. I watched the amendment process and the so called debate on television right there before me, wishing every SC voter could see the nonsense. I kept thinking about what the late Carroll Campbell would think about those guys, trying the best they could to keep jobs out of South Carolina with delay tactics and just droning on.

I then thought about how dumb they were. That is right dumb. Just flat dumb. Guys like Ryberg, who owns a chain of gas stations, and Laurens Senator Danny Verdin, who owns his own mom and pop garden shop are getting their butts kicked in business competition by Wal Mart and other big box stores. But, there they were, doing the bidding of those stores in fighting Amazon. It was just sad.

Then there was Grooms and Davis. Who knows their motivations. But, when Grooms offered an amendment to make sure that Amazon only hired South Carolina people for its jobs, I shook my head. When Davis chimed in, I was even more puzzled. Those men represent districts filled with "transplants," people who were not born in South Carolina but chose to live here. Indeed, Tom Davis's best friend was a transplant who became Governor of South Carolina and who actually negotiated the Amazon deal. Does the name Mark Sanford ring a bell?

That said, it puzzled me how ignorant some senators seemed because of either fear of the Tea Party, now funded by big box stores, or just plain stupidity. I bet Grooms and Davis enjoy the conservative nature of the transplants who have moved to their districts and the local businesses enjoy their money being spent there. I bet even good ole boy Danny Verdin wants some of those "outsiders" who will move to Laurens as the ICAR plant project develops to buy some gardening stuff from him. Maybe even that chicken box in his the back of his pickup truck that Senator Bryant talked about could be bought by some dreaded outsider.

Let's be clear. The opposition to the Amazon deal defies the conventional logic of South Carolina business set forth by the late Carroll Campbell. When people move to South Carolina, they buy houses here, they pay taxes here, they shop here, they pay sales taxes, they give to our culture. For years, we have wanted them to do so, and said we in South Carolina we are open for business. But, along comes some big box retailers who line the pockets of extreme activists, and Senators who ought to know better go along with them, delay things, make asses of themselves on statewide television talking about all sorts of things and showing a marked ignorance of laws and bills.

That was one time what being a Republican was about. Not anymore. Thank God the RINOs and Democrats worked out a deal to get jobs for SC at the midnight hour on Amazon in the State Senate.

But, I have to have some sense of shame. For the two state senators from my county, Bryant and O'Dell, did not act like real Republicans. They both voted for all the delaying amendments. I will give this to O'Dell, he did not speak to the Senate and make himself look like an ass, like Grooms did. Bryant did speak. And, we at VUI like him. But, when he spoke on and on about his dad making him working more than 40 hours a week and all that, it was disheartening to us. It was irrelevant to the issue at hand and a waste of time for the taxpayers. Also, as his remarks went on, one of our staff emailed and asked," so, Bryant only pays people for 40 hours work at his store, but he expects them to work more than that?" Bottom line, it looked bad. Another staffer emailed, "guess O'Dell will go along with Bryant on that working more than you get paid for thing. Make the mops and brooms and keep your mouth shut."

In that lies the problem. Ryberg and Verdin stood up for the people who kill their businesses. Bryant spoke like a man who thinks people owe him for working for him. O'Dell went right along with it. Fear of the Tea Party and whatever campaign cash big box retailers offer only goes so far. It certainly can not explain Grooms. Anyone with any sense of business and how the real world works who looked at the how some Senators acted last night can only wonder if this is actually the best SC has to offer for leadership? We sure looked pretty dumb to investors and the nation. But, hey, maybe some little radio station with 12 listeners loved it. Too bad that little radio station can't hire thousands.

How to help these people

2011-05-25T00:54:00.003-05:00

This is what the New York Times showed as Joplin, MO. Like others, the people of Joplin are suffering from this Spring's natural disasters. You can help. Text "redcross" to 90999 on your mobile phone to give $10 to the Red Cross to help them help the victims of Joplin and all the other places hit by the awful weather this spring It is only $10 and it will make a difference. Keep these folks in your prayers.

Why voting for the State Superintendent of Education matters

2011-05-25T00:09:00.003-05:00

The South Carolina State Senate will be dealing with a bill soon that addresses whether or not the people of South Carolina can elect the Superintendent of Education who oversees their children’s public schools. The House passed a measure to put to the ballot a constitutional amendment that would make the post of State Superintendent of Education an appointed post under the Governor.

Supporters of the measure say that it will restructure state government and give the Governor greater power on public education in South Carolina. Fair enough. However, we at VUI think the measure is not in the best interests of the people of South Carolina and what they traditionally expect in governing their children’s schools.

Here is why. First, South Carolina is a state filled with people who like to have the most direct control over their children’s education. For that reason, dozens or local school boards are elected around the state to oversee the many school districts that are within the state. The leaders of those school districts are chosen by those elected boards, and the people can oust those boards if they do not like their choices.

The State Board of Education oversees it all. The South Carolina State Board of Education is elected by the members of the South Carolina General Assembly. It is broken down by districts. Board members are often elected by members of the General Assembly as political favors, both right and left, and often without Governor Haley’s beloved on the record voting. It is the good ole boy system at its best.

The saving grace of the supervision of education at the state level is the fact that the people have a voice at the polls to actually elect a Superintendent of Education. Whatever the kickbacks and favors and whatever else that goes into to making up the State Board of Education, the people decide now who will head the Department of Education. There are not Governors or legislators or political favors in play, just the people choosing who they want to oversee one of the state’s most important roles. That is South Carolina. We are a people who want a voice in such things. We are not New Jersey, as some activists would have us become, with a Governor all but an elected dictator.

There are those that say General Zais, the current South Carolina State Superintendent of Education, wants his office appointed. Fair enough. The General, though elected by the people, has considerable political reasons for making that stand. Frankly put, re-appointment is easier than re-election.

And, frankly, that is why South Carolina should keep electing its Superintendent of Education. It ought to be tough to get the job and hold onto the job. There should be no good ole boy appointments and back slapping. The people should decide who gets the job. After all, the role of education in the state is far to big for a Governor or even the legislature to decide who runs it. Big government liberals love that power, not conservatives, not South Carolinans. If you believe in the right of the people to best decide who leads them in big things, as a real conservative would, then you must stand up and say let the people’s voice continue to be heard when it comes to electing the South Carolina Superintendent of Education.

Joe Jackson

2011-05-24T05:19:00.000-05:00

There is an old family story in my family. I am sure that many families in the South have similar stories. In my family, my great grandfather was a great pitcher in baseball. Frankly, he was. He was in his late 70s teaching the little chap that was me the finer points of the knuckle ball and curve ball. The legend goes sometimes in the 1930s he faced down Joe "Shoeless Joe" Jackson in the textile league baseball.

One has to understand what textile league baseball was at the time. It was bigger than the minor leagues. Mill owners took special pride in their baseball teams and hired men to play for them that never worked a hard days work in the mills, as long as they could perform on the field. Among the ringers was Joe Jackson of Greenville.

Joe Jackson was a man done wrong. Though he could not read or write, Jackson was caught up in the great "Black Sox" scandal of 1918. As most know, that scandal accused members of the Chicago White Sox of throwing the World Series. Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, brought in to be Commissioner of Major League Baseball, threw all the White Sox starters out of baseball, even though they were found innocent of charges in court.

Among them was Jackson. Again, Jackson was a man who could not read or write and seemed to be the most innocent of the lot when you look at how he did in the questionable series. Yet, Judge Landis's decision stood and Jackson, like all the rest were banned from Major League Baseball.

The Sporting News once ranked Jackson at 35th among its best 100 baseball players. Jackson batted a career .356. But, through Landis, Jackson's name was ruined. Jackson spent the rest of his life toiling around the minor leagues and other leagues under other names.

So perhaps my great grandfather, with his pitching wares, faced the legendary Joe Jackson. Who really knows? But what we do know is a man, so talented as Joe Jackson, was cast out of America's past time on the whim of some old Judge, who God knows had his own faults in life. It is one of the shames that haunts baseball today.

As for old Joe Jackson. Rumors are he made his rounds and some money with minor leagues and textile teams. No one can really verify all he did in that regard. Jackson died in 1951, in Greenville, as an owner of a liquor store.

When Joe Jackson died, no one stood up to clear his name. Perhaps it is far past time to. Jackson was a good ole, tobacco chewing baseball kid who had no idea what the big mob bosses wanted from him in 1918, Not only does Jackson belong in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, but he deserves an apology, even in death, from the MLB for getting it wrong about him. All the years he spent playing under another name earned that at least. The statute at Greenville is fitting. Joe Jackson was one of baseball's greats. He was and is a legend. And, if he could not hit my great grandfather's pitches, so be it.

Amazon revisited

2011-05-18T00:38:00.001-05:00

The South Carolina House is going to take up again voting for or against giving extending sales tax breaks to Amazon.com if the company builds a distribution center in Lexington County. Not only are Lexington County jobs on the line, but other places in South Carolina could benefit from related Amazon investment.

The illogical debate over the subject can only be defined by the money being spread around by the likes of Wal-Mart and Target who have given money to fund a group for so called "main street values." It sounds good, unless you consider that Wal-Mart, Target and other big box stores have done more to put small businesses on main street out of business than anything online competitors like Amazon or QVC has. In fact, South Carolina gave a break to QVC. Amazon actually opens its site for smaller vendors to participate in.

But, Amazon is different, it hits the big box stores bottom lines. So around the country, they have fought Amazon building distribution centers, citing always, main street values. They throw money around, hire good political guns, give to taxpayer groups or at least fire them up, and fight Amazon from doing business. It is politics at both its best to some and its ugliest for the people in South Carolina looking for jobs.

Further, the ultimate illogical part of the argument is that if South Carolina does not help Amazon set up here, South Carolinians will not buy tax free goods from the online retailer. Wrong answer. The goods simply will come from some other state, where the workers are not from South Carolina and the competition with Wal-Mart and the big box retailers will remain the same as it is now. The losers are South Carolinians looking for work and the little guys who do their business through Amazon.

In short, members of our General Assembly and leaders of so called taxpayers groups are being played by very well paid political hands from the big box retailers. We are pawns in their game. Jobs for our people are the cost we pay to be those pawns. That is not the South Carolina the late Carroll Campbell envisioned.

Further, for those worried about saving the small businessman selling his wares on main street in some small town, think on this. Who is the real competition? An online retailer that you have to pay shipping costs to and wait a few days for what you want, or the big box retailers down the street, who might pay the same sales tax you do, but have you beat because they are so large around the country they dictate the price to suppliers and they have the resources to spend hundreds of thousands to keep from competing on items you don't usually sell that are found online?   And, who is more likely to offer a small time business access to a national market, Amazon or the big box retailers?

If you think about it in those terms, and consider the jobs at stake, standing up against the big box retailers is a main street value. But, of course, standing up against that money takes courage. We will see what happens and list the votes again.

Top 9 ways of knowing your terrorism days are coming to an end

2011-05-15T02:38:00.000-05:00

9) You try channeling Allah and all you get is a busy signal.

8) Your newest wife needs something stronger than Pepsi and milk to come to your compound.

7) Your loyal courier stops bringing the infidels’ dye for your beard and Satan’s blue pills.

6) You spend your free time watching Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” on satellite television and cry out, “You are fired infidel!”

5) Even smoking the infidels’ Satan weed can not make you forget that Steven Tyler, and not you, is a judge on American Idol. You shout at the tv, “that infidel does not even have a beard!”

4) The only chemical weapon you have left comes from eating chili beans and drinking goat milk.

3) Speaking of your goats, your favorite goat wanders off, leaving you broken hearted and writing bad poetry.

2) You hear the whirl of helicopters in the air.

1) You suddenly have a little red dot on your head, courtesy of the United States Navy Seals.

Either government should do something or not

2011-05-11T23:56:00.000-05:00

Two issues coming up this week in the South Carolina General Assembly deserve the attention of the people. First, the state government is gong to try to find money in this tight budget year to finance the Republican and Democratic Presidential primaries. That has not happened before. Usually, political parties pay their own bills for Presidential primaries or caucuses. Republicans in the General Assembly seem to like the idea because the Republican Presidential Primary is probably the only one that will be contested.

Fact is, state government has no business paying for such, be it Republican, Democrat or Libertarian. As always, let he political parties pay their own way in the Presidential beauty contests, and keep the taxpayers cost for such as low as possible. The General Assembly and the taxpayers of South Carolina are a not a fundraising arm for any political party.

That said, there is a move afoot by Governor Haley and some legislators to issue private contracts for school bus operations. Such might on the surface sound good, until you look at the costs other states have incurred with such when they went with for profit companies. The costs went up. Indeed, just look at MediCare now under private insurance, the cost has nearly doubled in six years. It is common sense, is it not? Paying for profit entities to do jobs mandated by government simply costs more.

Now, whether or not government should provide transportation as it does for all students to schools is another issue. It is mandated now by our state’s constitution. A debate on that would be honestly a one looking at what government should and should not do. But, we at VUI fear that handing over government mandated services to private for profit entities opens the system up to corruption. It would not be the first time that big money contributions to well placed political leaders in this state led to big contracts that cost the taxpayers more money. That is not limited government. That is special interests using government to take your money.

That is why we say no to political parties getting paid by the state to have Presidential primaries and no to private entities taking over the state’s school buses. Want to amend the constitution on the matter? We will listen. Want to reform the spending on buses? We will listen. Want to make sure some fat contract is given to folks who laid down campaign cash? Well, we are going to call you on it. The people of this state can not afford that kind of big government.

Boeing in SC issue will decide the soul of the nation

2011-05-11T03:29:00.000-05:00

It is widely reported that the National Labor Relations Board, a Presidential appointed body, has ruled that Boeing’s decision to locate its new plant in South Carolina as “union busting.” The President of the United States has said nothing on the matter, letting big labor interests move to take away South Carolina jobs for working families who do not pay dues to them to keep their big labor bosses in wealth.

The state government of South Carolina, along with local governments in the Lowcountry of South Carolina made a deal with Boeing to entice them to build their new plant near the Charleston Air Force Base. In return for such incentives, working families got jobs. There was just one problem. South Carolina is a right to work state, which makes it harder for big labor bosses to “wet their beaks” on the backs of working men and women.

So, big labor went into overdrive, with their big labor lawyers, moving to make Boeing build its new plant where they can “wet their beaks” more easily. Senator Jim DeMint called it “thuggery.” DeMint is not far off in that assessment.

What started out as a South Carolina issue is now one about the heart and soul of the nation. Are we a people who believe in the right to work, that is a man or woman contracting for their labor, free from paying some sort of “protection money” to some union, or are a way a nation in which working men and women have to let big labor get a cut of their paychecks in order to have a decent job? It is no longer about South Carolina, or even Boeing, it is about that.

And, just where does the President of the United States stand on such? The President claims to be champion of hard working folks looking for work. Well, he will not find better hard working folks looking for work than those in South Carolina. The President also owes big labor bosses big for political and financial support. So, whose side is the President going to be on? The working man or woman who really can not afford to pay some union boss dues with things like gas prices, or the union bosses who need to wet their beaks? The next few weeks will tell.

There is also something the more cynical will say is at work. Something we at VUI do not really want to think about the President of the United States. Some contend that right to work states like South Carolina did not vote for him, so his political apparutus is apt to go after them to protect states like Washington, who big labor delivered for him in 2008. Look at the situation and make up your own minds.

One thing is for certain, the government of the United States must make clear that true freedom means a man or woman can contract for their labor with an employer without having to give some labor boss his “dues” or cut. Big labor demanding a cut is just as bad as big corporations controlling things or big government demanding their taxes. Such things shut working families out, no matter how much the President and his big union boss backers say they are all for working families.

GOP Debate in Greenville is a non-starter

2011-05-04T01:54:00.000-05:00

Early Presidential debates always seem to appeal only to the hardest core of political followers. Yet, even among hardcore Republicans and politicos of both parties, the debate on Thursday night in Greenville is shaping up to be yawner and a non event in the nomination process.

Here is why. While no disrespect is meant to the five participants, former Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, former United States Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, Herman Cain and former Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico, their debate is missing the biggest names being tossed around in the GOP field.

Unlike recent Presidential races, the heavyweights are sitting and biding their time, considering things, and expressing regrets to the Greenville event. Absent from debating will be Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, Ambassador Jon Huntsman, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and of course Donald Trump. Indeed, only Pawlenty has been mentioned as a serious contender for the nomination.

That might be a wise move by the heavyweight contenders. The primary season is months away and President Obama will have the major media attention on Thursday with his visit to Ground Zero in New York. Fair or unfair, the debate among the five GOP candidates in Greenville will take a backseat to the coverage of President Obama in New York. Count on that.

Such is curious. While so many GOP heavyweights seem to be unwilling to jump all the way in the race, President Obama's approval ratings, even in the aftermath of the Bin Laden operation, still hover around fifty percent, which is dismal for an incumbent President of the United States who just pulled off a military operation of such importance. It would seem GOP contenders would be chomping at the bit to get into the race full forced at this point. But, they are not.

We at VUI wrote before that there is no Ronald Reagan out there like there was in 1979, just waiting to pounce on then President Carter in 1980. Mike Huckabee comes to mind, with his radio commentaries and columns, like Reagan's in the late 1970s, but at this point Reagan was committed. It is a strange primary season shaping up. One, that at this point, bodes well for President Obama's re-election chances.

Think of the contrast to the independents that decide elections on Thursday. Five guys most have never heard of will spend the evening sniping at each other and President Obama, while President Obama goes to Ground Zero to rally Americans after the operation that killed Usama Bin Laden.

The GOP needs a game changer with fundraising connections, strong political ties and the charisma to match Obama's. Jeb Bush, what are you doing over the next few months? If not Jeb Bush, can Huntsman develop into a contender? Can Huckabee? Will Romney cool his temper? Can any of those candidates develop the "Big Mo" Bush the Elder talked about? Time will tell. But Thursday night will not.

Thoughts about Usama Bin Laden's death

2011-05-03T03:00:00.000-05:00

You would have to live under a rock not to know that the terrorist mastermind behind attacks on Americans for over a decade has been killed. A lot of people are voicing various thoughts about the death of Usama Bin Laden and we at VUI have several of our own.

First, what a great job the intelligence and military communities did in tracking down the evil UBL or SOB as we call him. The Navy Seals who got the job done should be American heroes for life. Though, we will likely never know their names or the names of the intelligence operatives who assisted them. But, whomever they are, wherever they are, thank you!

Second, give President Obama some credit for his part. We at VUI are not fans of the President, but on this job, he got it done and it took some political guts. The operation the President ordered was risky and was defiant to many in the leftist world that make up his base. The President showed guts and ought to be be given his due for it. There are other issues to fight him on politically, this one is not one of them.

Third, the sniping about the President referring to himself in his remarks needs to be reconsidered. I understand the issue with the President's ego. But, what the President done by taking full responsibility was actually admirable. By making it "his" call, he legally freed those in the chain of command from being hounded by those who will, at some point, likely tout how the operation violated international law and treaties. Watch what Pakistan especially says and does over the next few weeks as the initial excitement dies down. The President made clear it was his responsibility and detractors could deal with him. It is another issue you have to give the President high marks on.

High marks also have to given to former President George W. Bush and his team. They made it the policy of the United States to hunt down UBL relentlessly. They engaged the United States in tactics that candidate Obama opposed but President Obama continued to use to finish the job.

All the demonstrations in the streets of Washington and New York and beyond actually give us at VUI some pause. Gloating over the death of an evil person is not really in American character. We simply do what we have to do. There is a sense in the public that the war on terror is over. That might be premature.

UBL was the SOB we wanted to get. But, there are still people out there hellbent on avenging his death and striking a blow against the United States. The United States still has armed forces in harm's way in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States still has financial and economic problems that at times seems overwhelming.

The killing of Usama Bin Laden was a boost to the American spirit and a statement to the world that if you mess with us, we will hunt you down and kill you, and dump you in the ocean. We will continue that hunt for a decade, through different Presidents of different political philosophies, but we will hunt you down.

Other random thoughts:

What is it with bad guys like Bin Laden and Gaddifi having different spellings of their names in the accepted press out there?

Pakistan has some serious explaining to to. The United States gave them money and trade deals since 2001 that were incredible, and UBL was living next door to their version of West Point in a city a good of their military retire to? Come on.

Will Donald Trump take credit for this somehow?

Watch out for folks who say that UBL is not dead. They will be the same ones who claim President Obama was born in Africa to a non American woman.

Watch out for Jon Huntsman. We at VUI wrote about him before and his possible GOP Presidential run. The GOP will have to nominate a heavyweight like him to beat Obama now. Consider Palin, Trump and Balkman done. Gingrich might suddenly become a factor. Whoever does will have to take a lesson from Bill Clinton in 1991 when he gave Bush the Elder credit for the Gulf War, but ran on the economy.

Finally, hat's off to the Greenwood, SC Index Journal for the best headline, "BASTARD'S DEAD!"

Perhaps these legislators need to be unemployed

2011-04-29T03:53:00.001-05:00

Tea Party and big money special interests scared the Republicans who voted against keeping South Carolina's word to Amazon. Democrats seized on an opportunity to embarrass the GOP. Whatever the reason for their cowardice in voting against keeping South Carolina's word to a big business investor, the legislators below made clear that South Carolina is closed to outside business, unless of course, you can threaten to spend money in their primary races.

Tis the era of political opportunists and cowards we live in. Glen Beck showed on his television show footage of how people let a South Carolina man just die on the streets of New York. That is our culture. And, the folks below showed it more than ever. Let's be frank. People will buy from Amazon and other online retailers as they have. South Carolina could have had thousands of jobs. But, no, the folks listed below did not want to face a Tea Party challenge and/or wanted to exploit politics. So, people lost those jobs. South Carolina lost the millions in revenue. But, hey, Governor Haley and the Tea Party are happy and so are Democrats jockeying for political position. Having the guts to stand up for the people does not even make a blip on those folk's radar. Besides, most of them have daddy's money and contacts to save them from finding a way to pay the rent or the electric bill.

One thing is for sure, the era of giants like Carroll Campbell bringing in outside investment are over.

NO
P. Agnew, D-Abbeville, T. Alexander, D-Florence, K. Allen, D-Greenville, C. Anderson, D-Georgetown, M. Anthony, D-Spartanburg, L. Barfield, R-Horry, E. Bedingfield, R-Greenville, E. Bikas, R-Pickens, D. Bowen, R-Anderson, W. Bowers, D-Hampton, R. Brown, D-Charleston, W. Chumley, R-Spartanburg, A. Clemmons, R-Horry, T. Corbin, R-Greenville, K. Crawford, R-Florence, W. Crosby, R-Charleston, F. Delleney, R-Chester, C. Dillard, D-Greenville, T. Edge, R-Horry, S. Erickson, R-Beaufort, L. Funderburk, D-Kershaw, W. Gilliard, D-Charleston, J. Govan, D-Orangeburg, D. Hamilton, R-Greenville, N. Hardwick, R-Horry, G. Hearn, R-Horry, P. Henderson, R-Greenville, D. Hiott, R-Pickens, W. Hixon, R-Aiken, J. Horne, R-Dorchester, L. Hosey, D-Barnwell, L. Howard, D-Richland, J. Jefferson, D-Berkeley, K. Johnson, D-Clarendon, J. King, D-York, H. Limehouse, R-Charleston, D. Long, R-Lancaster, P. Lowe, R-Florence, J. Lucas, R-Darlington, P. McCoy, R-Charleston, J. McEachern, D-Richland, D. Moss, R-Cherokee, E. Munnerlyn, D-Marlboro, C. Murphy, R-Dorchester, W. Nanney, R-Greenville, J. Neal, D-Lancaster, R. Norman, R-York, P. Owens, R-Pickens, S. Parker, R-Spartanburg, J. Parks, D-Greenwood, L. Pinson, R-Greenwood, M. Pitts, R-Laurens, T. Pope, R-York, K. Ryan, R-Georgetown, W. Sandifer, R-Oconee, J. Simrill, R-York, G. Smith, R-Sumter, G. Smith, R-Greenville, J. Smith, R-Aiken, B. Taylor, R-Aiken, A. Thayer, R-Anderson, D. Tribble, R-Laurens, T. Vick, D-Chesterfield, T. Viers, R-Horry, J. Weeks, D-Sumter, J. Whipper, D-Charleston, W. White, R-Anderson, W. Whitmire, R-Oconee, R. Williams, D-Darlington, M. Willis, R-Greenville, T. Young, R-Aiken

Governing under the influence?

2011-04-28T02:59:00.000-05:00

We at VUI have been bombarded with reports from folks that said they saw firsthand Governor Haley getting drinks at Hilton Head Island last weekend during the golf event there. Yawn. Now, other blogs and others are saying members of Haley’s security detail were getting drinks for her and her party. Some folks out there are really upset with that rumor.

We at VUI are not. What we are upset is with the notion that drinking causes Nikki Haley to make boneheaded decisions such as breaking the state’s word with Amazon and placing her husband on a committee to select the next SLED chief. Don’t go blaming that kind of thing on strong drink. Next thing you know Haley will have rumors she was in the liquor cabinet when she fired Darla Moore from the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees. If Haley endorses Donald Trump for President the legislature might have to step in and ban all hard drink from the Governor’s Mansion.

Here is why we at VUI don‘t worry so much about strong drink and political leaders. Though the late Strom Thurmond never took a drink, most of the giants in South Carolina politics have. Indeed, James F. Byrnes, perhaps the most influential South Carolinian to ever live, with his roles in the US Senate, as Secretary of State, as Supreme Court Justice and close adviser to both Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, and late in life Governor of South Carolina, was known to cry out to his wife, “Maude, get me a drink” when something flabbergasted him. But, whatever he drank, he had some good sense on matters.

So have so many other Governors and state legislators. Governors and legislators from this state have drank a shot right before they attended church on Sunday morning. They have used their SLED details to get them a drink or drive them home. Some folks close to them see them as the choice of the people and help them through their vices because of the stress of the jobs they hold. Others see it as simple duty. People called such things the good ole boy system. And, like it or not, it produced some leaders who did some good things for this state and it also enabled some folks who had no business with public power. But, it was what it was.

The problem Governor Haley faces and why so many get so upset over such side issues is that she campaigned saying she would be so different. Governor Haley’s campaigned created a higher standard she has to live up to. Let’s be frank and fair. If Henry McMaster or Gresham Barrett had won the GOP nomination and the Governor’s office, someone fetching them a drink would not make anyone‘s, even the bloggers’ political radar. But, Haley was nominated and elected as the wronged woman who was good and pure and who wanted to do right. Now, she has to live up to that standard she created more than anyone could imagine. That is the reality of politics.

But, again we at VUI say, with some personal knowledge of the subject, one can not blame strong drink on really stupid stuff. It is easy to. It is easy to have people do it for you. But, in the end, mistakes are all your own. We all would love to blame some guy named Jack Daniels for our mistakes, but we can not. And, when history shows that previous holders of your office were drunker than a Talladega race fan and made sounder decisions, you got to rethink how you are doing things. Think on it. Winston Churchill stayed drunk on brandy most of his life according to anti alcohol advocates, but he saved the free world. Abraham Lincoln, according to some, was fond of whiskey with water, and it was even served to him when he briefly sat in the Southern White House in Richmond. Franklin Roosevelt liked his martinis. Harry Truman had to have his “eye opener” every morning which was a shot of bourbon. Even Ronald Reagan liked a “cold beer.” So this notion of a leader drinking making them not able to do the job is incorrect.

But, drinker or no drinker, Haley is nowhere near that class of leader. As such, the great drinking leaders who actually served the people should not be insulted by those who contend that whatever the Governor drinks or does not drink makes her make such boneheaded decisions in office.

And, people should give those security folks around the Governor a pass. Those folks are doing their jobs. Sometimes those jobs are not pretty. But, we the people of South Carolina, elected those they are charged to serve and protect. Give them a break. Those folks are just doing their jobs. Whether or not Governor Haley is doing her job is something we all can judge come 2014. But, her SLED protective detail ought to be left out of the political debate. They are just doing their duty, like so many before them have.

History lesson Tea Party

2011-04-27T03:04:00.000-05:00

One things that really bugs VUI about the “Tea Party” in this state and in this nation is their lack of willingness to sacrifice for the country. Indeed, people who most likely have never read the constitution they claim to love take to the streets to protest the first African American President of the United States and fight for the right of the rich not be taxed 39% instead of 37%. It is strange situation, made even more strange by people using the world “Tea Party” to convey their ideals that are well paid for by moneyed interests. (RINO alert: This is not Reagan’s of Goldwater’s GOP any more.)

Let’s be clear. The Founding Fathers, those who dared to signed the Declaration of Independence were men of influence and wealth in their time. If they were worried about protecting their own interests and defending themselves against the masses, signing up for the American Revolution would not have crossed their minds. Instead, they dared to build a nation of freedom. And, for that, many of them sacrificed their wealth and even their lives to do so. Others in their generation followed suit. So many of the men that are honored today as great patriots died broke.

They were followed by other great Americans, who died and killed for the United States in all our wars. Those great Americans are joined by those who gave up possible personal wealth, such as Ronald Reagan, to engage in the political arena for what they believed in.

Such notions seem lost today. While in the past, political activists and patriots would give all that they had for the nation, now the game has changed. Far too many of those who shape political opinions and opine for those in power are paid very well by moneyed interests who have no desire to sacrifice, but instead want government at all levels to their bidding. Far too many candidates and holders of office, in both parties, are just puppets of those who pay for their campaigns, or in the case of SC General Assembly members, handsome consulting fees.

It is the selfish and ignorant culture that we live in now. People are whipped into a frenzy that makes little sense. Well paid activists organize “rallies” in the name of the “Tea Party” to oppose things like minimal tax increases on the wealthy, exploiting every bias of any kind to do so. It is disgusting to those of us who really believe in the American ideals of freedom and liberty. Because true patriots to this nation know that loving this country means sacrificing something. And, it also means actually reading and understanding the constitution that one claims to love.

But, that is not the case today. Too many of us look to be pleased and ignore the true sacrifice of those who serve in the armed forces or the like. “Just don’t make me pay more taxes,” a good many cry out. The sad truth is many of those rallying against such would not even under the most liberal of tax plans. Their ignorance makes standing for limited government hard to do to people with sense.

And, it also is an insult to the Founding Fathers, and those who first flew that “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. Do not get VUI wrong. There are things to be angry about. Spending your life paying health insurance premiums and having a government that works to make sure you still owe tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills with coverage is one of them. Having a President who claims to be for average folks doing the bidding of insurance companies by making you have health insurance or face the IRS is another. We at VUI get the anger.

The problem is the Tea Party does not get the anger. Rallying for the elite does not make America free, and it does not stimulate the economy. Mexico tried that. See how that is working out for them.

Indeed, to truly bring America back, there must be sacrifice. And, that sacrifice ought not just be on the backs of the elderly and the poor. The super rich should have to pay their two percent more in income taxes. If they do not like that, they can invest in capital investment and create jobs, where the capital gains tax is lower.

If you want to take the streets to oppose that, so be it. But, chances are you are cutting your own economic throat just to show you don’t like who is President. If you are going to that, those of us who know the sacrifice of our Founding Fathers respectfully request you stop using the “Don’t Tread on Me Flag.” That flag is reserved for people who gave to this country.

SC "Home Rule" does not give open and limited government

2011-04-26T02:12:00.002-05:00

Around forty years ago, the South Carolina General Assembly, controlled by big government Democrats, created an idea called “Home Rule.” The act they passed created county councils in all 46 counties in South Carolina and gave the control over local government affairs, including spending and taxes at the county level.

It was appealing then and appealing now. Indeed, even the State newspaper has recently opined about how great it is that Governor Haley and her supporters in the legislature worked together to make sure that some employee of a local government entity like a watershed commission could not run for that office. Such sounds good. But, actually, there are the basic costs of county government to consider and even more basic political concerns.

First, lets take a look at what has happened under so called “Home Rule.” While those of us who are conservative have always believed that states have rights and that states have the right to rule their own states with the least federal government interference, the fact stands that within a state, local rule is not always the most efficient. Indeed, since the so called “Home Rule” legislation nearly forty years ago, the taxes on the people and the spending of county governments has increased nearly 1000% in real dollars. Indeed, in South Carolina, no government entity has grown as much over the past forty years as much as county governments.

There is a reason for that. The folks elected to county level councils, God Bless them, are the B-team of politics. As such, they have to deal with things like “slush funds” in some counties for things like roads and recreation. Over the past forty years, the basic needs of political patronage have transcended party labels and has enabled county government cost and taxes to grow at an incredible rate. There is nothing to celebrate with the hard cold facts. People pay more for county government and more in county taxes than ever before and pay so much more under so called “Home Rule” then they ever did when legislative delegations controlled such things.

So does the state. The state has something called the “local government fund” that comes from sales taxes. That fund has continued to grow, even in bad economic times. It is a much bigger part of the state budget than anyone ever thought some forty or so years ago when “Home Rule” was voted on.

But, we do live in a world of political ignorance. While those of us who are constitutional conservatives believe that the federal government’s role should be limited, it can not be helped but to be noted that the role of county governments within our state has cost us more money than ever expected.

And, with Haley’s bill about the Aiken County Watershed Commission, it helps local politics. Make no mistake about it. Though various local officials elected might be the “B-team” of politics, those elected to the State House and State Senate worry about facing them. Slapping down employees of things like Water Commissions, and teachers from running for local school boards, or county employees from running for county council limits the average man or woman from seeking office. It leaves office to those who have means outside of working for a living. It leaves running for office to those who have money in their pocket already and who do not work for a living.

Add the increasing costs of so called “Home Rule” over the past forty years with that notion of working people not being able to seek office, and it is hard to see how such can be applauded as being for the people. Indeed, it seems Haley’s legislation championed by The State shuts working folks out of the political process and embraces the big government liberal ways of liberal government to make it costly to the taxpayer and limited to be run by those who can afford to not work to run for the jobs.

Think on it. So called “Home Rule” costs people more local property taxes than ever. Now, hard working employees of local government entities are barred for running for office. Please tell VUI how that is open, honest or conservative.

No Good Friday courage found in SC Tea Party politics

2011-04-22T04:03:00.000-05:00

We at VUI made our position about the courage of Jesus Christ quite clear with our post about his courage. Discussing the courage of Christ is a staple of VUI when Good Friday comes around. But, politics still abounds in this state.

And, in politics, even so called Tea Party folks lack real courage. Sure, they go on about so called openness in things like roll call voting for the members of the General Assembly. Veterans of the legislative process tell VUI that such things will drag out the legislative process even more and cost taxpayers even more money in time spent on legislative pay and per Diem expenses.

Such things are debatable. What is not debatable is that calling for openness and limiting it to roll call voting does little to really open up what goes on in the South Carolina General Assembly. If folks really want openness in the General Assembly, they should demand that members of the South Carolina House and South Carolina Senate make public their tax returns.

Members of the United States Congress have do so. Members of the South Carolina General Assembly do not. Some folks argue that the wealth or lack of wealth by members should not be considered. Broke as we at VUI are, we understand some points of that argument. However, by not having to show their tax returns to the state, members of the South Carolina House and Senate can take “consulting fees” or other types of fees from businesses and other entities who have business with the state and not disclose such.

Governor Nikki Haley provides a great example. As a member of the South Carolina House, Governor Haley received a rather handsome sum to “consult” for the firm Wilbur Smith. Fair enough, we suppose. But, Haley’s consulting issue is the tip of the political iceberg, so to speak. Countless members of the SC House and SC Senate take consulting fees for this and that and do not have to disclose them. Indeed, in their official biographies, members list themselves as attorneys and businessmen, without having to disclose just who pays them.

Both Republicans and Democrats benefit from not having to disclose who pays them money for whatever. The people of South Carolina lose. And, that is where the Tea Party activists are getting rolled. Sure, some legislators are all too eager to disclose their roll call votes, but not their income tax returns and who pays them. Some of the ones most vocal for the roll call votes are most protective of not disclosing their income sources.

What is frustrating and even irritating is that Tea Party activists, who claim to be for openness, seem to not question the incomes of members of the General Assembly who give them lip service on pet issues that really do not matter. Even more insulting to South Carolinians who need work is the so called Tea Party activists actually spending money to try to keep thousands of jobs from coming to the Midlands of South Carolina via an Amazon.com distribution center. Again, just follow the money and the politics. Never before in any state have so many so called Republicans worked against a big economic investment. Indeed, had this brand of Republicans been running South Carolina in the late 1980s, they would have told BMW to go elsewhere to be open, all the while not disclosing who got paid what by whomever to keep them out.

If people really want to reform South Carolina politics, then they should demand members of the General Assembly and all Constitutional officers to make public their tax returns so the people can see who pays them whatever and judge whether or not they do the bidding of narrow interests in exchange for payments for so called services rendered.

Of course, calling for that will tick powerful people off, including those who clamor for so called reform. Frankly, we at VUI worry a lot less about who votes for what on some roll call record when so many are getting paid consulting fees and other fees by those with vested interests in state government. Real reform starts with every member of the General Assembly, and every Constitutional officer, including the Governor, disclosing fully who pays them personally and who funds their campaigns and organizations who support them. If we are to be a truly courageous and open state, then we must open all the books for all to see, and that includes tax returns and opening up to everyone every penny that is paid in consulting fees or campaign contributions to every holder of state office and every entity that tries to influence state politics.

If the Tea Party activists won’t call for that, then all they are is just pawns in the political game and worthless to the people of South Carolina.

The courage of Jesus Christ

2011-04-22T00:05:00.001-05:00

He was a teacher. He was a humble preacher. He was the son of God Himself. The Roman Empire, the power of the day, reluctantly sentenced the humble teacher and preacher to death.

So the humble man went forward to die for our sins. Your sins and mine were washed away with the sacrifice of the humble son of God.

Think about that man and that day long ago. The Son of God humbled himself and had to courage to go through the torture of crucifixion. Jesus Christ would be beaten, humiliated and nailed to a cross.

Think of that pain. There was the Son of God Himself, whipped by Roman soldiers, and after that whipping, Jesus carried the cross he would be nailed upon up Calvary.

Crucifixion was no merciful or quick death. The nails were driven coarsely through one hand and then the other, and then through the feet. The Son of God hung on that crossed and suffered. Then a thorn was put through his side and he was mocked as “King of the Jews” by the Roman soldiers.

How tempting it had to be to our Lord to call down a legion of angels and wipe out those who treated him so badly. Yet, our Lord did not do that. He knew he had to go through that humiliating death to wipe our sins clean with his blood.

Think about what many of us would have went through. Would any of us go through such a painful ordeal for our fellow human beings? After standing and preaching for peace, Jesus met a cruel death. His death was made all that more cruel in that the people he came to save were the very ones who demanded his humiliating death.

What courage Jesus Christ had! Too often we forget the courage of Christ. The story of him taking a whip and running the money changers out of the temple is lost as well as the courage of Christ in his last day. He took a beating that many of us would cringe under. He took the pain of the nails into his flesh. He had the power to cry out to angels to end it, but he had the courage not to do so he could die on that dark day for our sins.

Today, this so called Good Friday, remember that brave man who took the beating and the humiliation so we all could have our sins washed clean in his blood, the blood of the lamb.

Sinner that I am, I am proud to proclaim my devotion to the man who gave up so much to save us all. It humbles my heart to think what Jesus endured for me and for us all. Jesus Christ is Lord, and it is a great thing! I proclaim him as my Lord and Savior without apology. If the PC crowd does not like that, well, I just don't care. Chirst had the courage to endure so much for me, and I just can not forget that.

This and that

2011-04-16T03:09:00.003-05:00

We had VUI have had a lot going on and took about a two week hiatus from posting. Call it a vacation from blogging if you will. But, over the past couple of weeks a good much has happened in politics, so in our return post we offer “this and that,” some random thoughts on things going on.

First, let’s look at Libya. The old strongman remains in power still despite the fact the United States and its allies have aided in the rebels with air strikes. We joked a bit in the past about Toyota trucks in battle, but even we were taken a bit back recently when the rebels were given weapons and new Toyota trucks. In other words, it looks like it is coming down to has the newer pickups and we are ready supply them. It would be funny, but it’s true. What is also true is the United States and its allies are spending millions fighting for rebels who really do not seem willing to fight for themselves. One wonders where all the anti war protestors who gave former President Bush fits are in this fiasco of American diplomacy? We have not seen the first “Hands off Libya” bumper sticker like the “Hands off Iraq” stickers that were on Volvos back in 2003.

That brings us to the President of the United States. According to Gallup, President Obama’s approval rating is at 41%, the lowest of his Presidency. It does not help matters for President Obama that he was heard whining about White House technology at fundraiser recently. You might be losing your home and out of job, but hey the President can’t get the HD flat screen computer monitor he thinks he is entitled to.

But, just when one is ready to write Obama off, there are the Republicans. House Republicans offered a courageous budget that cut the deficit, but their insistence on cutting tax rates for wealthy Americans overshadowed their thrifty ideas. It gave Obama political life.

Also giving political life to President Obama is Donald Trump. VUI has noted how weak the GOP Presidential field seems at this point. (There is no Ronald Reagan out there.) But, even we were shocked at how seriously people take television reality star Donald Trump as a Presidential contender. Trump talks sense when he talks business. But, his mouth can not shut there. Trump’s moves to “prove” President Obama was not born in the United States are a waste of time and resources. Trump’s picking a fight with entertainer Bill Cosby, a man known for urging personal responsibility and much more a family man than Trump, was strange. Trump is one statement away from political disaster. But his rise is an indicator of how weak the GOP field is to the 15 to 20 percent of middle of the road voters who actually decide who the next President will be.

In South Carolina, we learned that Governor Nikki Haley is all for creating jobs and cutting taxes, unless it means not taxing Amazon.com products sold from a proposed distribution center in Lexington County. Supposedly 3000 jobs could be created by Amazon but Haley’s staying loyal to old Lexington friends, which seems to be her core belief. Haley did indicate if the legislature gave Amazon a break she would not veto or sign it. That is not the stuff Vice Presidential candidates are made of. Haley’s focus seems to get narrower and narrower as her term develops and she seems to be already wearing summer flip flops, including signing another version of a bill out of Aiken County she previously vetoed. Also, after vowing in her campaign not to cut Medicaid benefits, Haley made a ceremony of cutting Medicaid payments.

Exiting the scene of power soon will be House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper. Governor Haley and Cooper are not fans of one another. Last year, Cooper seemed to sleep walk through a closer than should be campaign against a young primary challenger. Cooper announced this will be his last session as Chairman of Ways and Means, clearing the way for fellow Anderson County House member Brian White to take the job. VUI guesses Cooper will not seek another term in the House, which will make the race for his seat a hot one in the GOP primary in 2012. Indeed, for the past 37 years, (16 for Dolly Cooper, Dan’s father and 21 for Dan), a Cooper has held the SC House District 10 seat. But, District 10 has proven to be fluid over the past few years with new voters moving in. Redistricting will make it even more fluid.

Finally, conservatives who want to and correctly want to cut the state budget here and there are all but ignoring the costs of the private school subsidy scheme. When analysts pointed out it could cost the state $133.4 million when fully engaged, they ignored it. So called conservatives are still pushing for the measure, and for good reason. Hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars will flow to their campaigns for doing so. But, subsidizing private entities, even private schools, is not the government’s business. If Howard Rich and his allies believe so much that private schools are the answer for poor folks in bad public schools, then all they have to do is write checks to pay the tuition of those students. Cut out the middle man. Leave government out of it. That is what real conservatives do. Cut the crap.

That brings us to the nonsense of the federal government and our last item. The United States Postal Service was caught using the image of an imitation Statue of Liberty on a recent stamp it presented to the public for sale. The image was from an imitation statue at a casino in Las Vegas, not the real Statue of Liberty. When caught, the Postal Service said they preferred the image of the fake. That is outrageous but typical. We in America and South Carolina seem to like the fake image over the real thing. History, tradition, hard work, values, those things do not matter any more. Our leaders, both right and left, thrive on our ignorance. They pay people to craft their words and images so we make them our political idols while we sip our fake cokes and worry more about our votes for Dancing with the Stars or American Idol then who we vote for to take over a third of our income to pay back those who gave money to them. No wonder the postal service got in on that gig.

That’s the this and that for now. We are not dead yet, despite the rumors. We plan to take on some big issues, such as who is teaching your kids, how your Representative and Senator votes, and a host of other things. And, VUI is just fascinated with how secretive the Governor and other politicians who call for openness really are about themselves. Time to have some fun.

A good political punch from the Democrats

2011-04-02T03:54:00.002-05:00

A good many of old South Carolina Republicans have longed for the days of Carroll Campbell and Strom Thurmond and scratch our heads at the takeover of the GOP by folks that, well, just seem far more the old good boys than the Republicans we were promised. We would run to the other party, but the Obama liberals are running that one. So, we at VUI declared our independence. That seemed to tick everyone off.

But, what is going on ticks us off, politically. We are mindful we got to be careful about saying that. Another SC blogger got a visit from the fellas in blue over expressing his outrage a bit awkwardly. Some jackasses out there blame law enforcement. We do not. It is the times we live in. So, we will be clear, we at VUI do not roll that way. Like good Christians, we love the sinner, just hate the sin. And, violence is something we just won't tolerate.    Our founding editor is an attorney, who despite his sense of humor, actually believes in that oath he took to defend and protect the constitution of this state and the United States.    The staff has family and dear friends who walk the line of law enforcement. No blog out there stands more with law enforcement and non violence than VUI. And, frankly put, this blog will defend the constitutional rights of President Obama and Governor Haley to hold their offices in a manner that protects their rights and their families' rights to safety, no matter how much we might disagree with them on this or that issue.

That said, we do tell it like it is, entertain and make people laugh out loud. After all, what's a broke lawyer, an old football coach, a couple of geezers and cancer patient fighting for his life got to lose in trying to make a point now and then and give people a smile?

That said, the Democrats have thrown one helluva a political punch via youtube. (That is reference is to our love of boxing and in no way implies that we intend to ever throw any punches at anyone...the broke lawyer insisted that be said. :) ) Here is the video that some young kid Democrat in the Lowcountry supposedly done. It, again, in a boxing metaphor, hits hard. Watch it and let us know what you think.

The Lowcountry blogger scandal

2011-04-01T01:57:00.000-05:00

Sources and emails obtained by VUI seem to point to the notion that a South Carolina Governor isn’t alone in seeming to be unable to “get over” a certain Lowcountry blogger who now is rumored to be engaged and off the radar. The scandals around the Lowcountry blogger continue to mount.

“I never seen anything like it,” said one insider, who said his wife would divorce him if she knew the true nature of his relationships with various members of the General Assembly, “that Lowcountry blogger will do things that I just won’t do. He has not only the Governor desperate, but members of the General Assembly. He knows where the bones are buried and where to bury his bones.”

Another longtime observer of Columbia politics, said, with a laugh, “So now that guy has a Governor trying to keep him close with a job or political appointment. Others have tried but that blogger is just a player cold with his game.”

All sorts of rumors surround possible positions for the Lowcountry blogger in the Columbia area. Some even whisper about him as a dark horse for the GOP Chairmanship, so he can be held close to those who want him and worry about him at the same time.

That led another GOP veteran to sigh, “That guy could bring it all down. We are trying to find him something to appease him. With all he knows and who he knows in a biblical way, we can’t let the media hear his story and you need to be quiet on this one. Why do you want to even write about this? Are you jealous?”

Even VUI and the liability lawyer that advises us are a bit afraid of the Lowcountry blogger. We won’t mention his name. But, in fairness, we did try to talk to him recently. We reached him via mobile phone. He answered by saying, not “hello,” but with “I didn’t do it.” As we tried to question him, he faded in and out, but we understood he was somewhere in rural Horry County. He said something about questions about his personal life and a horse or strippers or a stripping horse, or something like that. One quote was clear, “You pursue this you will wish you were a catfish in Jim Clyburn’s backyard.” Then he faded in out with words like “strippers” and “Columbia” and “peach preserves” being noted. There was something about “been there, done that.” The rest was incoherent as the mobile signal faded out into the rural Horry County Spring night.

Repeated attempts to reconnect with the blogger were unsuccessful. Which puts us at VUI in good company when you consider all those who seem to be trying to reconnect with him. Is the Lowcountry blogger in question the most dangerous man today in South Carolina politics? Or are those who are afraid of him fools? Who knows? One thing is for sure, you can bet someone will be digging for the answers.

Who will watch horse racing sober?

2011-03-28T03:46:00.000-05:00

There is a new Sheriff in town, at least in Camden, South Carolina, the home of the Carolina Cup horse races. New Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews and Camden Police Chief Joe Floyd are joining forces to crack down on alcohol abuse at the Carolina Cup races. They are going after underage drinkers, those who ferry alcohol as “cooler carriers” and anyone who has too much to drink at the event.

Such sounds good and it is certainly good public relations for both Matthews and Floyd to show how tough that they are on crime. That said, trying to make sober one of the state’s biggest drinking parties is not going to be easy and it just might backfire.

We at VUI have only been to one Carolina Cup event. It was not all that enjoyable. People dress up in their best clothes to get drunk and watch horses race. The kids of semi wealthy people make up a good part of the crowd. They are in ties, drunk and obnoxious. The elite show up, drunk themselves from the coolers brought in by the guys who cut their grass. All that said, what we saw was a few thousand drunk people dressed in good clothes watching horses race. Frankly, if we are going to get drunk and watch some futility in sports, we will take Death Valley or Willams Brice. At least there we don’t have to wear our Sunday best and pretend to be important.

Locking up some rich brats and those who enable them will not bother us at VUI. However, as people tuned into politics and how this state works, Matthews and Floyd need to know they are playing with fire. A good many of the kids and the adults who get drunk at something like the Carolina Cup think they are entitled to do so. Messing with their fun could have political consequences. Locking up some redneck for being a public drunk at Joe’s Bar and Grill is one thing. Locking up the kid of someone important is another in this state. Locking up someone important gets you on the news one day and people looking for your replacement the next day. That is the political reality.

Besides, have you ever been to a horse race? If people are not gambling on the outcome, they are drinking hard. Likely they are doing both. Take that away from them and they might as well be watching two middle schools from Georgia playing volleyball. Nobody gets dressed up and lays down money for that.

It all does make VUI wonder what will be next? Will Darlington County “crack down” on drunks at the Southern 500? Will Richland and Pickens Counties “crack down” on Clemson and Carolina game days? Think on it. Law enforcement could really thump their chests and pad the pockets of the local coffers if they set up DUI checkpoints coming out of Death Valley or Williams Brice and cracked down on those drunk tailgaters.

Of course, a round or two of such enforcement and heads would roll and people would stay away and not spend their money in the local economies. That is the ugly reality. South Carolina is a Bible thumping state, but at events like the Carolina Cup, the Southern 500 and Clemson and Carolina football games, we as a people party hard. We also spend a lot of money that pumps into local economies. That is why for decades now law enforcement has kept order, but not cracked down at such events. The potential costs, both economic and political, have outweighed the benefit of cracking down. Of course the good folks in Kershaw County have to bluster a bit and talk crackdown, but really do they expect people to come to their town and watch horses race while sober? They really expect Buffy and Chippy to come there and be interesting in horse racing? It will not happen. A tough crackdown will result in people not going to Camden next year and spending money. Making the Carolina Cup a sober event is like banning all people who live in trailers from attending races at the I-20 Speedway, it just can’t be done without destroying the event.

Princess, I mean Governor Haley versus Darla Moore and the world

2011-03-27T04:53:00.000-05:00

Meow South Carolina. You are about to be witness to a great cat fight. Governor “Princess Nikki” Haley made clear to the world she was in charge of the state of South Carolina, and especially the University of South Carolina, when she “fired” Darla Moore from the Board of Trustees of that university in favor of some Lexington lawyer who gave to the Haley campaign coffers.

Never mind that Darla Moore has donated millions to the University of South Carolina. Princess Nikki, a Clemson graduate of all things, had to show that “liberal” Darla Moore what is what. Or at least Princess Nikki’s minions had to. Princess Nikki rules this land, Ms. Moore. Whatever the case, Princess Nikki, I mean Governor Haley, removed from the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees the woman who is perhaps the University of South Carolina’s greatest benefactor.

How did Darla Moore respond to the insult from Princess Nikki, I mean Governor Haley? Moore gave millions more to the University of South Carolina for aerospace education on the condition that it, gulp, get this, is in honor of Ronald McNair, the South Carolina astronaut who was killed in the Challenger accident.

Now that had to send the minions of Princess Nikki into a tizzy fit that is ready for the Jerry Springer show. McNair was a black man. The minions around Princess Nikki seem more concerned that the family members of Mr. McNair might vote Democrat than honoring the fact that he was a great man and that a great woman, Darla Moore, chose to honor him so. And, those folks are getting paid some really big money from the taxpayers to feel that way. What really has to hit those folks is the class that Darla Moore has.

You know the type who serve our Princess, I mean our Governor. They get paid six figures to tell teachers and highway patrolmen that they make too much. They call anyone who dares to question their assertions “RINOs” or liberals. They talk about scorecards for legislators who do not do the bidding of Princess Nikki. It is their way.

Now, they pick a fight for Clemson graduate Princess Nikki, against a woman who just might have more respect in business circles and around the state then their Princess. Make no mistake, the firing of Darla Moore from the USC Board was not conservative versus liberal or Republican versus Democrat. It was about Princess Nikki and her followers showing that they are in charge. Just as they threaten duly elected servants of the people in the General Assembly, they go after the benefactor of the state’s flagship university for their Princess.

That said, Darla Moore is in good company. From what VUI has learned, State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, a man who no sane person can call “RINO,” will soon join Moore in being on the list of politically “untouchables” that our Princess, I mean our Governor, holds. Wait and see.

RIP Geraldine Ferraro

2011-03-27T04:14:00.000-05:00

Geraldine Ferraro, age 75, lost her battle with cancer recently. For those young political folks out there who do not both to read or understand history, Ferraro was the first woman and the first Italian American to be on a major party ticket for Vice President of the United States.

Twenty four years before Sarah Palin, then Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro was chosen by Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale to be his running mate. It created a great political and news firestorm at the time, pulling Mondale even with President Reagan. Ferraro was no typical liberal of the times, as she supported the Reagan military build up. But, Reagan came back and he and Vice President George H.W. Bush whipped the Mondale-Ferraro ticket.

It was good that Reagan won re-election. Have no doubt about that. But, Ferraro did make a difference. People took women in politics in both parties more seriously. People took Italian Americans in politics more seriously. Though they might never think it, Justices Scalia and Alito could have been helped a bit with Ferraro being taken so seriously.

That is not to say Ferraro was not wrong on many issues. She was. But, she was who she was without apology and she out campaigned her running mate in 1984 and endured family scandals to remain a influential attorney and commentator for the rest of her life. She went on to serve under President Clinton as Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, an issue she held a passion for.

Ferraro was also a frank woman. Perhaps too frank. In 2008, she stated, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." That set the left wing in America into a frenzy and the right wing harped on it as well. Ferraro called the firestorm that followed the worst weeks of her life.

That was Geraldine Ferraro being the teacher and the prosecutor from Queens that she was. She called it like she saw it, like it or not. Ferraro apologized for her remarks, as leftists seem to do, but don’t hold that against her. Whether you liked her positions or not, Ferraro was a tough political and legal fighter for what she believed in. Sarah Palin could learn from her.

So VUI pays honor and respect to a fallen political foe, a woman with guts and refreshing frankness that those today on the right and left don’t seem to understand. They just don’t get the honor of fighting the good fight with and against people who you will fight until the end but respect them all the way there. Rest in God’s peace, Geraldine Ferraro, and may God comfort your loved ones.

Top 9 ways to celebrate turning 40

2011-03-27T02:37:00.000-05:00

It happens to the best of us, if we are lucky and blessed. We turn 40. We have to turn in our membership cards to anything that begins with the word “young.” We suddenly show up on the AARP’s mailing list. Trips to the doctor’s office become serious things. The get up and go has days where it got up and went. Some of us become cougars or dirty old men. Most of us just get old.

Well, joining club 40 is not a death sentence and you should celebrate it. Here are 9 ways to do just that.

9) Indulge yourself. Subscribe to “Arthritis Today.”

8) Go for the light beer and the sugar free cake and ice cream.

7) If someone is getting on your case, grab the left side of your chest and say, “I am too old for this crap.” If that does not work, start checking your blood sugar.

6) Instead of dyeing Easter Eggs with your kids this spring, dye your hair.

5) Go berserk on some young political punk and blame it on your Type 2 Diabetes.

4) Instead of a “Yager Bomb” have a “Geritol Bomb.”

3) Get a “Princess Nikki rules South Carolina” tattoo on a part of your body you think will wrinkle last and you secretly wish Princess Nikki would see. It will give you that old teenage rush.

2) Watch an episode of American Idol and take a look at Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. It is uplifting. If he lived that long, so can you.

1) Run for office and spend some of your campaign funds on the blue pills. Just be sure to note that it helped you with “political relations,” after all, a politician has to be able to do what politicians do to the people.

1) Have we listed nine things already? I forget.

A history lesson on the office of Lt. Governor

2011-03-26T03:27:00.000-05:00

There are rumblings in Columbia about either eliminating the office of Lt. Governor or making the Lt. Governor be appointed by the Governor. The past two Lt. Governors of South Carolina beg the question to be examined. Former Lt. Governor Andre Bauer’s lead foot and current Lt. Governor Ken Ard’s campaign finance woes are fuel for the political fire that is reforming the office.

That said, the office of Lt. Governor of South Carolina is steeped in history and has had political giants occupy it. During royal rule of South Carolina, the Lt. Governor represented the people and Assembly of the state while the Governor was a royal appointee. Under the current constitution of 1895 that South Carolina currently operates under, the intention of the crafters was not as cynical as the so called reformers want people to believe. They claim that the fear of African Americans being elected to high office made them dissipate powers. The office of Lt. Governor flies in the face of that. The crafters wanted the President of the South Carolina Senate to be elected by the entire state of South Carolina.

For years, that prominent position was filled with politicians of great merit. The job was sought by longtime legislators and others who were politically plugged in. Since 1895, seven Lt. Governors, Miles McSweeney, Thomas G. McLeod, Ransum Judson Williams, George Bell Timmerman, Ernest F. Hollings, Robert McNair and John West went on to be Governor of South Carolina. They entered the Lt. Governor’s office with proven resumes and after their terms as Lt. Governor and Governor, they went on to strong careers. McSweeney was a influential newspaper man. McLeod served as President of the Bishopville Telephone Company. Williams served on college boards. Timmerman became a respected judge. Hollings became a long term United States Senator. McNair became the state’s most prominent lawyer in his time. West became Ambassador of the United States to Saudi Arabia.

Other Lt. Governors who did not go on to become Governor have had success after the job. Lt. Governor Earle Morris went on to serve several terms as Comptroller General of South Carolina. (Morris did have some legal woes when he retired from the office of Comptroller General, but as he died about six weeks ago, VUI will not go into that and instead remember what the man did in public service.) Lt. Governor Nancy Stevenson was the first woman in South Carolina history elected to statewide office and instituted the Lt. Governor’s writing contest for school children. Lt. Governor Nick Theodore lost a close race for Governor to Governor David Beasley, but became a close advisor to Governor Jim Hodges. Lt. Governor Bob Peeler lost the Republican nomination to Governor Mark Sanford but went on to serve on the Clemson Board of Trustees.

In sum, serious people held the office and they accomplished things. The office began to change in 1995. Lt. Governor Bob Peeler was elected as the first Republican Lt. Governor since Reconstruction. The Democrats who controlled the State Senate at the time were already frustrated with some things that Lt. Governor Theodore had done. Add to that the idea of a Republican sitting as President of their body and they used their majority status to strip the Lt. Governor of a number of presiding powers. When Republicans gained control, President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell seemed unwilling to give those powers back to the Lt. Governor. Thus, the office seemed weak to those who were in the know about it.

That resulted in people who were not as prominent seeking the office. Why would a senior member of the General Assembly or a member of Congress give up their seat to seek an office that could not do anything? Lt. Governor Bauer worked to get the Office of Aging under the Lt. Governor to offset that notion. But, it did not.

Bauer’s own lead foot, and whatever else he brought to the office came to diminish the office further when Governor Mark Sanford faced the AWOL/Appalachian Trail scandal in the summer of 2009. Two factors came up that damaged the office. Rumors swirled that the Lt. Governor was not fit to take over the job as Governor and more importantly, rumors swirled around the state capitol that President Pro Tempore McConnell was not interested in the least in giving up his power to be elevated to Lt. Governor as state law would do if Bauer took Sanford’s place. Such illustrated that being a senior state senator from Charleston was far more desirable than holding the office of Lt. Governor.
As a result, a list of relative political lightweights sought the office of Lt. Governor in 2010. That resulted in a Florence County Council member, Ken Ard, being elected to what is still the second highest state office.

That brings us to the charges the Ethics Commission brought against Lt. Governor Ard. Frankly put, after reviewing them, VUI believes that the majority of the charges could be easily shot down by a good lawyer as legitimate campaign expenses. However, there are a few charges, such as football tickets and things like that are likely going to stick. But, it was Ard’s reaction to the investigation that hurt him the most. That comes from being a political lightweight. It also comes from being a Lt. Governor under a Governor who leads a band of revolutionaries with a scorched Earth policy to get their way in appointing offices. A more seasoned politico on the state scene would have handled the situation better. They would have friends that would not allow things to get to this.

Some call that the good ole boy system or the privileged class. Whatever. But, in years past, a small time politician from Florence County would have had no chance of being elected Lt. Governor, and once elected there is no way that a bunch of under qualified thirty year olds making a hundred grand a year working for the Governor would have dared to paint the Lt. Governor in such a way in the Columbia circles. But we should not let those well paid for insiders who call people names destroy the institution of the office of Lt. Governor because of the perceived weakness of Lt. Governor Ard. The Lt. Governor needs to realize the office he holds and realize the history of it, and stand up, smartly, for himself and his office. Since our state’s beginning, the office of Lt. Governor has had an important role for South Carolina. It still can, if the current occupant decides to fight for not only himself but his office.

For the office, Lt. Governor Ard should fight the charges that are weak and just write a check for the charges that are strong. Then, Ard ought to be go on the attack about folks around the Governor who pushed this to cover up her own problems. This ain’t Florence County, Lt. Governor Ard, you are playing in the show now and history and the people of South Carolina demand you step up. Think of all the men and the one woman who sat in that chair. They deserve you to step up, along with the people of South Carolina. Either resign your office or fight. Anything in between is an insult the history of the office.

The Piss Ant way our leaders cut education

2011-03-25T03:19:00.001-05:00

It seems like a lifetime since Republican Governor Carroll Campbell made improving public education a centerpiece of his agenda as Governor. Governors David Beasley and Jim Hodges carried on that legacy. That all changed with Governor Mark Sanford and now Governor Nikki Haley and the Republican leadership, once champions of public education for economic development, now stand by helpless as school districts issue cuts left and right that make little sense to the people.

A couple of years ago, South Carolina shifted the weight of funding public education from local levels to the statewide level. What has ensued is school districts around the state coming up short and laying off people left and right, all in the name of budget cuts.

Of course, that is all well and good until one considers how nonsensical some of the layoffs are. Layoffs are being made for petty and political reasons around the state in the name of budget cuts. Old scores are being settled by school board members who want to show who is boss over old rivals. Even dumber is the notion that folks in education, be they teachers, administrators or support staff who are retired, should be laid off because they are already retired.

Firing such folks seems sensible to those who know little. Politicians can scream about how some employee who is retired is drawing a pension and a paycheck. The problem with their logic is that the people who have retired are paying into the retirement system as they remain employed. Laying them off puts them on the retirement roll without them working and contributing to the system. It might sound good to the ignorant, but in the end, it will cost more money. Stupid is as stupid does, as Forrest Gump puts it.

Then there are other factors, things that are just flat insulting. People who have worked their entire lives serving the public in the education system are getting notice via things like email and text messages that their services are no longer needed. Frankly put, that is the piss ant world we live in. Real men and women look a man or woman in the eye and tell them face to face that their services are no longer needed. Think about it, after thirty years or so of service, a man or woman gets an email or text message saying they are no longer needed. That is not how to treat or appreciate people. But, that is the world we live in today. But, we will not fire you if you create an atmosphere that allows your employee to file a false inspection report on an amusement ride that failed and killed a child. That is Nikki Haley’s South Carolina and the world we live in.

And, that world is because of the culture created by our leadership. Say what they will, our state leaders do not care about public education, because most the of kids in public education are children of people not like them. They speak outside of one side of their mouths about how they support public education and out the other side about how those who have years of experience are “educrats” and need to go. Make no mistake, far too many of our state leaders, at all levels, are scared to death of the politics the Howard Rich money can make for them. As such, they will put good men and women out to pasture with an email or text message to make sure they have the taxpayer money to pay for Rich/Haley crowd’s tax subsidies to prop up failing private schools. After all, their kids are not in a public school in Ware Shoals or Iva or Branchville or Great Falls or Allendale.

Such is wrong. Such is not conservative. It is just big government working for those who pay for it. And it is big government that insults people who have given their lives to public service. It is an atmosphere created by our state leaders that allows old scores to be settled while state leaders smile about putting some career educator out to pasture. Indeed, it is anti conservative. State and local government is being used to carry out an agenda that seems bought for by a man from New York. And, it is being done in a piss ant way, which seems typical of that crowd and those who hide behind them.

Governor Haley should "clean house" at LLR

2011-03-23T03:19:00.000-05:00

Last year, we at VUI criticized the Department of Social Services under then Governor Mark Sanford in the wake of missteps that led to a child being placed in a dangerous home that resulted in that child’s death. We called for resignations and reform. We got little satisfaction.

We at VUI hope things will be different under Governor Haley and her supervision of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The LLR, as it known, is responsible for inspecting rides such as the one in Spartanburg County that malfunctioned and left people injured and a child dead recently.

Various published reports make clear that the inspector from the LLR charged with inspecting the miniature train that crashed did not do his job. Allegations are that the inspector filed a completed inspection report without actually finishing the inspection. What strikes us is that the inspector worked in an atmosphere in which he seemed to think that such could got be gotten away with.

A few days later, the good folks from Corinth Baptist Church in Gaffney had a church outing at the park in Spartanburg County that the miniature trained operated within. Think about it. There was probably laughter and good times being had and a fun ride on a miniature train awaited. Then, tragedy struck. A terrible accident struck, leaving injured people and little Benji Easler, the son of the Corinth pastor, dead.

When we move past the sadness of the loss of a child, the outrage about the incompetence of state government takes over. The Department of LLR is a Governor’s cabinet agency. One can not blame the structure of state government in the old arguments on the tragedy. No RINOs did that. An agency under the Governor of South Carolina failed to do its job.

Now, to be fair to Governor Nikki Haley, her head of the Department of LLR has only been on the job for a few weeks. But, firing the inspector alone will not do. Any Governor worth his or her salt should fire anyone associated with the alleged false report filed for creating an atmosphere in which an inspector believed that such could be gotten away with.

Frankly, even those of us who believe in limited government believe that state government has important functions. The most important is protecting the public. Inspecting amusement park rides so that families can enjoy them safely is an essential function of state government. When families suffer so after having faith in their state government deemed such a ride safe, then all those in the chain of command are responsible and should be held accountable.

For far too long in South Carolina, essential functions of state government have been way too political. Friends and family of those in power, including those who claim to be for “reform” get passes when the folks that they are supposed to supervise make tragic mistakes. We at VUI do not care whose toes get stepped on. A good family is mourning the death of a child because state government failed them. Heads should roll, so to speak.

The Department of LLR is under Governor Haley. As such, VUI demands and expects Governor Haley to do the right thing and fire everyone involved in the chain of command that led to the alleged false inspection report that made those good people from Corinth Baptist Church think their state government had deemed safe the amusement ride they got on. Anything less from Governor Haley is unacceptable and will be deplorable.

The history and numbers behind Obama's confidence in re-election

2011-03-23T02:42:00.000-05:00

With the grief that the President of the United States is taking over ordering military operations in Libya while he was kicking soccer balls in South America and the American economy continuing to struggle, one would think that the Obama folks would be very worried about 2012 and re-election. Instead, the Obama team is confident from reports VUI is getting and that confidence was illustrated when President Obama accepted an invitation to attend the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil as if he will be President of the United States then. That smacked VUI as confidence that President Obama and his folks believe he will be in the last year of second term and still President of the United States. We were all set to deride that confidence, until we looked at the numbers.

While President Obama’s latest Real Clear Politics merge of polling data has his approval at 47.8%, that number is higher than Ronald Reagan’s in the spring of 1983 and Bill Clinton’s in the spring of 1995. Further, the GOP challengers are late getting into the race. Less than a year away from the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary, no Republican has officially declared a candidacy for President. Thus, the GOP candidates will be fighting it out while President Obama does “Presidential” things a year from now.

Among the Republicans that are potential candidates, President Obama matches up well so far. Again, citing Real Clear Politics, Mitt Romney is today the strongest potential candidate and President Obama leads him 47.7 % to 42.6%. Obama leads all the others by larger margins and the others candidates are in the thirties, with Ron Paul being the strongest among the rest of the field.

If Romney gets through the GOP primaries and secures the nomination, he still has a historically uphill Electoral College fight. Romney is from New England, and no Republican from New England has won states like North Carolina and Virginia that are essential to any electoral math for a Republican. (Yes, both Bushs had New England ties, but both claimed to have ran from Texas.)

Obama now runs 45% to 43% against a generic GOP candidate, so victory is possible. But, to win, the GOP nominee must beat Obama in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Ohio and Michigan. That gives the GOP nominee the quickest route to 270 electoral votes and the Presidency. Right now, Obama is approved more than disapproved in Florida and Michigan.

Conservatives do not want to read such numbers. But, reality is reality. And, the reality is President Obama is a lot stronger of a candidate for re-election than it seems. What the GOP needs in 2011 is what it had in 1979, a game changing candidate like Ronald Reagan waiting in the wings. The GOP needs someone optimistic about America, with a great story, charisma and the ability to show that bloated government does work and that Republicans want government and the free market to work for all Americans. As it stands, there is no Ronald Reagan on the scene, and that is probably why President Obama thinks he will be around for a second term.

Maybe South Carolina should appoint a Governor and Lt. Governor

2011-03-19T09:11:00.000-05:00

The crowd around Governor Nikki Haley argues that the state of South Carolina elects too many officers in the Executive Department. For years now they have fought to make more South Carolina officers in the Executive Department appointed instead of elected. They tell us that people do not really pay attention to those elections and that appointing those offices will lead to more efficient government.

Maybe they are on to something. Maybe South Carolinians can not choose leaders wisely. After all, the track record for the two highest offices in state government is dismal. Former Governor Mark Sanford's famous AWOL tryst and open 2006 campaign account come to mind. As does former Lt. Governor Andre Bauer's lead foot. Now, South Carolina has a Governor who has alleged sex affairs and now allegations she lied on a job application. South Carolina also has a Lt. Governor who just seems boneheaded in dealing with his election campaign account and faces 106 charges from the South Carolina Ethics Commission.

With the track record for the past two Governors and Lt. Governors, why should we stop at appointing officers like Agriculture Commissioner, Adjutant General and Superintendent of Education? Maybe it is time to truly revamp the state constitution and go back to having the General Assembly choose a Governor and Lt. Governor. After all, using the reasoning presented by the “restructuring” crowd, the past two office holders in those two highest state offices beg for the notion that the people can not handle the decision as to who holds such offices.

It has happened before. Until the Civil War, South Carolina chose its Governors and Lt. Governors via the General Assembly. Before the American Revolution, such officers were selected by the British Crown. Such a measure would truly get back to what the state's founding fathers wanted. It would also mirror how executives are chosen at the county and municipal levels around the state.

Of course we at VUI offer this suggestion with our tongues placed firmly in our cheeks, but it is something to think about. If the argument against electing so many Executive Department officers is that the people choose unwisely, then the state's choice of the most recent Governors and Lt. Governors must be questioned in an honest debate on the issue.

Of course, in all frankness, we at VUI believe that such an honest debate about such will happen right after the phantom identity thief who allegedly altered Governor Haley's job application to Lexington Medical Center is brought to justice. When that happens, news will come to us about the Devil being iced over.

Top 9 options President Obama has in dealing with Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi

2011-03-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

9) Send South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to Libya to help Gaddafi with his application for his next job.

8) Drop Gaddafi as a Facebook friend.

7) Set up an embargo that bans all decorative rugs and blankets into Libya, forcing Gaddafi to dress like a normal human being.

6) Offer Gaddafi “expert advice” on picking the NCAA basketball tournament’s Sweet Sixteen round if he steps down.

5) Use U.S. military technology to jam all radio and television stations and replace the signals with rotating episodes of Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer.

4) Have the CIA kidnap Gaddafi’s favorite goat and threaten to have the goat “tell all” if Gaddafi does not step down.

3) Make Charlie Sheen special envoy to Libya with instructions to “party hard” with Gaddafi. Of course, with this option, the goat would have to stay in Libya.

2) Forget the “no fly zone.” Create a “no 15 year old Toyota truck loaded down with crazy men armed with old Soviet weapons zone.”

1) Send a private message to Gaddafi that says, “ Don’t make this brother from Chicago go Bush on your ass.”

Top 9 GOP Presidential contenders on our mind for 2012

2011-03-13T06:38:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that President Obama has some very weak polling numbers, the Republicans, less than a year out from the Presidential Primaries, do not have people out their working for the nomination to challenge the President of the United States for re-election. It is odd. That said, VUI offers the TOP 9 GOP Presidential contenders on our mind right now. We offer it with the consideration that in such fluid times someone out of nowhere could come along. But, right now, if we had to call a Top 9, here they are:

9) Haley Barbour- Barbour is the current Governor of Mississippi. As Governor, Barbour was the lone star and good official during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, showing that the man can get things done. Further, Barbour has experience as a lobbyist and former GOP Chairman, so he knows were the political bodies are buried, but can he overcome his Southern twang and awe shucks persona?

8) Tim Pawlenty- Pawlenty is the former governor of Minnesota. He served two terms as Governor of a heavily Democratic state and has strong Midwest appeal, which will help in Iowa. Pawlenty is also removed from the some of the more controversial GOP governors of today, but he lacks the foreign policy experience. He will have to go "to school" on such things and surround himself with heavyweights to be considered seriously.

7) Jim DeMint- Though Senator DeMint tells folks he is not interested in running for President, the Tea Party and the the right wing element of the GOP would love for him to run. Like DeMint or not, he is crystal clear on where he stands on domestic and foreign issues, and in a short and crowded primary, if he gets in, that could be the difference.

6) Sarah Palin-- There is so much not to like about Palin, like her quitting her job as Governor of Alaska. But, Palin has celebrity status that rivals President Obama. While she might not be the most articulate person to espouse the Republican position, the tv host and best selling author might have the status to be a contender.

5) Mike Hucabee-- The former Arkansas Governor gave it a great run in 2008 and has found a niche as a host on Fox News that might give him a celebrity boost. Christian conservatives love Huckabee. But, he has alienated the Howard Rich big money in the GOP and that might kill his chances within the party. That said, if you had to leave your children to stay in the care of anyone, it would be Huckabee and his wife. If being good people matters, watch out.

4) Newt Gingrich-- The former House Speaker is today's William F. Buckley. Gingrich is the intellectual in the GOP and the man who can appeal to the big brains for the conservative way. The problem he has is that, despite being the smartest man in the room most of the time, he would have hard time winning the nomination. But, if Gingrich did, he would flat embarrass President Obama on debate night. It would be ugly.

3) Mitt Romney-- The former Massachusetts Governor seems to be the early GOP favorite. He has a strong economic resume. That said, he also has the aftermath of Romney Healthcare to deal with and in 2008 he seemed too much like an ill tempered Morman tv weatherman. VUI ranks him this high because he is tied into big money and that matters.

2) Jon Huntsman-- The former Ambassador to China under President Obama and former GOP Governor of Utah has broad appeal. Huntsman is a solid economic conservative with a strong foreign policy resume. Add to that deep money ties. The downside is that he is Morman and that religion is taking a beating in popular culture. Yet, his record is something that is hard to shape into a negative attack. Watch out for this guy.

1) Jeb Bush-- Sure, he says he is not interested. But, how could he not be? His father's and his brother's Presidential approval ratings are on the upswing as the Obama years continue on. Bush's record as Governor of Florida is a strong one. He would appeal to Hispanics in that he married a Hispanic and thus his own children are Hispanic. Frankly put, there is no one in the GOP that could make big splash in what appears to be a shortened primary season like Jeb Bush. His ties to politics and money,couple with his fathers and his brothers, and his own resume, would make him the front runner upon announcing his intention to run. No other potential GOP candidate has that sort of status at this time.

The Obama Hangover lingers

2011-03-13T05:55:00.001-05:00

On Election night 2008, the United States media and talking heads were in a drunken state. Even the staff of VUI got it that night when an African American was elected President of the United States. People were filled with hope. People believed that things would be different. Black, white, rich and poor, the rock star status of President Obama made people think that things would change.

Change did not happen. The President remains a rock star. There is not doubt that the United States electing an African American President of the United States changed the political game. However, over two years into the Obama Presidency, the hangover is taking full effect for Americans of all ilk.

For those on the political left, President Obama has let them down by continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Bush tax cuts. For those on the right, President Obama is hindering business with his Administration’s huge deficits and regulation changes. For average Americans who do not consider themselves right or left, making ends meet continues to be difficult with continued high unemployment rates and the rising costs of health care, food and fuel. Add to that the fact that the Obama Administration seems woefully inept, right or left, in dealing with unrest around the world that affects American interests.

If you doubt the Obama Hangover, just look at the polling numbers. Real Clear Politics is one of the most reliable indicators of American political opinion. When President Obama was three weeks into to office, they had his approval rating at nearly 66 percent. However, for the past 14 months, the President has been below 50 percent, with his latest rating being 48 percent. During that 14 month span, Democrats lost their supermajority in the United States Senate and lost control of the United States House of Representatives.

When unreasonable great expectations are present, it is only natural that reality turns those unreasonable expectations to almost unreasonable disapproval and disappointment. Frankly put, VUI has always contended that the Presidency of the United States modifies any decent man who takes the job. While VUI vigorously disagrees with the economic politics of President Obama on a number of levels, it must be noted that President Obama had to stick with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and that any President would seem overwhelmed by the events unfolding in the Middle East. Ronald Reagan had it right when he called Middle Eastern factions irrational and impossible to cut a deal with.

Yet there are two factors working against President Obama. One is his left of mainstream approach to problems that seems out of touch with most Americans and the out of mainstream folks he surrounds himself with. The second is the expectations of the people in regards to Obama. Working folks out there still hurting who voted for him thought that they were getting another FDR, or even a Bill Clinton. Instead, they seem to have a Jimmy Carter with celebrity status. Thus, the Obama Hangover is in full effect. When the President takes Air Force One for a spin to take his wife for a “date” in New York, or worries about the NCAA basketball selection, it is no longer cute to Joe Sixpack who can’t pay his mortgage because he can’t find a job.

Obama does have one thing going for him. We are only nine months removed from Presidential primaries, and no Democrat seems strong enough to challenge him for his party’s nomination and no Republican lurks out there like Reagan did in 1979. That said, if the hangover continues to grow, someone will emerge, in both parties. Look for President Obama to have a challenge in the Democratic primaries and look for a Republican to emerge “out of nowhere” who can challenge the President. After all, if there is anything that Americans love more than elevating a rock star, it is tearing him down.

How SC Democrats are letting big government take over in education

2011-03-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

Since the administration of former Governor Richard Riley, South Carolina Democrats have enjoyed the upper hand when it comes to education issues. The late Carroll Campbell and former Governor David Beasley all but danced to the tune of better public education that South Carolina Democrats were known for. That has changed. Some blame political fatigue, others blame big outside money that South Carolina does not have the stomach to hold ethically accountable. Whatever the said reason, education is about to change in South Carolina, and probably for the worse.

Let’s be clear. Skippy and Mitsy down on the one the islands will love Haley’s tuition tax credit plan straight from the Howard Rich world. It will help them make the Volvo payments with private school tuition tax credits that subsidize the private school little Skippy goes to with public tax money. Skippy and Mitsy will be thrilled. But, such a tax payer subsidy of private schools will not have help the people most in need in South Carolina’s underachieving belt.

Why? Well, its is simple. In schools that have the lowest performance, the students in them are the children of parents who are on the low end of the economic spectrum. A single mom of two working two jobs to make ends meet can’t afford private school tuition in the first place to get the tax credit. It is a disconnect from the reality that people face to think that they can.

Now, there is a school of thought, so to speak on those parents and children that says, “forget them.” In that mindset, Skippy got his, and if his maid can’t get hers, well her children were meant to clean his house, too. The second school of thought is actually more troubling. It is filled by people who have no idea how people who are in poor performing schools really live. Those folks actually believe in the idea of choice through tax credits. They actually believe that such will do good, and as well meaning as they are in being caught up in catchwords, they are oblivious to how things in the real world work.

Democrats have a huge blame in this situation. For far too long, they have been on the defensive about teacher pay and the status quo, all but beholden to the SCEA and other liberal points of view on education. As such, they spend their time defending liberal ideals without considering how tuition tax credits on education under the Haley plan attacks the heart of the idea of conservative government.

Here is how it does. First, in the midst of a state budget crisis, the tuition tax credit plan virtually becomes a big government subsidy to private schools. The state treasury will have dollars taken from it as parents and corporations get tax credits to prop up private schools that otherwise would not be able to compete without such government help. If you think that welfare, farm subsidies, and corporate subsidies are not conservative, think about the millions that will flow from the public to prop up otherwise non-competitive private schools. It is a common sense argument that liberals will not make, because they are afraid to.

Perhaps one reason liberals are afraid to make that argument is that they know, through tuition credits or grants, they can make private K-12 schools quasi public like they did colleges through a similar system. Just look at what happened to colleges in this state. It was the ultimate big government takeover. A long line of legal cases opened the door for tax credits or grants to bring in government regulation. So, while Skippy and Mitsy might get some help on the Volvo payment, little Skippy just might have to attend school with some folks they never wanted him to go to school with. Conservatives seem unable to see two steps down the road on this type of thing.

Of course, the tax credits will take money out of the general fund, and makes things like paying for state troopers even harder to do in this economic climate. Further, it will take money away from public education and the people who are at the bottom. Deficits will balloon. Those people at the bottom, who will not have the money to pay tuition to pay to get a tax credit on, will be in lower funded public schools, likely resulting in them being products of society we have to spend law enforcement and social service money on.

There is were the vicious cycle begins. Less money for public education and law enforcement creates more social unrest. So, while little Skippy might graduate with honors from some private high school while his parents make the Volvo payment, little Skippy enters a world with more social unease, which chases off economic opportunities. Businesses simply will not relocate to South Carolina, no matter what individual tax breaks local and state government gives them, if the workforce is unruly and uneducated. A handful of elites will not be able to pay for the order that they desire.

Such is what happens when big government, no matter how conservative it might call itself, gets in the business of subsidizing private entities such as private schools in the market place. The private school tuition tax credit plan begs several questions about what is next. Will people opt out of local police and fire services for private ones? Will government give tax credits to spend money at certain grocery stores? Where does the government intrusion giving public money to private endeavors end? Shall we all get a lobbyist for our pet issue to get the public to pay for?

Indeed, that is the argument that South Carolina Democrats have missed about this state. If they had the guts to stand and call private school subsidies with public money for what it was, they might have a chance in defeating the effort. Instead, they seem all too eager to miss that argument and let South Carolina state government become a big government in education that they can control through the courts. The Republicans seem too ignorant and drunk with campaign money to understand what they are actually doing.

There is a model to see where such things come to fruition. It is found in Brazil and other South American countries. There, government took care of the elite with public tax money only to find itself and its people virtually broken. Big government, be it for the poor, or the rich, simply does not work, no matter how much money some guy in New York pays people to argue otherwise. South Carolina is not Brazil, or India for that matter.

Governor Haley is using Clinton's playbook

2011-03-06T07:12:00.000-05:00

The New York Times is running an article about South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and how she is a political “comet.” It comes on the heals of two stories that have been out there. One is about blogger and political consultant Will Folks writing a tell all book about his affair with the Governor among other things, and the other is the Governor’s decision to “gun for” legislators who do not do her bidding by issuing report cards on them. Haley said in the article that she would not read Folks’s upcoming book because she “did not have time to read fiction.” Haley and her people are playing the game well. Here’s why.

Over twenty three years ago, Gary Hart was seen as the perfect Democratic candidate for President to beat then Vice President George H.W. Bush or Senator Bob Dole, the two GOP front runners. Then, Hart was derailed by a sex scandal with an young aide. People do not even remember how the “monkey business” on the boat named the “Monkey Business” derailed Hart’s ambitions.

That is because Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary changed the game forever. As American sexual moorings shifted, the Clintons took an aggressive approach to President Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The President lied about his affair. Then the President even admitted he lied and then he, his wife and his operatives attacked political opponents. It was a master play by them. It resulted in Bill Clinton now being a respected elder statesman on the world stage and Hillary Clinton being the Secretary of State.

So, who can blame Haley for making the same play? After all, true or not true, the allegations against a popular Governor of South Carolina are being made by a controversial blogger and consultant. Just as President Clinton wrapped himself in the Presidency, Haley will wrap herself in the Governor’s office. And, just like the Clintons, Haley and her people are on the offensive against legislators who might raise questions about her veracity about such things. Hillary Clinton called it the “vast right wing conspiracy.” The Haley folks are all but calling the charges about her sexual peccadilloes the “vast RINO conspiracy.”

To be frank, the Haley people probably want a few more miles from the Folks sex scandal. With it, Governor Haley gets to play the first woman Governor of South Carolina so maligned by the good ole boys. Even if every bit of the stories about the Governor are true, she wins with the controversy because it takes the attention of the press and others away from other things.

The biggest of those other things is how someone who calls for political openness is not open about her consulting fees paid by businesses while she was a member of the General Assembly. Further, how can a Governor who demands openness and accountability just sit by while her mentor/predecessor still has an operating campaign fund from 2006? Forget who Haley may or may not have had sex with, where is her moral clarity in demanding that laws be written to get rid of such political slush funds? Also, will the Governor submit to a political report card that judges things like actual attendance on the job in the office?

But, such questions are not likely to be asked by the mainstream media. Such things take work. And, the people love sex and sex sells and people lie about their own sex lives, so they understand. The Clintons knew that and so does Haley. The irony is Nikki Haley, the so called conservative champion, uses the tactics of Barack Obama in being a rock star and Bill Clinton in being a victim of people dwelling on her sex life. It seems Nikki Haley and the people around her know people very well.

Top 9 Signs that you might need to get a life

2011-03-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

9) You spend all of your free time trying to prove that President Obama was in fact born in Nigeria and that Joe Biden is the real President.

8) You create a blog to discuss the typo you found in Sarah Palin’s book and how that made you have an affair with Governor Nikki Haley.

7) You try to think how former President Bush caused you to overdraw your checking account. Somehow that SOB is getting a commission on those overdraft fees!

6) You go on Facebook and blast your wife’s ex husband to show what a real man you are.

5) You ask your husband to do such a thing.

4) Your prom date in 1985 did not look at you right at the high school reunion. So, to get even, you blast them online, being sure to block them from reading your comments. You got ‘em!

3) You cannot sleep at night since you found out the mom on Family Ties is gay. Thoughts of her and Justine Bateman (Malorie) just keep racing in your head.

2) You suffer head wounds from your buddy hitting you with a golf club trying to prove what really happened to Tiger Woods.

1) You sit around and spend the time to come up with this Top 9 list.

President Obama is in over his head

2011-03-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

The Middle East is in an uproar. Throughout the region, pro democracy dissident groups are rising up against regimes. While some might praise such, it must be noted that the rise of such groups is not to the United States’ advantage. Those in the streets in the Middle East and the Arab world want a very different kind of democracy than what then what we know.

They are led by groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, who want a traditional Muslim state to be ran in the nation states that they rise up in. In other words, they want to go back to the Sixth Century. They hate American values, especially those that say women are equal.

World pundits are scrambling to find a reason for the uprising in such places. Some blame the American government. But, if the American government is to blame, it is pretty ignorant. For, with the uprisings, crippling oil prices have developed that could bring America to its economic knees. For decades, the United States has cut deals with despots in the region that kept the oil flowing and kept us from being the victims of craziness. It might not seem ideal, but it was in the interests of the American people.

That brings us to Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. Back in the 1980s, he was easy to hate. But, during the most recent former President Bush’s war on terror, Gaddafi freely showed his cards and cooperated with the United States. Now, the United States stands ready to cut Gaddafi off at his knees and see the uprising rule the day.

On the surface, such sounds so good. The United States stands for freedom and uprising. But, chaos and anti American regimes will follow. What happens when the Jordan or Saudi Arabia are so challenged by those in the streets?

Further are we so removed from “laying down the law?” Think on it, if two hundred thousand “tea party” protesters started making their way to the White House, would the US government just sit by or would it defend the President of the United States with all it had?

Be clear, VUI is not comparing President Obama to Muammar Gaddafi. All we are saying is that the United States ought be very careful before it takes sides in such matters and should remember how we would act ourselves. After all, the United States removed sanctions from Gaddafi’s Libya after he towed the terrorist line a few years ago. In the wake of the United States abandoning an old friend like Hosni Burbarak in Egypt, how can we appeal to other Middle Eastern leaders to trust us and be on our side in the real problem, the war on terror?

Indeed, the Obama Administration’s policy in the Middle East is a “feel good” policy. It might appeal to the editorial pages of the New York Times, but centuries of history says such a policy does no good in actually making things work for American interests in the Middle East. And, right or wrong, the President of the United States should be looking out for American interests first. That is his job. Appealing to the Muslim Brotherhood’s wishes and wants should not even be considered. Indeed, the events in the Arab World show that President Obama is woefully over his head. It appears we have a feel good President who does not even consider the reality of real world politics, or realpolitk. America has a President the extremists can push around. And, they know it.