Thumbs up
Lucas. Good job by House Speaker Jay Lucas in appointing a special panel to look at ways to improve public education. Now let us know the identities of the five members from poor counties involved in the Abbeville school equity decision … and then let’s make some real progress.
Settlement. South Carolina remains the only state without a computerized system to track deadbeat parents, but at least there’s been a multi-million-dollar settlement in related litigation. Now with a net of $39 million maybe DSS can get a system working. (Oh, right. We forgot. It’s DSS we’re talking about.) More.
Friendship 9. It’s good to hear the Friendship 9 of Rock Hill sit-in fame from the early 1960s are finally being recognized in a new way for their courage. More.
Wentworth. Hats off to poet Marjory Wentworth who read her poem, “One River, One Boat,” at the Statehouse at King Day at the Dome on Monday — just five days after she wasn’t allowed to read it during Gov. Nikki Haley’s inauguration.
Domestic violence. It’s good the House and Senate are moving quickly on measures to try to reduce the state’s abysmal rate of domestic violence. Keep focused and get it done. More and more.
Thumbs down
Obama. Mr. President, you know you’re not loved by a majority of South Carolina voters, but it’s pretty telling that the state that legitimized your machine in the 2008 primary is only one of three that you haven’t paid a visit in the last six years. Invitation extended.
Haley. Gov. Nikki Haley still has a lot of homework to do if she wants to be a leader in the way the state fixes its crumbling road system. Accepting that there is a real need to raise the gas tax was slight progress, but gutting the state’s general fund in the process is simply irresponsible. (Cue, Robert Palmer song.)
Abortion. Thumbs down to House right-to-life activists who pushed through a measure in committee to effectively ban rare abortions after 19 weeks. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!