Thumbs up
Lourie, Cleary. Hats off to state Sens. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, and Ray Cleary, R-Georgetown, for continuing to push forward with a roads plan to try to get real investment in state transportation infrastructure. More.
Harrell’s case. Good to see that the corruption mess related to former Speaker Bobby Harrell may be subsiding thanks to a committee that has ordered him to repay more than $113,000 in funds from his campaign account. He’s got 180 days to do it. More.
Kimpson. State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, is on a progressive roll, introducing bills that would make housing more affordable and remove the Confederate flag from a Citadel chapel. But now the hard work begins because South Carolina is not, as many know, a particularly progressive state.
Ka-boom. The toppling of coal power plant towers in Conway is a sign of the times that greener power is preferred. Thanks, SCE&G. More.
In the middle
Presidential candidates. Welcome. We’re honored to have you as our part of the presidential selection process. But don’t be offended that we’re also kind of ready already for you to leave.
Bailout. We’re kind of in favor of forgiving a $12 million loan to S.C. State University that bailed out the historically-black college in 2014. But we want to be able to know for sure that the bleeding has stopped and that the school won’t be back again soon for another fix. More.
Thumbs down
State superintendent. The state House has approved a measure to limit the voting power of people by approving a bill that would allow governors to choose the state superintendent. On some other jobs — like Secretary of State or Agriculture Secretary — we’re all for making them cabinet-level positions. But in this instance when education is so important, we’ll side with power of the people, in this instance, instead of power by a person. More.
Obama. Like many South Carolinians, we’re not too happy that the Savannah River Site’s mixed-oxide nuclear fuel reprocessing plant isn’t in the president’s budget. We don’t want nuclear waste stored at SRS for the long -term, but we do think the government should keep its commitment to finish the MOX facility. The state has filed a lawsuit to try to force the feds to complete the facility.
Number: 13
That’s the percentage of jobs in South Carolina that require some kind of licensing through the state’s government. It’s the lowest percentage in the nation, according to this report.
Quote: No net
“Every once in a while you can fall off the high wire. I work without a net. I sorta script myself. I know pretty much what I want to say and how I want to say it.”
— Ohio Gov. John Kasich before the New Hampshire primary on the difference between himself and scripted candidates, such as opponent Marco Rubio who faced withering criticism in a recent debate. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!