Thumbs up
McMaster. Hats off to Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster for being picked to second the nomination of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Another S.C. speaker, pastor Mark Burns of Easley, raised some eyebrows with his partisan prayer.
Next week’s speakers. Congratulations to four South Carolinians who have speaking roles at next week’s Democratic convention in Philadelphia: U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, state party chair Jaime Harrison and former S.C. Rep. Bakari Sellers.
NBA. Thanks to the National Basketball Association for highlighting the stupidity of North Carolina’s transgender bathroom access law by moving its All-Star game away from Charlotte.
In the middle
Wilson. State Attorney General Alan Wilson’s political future hangs in the balance of whether solicitor David Pascoe is able to indict Statehouse leaders on corruption charges, according to this story. Last week, Wilson lost a plea to the Supreme Court to take back the probe from Pascoe, who he appointed to handle it.
Business climate. South Carolina often brags about how its climate is bullish for business, but a new study ranks it 27th out of 50 states. More.
Thumbs down
Child deaths. The state Department of Social Services has reported that the number of South Carolina children who died from abuse and neglect rose in 2015 compared to the previous year. More.
Opaque money. Thumbs down to more big, out-of-state donations from bigwigs like casino mogul Sheldon Adelson ($250,000) and the Koch brothers ($50,000) to Gov. Nikki Haley’s A Great Day SC political action committee that tried — mostly unsuccessfully — to oust powerful state senators. The PAC’s almost million dollars’ worth of donations shows how outside money has too much of an influence. Do you really think Adelson cares about Sen. Hugh Leatherman? Nope. He’s betting on Haley’s future. And now there’s a big IOU left hanging.
Hacked. A new study from the state Department of Consumer Affairs shows there have been 7.6 million data breaches in South Carolina — about 1.6 hacks per person living in the state. Yuck.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!