- “You Will Own Nothing, And You Will Love It”-- Says The Fascist, Klaus Schwab And His Globalist “World Economic Forum” - Part 2
- From Sea to Shining Sea, Federal Land Control?
- The Morgan and Timmons Firey Faceoff in SC’s 4th Congressional District Race
- Is US Rep. William Timmons Bloating His Voting Record with Out-of-State Proxies?
- “You Will Own Nothing, And You Will Love It”-- Says The Fascist, Klaus Schwab And His Globalist “World Economic Forum” - Part 1
- Fourth District Republican Club Hosts British Consul General
- Audacy Announces All-Star Lineup on 98.9 WORD
- Tucker Carlson Interview of Vladimir Putin - Part 5
- 2024 Election Interference
- Tucker Carlson Interview of Vladimir Putin - Part 7
- Are We Living In Taylor Caldwell’s “Honoria”? It Appears We Are!
- Tucker Carlson Interview of Vladimir Putin - Part 6
- Biden Administration Crushes Religious Freedom and the 1st Amendment by Banning Religious Symbols and Religious Themes at Annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Monday
- Satan’s War On People Of Faith Is Still Raging!
- Mr. Howell Clyborne of Integral Leaders in Health will be First Monday's Speaker April 8th at 12 noon at the Poinsett Club
The $5 Billion Surplus Officials Don’t Talk About
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Out of this fiscal year’s $32.5 billion state budget, more than a third of it – nearly $12.3 billion – is made up of “other” funds.
“Other” funds include such things as fees and fines, college tuition, lottery proceeds, state gasoline taxes, and part of the state sales tax earmarked for K-12 education. Many state agencies don’t spend all of their other funds in a fiscal year, with some of them amassing huge year-end surpluses.
- Hits: 1515
Millions Flow through SCDOT to Company with Ties to Sen. Leatherman
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Department of Transportation since 2016 has awarded 56 bridge contracts totaling $8.4 million to a company with ties to Sen. Hugh Leatherman – one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers, records provided to The Nerve show.
The contracts with Florence Concrete Products, Inc. ranged from $50,164 for a bridge near the town of Lodge in Colleton County to $564,400 for four bridges in DOT’s District 1, which covers Richland, Lexington, Kershaw, Sumter and Lee counties, according to DOT records provided under the state Freedom of Information Act.
State comptroller general records show that DOT paid Florence Concrete a total of nearly $7 million from fiscal 2017 into this fiscal year, which started July 1.
- Hits: 4567
Gallo Winery Project: No Cheap Buzz for SC Taxpayers
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
E.&J. Gallo Winery, a multibillion-dollar global corporation, will get at least $25 million in assistance from the state of South Carolina to locate a plant in Chester County – plus could receive tens of millions more in taxpayer-backed incentives over decades, records released to The Nerve show.
And the California-based wine and spirits giant would face relatively light financial penalties if it doesn’t fully live up to its end of the deal, according to records recently provided by the state Department of Commerce under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
In fact, the performance agreement for a $16 million state grant would allow state and county officials to lower job creation and investment requirements for the company to receive incentives.
It’s more than just words on paper: The Nerve in 2018, for example, revealed that officials sharply lowered required job and investment targets to keep the Element TV assembly plant in Fairfield County.
- Hits: 1758
State surpluses keep growing. Taxpayers likely won’t get any of it back
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Lawmakers have far more state tax dollars to play with this fiscal year, though there has been no serious interest in returning any of it to taxpayers.
In an annual report released earlier this month, S.C. comptroller general Richard Eckstrom – the state’s top accountant – said the state had a $1.024 billion general-fund surplus for fiscal 2020-21, which ended June 30.
That works out to be about $200 for every man, woman and child living in South Carolina. A press release that accompanied Eckstrom’s report described the windfall as “unprecedented.”
Lawmakers earlier this year appropriated $1.8 billion more in actual and projected state funds for fiscal 2021-22, including an estimated $646.7 million general-fund surplus for the fiscal year that just ended.
The $1 billion surplus identified in Eckstrom’s report – $377 million more than the earlier estimate in the current budget – doesn’t include a collective general-fund surplus of about $640 million that state agencies had at the start of this fiscal year, according to the report.
- Hits: 1882
VoterGA Files Suit to Ban Illegal Dominion Voting System
- By VoterGA
ATLANTA -- VoterGA today announced joining with State Rep. Philip Singleton in a legal petition to ban Georgia's Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5 voting system. The voting system has already been declared in violation of Georgia law by the U.S. District Court of Northern Georgia [Pg. 81-82].
Georgia law requires a voting system to "print an elector verifiable paper ballot;" and "...produce paper ballots which are marked with the elector's choices in a format readable by the elector." After reviewing extensive evidence in the Curling V. Raffensperger case, Judge Amy Totenberg concluded: "Plaintiffs and other voters who wish to vote in-person are required to vote on a system that does none of those things." [O.C.G.A. § 21-2-2(7.1); O.C.G.A. § 21-2-300(a)(2)]
- Hits: 1990
State AG hires current, former lawyer-legislators in civil cases
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Since 2017, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson has hired at least six current or former lawyer-legislators to handle certain civil cases, including the chairman of a House committee that first approves the annual state budget, which funds Wilson’s office, records show.
The outside lawyers hired to assist the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) were to be paid on a contingency basis, which means they would receive a percentage of any settlement or court award. Records provided recently by the AGO under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act didn’t indicate whether the current or ex-lawmakers have received any fees.
- Hits: 1820
What's at Stake in the California Recall Election?
- By iVoterGuide
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California gubernatorial recall election is underway and voters across the state are eager to make their voices heard. This special election is being held to answer two important questions: Should Gavin Newsom be recalled from the office of Governor? If so, who should replace him? How voters answer these two questions could transform the political landscape of both California and the U.S. for years.
For Debbie Wuthnow, president of iVoterGuide, this recall election provides a unique opportunity. "An opportunity like this hasn't occurred in California in years. Recent polls indicate that the state is evenly split over the effort to recall Governor Newsom, with the majority of California voters still undecided. This is exactly what iVoterGuide is for— equipping voters with facts about each candidate so they can cast an informed vote."
- Hits: 1676
Santee Cooper Seeks State OK to Dive Deeper in Debt
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
State-owned utility Santee Cooper’s debt load is projected to grow by more than a half-billion dollars under a proposal that a legislative committee likely will rubber-stamp today.
The utility’s board of directors in a special meeting Thursday approved asking the state Joint Bond Review Committee (JBRC) to allow the utility to sell up to $350 million in revenue obligation bonds. Last week’s board meeting was held the same day The Nerve revealed that the Berkeley County-based utility in recent years had approved millions in economic development spending while being mired in debt.
The 10-member JBRC is scheduled to meet later this morning.
- Hits: 2260
Santee Cooper Deep in Debt, Still Spending Millions on Ecodevo Projects
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Santee Cooper’s electric customers are on the hook for billions in debt payments, but that hasn’t stopped the state-owned utility from spending millions in recent years on economic development projects.
The Nerve’s review of utility records provided recently under the state’s open-records law found that from May 2018 through May of this year, Santee Cooper approved a total of more than $28 million in economic development grants and no-interest loans. The beneficiaries included companies, county and municipal governments, and economic development groups.
- Hits: 1955
Informed Consent Action Network's Attorneys Challenge DOJ Mandatory Vaccination Opinion
- By Christian Newswire
AUSTIN, Texas -- Following a recent opinion written from the Department of Justice claiming that federal law permits mandating an emergency use vaccine, non-profit Informed Consent Action Network's attorneys issued a response disputing the conclusion in this opinion.
On July 26, 2021, at the request of the White House, the DOJ's Acting Assistant AG released an opinion claiming the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Section 564 permits mandating an emergency use vaccine. Section 564 states that for all emergency use products, i.e. unlicensed medical products, individuals must be informed of "the option to accept or refuse administration of the product."
- Hits: 1702
Fiscal ‘21 Ends With Huge Gas-Tax-Hike Surplus Amid Unfinished Projects
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, a special fund created with the 2017 state gas-tax-hike law had an $896.1 million surplus – a 50% increase compared to the end of fiscal 2020, records show. Total collected revenues also grew by about the same rate over the one-year period to almost $2 billion.
But despite being flush with taxpayer money, the S.C. Department of Transportation isn’t anywhere close to fixing most of the state’s bad roads and bridges.
From July 1, 2017, when the gas-tax-hike law took effect, through June 30 this year, the total dollar value of completed “pavements” – repaving or road reconstruction – projects was $662.2 million, less than 50% of the $1.35 billion estimated cost of all such projects in the state’s 46 counties, The Nerve found in a review of recently released DOT records.
- Hits: 1836
Lawmaker: Little Vetting of Governor’s Pick for DOT Commission
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Gov. Henry McMaster quietly appointed the owner of a well-known Columbia restaurant – and generous campaign donor – to a vacant state Department of Transportation Commission seat, but a lawmaker is questioning the selection process.
The 2nd Congressional District Legislative Delegation is scheduled this morning to vote whether to confirm McMaster’s appointment of Bill Dukes, owner of the Blue Marlin restaurant in Columbia’s popular Vista district, to the DOT Commission seat representing the 2nd Congressional District, which covers all or parts of Richland, Lexington, Orangeburg, Aiken and Barnwell counties.
Contacted Monday by The Nerve, state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland, who is chairman of the 17-member Richland County legislative delegation, said he wasn’t aware of Dukes’ appointment until notified of today’s meeting. The 2nd Congressional delegation is made up of the legislative delegations representing counties within the district.
- Hits: 1592
Counties Still Paying Lawmakers for ‘Phantom’ Delegation Offices
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Last year, S.C. Sen. Kent Williams of Marion County reported receiving a collective $17,060 in legislative delegation payments from neighboring Dillon and Florence counties, parts of which are in his Senate district.
Another longtime lawmaker, Rep. Jackie Hayes of Dillon County, received $12,500 in 2020 – the same amount paid to Williams by Dillon County, records show.
For years, Williams and Hayes have been among a group of lawmakers getting payments from counties that don’t provide legislative delegation offices.
- Hits: 1702
House Member Quit Suddenly Last Year; Now a Judicial Candidate. Coincidence?
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
What a difference a year can make – especially if you’re a state lawmaker.
In unexpectedly resigning his longtime House seat last July after winning the Republican primary, Alan Clemmons, a Myrtle Beach attorney, said in an affidavit to the State Election Commission that he was withdrawing from the general election because he was representing new legal clients who will “require a large investment of my time and focus.”
Clemmons, who was first elected to the House in 2002, officially resigned his House seat on July 17, 2020. As of last Wednesday – slightly more than a year later – he became a candidate for the Horry County master-in-equity judge’s seat, state Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) records show.
- Hits: 1579
Lawmakers to Spend Millions on Incumbency-Protection Maps
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. House and Senate plan to spend millions creating new legislative and congressional district maps based on the latest U.S. Census – a convoluted process that lawmakers undertake every 10 years.
Historically, the “reapportionment” or “redistricting” process has been aimed at keeping incumbent legislators in office, though it’s not the official line from politicians.
“I look forward to our working together on a redistricting process that is fair and equitable to all South Carolinians,” longtime Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, who is the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said in a press release last week in announcing the members of a redistricting subcommittee chaired by him.
- Hits: 1617
State, County Websites Offer Scant Information on Legislative Delegations
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
If you want to learn what your county legislative delegation is up to, you likely won’t find much – if any – information on county government websites or the state Legislature’s website.
The state Supreme Court in 1996 ruled that legislative delegations, made up of senators and House members representing a county, are considered public bodies under the state’s open-meetings law, which requires them to give advance notice of their meetings, cast votes during open session, and make meeting minutes available to citizens.
The Nerve on Wednesday revealed that some delegations have met in legislative buildings on the State House grounds in downtown Columbia far away from their home counties – skirting the intent of the Freedom of Information Act that public meetings be held at a “minimum cost or delay” to citizens.
- Hits: 1642