An Observer’s View of the Senate - DOT Hearing
- By J. Don Rodgers
In a rare off-season public hearing held Thursday, the Senators of the Transportation Committee sought urgently to determine why the Department of Transportation could not pay certain private contractors multi-million dollars owed for highway projects already completed. Numerous contractors were forced to lay off employees and some were facing bankruptcy because for the first time DOT was apparently unable to pay tens of millions of dollars of obligations to these contractors, and was also in arrears with the State Infrastructure Bank. This is certainly an urgent and shocking revelation.
Lessons From 9/11/01
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
For days Americans have relived the horrors of the 9/11/01 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the heroic battle by passengers against Islamic Terrorists aboard American Airlines Flight 93 over Pennsylvania. It is appropriate that we remember those innocent individuals who lost their lives and honor those who risked and lost their lives in the rescue efforts. What, if anything, have we learned from this traumatic experience? Could it happen again, if so, will we be prepared?
Holder Puts Hold On South Carolina’s Voter ID Law
Justice Dept. Under Pressure from NAACP, Leftist Groups
The new South Carolina voter ID law is being held up and blocked from implementation by Attorney General Eric Holder and the U. S. Justice Department. The law was passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by the Governor.
The Justice Department blocked the South Carolina law because they didn’t have enough information.
All laws or regulations pertaining to elections in the states that voted for Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964 must submit all election related laws and regulations to the U. S. Justice Department for review before implementation. President Lyndon Johnson due to a desire for political retribution put this 47-year-old requirement in election laws after the 1064 election.
DeMint: South Carolina Delegation Best and the Brightest in the Country
- By Thomas C. Hanson
Sen. Jim DeMint told the combined Greenville County and Upstate Republican women’s clubs Wednesday, Aug. 31, that in the debt limit debate we saw character and spine from our South Carolina congressmen that we did not see from Tea Party Republicans all over the country.
“This time last year I was fighting people in Washington about the need to cut spending when even my own Republican colleagues were fighting about how much bacon to take home to their states,” DeMint said. “They were talking about how much more to spend.”
Putnam to Replace Rep. Dan Cooper in House
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
22-Year Old Republican Defeats Constitution Party Candidate with 83 Percent of Vote
Josh Putnam, a 22-year old recent graduate of North Greenville University will replace veteran Rep. Dan Cooper as representative of House District 10 in Anderson County. Cooper resigned from the office and Putnam will serve the remainder of his term through 2012.
Putnam defeated Dave Ballard with 1,026 votes or 83 percent to 196 votes or 17 percent for Ballard. He had taken 47 percent of the vote in a GOP primary of 6 candidates, but the runoff election was much closer. Putnam won it by only 79 votes.
Gowdy: Compromise is a One-Way Street in Washington
- By Thomas C. Hanson
Rep. Trey Gowdy told the combined Greenville County and Upstate Republican women’s clubs Wednesday, Aug. 31, that “compromise is only one-way street in Washington.
“They want us to compromise when we are in power, and they can do what they want when they are in power. With civility we must be unyielding in our convictions.”
Gowdy referred to Sen. Jim DeMint, the luncheon’s first speaker, as the father of the modern-day constitutional conservative movement. Gowdy asked that DeMint give prayerful consideration to running for president. He said his dream ticket is either DeMint and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin or DeMint and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
Only Truth Can Reverse Impending Peril
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
Only truth can rescue our constitutional republic from impending peril and destruction brought on by Progressive Democrats in the current administration and congress. Republican leadership at the national level is not blameless in this avoidable situation. They have been a party to some of the decisions promoted by the Socialist and Marxist Progressives over the past decade.
One of the most damaging errors committed by Republicans has been failing to accurately describe the mischief of progressive radicals. Under the presidency of Barrack Obama they are systematically dismantling and destroying the institutions and policies that have made the United States the envy of the world and served as the backbone of American exceptionalism.
Military Appreciation Day Observance
- By Gilbert Scales
A member of the Clemson University Company C-4 Pershing Rifles National Champion Drill Team Guards the Scroll of Honor Memorial across the street from Memorial Stadium.
Understanding Children of the Confederacy
- By Press Release
Presentation by Pam Evans
Mrs. Pam Evans is a Presbyterian Pastor’s wife and a member of the Winnie Davis Chapter # 442, United Daughters of the Confederacy, that sponsors the Joseph Evan Davis Chapter of Children of the Confederacy. She is Director of the chapter.
Mrs. Evans discussed the purpose of the national organization and some of the activities of the local chapter during the August meeting of the 16th Regiment, S. C. Volunteers, SCV.
The Children of the Confederacy is an organization for children from birth to 18 years who have Confederate ancestors. The purpose of the organization is stated in its creed:
Superintendent Reports: “The Best School Opening in Memory”
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
South Carolina's Largest District off to Smooth Start
Last Tuesday night, Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher, Superintendent of Greenville County Schools, gave what will likely be her final school opening report. Dr. Fisher has submitted her resignation and is expected to leave the district as soon as a replacement is hired and given sufficient time for orientation.
Fisher assumed the duties of superintendent in May 2004 on very short notice due to the sudden resignation (or firing) of Dr. William Harner. (The reason for Harner’s hasty departure was never made public due to a secrecy pact agreed to by the departing superintendent and the school board.)
Harold Lane
- By Keith Crowe
This week I am featuring one of the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame members and this feature will be a tribute to his life. Harold Lane is his name and he is from Huntington, West Virginia, and he now makes his home in Heaven. Harold was promoted to the Heavenly choir in June of this year.
Like many youngsters in that part of the country, church was a very big part of his life. And it’s certainly not a long stretch to go from church to music, and young Harold fell in love quickly with the music of the church. It didn’t take Lane long to decide that music would be his calling. He spent a lot of his youth learning how to sing and play a variety of musical instruments. When he entered the service, he continued to study music in Germany during his military stint. Since he loved the gospel quartet music of his home country, he developed a dream of forming an outstanding gospel group that would be unique and distinct from other groups of his time and place.
The Wisdom and Honor of Wade Hampton III
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
As I was completing the series on the life and times of Wade Hampton III, that will conclude in the next issue of The Times Examiner, after a great deal of very interesting research and reading, I was struck by the great wisdom, dedication and honor of this larger than life historical figure. How desperately we need men of his caliber in positions of authority in our state and nation today.
He was one of the wealthiest men in South Carolina when the state seceded from the union. He did not favor secession, but when his state was attacked by Union forces, he organized, clothed, equipped, armed, paid and fed a regimental size military unit. He had no formal military training, but his wisdom, honor and natural leadership ability resulted in him becoming one of the most effective Major Generals in the Confederate Army.
Michele Bachmann: ‘We Cannot Afford the Government We Have’
- By Thomas C. Hanson
Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told a town hall meeting Aug. 16 that “we are committing the next generation to a life of involuntary servitude financially to the state.
“We cannot afford the government we have,” Bachmann said, adding “you cannot spend more money than you take in. It is a simple fact of life.” She said that “the Tea Party movement is something the left definitely fears, and it should.”
Bachmann, who represents Minnesota’s sixth district, was introduced by Betty Poe, chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party, at the event at the TD Convention Center, formerly the Carolina First Center.
Perry Packs Ham House
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
Wilkins Gives Strong Endorsement
Texas Gov. Rick Perry drew the largest crowd ever assembled at Tommy’s Country Ham House in Greenville, Saturday morning. Tommy Stevenson has fed thousands of political activists through the years, but this was literally a packed house with no more standing room available.
The crowd inside the restaurant was estimated at more than 300 seated and another 200 standing and more than 100 outside unable to get inside.
Perry had made an appearance on Main Street the night before accompanied by the mayor until a sudden rain storm drove the candidate and his aides back on their bus.
Perry Enters Presidential Race, Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll, What Now?
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the Republican primary race awith an announcement from Charleston on Saturday. One of his first supporters is Katon Dawson, the popular former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party who was a credible candidate to head the RNC in recent years. Several Republican leaders including Greenville County GOP Chairman and South Carolina Republican Women’s Federation President Betty Poe attended the Red State gathering where Perry made his “surprise” announcement, but most are not endorsing a candidate at this point.
The Plan to Force Farmers off Their Land
- By Henry Lamb
Al Gore was beside himself when the Senate failed to ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1994. Gore had spent the first two years of his vice presidency developing what he called his "Ecosystem Management Policy." This new policy was nothing more than preparing the agencies of government to implement the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and Agenda 21. These three policy documents were adopted in Rio de Janeiro at the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development.
A Memorial Tribute to Dan Peek, Co-founder of America
- By Jeff West
Dan Peek, co-founder of the rock group America, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sunday, July 24, 2011, at the young age of 60 in his home in Farmington, Missouri, from an infection of the membrane surrounding the heart. America was one of the most successful rock bands in the world in the seventies. Dan was the son of an Air Force officer and lived all over the world, even in Sumter, S.C. for a while. He and two fellow military brats formed America in Britain.
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SC Association of Counties Elects New President
- By Press Release
The South Carolina Association of Counties (SCAC) elected officers for 2011–12 at its 44th Annual Conference, held July 31 – Aug. 3. The SCAC also elected two new board members and reelected three board members.
Elected PRESIDENT was Greenville County Council Member Joseph B. Dill.
“It is a great honor for me to be elected as your president,” said Joseph B. Dill. “Under the outstanding leadership of our past president (Chester County Supervisor R. Carlisle Roddey), we have weathered another challenging year. With your help, I look forward to continuing where he left off.
16th Regiment Members Receive Honors at SCV Reunion
- By Press Release
The Sesquicentennial Reunion and Convention of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was held July 13-16, 2011, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center in Montgomery, Alabama, the city where the Confederate Government was formed 150 years ago. During these meetings, the SCV conducted business sessions, held oratorical contests, offered historical tours, participated in a Memorial Service, enjoyed Heritage Dinners and Awards Dinners, entertained with Confederate era music, and enjoyed times of renewing friendship and fellowship with those who love to honor their Confederate ancestors and the Cause of the Confederacy.
The Dixie Echoes
- By Keith Crowe
This week’s feature group is like last week’s group from Florida, Pensacola to be exact, and no it is not the Florida Boys who are also from Pensacola. The group is the Dixie Echoes and they have been singing for over forty years. The group got their start in 1960 when the “Ole Gospel Man,” J.G. Whitfield, was stricken with wanting to be on the road again. JG had started and owned The Florida Boys but decided to retire from the road.
What Does U.N. Vote Mean to Israel?
- By Dr. Al Snyder
Talk has been wildly circulating for several months now about the United Nations declaring an Arab "Palestinian" state in September. Plans are underway for the UN General Assembly to pass a resoluition to declare "Palestine" to be a new, independent state, in lieu of the unwillingness of Israel to simply give away half of their little bit of land for the occupying Arabs to have another Arab state of their own.
It will require a two-thirds vote, or 128 votes in the General Assembly to pass the resolution, and the Palestinians have stated that they already have assurances of 120 of the 128 votes needed. However, the declaration will not be "legal" unless the UN Security Council also agrees. Israel is counting on the United States to veto the proposal in the Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping that US President Barack Obama will side with the Arabs and Moslems and make the US approve.
‘Commies’ are here: Call it What it is!
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
The United States is at a crossroad. I believe this is our last chance to make the right turn and take the correct course of action. It is time to stop pretending, get real, get our heads out of the sand and deal with a serious situation by beginning to call it what it is.
The sworn enemies of our constitutional republic that have tried and failed for a half century to defeat us militarily are the Marxist, Communist, Socialist, Progressive Democrats or whatever they prefer to sound more acceptable at the moment.
Regardless of the label they choose, they use the tactics of Marx and intend to bring the United States under the same dictatorial Communist umbrella as the Russians, Chinese and Cubans.
Milton Friedman Celebration Breakfast
- By Debbie Spaugh
Americans for Prosperity Foundation – South Carolina, in conjunction with The Foundation for Educational Choice, hosted a very successful event in honor of Milton Friedman on Saturday, July 30, 2011, at the Holiday Inn Express in Greenville. The room was packed, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the program. Milton Friedman was a Nobel Prize winning economist, who was a vocal supporter of the free market. According to Friedman, “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”
House Investigators Crack Down on NLRB
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
Subpoenas Issued in NLRBs actions against Boeing in South Carolina
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) issued a subpoena to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon Sunday, August 7th, as part of its investigation into NLRB actions against the Boeing Company.
The NLRB recently challenged a decision by Boeing to locate a jetliner assembly operation in South Carolina, a Right to Work State, instead of at a union shop in Washington state. The subpoena was issued after the agency defied Chairman Issa’s requests for documents related to the Boeing case.
Greenville Republicans Commend Congressmen for Opposing “Deal”
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
Executive Committee Cheered for Faithful Five
The Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee broke into loud applause at the mention of the names of the South Carolina Congressional Delegation and unanimously passed a resolution commending and encouraging the delegation that has stood together on principles and opposed all the “deals” proposed by President Obama and Congressional leaders that did not deal effectively with the nation’s fiscal problems.
Scandals in the Classroom
- By Phyllis Schlafly
A national scandal hit the news when Georgia Governor Nathan Deal released a 413-page report describing how hundreds of Atlanta public school teachers and principals had been cheating during the past ten years on standardized tests in order to falsely report that their schools were doing a good job and the kids were improving. A total of 178 teachers and principals (38 were principals), 82 of whom have already confessed, had fraudulently raised test scores so their schools would meet test targets set by the district and thereby qualify for federal funds.
Re-Establishing the Firewall: Members of Congress to be Proud of
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
The South Carolina Republican Legislative Delegation is making history by representing their constituents even if it means going against their party leadership in Congress. The national media has noted that the South Carolina Republicans actually pray before making important decisions, seeking divine guidance rather than the guidance of the president or congressional leaders. This is apparently a unique and revolutionary practice in 2011Washington, D. C.
The Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution Monday night commending the delegation for “their votes to halt the out of control and irresponsible spending of the federal government,” and encouraged them to “continue to vote in accordance with principles of limited government and low taxes.”
Sen. DeMint and Rep. Gowdy Will Be Guest Speakers in GOP Luncheon
- By Press Release
Greenville County Republican Women’s Club along with Upstate Republican Women’s Club will hold luncheon with guest speakers Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Trey Gowdy on Wednesday, August 31, 2011, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. at The Poinsett Club on 807 East Washington Street in Greenville, SC.
Please make reservations as soon as possible to ensure that you will have a place. We had a waiting list for the Gingrich event in March. You will pay for your ticket when you come to the luncheon on August 31st unless you purchased a ticket at the July luncheon. When you arrive at the luncheon on August 31st - there will be a check-in table for those with tickets to check-in and there will be several check-in tables for those that are paying for their tickets. Please plan to pay with a check made payable to GCRWC so it will make the check-in easier for you and the people waiting. Please note that since we had visitors that made reservations in March and did not pay - they will be asked to pay for their tickets in advance and pick up their ticket when they check in.
New Congressional District Plans Require Washington Approval
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
Thanks to Lyndon Johnson, Attorney General Eric Holder Can Overrule State Decision
State Senator Phil Shoopman briefed the Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee on the new congressional district boundaries drawn by a senate committee on which Shoopman served. Lines must be redrawn after the census each 10 years, to equalize the population in each congressional district.
Due to population growth in the Palmetto State, the state will now have 7 congressmen instead of 6. Five of the six districts are now represented by Republicans.
The senator used the map of congressional districts and chart shown on Page 16 of this issue to illustrate his message.
Obama's Fault?
- By Ray Simmons
There seems to be a great tendency among conservatives to blame our current state of affairs on President Obama. While I agree that Obama has done much to weaken our nation financially and militarily since taking office, has vastly increased the powers of the Executive Branch of government, and that his goal is the destruction of our Democratic Republic and its replacement with a socialist form of Dictatorship or Oligarchy, I cannot hold him totally responsible for where we find ourselves. I must place a considerable share of the blame upon myself and my fellow Christians. It is we who have failed to hold our government accountable for its actions and have allowed it to move away from the doctrines upon which it was founded.
Unwise Cuts in National Defense to Finance Social Programs, Reduce Deficit
- By Bob Dill, Publisher
President Obama has developed a strategy that will “gut the United States Armed Forces,” leaving the republic vulnerable to foreign aggression defended by a “hollow force” with reduced manpower, outdated weapons and reduced readiness to perform its primary mission.
The frightening part of the strategy is that Obama will receive a lot of support from Congress. Defense cuts is one of the aspects of the secret talks currently taking place between the President and congressional leaders at the White House.
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