Talk about quick. I had not even hit the "save" button on this item, which predicted that the S.C. House would override Gov. Mark Sanford’s eminently sensible veto of their bill to handcuff local governments for the sake of the billboard industry as soon as today, when they went ahead and did it.
That’s the thing that gets me about these guys. If you want them to do something smart and strategic that might make South Carolina a better place, such as guaranteeing equality of educational opportunity for all, or restructuring state government to make it more efficient and politically accountable, they just can’t find the time.
But given the opportunity to do something dumb and obnoxious, they fall all over themselves and send it over to the Senate before anybody can holler "Don’t!"
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Definitely one way to look at it, and the legislature deserves the criticism it will now receive. But Sanford deserves his fair share of the blame too.
We’ve come to the point where a Sanford gubernatorial veto carries no weight — and that’s primarily the governor’s fault, not the legislature’s.
A veto is a message from the executive to the legislative that they have acted improvidently. It is a statement that a rational mind accountable to the entire state, above the petty passions of legislative politics, has weighed the matter and come to a different conclusion.
But when you govern via stunts and press releases, belittle and castigate those who disagree with you, and just generally rule in an arbitrary and standoffish manner that says “I am above you all,” you cannot then turn around and expect your vetos will be taken seriously by anybody.
Good Lord — Republican Governor Campbell had a Democratic legislature and Democratic Governor Hodges had a Republican legislature, and both had their vetos considered and generally upheld.
I happen to agree this was poor legislation, but the simple sad truth is that Mark Sanford has squandered the inherent integrity and authority of his office through quixotic behavior, silly gimmicks and playing fast and loose with the facts on issue after issue.
So if he wants to know why his vetos aren’t the rallying cry or common-sense bringers that they are for other governors in this and other states, look in the mirror for the primary cause.
I emailed Joel Lourie, Bill Cotty, Rep Bobby Harrell, Senator Courson, and Senator McConnell this morning about this very bill.
Received great replies from Rep Cotty and Senator Lourie. Very nice, to the point, and both supported the Governor.
My emails were respectful and short. I didn’t hear from anyone else which is no shock.
I sincerely hope one of the billboard outfits puts up a nice, huge billboard right outside Bobby Harrell’s neighborhood advertising a local Adult store in the Charleston area. That would be fitting.
I love how some of these so called Conservative legistlators love to stick it to local governments while all the time talking about how important local control is to them.
I guess calling them liars isn’t nice.
If the legislators are casting votes to spite the governor instead of casting them in the best interests of our state, then every one like that should be voted out of office. They were not elected to play King of the Mountain with the governor. I told my legislator one of my biggest areas of dissatisfaction is this lack of cooperation between the branches. If it keeps up, it will cost some reps their seats.
They know which side their bread is buttered on.
Follow the money.
I just skimmed that bill. Good grief. What an embarrassment to our state, and to the legislators who voted for it.
Ah well. I await the inevitable First Amendment challenge . . .