Coincidentally, the same day we ran our umpteenth "we’re sorry we didn’t endorse Henry McMaster for Attorney General" piece — this one by Cindi Scoppe — Henry also jumped aboard the John McCain bandwagon.
Sen. McCain is really getting ’em lined up in South Carolina. It’s going to be a lot harder for anybody to take him out here this time the way G.W. Bush did in 2000.
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Never underestimate the ability of right-wing South Carolinians to smear someone who doesn’t goosestep in time to “Dixie” and “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
It strikes me how sometimes you can almost get it right, yet you still miss the big picture entirely.
You see the benefit of consolidating state school districts, yet you miss the benefit of the idea as applied on a national basis. By your own reasoning, wouldn’t you agree that it doesn’t make sense to have thousands of school districts nationwide with different curriculums and tax bases? Why can’t we have a federally administered educational system with equal funding for all? Are you and your buddies afraid of losing your grip on power?
Even if education were equal for all, and even if everyone performed at the exact same level in every respect, we would still have the same exact wealth distribution given the same rate of taxes-it is just a mathematical fact. Why do we continue using an economic system that we know is unfair to begin with?
If we’re so great, and if we deserve to enforce “democracy” on other nations, then why don’t South Carolinians and many other Americans have basic rights (such as the right to form a union without being fired) that are associated other democracies. Why does your hand picked editorial staff purposely ignore “right to work” (fire at will) laws. Why do you continually ignore the large number of people who are really fired from their jobs for lack of business, yet have charges trumped up against them so as to never collect their unemployment insurance benefits. Businesses located not even 3 miles from your office do this all of the time to keep from paying higher unemployment insurance rates. The practice today (i.e., firing employees rather than laying them off) is nearly ubiquitous. Why do so few people (only about a third) ever collect unemployment insurance? Why are the worst offenders (e.g., the Board of Directors of the Palmetto Institute) so close to you and your newspaper. Why doesn’t your editorial board ever address the revolving door that was in effect created by the Chamber of Commerce? Is the money that you receive from the business community so valuable to you that you are willing to screw over everyone else? You’ll start a war clear across the globe in a heartbeat to spread “democracy”, yet you can’t take a five minute drive to talk to workers in this state who are being decimated by neo-liberal economic policies. Amazing!
Why is the unemployment insurance benefit so low? I just watched a fifth of our workforce being laid off (never to return-I do work for a good, though dying company-at least they had the decency to lay people off rather than fire them). I watched guys your age with families being walked off the premises. Now they’re going to collect a puny $303 a week until they find other jobs, or until their benefits run out. Inevitably, most of these former middle class machine operators are going to be forced into low paying service jobs (if they can find jobs at all because of their age) with few or no benefits. Why do you support Globalization and free trade policies that are killing the livelihoods of ordinary American citizens? Outsourcing is ruining the country, yet you, your editorial staff, and the Chamber of Commerce USA encourage outsourcing to our own demise. Why don’t you hold the Governor accountable for encouraging good companies to leave or fold, while he brings in the scum of the earth to exploit SC workers (for low wages in a state where workers have no real rights)? How are workers supposed to compete against $0.50/hr wages. How are engineers and professionals going to compete against $5/hr wages? Why is it, in your world, only your wealthy friends win?
Don’t you understand that people are going to hold you accountable? Is the business money that you receive worth the damage that you are causing to the people through editorial neglect and bias?
Brad sez: It’s going to be a lot harder for anybody to take him out here this time the way G.W. Bush did in 2000.
Depends on if “anybody” can hire Rove– or if McCain hires him first.
Mark, do you think that a little American-style poverty for working people will disturb Brad?
This is the guy who led The State in endorsing an administration that had already proven itself absolutely incompetent in justifying, planning, and conducting a war of choice. This is the guy who thinks that American GIs, reservists, and National Guard should keep on getting maimed, killed, and psychologically damaged in a never-ending Iraqi civil war until someone else is elected to remedy Bush’s mistakes. This is the guy who blames our defeat on the very people who predicted the pitfalls and strenuously opposed this tragic train wreck.
And, you think that he’d be concerned about the economic well-being of working-class Americans?
Answer me this, how many display ads do machinists buy? How many cleverly couched op-eds do unemployed workers write? How many multi-page “inserts” do unions sponsor (with ad sales fattening The State’s bottom line)?
Brad probably sleeps like a baby in the certainty that his job won’t be outsourced and his kids won’t be blown to bits in Iraq.
Mark, You beat the heck out of the dead horse over and over for some reason. First of all, unemployment is close to an all time low. Do individual companies go out of business or downsize? Yes, and then others hire. That is the free market. Here is a good one for you. The ATA (American Trucking Association) notes that the average age of a truck driver now is 59.5 years old. A huge number of good solid jobs are opening up as drivers retire. A driver who drives 50 weeks out of the year will earn about $50k per year. Some will make more if they get a license to haul hazardous. That is just one example. Stop the doom and gloom and tell your buddies to cheer up and get back to work.
The number of unemployed is far less than number of illegal workers from other countries. If they were deported, wages and training costs would have to increase to pay American citizens. That is why businesses have their lobbyists pay John McCain and Lindsay Graham to maintain the flood of illegal labor.
I read recently (within the last few days) that the unemployment rate in SC is the highest in the nation at 5.something %
SC has a lot of illiterate adults, who can only do manual labor. Now, they are being underpriced by illiterate illegal aliens.
I don’t see our AG, Henry McMaster doing anything to enforce the state and federal laws against employers.
Vet, uemployment in SC is second worst in the US at 6.7% during the month of June. Sorry, but real life isn’t the rosy picture Dave likes to paint.
The invasion of illegal aliens keeps unemployment high among unskilled Americans, and South Carolina has a lot of illiterate, low-skilled citizens.
93.3% of SC workers are employed. So less than 1 of 10 is unemployed. Considering that that figure includes those who voluntarily become unemployed the real UE rate is actually lower. All in all, we are in an employee’s market, not an employer’s market. Jimmy Carter gave us 9% UE rates and Bush I tax increases saw us at 7.5%. Times are good, let’s be appreciative and give credit to W for excellent management of the economy.
SC could help its own economy by adjusting its income tax brackets for inflation, as it as supposed to do by law, all the way back to 1972. After they are adjusted, the brackets should be reduced to 3, and the top rate lowered to no more than 3%, to become competitive with other states. Abolishing the income tax and property taxes entirely, while not increasing sales taxes, would the the proper thing to create a fair tax system and a properous economy, less tied to the national economy.