Dick Harpootlian’s Democratic Party seems determined to pull us completely beyond the era of text-based press releases. At least it’s entertaining — sometimes. Above you have the state party’s most recent release. There was some text with it. Here you go:
Columbia, SC – This weekend, the Charleston Post & Courier exposed shocking information about Nikki Haley’s taxpayer-funded European vacation. Click here to read the article.
Nikki Haley spent more than $125,000 of your tax dollars on this trip and with nothing to show for it.
SCDP Chairman, Dick Harpootlian, appalled by Tricki Nikki’s latest hypocrisy, released this video and the following statement in response to the Post and Courier article:
Where in the world is Nikki Haley? We don’t where she is, but we know where she’s not. She is not fighting to improve education or to lower unemployment in South Carolina. She is nowhere near any effort to improve health care desperately needed by many in our state. The Post & Courier article shows once again that she only does what’s best for her and not the people of South Carolina.
Below is one that Dick sent out several days ago…
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I have only just noticed how she pulls her eyebrows together a lot–to show her concern?
I don’t have a problem with her going to Paris, btw, or having a nice “chalet” instead of a booth–we need to counteract the pitifulness factor, but did she have to stay at the Ritz, and ordering room service seems counter-productive to the mission of networking!
This begs for additional commentary to accompany the absurdity of the Harpootlian release. Governor Haley is engaging in what governors are supposed to do – economic development. She’d be making Carroll Campbell very happy today. So what she’s doing here is basically run-of-the-mill stuff that our politicians are supposed to do. My words could have come from Brad himself!
You gotta love Dick Harpootlian for embracing this new media (aka instant video harangue).
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To answer the question — no, Nikki Haley has no suggestions on songs for new videos. All humanity and emotive responses were purged prior to her new role as South Carolina’s — This time it’s for REAL — Puppet Governor.
What? You all didn’t know that?
Pay attention!
Does Harpootlian have any kids? What are their ages and salaries?
I presume that “Sales Associate” experience at Banana Republic qualifies one for those salary levels. Maybe her perception and justification for staff salaries were guided by her experience at LMC where she didn’t show up for work but “earned” $110K/yr! They fire her and she hires an attorney and settles for $35K! What can you expect from one who flies to China on the public dime and doesn’t remember whether she flew 1st Class. Give her hell Dick.
Matt, I think this stuff is pretty silly, too. Of course the governor should go to something like this, and I don’t begrudge the money.
At the same time, it probably doesn’t endear her to her base. Because her base doesn’t look at things the way I do — or the way Nikki purports to do. Which is what Dick is hammering her about.
I’ve argued with Dick about stuff like this since the Beasley administration. He makes a HUGE deal about such superficial things as travel. He has a particular thing about rides on airplanes. As do his opponents. And I don’t approve of any of it.
FYI, read this for a glimpse at my long history of arguing such things with Dick Harpootlian.
I applied for a job with her administration back in December. My job history was 30 years in retail. I nice guy called me from the transition team and told me that they had my application and were reviewing it. I didn’t get the job. I guess I was too old or had been in retail too long. Oh well. Her loss.
Hugh Leatherman was the object of an article in the local newspaper this morning on the same subject. He was in attendence but not part of the governor’s team. He was there for another alliance.
His take on the trip? It was worth every dollar spent and was helpful in making contacts and opening avenues for potential industries and businesses to locate in SC. Especially the peripherial businesses associated with Boeing.
I am not a Leatherman fan at all but he is corrent in his comments and evaluation of the necessity of such trips.
Could the team stayed at a cheaper hotel, rented a booth instead of a chalet, or thrown a party costing much less than the $25k ticket for the Boeing crowd?
Absolutely. SC could have gone on the cheap without a doubt. Still a fiscal conservative, but at the same time, do understand the necessity of spending money to sell your product, in this instance, the product is South Carolina.
I guess Mr. Harpootlian knows everything there is to know about marketing a state and the advantages for locating or relocating a business to it. Maybe he is an expert and has the inside information necessary to attract companies providing needed employment for SC.
If he has the ability to do so, then he should put his money where his damn mouth is and produce results.
The Republicans had Atwater acting as their attack dog, biting Democrats on their butts at every opportunity and now, Democrats have Harpootlian snarling, drooling, and biting at Republican ankles at any and every possible opportunity. In the end, Atwater had regrets.
I support any governor’s attempts to bring new business to SC and reinforce ties with existing ones, no matter if the gov is a Democrat or Republican.
Can anyone demonstrate actual jobs that acrue from these expensive trips? Sure we have Michelin, BMW, Honda and I’m sure others but can it be shown demonstratively that those companies came here as a result of an expensive trip by our governor? If so then let’s continue doing it but at least let’s keep the costs down. Seems like a lot of excess here that didn’t add to the value of the trip. And please I don’t want to hear some flap-trap about gut instinct or feelings. Just provide concrete, verifiable information. Otherwise let’s stop doing these trips.
@Steven–What do Harpo’s kids have to do with it? There is no evidence that they are paid with government funds by a “fiscal watchdog” like Haley!
Bud, you have more faith in measurable results than I do. I’ve always had an uncomfortable relationship with them. Most things, or at least many things (there’s no way to do a count) worth doing are not measurable, at least not in a clean, clear, direct, indisputable manner.
Reminds me of when I first started getting MBO goals, in Wichita in the mid-80s. The managing editor explained them to me this way: They had nothing to do with doing the job well. They had to be measurable, and had to be above and beyond work. In other words, he said, I could get 100 percent on my MBO and get an awesome bonus, but get fired for not doing my job well. Or, I could a fantastic job, and not get a single item on my MBO list done — which would mean that, while all would applaud my daily performance, they would note that I must not be much of a go-getter.
My shaky relationship with measurable goals started right about then.
Anyway, in this case, such a trip my lead to a great number of high-salary jobs. But the cause-and-effect relationship would not be simple enough to say that you got the jobs BECAUSE you took this trip. Or rather, you could say it, but you couldn’t prove it. Even if the new employer said in writing (which seems unlikely), “We came because the governor went to Paris,” not everyone would believe it. Things are seldom that simple.
Kathryn, I didn’t waste my time watching the video, but it appears that Dick has a problem with a 27 year old kid making $62,500 in Haley’s administration. I’m just curious as to what his kids make. If the roles were reversed, Dick would be bragging up his kids.
Steven if you’d have viewed the video then you would have understood what Walter was addressing. Look at the application for the $62.5K salary kid and you see that other than his political connection, his one-year plus experience at Banana Republic would not even qualify him for an $8/hr job. Facts seem to allude your comments.
Carroll Campbell made trips to court BMW and Roche. He was successful on both counts. Selling a state is like any other sales effort. It takes time, patience, and most important of all, face to face contact with the person or people who make the recommendations and final decisions. It may take years before sales efforts come to fruition but if the efforts are not made, generally, there are no results.
It is simple Sales 101. Should the governor travel abroad to represent the state when trying to attract business to come there? Absolutely. Republican or Democrat, that is part of the governor’s job – help grow the state.
Brad’s comments pretty much demonstrate how goverment officials can justify anything. All they have to do is say “action x helped create y effect”. Then they can take vactions at the expense of the public and don’t really have to use quantifiable measures to actually justify ANYTHING. If done properly almost anything can be suppported or refuted statistically. It’s not always easy but it can be done.
Just to say something is not to actually make it so. That’s been the ploy of the Republican party for decades. All they have to do is trot out some unsupported claim, then continue to say it over and over and over and over again until it is accepted as fact. That’s how Reagan was annointed as the man who ended the cold war. It’s not actually true but if said often enough it becomes defacto true.
Right now I’d have to lean against these European junkets until someone can show some measurable benefit. Otherwise I’m inclined to believe they’re mostly for show and to have a good time at the public trough.
Besides, it’s been pretty well established that most jobs are created by small, local entrepreneurs and not the huge out-of-state companies. Let’s provide some incentives for those guys.