***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — PRINT EDITION, FRONT PAGE — While Senator DeMint “enjoys his growing influence in the conservative movement and is treated like a rock star at tea party rallies, he’s causing problems within the Republican establishment,” Politico reports. “GOP critics accuse him of unnecessarily hurting the party’s prospects in next year’s midterms by fueling contentious primaries and pushing candidates who may be loved by the base but struggle in the general election. … A favorite of the tea party crowd and a longtime scourge for Democrats and some Republicans alike inside the Senate chamber, DeMint has emerged as the leading benefactor for any Republican who wants to challenge the establishment candidates backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. DeMint has already endorsed conservative Assemblyman Chuck DeVore over party favorite Carly Fiorina in the California Senate race and was the first member of Congress to back conservative Marco Rubio over Gov. Charlie Crist in the closely watched Florida Senate race. He has been openly considering an endorsement of a conservative political unknown in the Illinois Senate race against moderate Republican Rep. Mark Kirk. And in a sign of his growing influence, several of the party’s more moderate candidates are looking for DeMint’s support to give them some conservative street cred, like Rob Simmons of Connecticut and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who have begun to reach out to the junior senator from South Carolina. These moves are signs that candidates believe a blessing from DeMint not only may hold off right-wing challenges in the Republican primaries but also could open up new lines of funding from an increasingly passionate, grass-roots conservative movement.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Jason Zacher of the SC House and Zacher Media Strategies is joined by Miley Cyrus of the Billy Ray House.
***GOT AN EVENT, STORY, TIP OR ANYTHING ELSE ON YOUR MIND YOU WANT INCLUDED IN PALMETTO MORNING? CLICK HERE AND TELL US ABOUT IT***
NATIONAL LENS — NO REVISION — “The government agency charged with overseeing the economic-stimulus program says it has no plans to change its claim that the package directly created or saved 640,329.17 jobs through September, despite its own admission and statements from the White House that the number is not accurate,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Ed Pound, spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, said that it will not revise the number of jobs posted on its Web site, www.recovery.gov, which is based on quarterly forms filed by tens of thousands of recipients of stimulus money detailing how they spent the money and how many jobs it created or saved. The first forms were filed and released to the public in October.”
QUOTABLE — “Unless we find significant errors causing public confusion, we are not planning further corrections,” Mr. Pound said Friday.
MAKING THE SUN COME UP — “S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, tabbed by Gov. Mark Sanford to oversee the state’s use and reporting of its federal stimulus funds, said the true number of stimulus-related jobs in South Carolina is likely half the number claimed by Obama.” McClatchy’s Rosen writes that “the state’s top accountant believes that the economy was starting to turn around early this year, and that any jobs gained or preserved since then exist despite the stimulus package, not because of it. ‘The (Obama) administration is like the rooster that crowed and said, “Look at what I did — I made the sun come up,”’ Eckstrom told McClatchy. ‘Congress passed the stimulus bill to take advantage of the recovery-in-the-making and in the process stalled the economy.’ … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat, defended the recovery program, saying, ‘What I do know is that you can walk into almost any school in the state and speak with a teacher who had received a pink slip last spring when funding was uncertain, but who today still has his or her job thanks to the stimulus. The same is true for law enforcement agencies and prisons.’”
THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION just appointed Eckstrom and stimulus chiefs from nine other states to a new task force charged with devising more reliable ways of counting job gains tied to the recovery plan.
5 QUESTIONS are asked and answered by the Post & Courier’s Robert Behre with regards to next year’s elections:
1. How will Sanford’s legacy affect the governor’s race?
2. Could U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint face a close call?
3. Can U.S. Rep. Henry Brown survive his primary?
4. Will Tim Scott win the lieutenant governor’s race?
5. Which other races will emerge in the coming year?
DREAMS OF DEFENSE DEVELOPMENTS — “Boeing’s decision to build an assembly plant in South Carolina for its new 787 Dreamliner could spark development of the state’s defense industry and give a boost to military towns like Beaufort,” reports The State. “‘This could be a breakthrough on the defense side,’ said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. ‘It’s not a big leap to think people on the defense side of aviation, and just contracting in general, will look at South Carolina differently now.’ Graham, familiar with the aircraft maker as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, helped bring Boeing and state leaders together to hammer out the Boeing deal, expected to create 3,800 jobs.”
***SIGN UP NOW TO HAVE PALMETTO MORNING DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EACH MORNING***
PRESIDENT’S DAY DEBATE — “The Piedmont Republican Club announced Saturday that plans are under way for a President’s Day dinner and debate featuring the five announced GOP gubernatorial candidates. The Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports, “Club spokesman Rick Beltram, the former Spartanburg County GOP chairman, said … Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has confirmed that he will participate. … The other four 2010 hopefuls — U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, state Attorney General Henry McMaster, state Sen. Larry Grooms and state Rep. Nikki Haley — also have been invited.”
ALIENS — Greenville immigration attorney, Allen Ladd, writes to readers of The State, “Employers take note: There’s a price to pay for hiring aliens illegally. … In the aftermath of the [October 2008 Columbia Farms] raid, 300 former employees or ‘illegal hires’ were deported from the United States. … While the Columbia Farms raid is important for reminding employers of their legal responsibilities, it also reveals a serious structural flaw in our immigration system: the absence of a satisfactory work visa program for skilled and unskilled workers. This is unfortunate, at a time when the American economy needs to become robustly competitive again.”
VIEWPOINT — OVERSHADOWED — The Charleston City Paper’s Will Moredock points out that “two local Republicans wrote a column supporting the senator in the November 20, 2009, Post and Courier. David Jenkins is the vice president for Government and Political Affairs at Republicans for Environmental Protection. Chester Sansbury is Republicans for Environmental Protection’s South Carolina coordinator. Whoever heard of these organizations? Not that I doubt their existence, but they have been so overshadowed and ignored by the GOP mainstream and the right wing media that they might as well [not] exist. “
SEE JACK DROP OUT — “Most of Charleston County’s high school dropouts were far behind in reading when they decided to give up. That’s not shocking to school leaders. But what is perplexing is that many students who were just as far behind in reading when they entered high school are expected to graduate on time this spring. And even more troubling, some students who read on grade level or even better dropped out of school anyway.”
VIEWPOINT II — SPIRIT OF THE COMMUNITY — Howard Boyd, Chair of the 2009 United Way of Greenville County’s community campaign updates Greenville News readers on this year’s campaign. “Inspiring approximately 40,000 people to financially support any cause — even one as important as ours — is no easy task … With the economy distressed, we knew this would be an important campaign. Demand for the type of services provided by United Way’s partner agencies increase when times are tight. … People who haven’t needed help before are turning to United Way’s partner agencies for the first time. There was never any doubting the caring spirit of this community. There have been difficult years in the past and the people of Greenville County have always answered the call. I’m pleased to report this year was no different. … With your generous support, we raised the third highest total in our campaign’s history with $14,057,213 that will be reinvested in our community through programs that effectively help individuals and families in need. That is something we can all feel good about.”
SPARTANBURG — County looks at tourism
ROCK HILL — Teacher-recruit program cuts worry education observers
ROCK HILL — Soup kitchen has fed the hungry for 25 years
ORANGEBURG — Jobs hard to find, even for those who’ve worked all their lives
DAYBOOK — An eight-hour AARP driver safety course for drivers older than 50 will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 5 and 6 at Sea Pines Community Center, 70 Lighthouse Road, Hilton Head Island. AARP membership is not required. A $14 fee is charged for course materials. AARP members get a $2 discount. For a reservation, call Hayden Leon at 843-671-2594.
BLEEDING GARNET — “A record number of donors contributed to USC’s victory last week in the 25th Annual Carolina-Clemson Blood Drive, exceeding its goal and beating Clemson by almost 1,000 donors. The results were announced at 8:30 p.m. Friday and revealed that the total number of donors for Carolina was 4,542 and the total for Clemson was 3,480. Carolina exceeded the goal of 4,500 and will receive the blood drive trophy at the Carolina-Clemson game on Nov. 28 in Williams-Brice Stadium.”
FINALLY THIS — DIRTY JOBS — “Today, we praise the septic tank. And no one is more qualified to do that than Barry ‘Barefoot’ Lowther. In a job in which some might turn up their noses, or hold them, Lowther has embraced his occupation from his head down to his shoeless toes. He’s not called ‘Barefoot’ for nothing. … The contents of the septic tank don’t faze him. Lowther says he’s careful about hygiene. ‘My wife makes me take a bath every night,’ he says.”
THAT’S IT FOR THIS MORNING – STAY TUNED ON TWITTER OR FACEBOOK FOR UPDATES THAT JUST CAN’T WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW. HAVE A GOOD ONE!
