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THIS FIRST — Featuring a side-by-side of Governor Mark Sanford and SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor, USA Today askes, “Who are the political winners and losers of 2009?” Readers can submit their votes.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Seth English, progeny of Sanford Chief, Scott English, turns 16 today; Please hold all the stupid “staying off the sidewalk jokes”
TODAY is World AIDS day
ALSO, 54 years ago, today, Rosa Parks kept her seat in Montgomery, Ala. sparking a year-long bus boycott
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NATIONAL LENS — “President Obama will outline [tonight] his intention to send an additional 34,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials and diplomatic sources briefed Monday as Obama began informing allies of his plan.” The Washington Post reports, “The new deployments, along with 22,000 troops he authorized early this year, would bring the total U.S. force in Afghanistan to more than 100,000, more than half of which will have been sent to the war zone by Obama. The president also plans to ask NATO and other partners in an international coalition to contribute 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, officials said. The combined U.S. and NATO deployments would nearly reach the 40,000 requested last summer by U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the coalition commander in Afghanistan, as part of an intensified counterinsurgency strategy.”
COMPETING INTERESTS — JUMPING THE FENCE — “At a meet-and-greet fundraiser in Pawleys Island sponsored by the S.C. Democratic Party … the message from the Democratic candidates for S.C. governor was clear: Democrats need to show up at the polls, and they need to be loud about their ideas to win.” The Sun-News compares the differences in strategy. “‘Our candidates have thought in the past that the only way to win was to run as far to the right as possible, and the Republicans were going to jump the fence and vote with us. Well, guess what; that ain’t going to happen,” said [Mullins] McLeod, a Charleston attorney and former chairman of the Charleston Democratic Party. … Candidate Jim Rex, the state superintendent of schools and the only Democrat holding an elected state executive office, disagreed with McLeod, saying that to win, a candidate must appeal to a broader voting base. ‘I’m the only candidate who has demonstrated that I can win as a Democrat. You have to convince independent voters and, yes, even the thinking Republicans to vote on your side,’ Rex said. ‘It’s really important to elect someone in June who can win in November, and I can do that.’”
QUESTIONING AMBITIONS — Chad McGowan, “the Democrat hoping to unseat Jim DeMint next year, took direct aim at the conservative South Carolina senator for the first time on Monday, accusing him of putting ‘personal political ambitions’ ahead of his constituents,” according to CNN’s Peter Hamby. McGowan “pounced on a remark DeMint made on a recent conference call with supporters. … DeMint said … ‘Every vote I take is not about South Carolina. It’s about the United States of America.’ … ‘It’s the same story over and over,’ McGowan said. ‘Jim DeMint and his personal political ambitions come first. In times like these, we need TWO Senators who care about South Carolina, who advocate for South Carolina, and who produce for South Carolina. If we had that, we would be making real progress on some of the problems we face in our schools, employment, and crime.’”
WITH EVERY ACTION — “DeMint campaign manager Luke Byars responded to McGowan in an e-mail to CNN. ‘Senator DeMint votes for freedom and what is in the best interest of the United States of America and that is always in the best interest of South Carolina,’ Byars said. ‘While Senator DeMint put forward a jobs plan that would have helped thousands of South Carolina businesses and families by lowering taxes, this personal injury lawyer would have joined his liberal friends in Washington on the failed stimulus that have left South Carolina at record high unemployment.’”
IN DEFENSE — The Spartanburg Herald-Journal takes up for the junior Senator. “A U.S. senator from South Carolina is not merely a lobbyist for his home state. His job is to represent the views of his constituents on national issues and make the right decisions for the country. A senator’s job is to help create national policy and federal laws — policies and laws that further national goals and the security and prosperity of the nation as a whole.”
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READY, BUT HOPE THEY DON’T COME — Attorney General and Gubernatorial hopeful Henry McMaster visited the naval brig in Charleston yesterday “for 2 1/2 hours and toured the area where other detainees in the war on terror have been held. … “It’s the finest brig in the United States. They are hard and tight and they are ready and able to do whatever is asked of them. There is no doubt about that,’ the state’s chief prosecutor said,” according to the Sun-News. “McMaster pledged to do whatever was necessary to make sure the state was ready to house any detainees but said he hoped Congress would ensure they are not brought to the U.S.”
THE LIMELIGHT — In addition to the NY Times DeMint/Graham contrast we noted yesterday, the Gray Lady also profiled our First Lady as part of a “two-fer” in the piece: From Shadow to Limelight for a Governor’s Wife
BIOMASS — “A biomass-fueled steam plant at Savannah River Site is a leading example of the nation’s commitment to energy independence, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Monday.
‘The development of clean, renewable energy will be a growth industry in the 21st century,’ said Dr. Chu. … U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a speaker at Monday’s event, said the government shows leadership in undertaking projects such as the SRS facility. ‘We believe wholeheartedly in President Obama’s initiative to make this country energy independent,’ he said. ‘The transition to a clean-energy economy is inevitable.’” (Augusta Chronicle)
NUCLEAR — “During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was Sen. John McCain, not then Sen. Barack Obama, who touted nuclear power. Obama, for the most part, was noncommittal on the subject. But in the year since being elected, President Obama and congressional Democrats increasingly appear to be embracing nuclear power,” writes US News and World Reports. “Democrats’ support has not been entirely rock solid. Obama’s decision, last spring, to scrap a decades-old plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada was interpreted by some critics as an early sign of an antinuke stance within the administration. But many less high-profile moves, especially in recent weeks, suggest that Democrats in the White House and on Capitol Hill, far from turning their backs on nuclear power , now see it as a way of advancing their goals on energy and climate policy. … Sen. Barbara Boxer, a liberal California Democrat, has included a whole set of goodies for nuclear energy in her climate bill in an effort to win Republicans’ and moderate Democrats’support. Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the bill’s cosponsor, recently penned an op-ed with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham calling for expanding the industry.”
INTERNATIONAL LENS — “Sen. Jim DeMint, who helped compel a change in U.S. policy on Honduras, Monday hailed the outcome of the Central American nation’s presidential election. McClatchy reports, “DeMint … had held up two State Department nominations in a dispute over a controversial coup in Honduras. ‘Our loyal friends in Honduras have proven that freedom and democracy can and will succeed when people are willing to fight for it,’ DeMint said. ‘The people of Honduras have taken a bold stand against tyranny, and friends of freedom throughout the world should applaud their courageous defense of the rule of law.’”
DAYBOOK — Gov. Mark Sanford will speak at a Georgetown Rotary Club meeting at 1 p.m. today at the Maryville Social Hall. Sanford plans to speak about reform at the Employment Security Commission, restructuring of health care agencies and adding a department of administration, and ways to improve the state’s business conditions with changes such as tort reform. The Maryville Social Hall is at 2009 S. Fraser St., Georgetown.
BY THE NUMBERS — Unemployment is expected to peak at 13 percent this summer. “About half a million adults in South Carolina are unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for a job. That is nearly 1 in 4 eligible workers in the state. And the months ahead look grim to John Rainey, South Carolina’s chief economic forecaster. … The picture is even more grim if measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s broader unemployment numbers, which include the underemployed and the discouraged. By that gauge, South Carolina could top out at 23 or 24 percent in June, Rainey said.” (Post & Courier)
VIEWPOINT — FAT POCKETS — State Comptroller Richard Eckstrom seems to have written a compelling Op-Ed discussing things like “the highest calling in life” and “the greatest recession of a generation” but we couldn’t read it because the Gaffney Ledger is for paid-subscribers only. Check back in a week.
LIKES THE SOUND OF LIEUTENANT — Lieutenant Governor candidate and “Lieutenant Colonel Bill Connor has worked for the top general on the ground [in Afghanistan], General McCrystal. Connor was deployed in the Helmand Province from 2007-2008. He says he”ll be listening to what the President has to say [tonight] because it is time for the focus to be put back on the troops. And if you want to know what’s ahead for the 34,000 anticipated troops headed to Afghanistan – ask someone who’s been there like Connor. Connor say he also knows personally many in uniform, who have been waiting for the guidance from military leaders and the Commander in Chief. He adds – while the decision is a tough one, he says the men and women in uniform deserved to have known a lot sooner.” (WRDW-TV)
SPARTANBURG — USC Upstate marchers raise voices in fight against AIDS
GREENVILLE — Three finalists for Furman president’s post visit campus this week
MT. PLEASANT — Fifth-graders to take learning trip to Patriots Point this spring
BEAUFORT — Federal office signs off on plan to boost minority enrollment at Riverview
PELION — $7,500 worth of electronics stolen from school
DANIEL ISLAND — Have you seen coyotes?
CHARLESTON — Business leaders asked to be Principal for a Day
SPARTANBURG — City panhandling ordinance approval likely
RECEPTIVE — “More than two dozen local, state and federal officials mingled with business people during the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual legislative reception Monday at the Callawassie Island Club.”
DAYBOOK II — With immigrants making up to 5.4 percent of the South Carolina workforce, the Charleston Chamber of Commerce will host the Latin American Business Expo, Thursday, December 10 from 2 – 6 p.m. at 10 Storehouse Row to showcase this immense and rich multi-cultural community of business owners and entrepreneurs in our region looking for opportunities to expand their businesses and partnerships. For more information, visit www.charlestonchamber.net.
PRE-K — “The Charleston County School District plans to offer full-day, pre-kindergarten classes for all of its low-income students within the next five years,” reports the Post & Courier. “The school district hasn’t had the space or money to offer early childhood education for everyone who needs it, but the school board has signed off on a $1.2 million plan that will add five more 4-year-old classes to five schools next year. The money will cover the cost of installing and equipping the mobile units needed to house students as well as the teachers and teacher assistants’ salaries. “
FINALLY THIS — LUNCHEON MEAT — Spammer Responsible For 1/3 of the World’s Spam Fined $16 Million by FTC
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!
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