***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — This Wednesday, Henry McMaster will be in Washington, DC addressing the constitutionality of the health care reform bill. McMaster and attorney generals in 13 other states say congressional leaders must remove Nebraska’s political deal – dubbed the “Cornhusker Kickback” – from the bill or face legal action.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Songstresses Mary J Blige and Naomi Judd
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NATIONAL LENS — States prepare Court challenge to Health Care Bill
ALOHA – Dawson, who lost to Steele by only 14 votes to lead the RNC last year, raised eyebrows with news that he will travel to the committee’s winter meeting in Hawaii on Jan. 25 — where Steele could face reprimand by committee members — as a substitute for South Carolina’s chairwoman. (Dawson) said he has no specific plans to run for chairman in 2011 when Steele’s term is up, but said, “In politics you never slam the door on anything.
APOLOGIES — The Congressional Black Caucus said Sunday that it had accepted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s apology for a remark he made about Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign and dismissed calls for the Nevada Democrat to step down. An aide to the senator told CNN that Reid also apologized to several prominent African-American political figures, including Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.
“MILKSHAKE MACHINE IS BROKEN” – Mac McKeown, who for 53 years was the soft-spoken voice behind the counter at Mac’s Drive-In in Clemson, died Dec. 30 at the age of 82. More than 500 people attended Saturday’s memorial service.
THEY’RE WATCHING — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says it might be time to expand the no-fly list to include the much bigger watch list of people believed to pose a threat to Americans.
GOD BLESS AMERICA — Serious debate among the nation’s leaders is critical, Graham said. But attacking President Barack Obama, labeling him soft on terror, helps the enemy, he said. ‘We don’t need to use al-Qaida techniques on al-Qaida,’ Graham said. ‘We need to be Americans using what’s available to Americans and to freedom-loving people to fight the terrorists. When you break with your values you are giving the enemy an advantage.’
BUDGET CUTS — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said he’ll balance the state’s next budget by cutting spending on health care programs and worker pay, among other things.
INTERACTIVE CAMPAIGNING — Seizing on ever-changing technology, South Carolina’s gubernatorial campaigns are unleashing a cloud of new interactive approaches to make you feel connected to their candidates and gain your vote.
SEWAGE — Warning that a sewage tunnel serving all of West Ashley and points beyond “is in imminent danger of capacity and structural failure,” Charleston Water System officials have asked U.S. House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn for $16 million worth of federal assistance.
Failure of the tunnel could mean no working sewers for the roughly 30,000 homes and businesses whose waste the tunnel carries.
WHERE ARE THE DEMS? — If numbers matter, the slim slate of down-ticket statewide candidates running as Democrats is sure to have party bosses and the faithful more than worried. Sure, there are five Democrats running for governor, just like the five Republican candidates. But out of the next eight constitutional statewide officers – lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, comptroller general, adjutant general, superintendent of education, commissioner of agriculture – only two Democratic candidates are currently officially running.
ON THE FLOOR — South Carolina legislators will take up a rebuke of Gov. Mark Sanford and try to quickly turn to issues tied to recession-wrecked state finances, new lawsuit limits and property tax breaks. While they’ll talk about tax breaks in the midst of plans to cut state spending by 20 percent, legislators will also talk about raising the nation’s lowest cigarette tax.
STEP-PING UP — This past week, Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) announced his intention to update and reintroduce the Stop Terrorists Entry Program Act (STEP) that would prohibit “the admission of aliens from countries designated as State Sponsors of Terrorism as well as Yemen to the United States.”
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BOOSTING TOURISM — South Carolina’s tourism industry received a major boost when one of the world’s top tourism experts officially arrived at the University of South Carolina, recruited through the state’s Centers of Economic Excellence program.
GREENVILLE — First black female orthopedic surgeon to speak in Greenville
SC HOUSE DISTRICT 86 — Businessman to run for District 86 seat
SUMTER — Councilman Baker faces peeping tom charge
SPARTANBURG — State budget cuts hit Spartanburg Charter School
FINALLY THIS — Anderson man stumbles into his life’s work at Eddy’s Vac Shack
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