***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — “STEP IT UP” — President Barack Obama is summoning two key senators to the Oval Office on Thursday for an update on immigration reform efforts — but one of them, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), thinks Obama should be the one giving the update. “At the end of the day, the president needs to step it up a little bit,” Graham told POLITICO on Tuesday. “One line in the State of the Union is not going to do it.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Two who like to fight, Chuck Norris and Bobby Petrino
R.I.P — Corey Haim
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NATIONAL LENS — CLIMATE — President Barack Obama made a renewed push for a long-stalled climate and energy bill Tuesday, urging lawmakers at a White House meeting to pass a comprehensive bill this year. Graham (R-S.C.) said he believes a comprehensive bill is the only one that can pass the Senate. “There’s not 60 votes doing energy only for offshore drilling. There’s not 60 votes for nuclear power the way I would like. Only when you marry up climate change — cleaning up the air — with energy independence do you get” to 60 votes in the Senate, he said.
NOT BY EASTER — The Senate trio crafting climate and energy legislation may not have a draft bill by the Easter recess, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said today at the Capitol before meeting with other senators at the White House to discuss the issue.
NO THANKS — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wants to revive the bipartisan Gang of 14 — this time for health care reform, not judicial nominees. But most of his moderate Democratic colleagues aren’t rushing to R.S.V.P.
MILLER SPEAKS — Dramatic changes must be made to the national health care system, congressional candidate Rob Miller told members of the Democratic Club of Beaufort County South of the Broad on Tuesday. Miller, 35, a former Marine captain, is running for South Carolina’s 2nd District seat against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson for the second time. Wilson defeated Miller in 2008 with 54 percent of the vote. Miller told attendees he supports health care reform and wants to see a bipartisan bill by the end of the year, one that wouldn’t “break the bank.”
ANNOUNCEMENT — South Carolina has had one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates for months and economists have said they expect it to go higher. State employment officials are scheduled to release the state’s January jobless rate on Wednesday.
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GOV POLL — A day after Rasmussen Reports released a new poll on the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, they have new data on the state of the Democrat race.
The new Rasmussen poll showed State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and State Sen. Vincent Sheheen tied atop the three-man race, each carrying support from 16 percent of likely Democratic primary voters.
VISION — South Carolina legislators will discuss doing away with a requirement for driver’s license vision tests every five years. The House’s transportation subcommittee on Wednesday will discuss requiring vision tests for drivers under 65 only when they renew their licenses every 10 years.
VIEWPOINT — BUNNING DOESN’T BUNT — Last week, Mr. Bunning found himself at the center of a political storm, albeit unwittingly, because he had dared to assume his colleagues had meant what they had said. Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jim DeMint of South Carolina backed him up, but the rest – to their eternal shame – left the former Hall of Fame baseball star stranded on base.
HAVEN FOR BIRDS — On March 3, Audubon South Carolina applauded the conservation efforts at Lake Conestee Nature Park and designated the 400-acre natural habitat as an Important Bird Area, an award that not only helps establish the park as a bird monitoring and research area, but also protects it from future encroaching development.
SC A LEADER? — Most South Carolinians would be surprised to hear that there is an area of public education in which we are a national leader. That is because most are not familiar with the South Carolina Public Charter School District.
MYRTLE BEACH — Grand Strand students compete to be spelling stars
CHESTER — Two Chester superintendent finalists drop out
SC STATE — S.C. State gets cash for nuclear institute
DISTRICT 112 — Bustos, Sottile to meet again
DORCHESTER — German Company to bring jobs to Lowcounty
VIEWPOINT II — ROVE’S “RISK” — Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s presidency, says the “Tea Party” movement could have lasting influence in the nation’s politics if it remains decentralized but could hurt Republicans if it backs third-party candidates who siphon votes from GOP candidates. “There’s a danger from them, particularly if they’re used by political operators … to try and hijack” elections, he says.
FINALLY THIS — “A CHIP FOR SPOT?” — In a country where guns are tightly controlled and even carrying a kitchen knife can bring prison time, some thugs use dogs to menace their victims. Now the British government is proposing that dog owners be forced to get microchips and take out insurance for their pets.
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