***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — STOP THE BLEEDING — State agency officials are scrambling to figure out how to deal with deep budget cuts, but three things seem certain for the fiscal year that starts Thursday: Thousands of state workers and teachers will lose their jobs, people will have to wait longer for services, and fees will increase.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Former Bouncer Vincent D’Onofrio, Former Idol Fantasia Barrino and Former Smoker Michael Phelps
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NATIONAL LENS — TOUGH PASS — President Barack Obama and key Senate Democrats signaled Tuesday that they can live with a climate bill that falls far short of the economywide cap-and-trade plan Obama campaigned on. It’s just not clear whether they can pass one. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he had doubts that a utility-only proposal such as the one Democrats floated at a White House meeting Tuesday could get enough traction, given competing interests and the short calendar before the elections.
ON THE THIRD DAY — Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who has displayed a cool demeanor and a sense of humor during her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, was expected to move one step closer Wednesday to succeeding Justice John Paul Stevens, barring a major gaffe. Republicans who oppose her nomination will need to resort to a filibuster to block a confirmation vote, a prospect that seems less and less likely.
WORTH REPEATING — Top Five Elena Kagan Quotes from Day 2 of Her Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
MICK MAKES IT — The National Republican Congressional Committee has picked 16 new candidates for the top tier of its “Young Guns” program, an initiative that aids promising House challengers with fundraising and infrastructure support and strategic advice.
WASTE DEEP — A Nuclear Regulatory Commission legal panel put a proposal for a national nuclear waste dump in Nevada back on track Tuesday, at least until the full commission decides whether the Department of Energy can withdraw its plan. The panel’s decision drew praise from U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., because waste currently stored at the Savannah River Site is supposed to go to Yucca Mountain when it is completed.
DISTINCTIVE DISTINCTION — If anyone still doubted, after President Obama’s election, that candidates are no longer prisoners of their race or ethnicity, then South Carolina’s Nikki Haley offers further proof. Ms. Haley, 38, was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa, the daughter of Indian Sikh immigrants. Now she is the Christian, Republican nominee for governor in a state with a brutal history of racial oppression.
IMPRESSED — Senate Republicans sought to put Elena Kagan on the defensive as they questioned her fitness for the U.S. Supreme Court. She didn’t make it easy on them. “Kagan’s performance was a vivid reminder that one doesn’t get to be dean of the Harvard Law School by accident,” said Walter Dellinger, a Democrat who served as President Bill Clinton’s top Supreme Court lawyer. At least one Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee suggested he, too, was impressed. “Your stock really went up with me,” said Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
SURFS UP — There are many divisive and controversial figures in American politics these days, but none have managed to acquire quite the reputation of mystery, intrigue and sheer strangeness as Alvin Greene, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in South Carolina. It appears that Greene has finally decided to embrace at least one of the more standard political practices of recent years: setting up a campaign website.
NOT SATISFIED — Gen. David Petraeus cautiously endorsed President Barack Obama’s exit plan for the Afghan war on Tuesday, leaving himself room to recommend changes or delays as he interviewed for the job of commander of the stalemated war. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, sharply questioned Petraeus about whether he agreed with suggestions by Vice President Joe Biden that the pullout would not be based on conditions. According to reports, Biden has said that large number of troops will start pulling out of Afghanistan in July 2011, adding “you can bet on it.”
SUPREMELY SPLIT — Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint appeared to be headed Tuesday toward once again casting divergent votes on a Supreme Court nominee of President Obama. On the second day of Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings, the S.C. Republicans indicated they will likely cancel each other’s votes when the Senate takes up her nomination to sit on the high court.
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2010 WATCH — REARVIEW MIRROR — After contentious runoff campaigns, the South Carolina Republican Party finally picked its candidates for the November ballot. Here is what we’ve learned.
IN THE DETAILS — S.C. State University’s board voted unanimously Tuesday to conduct an external audit on the James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center to find out how millions of state and federal dollars have been spent. The audit will look at the program’s management to determine what the university got for the grant money and whether it was used as intended.
TUNED IN — Alvin Greene — the Democrats’ man of mystery in the U.S. Senate race — surprised a lot of folks on the radio Tuesday. He talked to Rocky D on WTMA-AM for an entire segment and, despite what his own party might tell you, Greene was actually able to string a few sentences together.
WELL BELOW — One in five homes sold in South Carolina in the first three months of 2010 was a foreclosure, and buyers got an average discount of 21 percent on them, according to a report released today. That’s still well below the national average, in which one in three homes sold was in foreclosure, according to the RealtyTrac report, and buyers got an average discount of 27 percent compared with properties that sold that were not in foreclosure.
FREE TO FILM — “Army Wives” actors Catherine Bell and Kim Delaney traveled to the Statehouse to lend their star power to a key legislative vote that could have sent the hit cable show packing. The Senate voted 28-13 to override a budget veto today on the film incentives, after initially agreeing to sustain the governor’s veto. The matter cannot be voted on again.
WAIT, A SECOND — The S.C. Senate has overriden Gov. Mark Sanford vetoes on $1 million in funding for the Governor’s School for the Arts in Greenville and the Governor’s School for Math and Science in Hartsville.
HARTSVILLE — Three queens represent Hartsville at state pageants this week
WINTHROP — Winthrop tuition, fees will increase
SPARTANBURG — Electric car plant on the way
MAULDIN — OpTek systems plans to expand operations
GREENVILLE — Clemson to sponsor leadership conference
COLUMBIA — Bragging rights on June heat come down to final day
GEORGETOWN — Seniors Living Healthy
CHARLESTON — SC city solicits videos for free vacations
SPARTANBURG — Liz Patterson named Rotary’s first female president
MARION — Marion County residents hope new businesses bring jobs
SULLIVANS ISLAND — Sullivan’s singing ban is latest effort to chase off visitors
VIEWPOINT — ELENA WHO? — “A tropical storm in the Gulf was bigger news. David Petraeus’ quickie confirmation was bigger news. Larry King giving up his talk show was bigger news. I knew that Elena Kagan’s first day of Senate questioning was receding on the media radar as I saw less and less of her–except as a visual backdrop–and more and more of John King and Candy Crowley, Bret Baier and Chris Matthews.”
VIEWPOINT II — CHAOS ZONE — “With apologies to Rod Serling and his classic “Twilight Zone” TV series, there is a signpost up ahead in America, and it reads, “The Chaos Zone.” The firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal is just one piece of a jumbled public policy puzzle that now threatens the presidency of Barack Obama.”
FINALLY THIS — ESPECIA-LEE SWEET — College of Charleston coach Monte Lee planned to watch the University of South Carolina’s College World Series title showdown with UCLA on Tuesday night by himself, the better to soak up the Gamecocks’ first national championship in baseball. “It’s personal for me,” said Lee, who recruited and coached several current USC players during his six years as a Gamecock assistant before taking the job at College of Charleston two years ago. Lee said college baseball fans now realize just how great the sport is in the state of South Carolina, and that it’s no surprise that the Gamecocks accomplished what they did.
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