***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE — Gov. Mark Sanford will have a chance to reform the state agency that he has held up as an example of S.C. government inefficiency after his budget vetoes were upheld by the Legislature. The five-member Budget and Control Board voted Wednesday to allow Sanford to meet with agency director Frank Fusco and decide which functions of the state agency are essential and how to pay for them.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Liv “famous father” Tyler, Pamela “famous bunny” Anderson and “famous for the blues” Dan Aykroyd
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NATIONAL LENS — REWRITE THE BOOK — Nearly two years after a Wall Street meltdown left the economy reeling, the House on Wednesday passed a massive overhaul of financial regulations that would extend the government’s reach from storefront thrifts to the executive suites of Manhattan. Senate support for the far-reaching bill remained in flux, however. The Senate was forced to delay its vote to mid-July, denying President Barack Obama a victory before Independence Day.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME — President Barack Obama hopes to rally new momentum behind the push for an immigration overhaul by explaining why he thinks a comprehensive approach is the only way to fix what he and others say is a system badly in need of repair. Obama was laying out his rationale in a speech Thursday, his first as president on the issue.
HOT SEAT — An air of inevitability settled over Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation Wednesday night, as the Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up questioning of the nominee without any dramatic revelations — or significant gaffes — that could derail her bid to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. As a result, attention turned away from Kagan’s views and toward vote counts and senators who might break with their parties in the final tally.
HAPPY GAMECOCKS BASEBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS DAY!
BING-THE-MAN — If brand-name senators like Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham can’t get a climate bill through the Senate, does a quiet guy like Jeff Bingaman stand a chance? Proponents had better hope so.
SIDE EFFECTS — The Environmental Protection Agency issued a study Wednesday that found that the dispersant being used by BP in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as seven alternative mass-produced dispersants, all fell within the range of “practically non-toxic” to “slightly toxic.”
CELEBRITY JOE — Lawmakers have been toiling away at a feverish pace here this week, working their way through breakfasts, lunches and dinners across Capitol Hill. The urgent task is not simply passing legislation, but raising money. Election Day may be four months away, but a critical benchmark for the midterm election year took place Wednesday at midnight, the deadline for second-quarter fund-raising.
READY, SET, PUNT — Democratic leaders are likely to punt the task of renewing Bush-era tax cuts until after the election. Voters in November’s midterms will thus be left without a clear idea of their future tax rates when they go to the polls. Conservative senators and activists expect Congress to delay tax legislation until late November or December. “I have a feeling a lot of this will be thrown into a lame-duck session,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
GUN, CONTROL — Republicans gun rights supporters repeatedly pressed Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on whether she believes the Second Amendment is a fundamental right. The National Rifle Association scored the Senate’s confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor as a “key vote” after her hearings last summer, and people are anticipating whether the group will do it again with Kagan.
IN CASE YOU’RE TRAVELING — New laws for guns, smoking, drinking and texting
ORDER OF ATTACK — The NRCC will launch an ad on Thursday attacking Budget Chairman John M. Spratt Jr. (D-S.C.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for failing to usher a budget through the House for the first time in three decades. The ad features a green-tinted Spratt walking toward a camera while an ominous voice tells listeners to sign an online petition and “ask John Spratt: ‘Where is the budget?’”
CHANGING OF THE GUARD — The secretary of the Army vowed today to clean up the management mess at Arlington National Cemetery, but a spokesman for the nation’s largest organization of combat veterans said it may be time to consider transferring the hallowed ground to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., noting that VA cemeteries have been run well, wondered whether there would be “any benefit” to transferring the shrine to the VA.
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2010 WATCH — FEVER SPIKE — The character of South Carolina has always been distinguished by one very important trait — preserving the status quo. Except for once in a blue moon when it does something truly revolutionary, like starting a civil war. In keeping with this character it has historically been most resistant to reform. South Carolina was the last state to permit the direct election of the president, to grant its governor any appointment power, and to modernize its state government. So what is to be made of this month’s primary and runoff elections?
JEOPARDY — The S.C. Budget and Control Board’s vote on a $16.75 million contract for the Port of Port Royal — originally scheduled earlier this month — likely won’t come until at least August, officials said Wednesday. The board must approve the sale before negotiations among the unnamed prospective buyer from Charleston, S.C. State Ports Authority and town can move forward. Town officials have said they worry lengthy delays might frustrate the buyer and jeopardize the sale.
OOPS — Two Republican nominees for high state offices should be excluded from the Nov. 2 general election ballot because they failed to meet a filing deadline, a South Carolina paralegal student said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
CRACK DOWN — The final piece of the state’s 2008 Illegal Immigration Reform Act falls into place as the state tries to run off illegal immigrants by preventing them from finding jobs. The S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation will audit the employment records of small businesses that must ask new employees for proof of their legal status. Already, the agency has audited hundreds of larger businesses by checking hiring practices and asking owners to sign affidavits to say they do not knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
POISE — If Tim Scott, the Republican nominee in South Carolina’s first congressional district, wins election in November, he will become the first African-American Republican to be elected to Congress from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction. But Scott prefers not to ruminate on the historic nature of his candidacy, nor to see political issues in a racially tinged light. “I’m looking to the future more than the past,” he says.
SPARTANBURG — County studies rival’s offer to Caterpillar
ORANGEBURG — Merl Code rejects presidency offer at South Carolina State
FOLLY — Dead clams stink up SC beach
COLUMBIA — ‘Yeah, I feel it’: Benjamin becomes mayor
PEE DEE — Pee Dee schools selected as state reading initiative sites
SUMTER — Mr. ‘Reliable’ is Sunrise Rotarian of the Year
GREENVILLE — Feds ask Greenville to join nationwide clean energy effort
HUGER — Rural teens help repair homes of their neighbors
COLUMBIA — South Carolina State Museum presents Museum Road Show
VIEWPOINT — TEA WITH JANUS — Last week, Matt Continetti published a long essay in The Weekly Standard arguing that we should understand the Tea Party as a movement that’s torn between two competing political instincts — one reformist and one reactionary, one that “wants to repair deformities in the American political structure” and another that’s “ready to scrap the whole thing and restore a lost Eden.” He associated these two impulses with CNBC’s Rick Santelli and Fox News’ Glenn Beck.”
FINALLY THIS — GRAB YOUR CAMERA — The view from South Carolina’s highest peak, Sassafras Mountain, will remain unobstructed by condominiums or other development under a $33 million land deal. Former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C., plans to sell 8,000 acres of Tarheel State land on the S.C. border to conservation groups, rather than develop the property.
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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