***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — ROCKY ROAD — South Carolina’s cigarette tax just went up July 1 for the first time in more than 30 years. Could the state gas tax be next? The state gas tax is 16 cents a gallon, which is lowest in the Southeast and fourth-lowest in the nation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Our very own Sen. Lindsey Graham, Eagle Scout Donald Rumsfeld, OJ “drove a white bronco” Simpson and Tom “drives a Propulsion eBox” Hanks
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NATIONAL LENS — YOU MAY RESUME — A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the federal government’s effort to restore an offshore deepwater drilling moratorium, opening the door to resumed drilling in the Gulf while the legal fight continues. The ruling is not the final word on the Obama administration’s fight to suspend new drilling projects so it can study the risks revealed by the disastrous BP oil spill. The same appeals court is expected to hear arguments on the merits of the moratorium in late August or early September.
TANCREDO-ISM — A hot dog picnic in a LoDo park was supposed to be Ken Buck’s afternoon, basking in the reflected glory of Tea Party favorite Sen. Jim DeMint from South Carolina. DeMint, who is backing those he identifies as true conservatives with big kudos and big money, hosted a fundraiser for Buck and touted him with local media. Then former U.S. Rep. Tancredo got hold of the mike and flashed his usual flair for controversy.
FIGHT CLUB — To neoconservatives, the thought of a Republican questioning American foreign policy is like a man questioning a woman about her weight—they’re just not supposed to do it. When last week, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele dared to question President Obama’s wisdom in continuing to fight a land war in Afghanistan, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol immediately snapped back, “There are, of course, those who think we should pull out of Afghanistan, and they’re certainly entitled to make their case. But one of them shouldn’t be the chairman of the Republican party.” The reason Kristol and his neocon pals (Liz Cheney, Charles Krauthammer, Lindsey Graham, John McCain) are now calling for Steele’s head is not because they merely disagree with the RNC chairman—but because he committed heresy.
THROWING CARDS — One of the GOP’s handful of black candidates for Congress condemned President Barack Obama of exploiting race for political gain. Allen West, the Republican challenging Rep. Ron Klein (D) in Florida’s 22nd congressional district, sharply criticized the Obama administration for having allegedly declined prosecuting the New Black Panther Party on voter tampering charges for political reasons.
DEMOVEMINT — Kansas congressman Jerry Moran is getting help in his U.S. Senate campaign from South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. The two Republicans are having a town hall meeting Friday in Olathe. DeMint has become a leading spokesman for conservative Republicans, and Moran’s campaign has seen DeMint’s endorsement as especially important.
BOB BLAMES — Too many Republican leaders are acquiescing to a poisonous “demagoguery” that threatens the party’s long-term credibility, says a veteran GOP House member who was defeated in South Carolina’s primary last month. While not naming names, 12-year incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis suggested in interviews with The Associated Press that tea party favorites such as former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and right-wing talk show hosts like Glenn Beck are the culprits.
SPRATT IN STACK — For the second day in a row, liberal talk show host and MSNBC guest anchor Cenk Uygur pushed the outlandish notion that President Obama is a conservative. Filling in on July 7 for Dylan Ratigan on his 4 p.m. show, Uygur exclaimed, “I didn’t realize we voted for a Republican president!”
IT’S A NO — Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is the latest Republican Senator to announce he will vote against confirmation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the next associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In a strongly worded op-ed piece published in USA Today for July 8, McCain said his criteria for Supreme Court nominees are “integrity, character, legal competence and ability, experience, and philosophy and judicial temperament. On that test, Elena Kagan fails,” he wrote. No Republican has announced support for the nomination, though Lindsey Graham of South Carolina seemed favorably disposed to it in his questioning of Kagan during the Judiciary Committee hearing.
SARAHPAC — “This year will be remembered as a year common-sense conservative women get things done for our country,” Sarah Palin says in an advertisement released Thursday by her political action committee. The 1 minute 50 second video, which looks a lot like a presidential campaign ad, shows Ms. Palin working female crowds around the country and speaking to star-struck audiences. Throughout the primary season, she has endorsed and helped fund several Republican women, including Carly Fiorina, a Senate candidate in California, and Nikki Haley, a candidate for governor in South Carolina.
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2012 WATCH — AND THEY’RE OFF — The 2012 presidential race is under way in South Carolina. South Carolina represents some of the most fertile GOP ground in the nation because of its Republican-leaning voters and its early presidential primary, critical to selecting the Republican candidate who will take on Democratic President Obama in 2012.
NO LIE — Conservatives in U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s district are facing facts: They’re angry that he voted for the 2008 Wall Street bailout, but they know opposing him could send his Democratic opponent to Congress. Exhibit A is GOP gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, who declared in April that Wilson should “absolutely not” get another term but said Thursday she now supports his re-election.
CHECK IT OUT — Nikki Haley Talks With WYFF News 4
SATURDAY SUPPER — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen is on a list of candidates who will be at the Anderson County Farmer’s Market on Saturday. Sheheen will speak at the fifth annual Anderson County Democratic Barbecue and Rally, said Stuart Sprague, Anderson County Democratic Party chairman.
WHAT AN HONOR — SC Launch, an SCRA collaboration, was recognized by Forbes magazine in May as one of five top programs in the nation that support entrepreneurism. The “States that Truly Bet on Small Business” also recognized the SC Launch program as one of 11 “Serious State Small Biz Programs.”
SPARTANBURG — Spartanburg dentist to climb Mount Rainier with vets
CHARLESTON — Tourist arrest was right call
COASTAL CAROLINA — Coastal Carolina University unveils 10 new degrees, including the circus
AIKEN — SRNS offers summertime students ecological learning opportunities
CLEMSON — Income value of Clemson degree gets healthy ranking in study
NEWBERRY — Killing, dragging fan racial tension
N CHARLESTON — Casino cruisin’
CONWAY — Forest fire continues to smolder along SC coast
ATLANTIC BEACH — Atlantic Beach residents file $50 million suit
AIKEN — Congressman discusses taxes, unemployment in CSRA area
RICHLAND — Pair arrested after 78 pot plants found
MOUNT PLEASANT — Mount Pleasant gets $20M loan for U.S. 17
LYMAN — EPA investigating wastewater treatment plant in Lyman
VIEWPOINT — HORNET’S NEST — “For summer beach reading, one could do worse than assemble the off-the-cuff, on-the-record comments of the Republican National chairman, the party’s highest-ranking African-American. Sometimes Michael Steele can seem just, well, bizarre. But sometimes, as happened with his remarks at a recent GOP fundraiser, he gets it right.”
VIEWPOINT II — GAMING — “The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Arizona does nothing to advance a solution to the nation’s immigration problems. It admits to a policy of selective enforcement, which says that a solution isn’t really a federal priority. These political games on immigration should offend Americans rightly concerned about the costs and dangers of an open border. In their clumsy way, Arizona lawmakers recognize the problem.”
VIEWPOINT III — UN-OBSTRUCTED — “As you regulars know, I’ve been noting here regularly that GOP obstruction could perversely end up benefiting Republicans politically, because voters may end up holding Dems accountable for government dysfunction, since they run the place.”
FINALLY THIS — SIX MONTHS LATER — It’s been six months since Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, was devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 12 — a disaster many relief workers fear is already forgotten by the rest of the world. John Ramantanin, Spartanburg resident and Rescue Children Orphanage board member, recently returned to Haiti to visit the orphanage’s 11 children and help other Haitian residents struggling to return to a sense of normalcy after the 7.0 magnitude quake that killed more than 230,000 people.
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