***Palmetto Morning Presented by Jim Dyke & Associates***
THIS FIRST — SIGN OF THE TIMES — Homeowners in South Carolina are entering foreclosure at a faster rate than last year – and Columbia is faring worst out of all the major metropolitan areas, a new report says. The number of homes that received a foreclosure notice in S.C. during the first six months of the year jumped 34 percent from the same period in 2009, the report from RealtyTrac says, and nearly every metro area saw an increase.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Linda “Queen of Rock” Ronstadt, Jesse “The Body” Ventura and vegetarian Forest Whitaker
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NATIONAL LENS — DESTATEMINT — In a bold move by a stagnated GOP party, two Senators hope to block President Obama’s federal lawsuit against Arizona with a procedural movement. Senators Jim DeMint (R- S.C.) and David Vitter (R-LA) said they will attempt to attach the Arizona lawsuit, legal language to small-business legislation set to be debated on the Senate floor next week.
IN THE HUDDLE — Vice President Joe Biden will meet one-on-one with GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham at the White House Thursday following a series of meetings with Democratic leaders on the agenda before August recess. The South Carolina senator has negotiated with Democrats this year on such high-profile legislative items such as a climate change and energy bill, immigration reform and on the future of the Guantanamo Bay military prison. But he has withdrawn from negotiations on the former two items, citing a lack of direction from Democratic leaders.
TALLY COUNT — Mark down Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Bob Corker, R-TN, as an undecided leaning toward supporting President Obama’s nuclear-arms reductions treaty with Russia. Everybody interested in New START in Washington has been trying to do their own whip counts of GOP senators to see if Obama will be able get the eight to 10 Republican votes he will need to put the agreement into effect. Only one GOP senator (Richard Lugar, R-IN) has declared he will definitely support it. Just two (Jim DeMint, R-SC, and James Inhofe, R-OK) have said they will definitely vote no.
SCRIPTURE READING — Religious leaders and lawmakers traded Scripture passages Wednesday at a congressional hearing on whether there’s an ethical imperative to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. Arguing for a comprehensive immigration package with a guest-worker program, Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, quoted from Matthew, Leviticus and Micah in pressing for action on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. Opponents of a comprehensive immigration overhaul came to the hearing with biblical passages of their own.
HARDBALL — Chris Matthews, on Wednesday’s Hardball, invited on recently defeated Republican Representative Bob Inglis to slam Matthews’ favorite targets, namely the Tea Party, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin and after he got the requisite criticisms out of the South Carolina congressman of those entities asked him if he could explain how primary voters from his own party could nominate an Indian-American like Nikki Haley, even though they’ve “got a problem with a black president?”
IN IT TO WIN IT? — Republican Sen. Jim DeMint’s political action committee is often described as a kingmaker of conservative candidates, spending roughly $2.6 million so far this cycle on a handful of Tea Party-types endorsed by the South Carolina senator. But his aggressive advocacy on behalf of these candidates who have gone on to beat out the establishment picks begs the question: what’s in it for him?
RALLY — House Democratic leaders met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday night to discuss legislative priorities in the run-up to the November mid-term election, but one topic was bypassed — the weekend assessment by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that Republicans could win back the chamber. Gibbs sought to ease some of the tension by saying Pelosi’s efforts have been “monumental” on behalf of the president’s agenda. He also reiterated that his original comments on Sunday were meant to rally the party into coming together on showing voters there will be a sharp contrast between the Republican and Democratic agendas in November.
LOST CAUSE — The Obama administration has not done enough to explain its goals for the war in Afghanistan, including what its exit strategy will be, U.S. senators said on Wednesday. Republican Senator Jim DeMint joined several other senators from both political parties voicing concern over Obama’s goal to begin withdrawing U.S. troops in July 2011 — a target date DeMint said signaled the United States was not committed to victory in Afghanistan. “The deadline is defeating us. People know we’re leaving,” DeMint said.
ARLEN ATTACK — Sharpening his tone on long-standing allegations that Saudi Arabia helped fund the 9/11 attacks, Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) said Wednesday that he would press for enactment of legislation to make it easier for U.S. citizens to sue the kingdom for damages. “I believe that this is what the evidence shows,” Specter said. Specter made his remarks after a Senate subcommittee hearing on legislation that would expand the circumstances under which U.S. citizens could sue foreign governments accused of supporting terrorists. Specter is sponsoring the bill along with Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.).
“JOB KILLERS” — Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) expressed outrage over the GOP’s hesitation to work towards bipartisanship to help issues currently facing the nation. On Wednesday, the senators spoke about Congressional achievements since President Obama took office, but stressed the difficulties with Republican opposition to policy reforms. “One of our colleagues said the entire Republican strategy on health insurance reform was not to help make good policy, but to make it President Obama’s Waterloo, to break this President,” said Menendez, referring to South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint (R).
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HIRING — With a field of applicants now established, Mayor Doug Echols wants to hear the public’s ideas on what Rock Hill needs in its next city manager. The mayor has scheduled three public drop-ins over the next month for residents to stop in and share their thoughts. Echols said at least 55 people applied for the job through Slavin Management Consultants, a firm hired by Rock Hill officials to vet candidates and coordinate the search.
MONEY MATTERS — The University of South Carolina is wrestling with an extraordinary question: what to do with almost $5 million the school unwittingly has been sitting on for almost 10 years.
SNEAK PEEK — The University of South Carolina gave the media a sneak peak at the new Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library Wednesday. It will be officially dedicated July 23, with Vice President Joe Biden scheduled to be the keynote speaker. The library houses the South Carolina Political Collections, the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and the university’s Digital Collections in a new 50,000 square foot building that’s behind, and connected to, the Thomas Cooper library on campus.
DRAIN DEBATE — Council turned over its proposed illegal immigration law to the town attorney Wednesday night, but it didn’t stop debate on the contentious issue. Councilman Walter Bailey drafted the ordinance, which outlaws the employment and housing of illegal immigrants. Bailey was inspired by a similar law in Fremont, Neb., because he believes illegal immigrants are a drain on the local economy and take jobs away from legal workers.
NOT STIMULATED — The White House said Wednesday the $862 billion stimulus law has created or saved between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs. That claim was part of President Barack Obama’s quarterly report on the stimulus to Congress. Some of that stimulus money has come to Myrtle Beach, but doubts remain about whether it is being spent the right way, and if it is enough to make a difference.
NEW TO SCHOOL — South Carolina has agreed to join a growing number of states in adopting a new set of standards that define what students must learn at every grade level in reading and math. The state Board of Education agreed in a 9-4 vote Wednesday to approve the Common Core State Standards, making South Carolina the 25th state in the country to do so.
MOUNT PLEASANT — Mt. Pleasant woman charged in wire fraud case
COLUMBIA — River goo may have drained from coal plants
SPARTANBURG — Cooper-Standard adding 60 jobs at Spartaburg facility
GREENWOOD — Local Doctor Arrested on 20 Counts of Falsifying Records
PENDLETON — Pendleton FFA poultry team to compete in national finals
GREER — 2011 BMW X3 Revealed
AIKEN — USC Aiken sees tuition increase
GREENVILLE — Greenville Zoo welcomes raccoon relative today
COLUMBIA — Columbia council discusses unification proposal
UPSTATE — The Children’s Museum of the Upstate receives grant from First Citizens Foundation
MYRTLE BEACH — FBI, IRS probe Myrtle Beach campaign donations
CLEMSON — Clemson gets $1.4 million to improve cyberinfrastructure for S.C. researchers
VIEWPOINT — WRONG ON RONALD — “It’s too bad Sen. Lindsey Graham isn’t up for re-election this year. I would badly like to see him unceremoniously dumped from office by South Carolina voters. You have to wonder about a state like South Carolina that sends to the U.S. Senate an extraordinary, principled leader like Jim DeMint and also elects – and re-elects in 2008 – a dilettante like Graham.”
VIEWPOINT II — ADDICTION — “The co-chairs of President Obama’s Debt and Deficit Commission painted a gloomy picture of the economy last weekend when they appeared at the closing session of the National Governors Association meeting in Boston. Former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, called the current budgetary trends a cancer “that will destroy the country from within” unless checked by tough action in Washington. So the place that gave us the problem is now going to provide the solution? I have as much faith in Washington curing its overspending as I do a bartender helping an alcoholic swear off drinking.”
FINALLY THIS — CAMP ARC — In the gym at Boyd Hill Recreation Center in Rock Hill, adults who can’t speak play volleyball. In another room there, arts and crafts, and in yet another room – standing room only – stands the karaoke machine. One has not lived until hearing Billy Dover, at Camp Arc for people with special needs, singing with his eyes closed words he knows by heart – with the room backing him up with whatever words they have – “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.” That’s the welcome to Camp Arc – the only summer camp of its kind in York County, now in its 40th year.
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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