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THIS FIRST — STIMULATING — Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, which provides technology solutions to support the U.S. military, also stimulates South Carolina’s economy with an estimated $2.6 billion annual impact, a new study shows. SPAWAR spokesman Lonnie Cowart said the information technology work remains in demand despite economic pressures — one of the reasons for SPAWAR’s success over the years. “Sometimes folks don’t understand the impact until you do a study like this,” Cowart said.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Good Morning Robin Williams, jersey off Brandi Chastain and Bears hat on Kenneth Starr
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NATIONAL LENS — STANDS ALONE — President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, moved closer to confirmation Tuesday as the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed her by a 13-6 vote, along mostly party lines. All panel Democrats supported the nominee, tapped to succeed retired justice John Paul Stevens, who became the court’s leading liberal after President Ford appointed him in 1975. All Republicans, except Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, opposed Kagan.
PLEASE EXPLAIN — It was no surprise that Supreme Court hopeful Elena Kagan took a big step closer to confirmation Tuesday when she easily won the approval of a Democratic-controlled Senate panel. And it wasn’t a total shocker that the 13-6 tally included a yes vote by a lone Republican – Sen. Lindsey Graham, who on occasion has reached across the partisan aisle to work with the majority. But what wasn’t expected was the South Carolina lawmaker’s unusually blunt explanation for his vote, saying he was obligated to support a “qualified” Obama administration nominee because “the last election had consequences.”
NO FOR SC — The Senate cleared the way Tuesday for final passage of a bill to extend long-stalled jobless benefits to an estimated 2.5million people, as it voted 60-40 to halt the often-bitter partisan stalemate that has stymied the popular program. The vote limited Senate debate and virtually assured that Congress will approve the measure, probably today. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law this week.
CROOKED — Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene was named to a top-10 list of “crooked candidates” by a Washington-based ethics watchdog. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cited Greene’s failure to file required campaign finance documents, as well as “major questions about the legitimacy of Mr. Greene’s campaign.” Greene joins one other Democrat, an independent and eight Republican candidates on CREW’s list — including three candidates running for the same U.S. Senate seat in Florida.
NOT HOT ENOUGH — Washington just endured its hottest June since records began in 1872, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So did Miami. Atlanta suffered its second-hottest June, and Dallas had its third hottest. Yet when United States senators and their aides file into work on Wednesday, on yet another 90-degree day, they may be on the verge of deciding to do approximately nothing about global warming. The needed 60 votes don’t seem to be there, at least not at the moment.
IT’S COMPLICATED — Despite the Democrats’ problems, Republicans are aware that their own brand is in tatters, less popular than congressional Democrats or President Obama. As such, they’ve decided to steer clear of any policy talk that might remind voters of the Bush years. But nature abhors a vacuum, and the Tea Party crowd has filled that void. Now things have gotten more complicated. “The problem with the Tea Party, I think it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out,” noted Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
SHE’S GOT MOVES — Slowly but surely, and admittedly without much competition, Sarah Palin is emerging as the most serious and effective player in the Republican Party. To Palin’s proponents that may inspire a “Well, duh?” response. To the great mass of Americans who, if polls are to be believed, remain doubtful with regard to the former mayor of Wasilla, however, the response will be more along the lines of: “Serously?”
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2010 WATCH — NO SIGNATURE — And you thought Nikki Haley was going to shake up South Carolina’s good ol’ boys club. The South Carolina Gubernatorial Appointments Project, a nonpartisan group dedicated to getting more women involved in state government, asked Haley and Democratic governor nominee Vincent Sheheen to sign a pledge to commit to try to recruit more women for state boards and agencies. Sheheen signed immediately. Haley said no.
WANT MORE — So many times, governors have thrown their hands up and claimed they “can’t find any qualified women candidates for positions,” women’s advocate Candy Waites said Tuesday. But, she said, that old excuse just won’t do anymore. To combat South Carolina’s gender gap, the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics will present the next governor with a list of qualified women to fill the state’s boards and run government agencies, Waites said. South Carolina joins 10 other states pursuing the same project, including Georgia and Florida.
CHALLENGE — South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen has released 10 years of income tax records and challenged his Republican opponent to do the same.
LITERATURE — It is often said that there are no new stories, just different ways of telling the same ones. Familiar plots persist through literature: man versus nature, “rags to riches,” the hero quest, and so on. And then there’s Alvin Greene — the nobody who becomes somebody, suddenly and without anything to recommend him but sheer dumb luck. Our literature is no stranger to the type.
CARTOON CONTRAST — An editorial cartoonist has published a cartoon depicting South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley. Robert Ariail posted the cartoon on his website. The first frame reads, “Nikki Haley: What She Promises.” The picture shows Haley dressed as a beauty queen with the words, “Miss Transparency” on her sash. The second frame reads, “What We Get.” The illustration shows Haley dressed in a burqa.
FOR YOUR HEALTH — McLeod Regional Medical Center has been recognized nationally for leadership and innovation in quality, safety, and a commitment to patient care. The 2010 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize™, awarded annually to one hospital in the country, will be presented Thursday to McLeod in San Diego. McLeod is the first hospital in South Carolina to receive this prestigious honor since the inception of the national Quest for Quality Prize in 2002.
ON THE UP — South Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped to 10.7 percent in June, but figures released Tuesday by the Department of Employment and Workforce show the total number of jobs decreased as did the overall work force. The jobless rate improved for the fifth straight month and was down from a revised 11.1 percent in May. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent in June, down from 9.7 percent.
COLUMBIA — S.C. group to talk taxes today
SC STATE — College Students Can Rent Textbooks to Save Money
ROCK HILL — Learning to train future teachers
AIKEN — Are you the Meg Millions winner?
HILTON HEAD — TV series shooting on Hilton Head Island
CAMDEN — Camden business blue over Blue Laws
CHARLESTON — City delays decision on bike parking penalty
JOHNSONVILLE — Johnsonville mayoral candidate admits discrepancy in education background
LAKE MURRAY — Feds end bid to police Lake Murray docks
GREENWOOD — Greenwood rate climbs with hike in labor force
COLUMBIA — U.S. House congratulates Gamecocks
VIEWPOINT — DEATH BLOW — “Sen. Lindsey Graham broke ranks with fellow Republicans in a key vote Tuesday to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, signaling that there will be no united front for a filibuster of President Obama’s nominee. Even President Obama praised Graham’s decision and called the one crossover vote a “bipartisan affirmation.””
VIEWPOINT II — BUT WHO? — “A 35-year veteran of Congress, former Senate majority leader, and now partner at K Street’s most storied lobbying firm, Trent Lott knows the system. So the last thing Lott needs is a bunch of unwashed, Tea-Partying right-wingers coming to Washington on a wave of anti-establishment, free-market populism, and messing up the good thing he has going. But Lott is no longer in the Republican leadership — so who is he talking about when he says “we need to co-opt them”?”
VIEWPOINT III — 2012 WATCH — ““Hillary vs Obama in 2012?” asks Charlie Speight, the perceptive South Carolina blogger at The Garnet Spy who brought Nikki Haley to national attention. Pete DuPont said last week in the WSJ she could mount a formidable challenge to Obama. Have always felt she would bring a challenge. The Clintons can’t help themselves. But it will fail, as Ted Kennedy’s challenge to Jimmy Carter failed. It will weaken Obama and he will lose in 2012.”
FINALLY THIS — HUT HUT HIKE — Clemson two-sport standout Kyle Parker’s self-imposed deadline of midnight Tuesday to complete contract negotiations with the Colorado Rockies came and went with no announcement about whether the Tigers’ quarterback would return to lead the team in 2010 or leave school to focus on professional baseball. But the websites Tigernet.com and CUTigers.com, as well as WJBF-TV 6, the ABC affiliate in Augusta, Ga., where the Parker family lives, reported early Wednesday that, according to sources, Parker would return to play football this season.
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