A Different World

'Can't Prove A Negative'

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Joel Sawyer, former spokesman for the S.C. GOP, what evidence they had that showed South Carolina needed a law which would require picture IDs at the voting booth.

"I can't prove a negative, Issac, but it's undeniable that requiring a photo [ID] would make elections far more secure," Sawyer said.

"Have we had any cases of voter fraud? Any convictions?" I returned. "Shouldn't be hard to compile that data to prove the case."

"How can you prove what people are getting away with?" Sawyer responded. "Not a very strong argument there, Issac. If you don't like the bill, fine, but I'm not going to get into a protracted discussion with you about its merits. I know by now if you're asking, you've probably got your mind made up."

In other words, there's no reason to prove that widespread -- or even a little -- voter fraud is taking place even as we push to pass a voter fraud bill that will cost taxpayer money during an economic downturn and might suppress voter turnout in some segments of the public. Good thing sensible members of the General Assembly, like our very own Sen. Luke Rankin, helped kill this unnecessary and thinly-veiled political bill.

The press release below was sent out today by the S.C. House Republican Caucus:

How To Sell Christianity? Ask An Atheist

How To Sell Christianity? Ask An Atheist

Rolling Stone Reported Too Much?

It is a question that most journalists face: How much of the side banter you witness while interacting or observing a source should you include in a piece that has little to do with the purpose of the actual piece? I can tell you stories -- but won't -- about local and state officials who have uttered what amount to potty mouth jokes, and sometimes worse, in my presence but I never thought about reporting it. And some of it included the bad mouthing of a superior or supervisor. I have reported colorful and even offensive banter when I felt it was germane to the story, and writing a profile piece on a personality muddies the waters on what is and isn't relevant. Which brings us to the question USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham raises: Did Rolling Stone Report Too Much?

Governments Moving To Cut Spending, Echos of 1930s

By any objective assessment, the measures taken by the federal government to place crutches on the economy to give it a chance to heal before being required to stand on its own two feet again, have been working. Our economy in a matter of months went from a 6.4 percent declining GDP to a 5.5 percent expansion, and a monthly job loss rate that peaked at nearly 800,000 in January of 2009 to having consistent monthly job growth during the first quarter of 2010. That doesn't include a more than $2 trillion revival of the stock market during the same period, or the creation or saving of millions of jobs and stopping a panic that could have felled even our largest financial institutions. Forget about philosophy or ideology. Those are the facts. The question before us now is if those measures need to remain in place for a little while longer, be added to in the short term or cut back to start bringing down the deficit -- a deficit which has grown not only because of the spending and tax cuts required to keep us from the economic abyss, but also because of the high jobless rate, which has hit people's wallets hard, harmed consumer spending and therefore hurt the normal tax stream that fuels local, state and federal government. Seems that the argument to focus on the deficit is winning out. That may not be the best thing. This writer explains why: Governments Moving To Cut Spending, Echos of 1930s 

Ireland learned the hard way.

Update: The CBO chief talks about the need to bring long-term debt down, with a sensible combination of tax increases and spending cuts, or sharp tax increases or sharp tax cuts.

Obama: Our First Female President

Obama: Our First Female President

New Experiments Suggest We Are Not Purely Physical

New Experiments Suggest We Are Not Purely Physical

Choose Your Own Deficit

Choose Your Own Deficit

GOP Not Off The Hook Yet

GOP Not Off The Hook Yet

Columnist Not -- Not!!! -- Embarrassed By South Carolina Politics

South Carolina: Outlier Or National Precursor?

The Three Biggest Lies About The U.S. Economy

The stock market is taking it on the chin today, primarily because of happenings in China and elsewhere. Earlier this year, market havoc was created by debt problems in Greece. Because the economy has become more globalized, it affects the U.S. And it is important to know the truth about of where we really are. That's part of the reason why I say the term "limited government" is redundant. The federal government has done an outstanding job pulling us from an economic abyss into a fragile recovery. There are those who believe it must do more -- a lot more -- or we will fall back into a recession. I don't know if they are right or wrong. What I know is that there is a natural limit to what the federal government can do. If more intervention is necessary, I hope we haven't reached that limit, and I hope political courage in Washington to do what's right is not a thing of the past, not when the economy remains much more fragile than any of us would like.

Our Mindblowingly-Fascinating Universe

Our Mindblowingly-Fascinating Universe