Is there any purpose left to Lindsey
Graham’s continued and now-obstructive alarm calls about Benghazi other than energizing his base and
raising his profile ahead of next year’s election? We don’t think so:
Dead horse, meet S.C. Sen. Lindsey
Graham.
Clearly, a number of things went
horribly wrong at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi,
Libya, on Sept.
11, 2012. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were
killed in a pair of terrorist attacks on U.S. compounds.
Should federal
money collected for harbor maintenance be used to pay for harbor maintenance?
We sure think so:
As much as
pundits and politicians might like to say otherwise, there is almost nothing
clear-cut or straightforward about our nation’s spending problems. Managing a
nation of more than 300 million people with a federal budget now approaching $4
trillion a year is a monumental task of nuance, judgment calls and hard
decisions.
But sometimes
the intent of government budgeting seems so heart-breakingly simple that it’s
just all the more frustrating when that intent is ignored.
Tuesday’s editorial has some
appreciation for the words of our newest congressman and urges those leaders in
D.C. to get a national gameplan in place and then follow through on it.
There’s nothing like starting your
job smack dab in the middle of a crisis. New U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach, and new U.S. Sen. Tim Scott,
R-North Charleston, took their oaths on Thursday as the nation they seek to
help lead struggles through a particularly nasty patch of partisan bickering
and stonewalling.
Governing has taken a back seat to
mud-slinging and shouting. Rather than work together to improve the United
States, Congress has settled for lurching from crisis to crisis, barely
averting each fresh disaster just days or hours before it happens. What a
reality to encounter on your first day on the job.
Friday’s editorial isn’t so
much a stance on an issue as just an observation about how the faces of our
leadership seem to stay the same from year to year:
It’s been quite a year of change for Horry County
leadership. Or has it? What’s striking is how little things might have actually
changed.
To quickly sum up the most notable
moves among our top brass:
After a relentless and popular
grass-roots campaign by Comedy Central TV host and S.C. native Stephen Colbert
to be named the replacement for Sen. Jim DeMint, Gov. Nikki Haley responded
Thursday afternoon by saying she believes in doing her “full due diligence” and
releasing her office’s background “vetting”
of the comedian.
Thursday’s editorial applauds the
governor’s intention to appoint more than a pretty face and a seat filler in
DeMint’s place:
Sen. Jim DeMint’s surprise
resignation last week instantly put plenty of pressure on Gov. Nikki Haley, who
will appoint his immediate successor until an election is held in 2014.
Haley has responded well thus far,
particularly with her announcement that she would not be appointing a
placeholder, somebody to simply fill the seat for two years until the election.
Friday’s first editorial urges our
politicians to stop signing those silly pledges:
Call us old fashioned, but we like
political leaders who can make their own decisions.
Accordingly, we’ve never been a fan
of political pledges such as the anti-tax promise
promulgated by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. It’s not that we’re
a fan of taxes. If our leaders can figure out how to pay for our government
work without raising taxes, bully for them. But that simply won’t be the case
from here until eternity, all day every day. Populations change. The economy
changes. Needs change.
News last week that Congress had finally acted to scrap the absurd regulation barring temporary pool enclosures in floodplains was an all too rare example of common sense at last winning out over one-size-fits-all federal regulations. And while the change comes only after some local hotels forked out tens of thousands of dollars to comply with the rules, the belated fix is welcome nonetheless.
Friday’s second editorial wishes more of our leaders on the federal level were willing to play nice with their opposites, even if just for a few hours:
It was disappointing Tuesday night to see South Carolina largely sit out as dozens of members of Congress crossed the aisle to sit with the other party for the State of the Union address. The initiative to mix the traditionally divided audience began last year after the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and was promoted once again this year after a notably contentious 2011.
Saturday’s editorial, courtesy the Orlando Sentinel, address the no-tax pledge of Americans for Tax Reform. Our local take on the issue is below.
When the political autopsy on Congress’ supercommittee is complete, a contributing cause of death must include the no-tax pledge that’s infecting elected officials across the nation.
All six of the Republican senators and House members on the 12-member committee went into negotiations having taken an oath that they would never raise income tax rates on individuals or corporations. Nor would they ever eliminate tax deductions or credits unless matched by other tax reductions, so help them Grover.
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