Author: Paul Gable

Flow Control Ruled Unconstitutional

A recent decision in a Texas federal court room may have large ramifications for a government established monopoly flow control law in Horry County. A federal judge in Texas ruled earlier this week that a similar Dallas flow control ordinance violates the U.S. Constitution.

The court finds that, despite the city’s proffered justifications, the evidence demonstrates that it implemented the flow control ordinance to raise revenue to advance its economic and proprietary interests…,” the judge wrote in his opinion. “This is an unreasonable exercise of its police powers.”

The virtually identical flow control ordinance in Horry County is currently being challenged in Florence federal district court.

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No Quick Solutions for Carolina Southern Railroad

Last week’s first meeting of the new committee discussing the state of the Carolina Southern Railroad comprised not much more than organizational work.

Comprised of public officials and prominent business people, the committee draws representation from Horry, Marion and Brunswick (NC) counties.

Shutdown since August 2011, he railroad has spent approximately $400,000 repairing bridges along the line, but estimates at least another $1.5 million must be spent to complete the bridge repairs.

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Palmetto Liberty PAC Legislative Scorecard

The Palmetto Liberty PAC released its legislative scorecards for the 2012 S.C. General Assembly session completed in June.

In a state that likes to consider itself one of the most conservative in the nation, the scorecards from Palmetto Liberty PAC, a Tea Party based organization, tell a different story.

A total of 15 votes in the House and 17 votes in the Senate were tracked on the scorecards. Included were the state budget, a proposed rebate to taxpayers, government reorganization and other fiscal issues.

In a year when the state experienced an excess of more than $1 billion in expected revenue, it would have been supposed that state legislators would have put that money to good use.

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Gary Johnson and American Voters

Albert Einstein had a quote that can be used to sum up the case for Gary Johnson with American voters.

When he said ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’, odds are good he was not speaking about American elections, but he may as well have been. Every four years, voters ignore the tired rhetoric, empty promises and true issues and routinely vote for “the lesser of two evils” or in some cases “the evil of two lessers.”

Over the last 30 years, that mindset has brought us higher taxes, more government intrusion, absurd spending, two wars in a decade, a welfare state and has pushed us to the brink of a financial collapse.

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Loftis’ Palmetto Payback Tour Coming Monday

The Palmetto Payback tour of South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis is coming to Horry and Georgetown counties Monday.

The Palmetto Payback Program may be holding unclaimed property which belongs to you. Millions of dollars are transferred to the Program annually by companies who cannot locate the owners. Examples of the type of property covered by the Program include bank accounts, stock certificates, checks, insurance policies and utility deposits. The Palmetto Payback Program does not include tangible property like land or vehicles.

“The property transferred to the Program for safekeeping is held indefinitely for the benefit of the rightful owners,” Loftis said. “If we are holding property for you, you always have the right to claim your property any time at no cost. Until claimed, the funds are used for the good of all South Carolina citizens.”

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The Checkered Past of David L. Rocker

Additional revelations about David Rocker, Chief Operating Officer of Covation, the company associated with the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Authority’s embattled Project Blue, reached Grand Strand Daily in the last several days.

Project Blue ran into trouble a month ago when myhorrynews.com and the Myrtle Beach Herald broke several stories about Rocker’s criminal history, which includes a tax fraud conviction, jail sentence and continuing tax liens.

Among other facts, the stories outlined a Klein conspiracy where corporate receipts from National Capital Group, Inc., an alleged investment entity run by Rocker, were diverted to other bank accounts for Rocker’s personal use. Additionally, a trust account in an ABN AMRO Bank branch in Canada is mentioned.

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House Candidate Releases Ethics Reform Plan

House Candidate Releases Ethics Reform Plan

House District 78 candidate Beth Bernstein released a seven-point ethics reform plan for state legislators yesterday.

Bernstein’s plan hits at the root causes of many of the ethics problems we find at the state level. Placing ethics investigations into the hands of an independent agency, rather than by peer panels, and term limits for all legislators would go a long way to improving ethics in the General Assembly.

When Operation Lost Trust erupted 20 years ago, putting both lobbyists and lawmakers in jail, changes were made to state ethics laws. Normally these types of changes are made to tighten laws to eliminate illegal actions.

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Public Pension Fund Commission Looks to Increase Budget

The South Carolina public pension fund commission is looking for a large increase in its operating budget in the upcoming fiscal year.

Officially named the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, the agency is proposing an increase in operating budget from today’s $10 million to $14 million. That is a 39 percent increase.

The proposed increases come two years after the agency’s budget increased by 74 percent, from $5.8 million in FY 2011 to $10.1 million for FY 2012.

Maybe such increases wouldn’t be so bad, although an over 100 percent budget increase is hard to justify anytime, if the agency was performing well. But, the most notable achievement of the SCRSIC in the past year has been to become deeply involved in political gamesmanship.

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The Case for Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson has heard it all before.

“You can’t win.” “A vote for you is a wasted vote.” “A third choice.”

And, that sits just fine with the Libertarian candidate for President of the United States.

“I’m not the third choice, I am the only choice,” Johnson told a group of approximately 500 Thursday night on the campus of IUPUI. “A wasted vote, in my opinion, is voting for somebody you don’t believe in. The way you change the country is to vote for somebody that you do believe in. So, yes, go ahead and waste your vote because if everyone in this country wastes their vote on me, I’ll be the next president.”

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No Freedom of Information in S.C.

Despite the state freedom of information law requiring public records be released to persons requesting them at the “lowest possible cost,” such is hardly ever the case in South Carolina.

Public agencies whose ethically challenged politicians and appointed public officials excel in backroom deals, conflicts of interest and downright gouging of the public purse are not about to turn over information to the public that could possibly shed light on these activities.

Earlier this year, when S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis tried to get investment records from the S.C. Retirement Systems Investment Commission, of which Loftis is a commissioner, the good ole boys tried to get him thrown off the commission board.

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