Tag: nullification

General Assembly Failing Citizens Again

SC House Confederate Flag Debate Today

The SC House of Representatives will begin today what should be the final debate on removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds.

After a bill to remove the flag raced through the SC Senate in the last two days, garnering only three No votes, momentum is on the side of removing the flag.

But, the House may not be as easy even though the bill received first reading approval yesterday.

A total of 26 amendments to the bill are already filed with the possibility of more coming.

Some of the amendments deal with flags to replace the current one when it comes down.

Some are in the realm of the absurd – just like South Carolina politics most of the time.

One, I am told, calls for the American flag to be flown upside down when the Confederate flag is removed. This may not be as ridiculous as it first sounds.

Flying the American flag upside down is an international signal of distress. That seems very appropriate in an area near the statehouse.

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Obamacare Nullification Fails, the Revenge of James L. Petigru

Somewhere James L. Petigru has a little smile on his face today as South Carolina’s latest attempt at nullification of a federal law went down in the S.C. Senate earlier this week.

Petigru, a 19th Century lawyer, legislator, S.C. attorney general and judge, was a leader of anti-nullification forces in South Carolina before the Civil War and critic of secession, yet a well-respected Charleston resident both before and after the war.

When South Carolina voted to secede from the Union in December 1860, Petigru uttered his most famous quote, calling the state “too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.”

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James Louis Petigru, Nullification and Hypocrisy

“South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.” James Louis Petigru.

The quintessential statement by James Louis Petigru, after South Carolina voted for secession in December 1860, is just as true today in a state that never seems to learn the lessons of history.

After the close of the recent legislative session saw a nullification bill on the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare if you wish) pass the House and nearly receive second reading in the Senate, South Carolina’s state legislators were virtually dancing in the aisles in celebration.

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Hidden Woods Special Tax Bonds

Third and final reading of an ordinance approving the sale of $850,000 in bonds for the Hidden Woods Special Tax District should sail through county council tonight.

Third reading approval is included on the consent agenda of council, meaning it will not be discussed and will receive approval as part of the overall consent agenda unless a council member pulls it off for individual consideration.

The property owners in the Hidden Woods tax district received a shock when their property tax bills arrived in the mail. This was the first year that the special tax for road improvements was included and many homeowners saw their property taxes more than double. This extra assessment is scheduled to run 15 years.

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