TheState.com: S.C. Politics

GOP to discuss Sanford’s future

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:36 EDT

Gov. Mark Sanford’s secret visit to Buenos Aires that left state officials and his own staff unsure of his whereabouts has spawned a meeting today of the state Republican Party executive committee.

Members, who plan to talk via conference call, are expected to consider several options ranging from doing nothing, to publicly admonishing the governor, to calling for his resignation.

Already, a majority of state Republican senators and some Democratic lawmakers have called for the governor to step down. Some members of the public are joining in the rallying cry.

But Sanford has repeatedly said he did not misuse state funds and won’t relinquish his post.

Meanwhile, the embattled governor and his family returned to South Carolina on Sunday following a three-day break in Florida.

S.C. lawmakers not shy about contacting DHEC

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:07 EDT

A downtown amphitheater, clusters of shops and a new hotel appealed to Sen. Robert Ford when he heard about development plans for a blighted part of Charleston.

But Ford also knew the plan to revitalize the area would need state environmental permits. So the Charleston Democrat tried last summer to arrange a dinner meeting between the developer and Earl Hunter, chief executive at the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“The project was stalled,” Ford said. “I wanted to do this to make sure those projects follow (through). That is a major role I think we have as elected officials.”

E-mails obtained by The State show Ford is among at least 23 lawmakers who contacted the agency during a six-month period last year. DHEC Commissioner Earl Hunter estimates he gets dozens of calls, letters or e-mails from lawmakers and others each week.

Such contacts — whether or not they influenced a decision — are at the heart of an ongoing debate about legislative pressure on South Carolina’s environmental protection agency.

Dredging approved after senators intervened

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:57 EDT

GEORGETOWN — After two state senators intervened, South Carolina’s environmental protection agency approved a controversial dredging project that the department had rejected twice because of pollution concerns.

Sens. Yancey McGill and Ray Cleary contacted the Department of Health and Environmental Control at least four times from August to December 2006 on behalf of Wedgefield Plantation property owners who favored the dredging work, court and agency records show.

Those kinds of contacts are at the center of a discussion over DHEC’s ability to withstand lobbying from state legislators.

In this case, agency officials insist politics did not influence their change of heart. But people on both sides of the dispute agree the lawmakers got DHEC’s attention.

South Carolina’s fifth-largest agency, DHEC is responsible for more than 150 environmental and health programs that touch the lives of most state residents. Many say South Carolina’s government, which emphasizes a strong legislature and weak governor, makes it harder for DHEC to say no when lawmakers call on behalf of constituents.

SC cops to say if gov misused funds to see woman

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:24 EDT

South Carolina's top cop is ready to say whether Gov. Mark Sanford broke state laws to visit his Argentine mistress.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd is planning to reveal his report on Sanford's travel records Thursday.

South Carolina's attorney general asked police to investigate the governor's travel after Sanford revealed to The Associated Press he had visited Maria Belen Chapur more times than previously disclosed.

Sanford has given two personal checks totaling $3,300 to the state treasurer as reimbursement for part of a taxpayer-funded trip to South America last year. He says the money covered lodging, meals and airfare to Buenos Aires, where he saw Chapur.

Top state Republicans and several newspapers have called for Sanford's resignation. Sanford has said he won't step down.

39 trips for Sanford with no security in '09

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:24 EDT

Gov. Mark Sanford left the Governor’s Mansion without a security escort, 38 times in 2008. In the first six months of this year, he left the mansion without security, 39 times.

Those trips are about one-third of the 195 trips Sanford made from the mansion, with or without security, over that 18-month period.

The frequency with which the governor shed his security detail has fallen under scrutiny after his secret trip earlier this month to Argentina.

The information was obtained from security logs provided to The State newspaper under open-records laws.

Only on a few occasions when he did not have security with him, Sanford was accompanied by a guest.

Sheheen calls for Sanford resignation

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:24 EDT

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Camden, called Tuesday for Gov. Mark Sanford to resign.

Sheheen, who is a Democratic candidate for governor in 2010, is among the first of nearly a dozen Democratic and Republican 2010 hopefuls to come out and call for Sanford to quit, brought on by revelations last week of an extramarital affair.

“I sincerely regret the necessity of addressing these issues, but it is an obligation that cannot be shirked by those of us who lead our state,” said Sheheen, who is the father of three sons.

“In recent days, there have been numerous calls for a full investigation into the details of the Sanford situation, but crucial facts have already come to light,” Sheheen said in a released statement. “Sanford misled his staff and the public as to his whereabouts; he used a taxpayer-funded mission to Argentina for his personal behavior, and he failed to inform anyone that he was leaving the country.”

Sheheen’s statement came just minutes after The Associated Press released a story in which Sanford admitted to meeting his Argentine mistress more often than previously acknowledged, including twice in New York City, the first meetings in the United States Sanford have disclosed.

SC gov gambles to 'lay it all out' about affair

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:24 EDT

After days of assuring the public he was firmly in control after admitting a scandalous affair, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford detailed other encounters with his Argentine "soul mate," dalliances with women before her, and his struggle to salvage his 20-year marriage.

Sanford, who last week used a televised news conference to throw himself on the mercy of the public, state leaders and his wife, chronicled his affair and tortured emotions in interviews with The Associated Press Monday and Tuesday. This time, he said, he wanted to "lay it all out."

But as more details of his private life spill out, what Sanford has done in the name of love is too much even for some of his friends in state government.

"He's lost the moral authority to lead our state, so he needs to step down for the good of our state," said state Sen. Larry Grooms, who said he called the governor and asked him to resign.

Others in Sanford's party predict his departure from public life is just a matter of time, and several state newspapers urged him to go.

Gov's `other woman' fiercely private, no pushover

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:53 EDT

She is a 43-year-old, divorced mother of two teenage boys who wants to believe she can still experience true love.

She is an intensely private woman who was not afraid to fight back when that privacy was breached.

She was educated in Catholic schools and professes her belief in God, evil and the afterlife, and yet joined a married father of four in violating the Seventh Commandment prohibition against adultery.

Maria Belen Chapur has successfully eluded the news media since South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford revealed their yearlong affair last week. Friends and family have enfolded her and her boys in a protective cocoon, and the only image of her is a grainy, 8-year-old video from her brief moment in front of the cameras as a television reporter in New York.

Other than a 200-word statement denouncing a hacker's "evil act" of leaking her passionate e-mail correspondence with Sanford, Chapur has maintained her silence.

Mich. governor says SC gov's actions concern her

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:30 EDT

Michigan's governor says she's concerned about South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's decision to take a trip abroad without alerting those responsible in his absence.

She told MSNBC Wednesday that it's a given a governor must "make sure that the line of authority is established when you leave the state."

Sanford, a Republican, returned Wednesday to South Carolina and told a newspaper he'd been in Argentina. His staff had said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Sanford said he had considered hiking the trail but changed his mind. He was to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Granholm, a Democrat, says she likes Sanford but was concerned he was out of touch for days without letting most officials, including the lieutenant governor, know his whereabouts.

Southern Baptists have mixed view of Obama

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:15 EDT

Southern Baptists praised the election of President Barack Obama but said at their national meeting on Wednesday that they oppose his views on abortion and other social issues.

Leaders of the nation's largest Protestant denomination voted in favor of a resolution to "share our nation's pride" in Obama's historic victory.

"I think it would have actually been irresponsible for us not to speak to the election of the first African American president," said Daniel Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.

But Akin said Southern Baptists have "strong disagreement" with many of the new president's policies. The resolution decried Obama's support of abortion rights, embryonic stem-cell research and the reduction of funding for abstinence education.

Richard Land, who leads the convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said the resolution "has its hand on the pulse beat of where Southern Baptists are." Land said most Southern Baptists didn't vote for Obama in November.

[Analysis] SC gov's walk in woods problem for GOP

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:35 EDT

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's mysterious disappearance from his state is the latest sign that Republican governors, once thought to be President Obama's most credible adversaries, haven't quite lived up to their billing.

From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's cringe-inducing nationally televised response to Obama's first budget address to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's suggestion that his state might secede, GOP governors - including those said to be eyeing a potential 2012 presidential bid - haven't exactly looked like the political grown-ups many party strategists had promised.

And none has had a rockier go of it than the party's best-known governor, Alaska's Sarah Palin. The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has been dogged by ethics complaints and has engaged in public feuds with David Letterman and with Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Palin's teenage daughter, Bristol, and the father of Bristol's infant son.

Palin, whose vice presidential bid sparked a devoted grass-roots following across the country, has also angered GOP leaders in Washington for poor communication and for canceling appearances at party events and fundraisers.

But the latest high-profile fiasco involves Sanford, whose outspoken effort to refuse part of the federal stimulus money due his state has made him a darling of conservatives and fueled talk that he harbors presidential aspirations.

Sanford met in Atlanta after returning from South America

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:12 EDT

ATLANTA | Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Wednesday morning, having wrapped up a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said.

Sanford said he had not been hiking along the Appalachian Trail, as his staff said in a Tuesday statement to the media.

Sanford admitted later Wednesday that his secret trip to Argentina over Father's Day weekend was to visit a woman he is having an affair with.

Sanford's whereabouts had been unknown since Thursday, and the mystery surrounding his absence fueled speculation about where he had been and who's in charge in his absence. His emergence Wednesday ended the mystery.

Sanford, in a brief interview with The State in the nation's busiest airport, said he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money.

[Previous coverage] Sanford due back today, but from where exactly?

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:12 EDT

S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford will return to work today, his staff said, cutting short a mysterious hiking trip along the Appalachian Trail.

Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor called chief of staff Scott English on Tuesday morning, and was surprised by the attention.

“It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten.,” Sawyer said in a statement.

But there are still unanswered questions about Sanford’s whereabouts, from his exact location on the Appalachian Trail to why the governor, a father of four, would leave town over Father’s Day weekend.

Tuesday afternoon, first lady Jenny Sanford said she still had not heard from the governor.

[Previous coverage] Sanford back Wednesday, his office says [500+ comments]

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:12 EDT

S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff said this morning that the governor, who went mysteriously incommunicado for several days, plans to return to his office Wednesday.

Late Monday, his office said the governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, ending four days during which staff and state officials said they had not heard from him.

State Sen. Jake Knotts issued statement today saying: “I’m happy to hear that Governor Sanford has finally contacted his office after being missing from the state for five days."

"While I believe every person deserves a vacation, our constitution gives only one man authority to act in case of an emergency - the governor of South Carolina. Should the governor decide to vacation away from South Carolina again, it is my sincere hope that he will take his security detail and keep his cell phone on so that he can be reached in case of a large-scale emergency," the statement said.

"If he is not willing to do so, he should turn his gubernatorial authority over to the lieutenant governor,” it continued.

Clyburn: Congress closing in on 2 key bills

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:14 EDT

Lawmakers are likely to reach agreement on health-care reform and energy bills before breaking in August for vacation, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said Monday.

“Both must be done, I feel, to sustain any kind of recovery,” Clyburn said during a media roundtable event in South Carolina.

Clyburn said he thinks the economy soon could begin to heal, thanks in part to stimulus dollars. However, the jobless rate could rise even higher. Some estimates say South Carolina could see a 15 percent jobless rate by year’s end.

The energy bill, in its current version, would require utilities to meet 20 percent of their electricity demand through renewable sources by 2020 and invest in clean energy technologies. It also would require new energy standards for buildings, appliances and industry.

Meanwhile, debate continues about whether a health-care bill should include a government-sponsored plan for those not covered by a private insurer.

Longtime Thurmond staffer dies at age 85

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:11 EDT

A man who worked alongside Strom Thurmond for more than 45 years and won the state’s highest civilian honor has died.

Warren Abernathy died in a Spartanburg hospital early Monday after suffering several recent health problems, said J.F. Floyd Mortuary general manager Glenn Miller. Abernathy was 85.

Abernathy was administrative assistant to then-Gov. Thurmond and state assistant to Thurmond when he served in the U.S. Senate.

Abernathy received the Order of the Palmetto from Gov. David Beasley in 1998.

The funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Southside Baptist Church. Abernathy will be buried with military honors in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg.

Tracking the stimulus impact in S.C.

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:29 EDT

Denise Jones liked the tactile aspect of her job, developing film at a local camera shop.

Her skillful fingers would slide a curling noodle of film onto a reel. She would work a large crank, pulling the film through clear pools of chemicals.

Then the digital camera revolution swallowed up her job.

Circling around Columbia looking for a new job, Jones, 30, would pass by construction crews hammering away at the skeletons of new homes. “I would wonder, ‘How can I get a job like that, working with my hands? I could do that kind of job,’” Jones said.

Now, she’s on her way to becoming part of a construction crew, thanks in part to federal stimulus money that is pouring into South Carolina.

Sanford ‘clout’ in doubt

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:31 EDT

Gov. Mark Sanford said the months-long debate over whether to spend federal stimulus money will have little lasting impact on his relationship with lawmakers as he prepares for his final 18 months in office.

Sanford thinks much could be accomplished on economic development when lawmakers return in January for Sanford’s final General Assembly session.

Lawmakers agreed the stimulus debate did little to further damage the relationship, but noted years of conflicts often fueled by gubernatorial press conferences had left little rapport between Republican Sanford and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

But lawmakers said that if anything can bring the two sides together, it is the state’s growing jobless rate — now 12.1 percent.

“It was probably the most significant divide ... to date,” Sanford said of his refusal to accept $700 million in federal budget aid to South Carolina to help public schools, colleges and law enforcement agencies balance their budgets.

The Buzz

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:21 EDT

• S.C. needs to step up its Twitter game

Twitter and other social networking are all the rage these days, fomenting revolution in Iran and spreading racist jokes among other things.

And the pranksters among us have of course jumped on board as well, creating fake Twitter accounts that mock or satirize political figures.

Among The Buzz’s favorite is GovPerrysHair, inspired by the coif of the aforementioned Texas governor. From a location atop Rick Perry’s head, the hair has issued such thoughts as “Snug on the Governor’s pillow. Convenient the Governor leaves his Blackberry on for me while sleeping. Back to leading Texas tomorrow ...” and “Hair looking good. Backlighting brings out the masculine sheen.”

South Carolina has its own pranksters, including SCLegislator, but The Buzz thinks we need other twittering political accessories.

Senate confirms Tenenbaum

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:06 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday unanimously confirmed Inez Tenenbaum as chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in unusually swift action on a top nominee of President Barack Obama.

Tenenbaum, in her first public comments since Obama chose her last month, said her first major task will be overseeing implementation of a sweeping consumer-safety law Congress passed last year.

“I’m looking forward to being the consumer advocate for the people and for the children of the United States,” she said in an interview shortly after the Senate voice vote.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who defeated the then-South Carolina public schools superintendent in their 2004 U.S. Senate race, congratulated Tenenbaum.

“I’m confident she has the determination and skills to lead this important commission,” DeMint said. “I look forward to working with her to ensure our nation continues to have the safest products in the world.”