TheState.com: S.C. Politics

Jenny Sanford says she did not enjoy being first lady + video

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:17 EST

Watch the interviews below

Jenny Sanford told CNN's Larry King Live Monday she did not enjoy being first lady. Sanford made the comment off camera. But King asked her to elaborate on camera on the live show Monday night. Sanford said there were times she enjoyed the experience.

Sanford made the comment off camera. But King asked her to elaborate on camera on the live show Monday night. Sanford said there were times she enjoyed the experience. But she also said the job came with no pay and carried high expectations. She said the job was tough on a mother with four young children. Additionally, Sanford, who is from Chicago, also pointed out she is not a native Southerner.

Sanford later said she would be first lady only a few more weeks, saying she "fired herself" by filing for divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford. Jenny Sanford appeared on the show to promote "Staying True," her memoir that chronicles the Sanfords' 20-year marriage and how theY coped with the yearlong affair with an Argentine woman Gov. Sanford publicly admitted to in June. Jenny Sanford also appeared on "Good Morning America" and "The View" Monday. Here is a transcript of the exchange from the "Larry King Live" show. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Jenny Sanford. I asked if she liked being first lady. You said no. SANFORD: You're going to get me in trouble back in South Carolina. First Lady is an interesting job. It's a job that, you know, you don't get paid. You can't be fired, although I guess I'm about to fire myself by divorcing my husband. It comes -- there's some parts of it that are wonderfully enriching and gratifying, because there are so many people write you notes. They come see you. They support you in anything you do.

SC GOP nixes idea of Tea Party Republican group

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:47 EST

The South Carolina GOP is ditching the idea of forming a Tea Party Republican group while leaders say they are finding ways to make the party appeal more to the activists.

Last month, there were rumblings that the Greenville Republican Party's leadership wanted to create a formal group rattled Tea Party activists. But a couple of weekends of meetings ended with the GOP backing down and state Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd holding a news conferences announcing an accord of sorts.

In the Upstate, 22 Tea Party groups will work with the GOP on common goals, including "working closely to make the Republican Party more conservative," Greenville County GOP Chairman Patrick Haddon said. Others include getting more involved at the precinct level and improving communications.

The groups have "more in common than what divides us. So, we took a look at the substance and not the form," Floyd said. Floyd stressed creating a Tea Party Republican group was never pushed at the state level.

But the concept, proposed by a state party officer, was enough to touch off a storm.

McMaster opposes Rex's cigarettes plan

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:45 EST

A leading Republican candidate for governor said Monday he would not support raising South Carolina's cigarette tax - the nation's lowest - under any conditions.

Attorney General Henry McMaster, spurred by a weekend of back-and-forth discussion on the issue with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Rex, said Monday he would not support raising the tax, spokesman Rob Godfrey said.

Rex has proposed raising the tax by $1.24 a pack to the national average, using the more than $200 million raised to pay for health care and to avoid requiring teachers to take a week of unpaid leave.

The two men have agreed to debate the issue.

The cigarette tax is an issue in the governor's race. Lawmakers passed a tax hike in 2008 only to have it vetoed by Republican Gov. Mark Sanford. Lawmakers fell short of the two-thirds support needed to override that veto.

S.C. tea party groups seek right strategy

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:06 EST

While thousands have gathered at tea party rallies around South Carolina over the past 12 months, organizers are finding it difficult to turn their outrage into action.

Leaders of tea party and similar groups say their members disagree on the best way to build the movement.

Some want to endorse candidates and get involved in elections.

Others worry that aligning with major party candidates will undermine their principles, based on constitutional law and limited government.

The movement sprang up in 2009 as a response to President Barack Obama and his policies. A tea party organized by Greenville Young Republicans drew about 2,000 people last February, jump-starting other S.C. groups.

Jenny Sanford has 'no regrets,' 'no fear' of future

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:01 EST

SULLIVAN'S ISLAND - Tall and striking, first lady Jenny Sanford answers the door of her Sullivan's Island beach house.

"Did you knock and I didn't hear you?" she asks. "I was doing laundry."

Calm and cool, there is no sense of a scorned woman trapped in a political scandal that has torpedoed her 20-year marriage. No hint exists either of the ambitious Wall Street vice president with the political savvy that helped catapult her husband into Congress and, later, into South Carolina's Governor's Mansion.

She is a regular mom doing her daily chores. Her house is surprisingly modest in its furnishings considering it sits on a prime oceanfront lot. Out front, an aluminum baseball bat lies in the yard. A basketball hoop stands near a garage crowded with bikes. And two dogs impatiently wait for four boys, ages 11-17, to come home from school.

At home is the same Jenny Sanford, mother and wife, portrayed in her new book, "Staying True," which is just out and billed by Ballantine Books as an inspirational memoir about holding to one's faith in life's trying times.

Wilson, Miller spend at brisk pace

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:57 EST

WASHINGTON - Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson and likely Democratic challenger Rob Miller are already waging an expensive, high-profile campaign that's gone national almost a year out from the November election.

During the last quarter of 2009, when most congressional campaigns were barely off the ground, Wilson and Miller spent more than $835,000 combined.

That figure is nearly 20 times the amount they spent two years ago during the same period of their first contest, which Wilson won by a 54-46 percent margin.

Despite the spending spree, Wilson ended 2009 with $2.34 million in his campaign coffers, while Miller closed the year with $1.68 million in cash on hand.

Thanks to the national attention from Wilson's Sept. 9 "You lie!" yell at President Barack Obama, the Wilson-Miller race is already the most expensive U.S. House contest ever in South Carolina, and it's on pace to challenge the richest in the nation's history.

This week's Capitol Report

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:39 EST

Week four of the 2010 legislative session

TEXTING-DRIVING: South Carolina could join a growing list of states that ban texting while driving, but in a state that relishes personal freedoms, legislators say the effort will hit a road bump if they also try to bar drivers from chatting with a phone at their ear. The measure approved unanimously Wednesday by a House Education subcommittee would prohibit bus drivers from sending text messages or using a hand-held cell phone.

UNEMPLOYMENT: Legislators want the three commissioners running the state Employment Security Commission removed after a series of flaps, including news that the jobless benefit agency faced nearly $1 million in penalties for not paying income taxes withheld from unemployment checks. The state Revenue Department cut the $950,000 tab in interest and penalties to $25,000 on $16 million in unpaid withholdings from February to May 2009.

VOTER ID: South Carolina voters would have to bring photo identification with them to polling places under a measure that cleared the state Senate on Wednesday, sending it back to the House. The bill will likely end up in a conference committee to work out differences between the two versions. South Carolina voters aren't required to have a photo ID when they vote now. Under the proposal, they would have to show a state or federal-issued ID starting in 2012.

SENTENCING REFORM: South Carolina needs to reduce the number of people going to jail for minor offenses and let more people out on parole, a legislative panel reviewing the state's sentencing policies said in a report released Tuesday. Sentencing policies of the past 10 years have sent more people to prison for nonviolent crimes, making those offenders account for nearly half the state's 25,000 inmates, reported the Sentencing Reform Commission. That reduces the number of beds available to house the most violent offenders. South Carolina spent almost $400 million on prisons operations in 2008, up from less than $65 million in 1983. The report said South Carolina could save more than $300 million dollars over the next five years by not having to build new prison space if the recommendations are enacted. It projected another $92 million could be saved in operating costs.

Haley's stimulus stance at odds with earlier vote

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:56 EST

Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley has cast herself as the one candidate who would reject federal stimulus money and corporate bailouts.

But Haley, a state representative from Lexington, cast a vote last year to accept a disputed $700 million in federal money.

Haley said she cast the vote before it was clear that the state could reject the money - new stimulus legal wrinkles emerged almost daily last spring.

But Haley, in particular, has made an issue of U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett's change of heart over a federal bank rescue bill - Barrett voted no, before approving a second plan - and is now facing similar questions.

"I don't want any Washington bailout money of any kind," Haley said at a GOP debate last week, a point she repeated in an e-mail to supporters this week.

Who rules DHEC? Cabinet plan hits a wall

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:59 EST

Gov. Mark Sanford’s troubles, a bad economy and South Carolina’s most powerful lobbying force — big business — have killed virtually any chance of putting the state Department of Health and Environmental Control under the governor’s authority.

That was an assessment shared by many Thursday after a Senate panel voted unanimously against making DHEC a governor’s Cabinet agency this year. The Medical Affairs Committee stripped the Cabinet plan from a DHEC restructuring bill before sending a substantially watered-down version to the full Senate.

“There is no urgency to put the agency under the governor’s office,” said Sen. John Scott, a Columbia Democrat and committee member.

Under discussion for more than a year, the DHEC Cabinet proposal had lost so much steam in recent weeks that its co-sponsors, Sens. John Courson, R-Richland, and Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, questioned whether the idea was even worth pursuing this year. A bill in the House also has languished.

“The agency still needs fixing, but the fix doesn’t have to be by Cabinet designation,” said Ann Timberlake, director of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, whose group wanted the governor in charge. “This was not going to happen.”

Governor flies to Washington to support S.C. bid for stimulus

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:26 EST

Gov. Mark Sanford flew to Washington on Thursday to tell the Obama administration that South Carolina wants $300 million in federal stimulus money.

Sanford, who spent much of last year fighting parts of the Obama administration's stimulus plan, now wants S.C. to have a piece of $4 billion in "Race to the Top" education money.

The money is awarded to states based on their plans to improve education and innovate. Forty states have applied so far.

The Republican governor's trip, which did not appear on his official calendar, drew praise from U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.. Clyburn sparred with Sanford over his refusal last year to accept more than $700 million in stimulus money to help public schools, colleges and law enforcement agencies weather the nation's worst-ever recession.

"I am pleased to see that the governor is finally taking an interest in South Carolina's public schools," Clyburn said through a spokesman. "After going to court last year to prevent stimulus funds from coming to South Carolina, his meeting with (Education) Secretary (Arne) Duncan appears to be the governor's admission that the stimulus was not only necessary but effective. I hope this is an indication he is willing to move forward together."

Exclusive: Coble to have new job at law firm

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:35 EST

After Columbia Mayor Bob Coble leaves office in June, he will have a new job at his law firm, The State has learned.

Coble will co-chair Nexsen Pruet’s new government relations practice, said John Sowards, the firm’s recently elected board chairman.

“We’re excited about that as we can be,” Sowards said. “Bob brings a great level of experience.”

Coble, who chose not to seek re-election after 20 years as mayor, currently heads an informal government representation group at Nexsen Pruet. The group is made up of attorneys from different practice areas within the firm.

But Nexsen Pruet -- seeking ways to bolster business -- will make government relations a formal practice this spring, backed with a targeted marketing budget and a dedicated group of six to 10 lawyers.

First Lady: 'Doubts,' even at Sanfords' wedding

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:01 EST

Jenny Sanford said her estranged husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, insisted they skip the part about marital fidelity in their wedding vows 20 years ago.

The soon-to-be-ex-first lady, who has filed for divorce, also says the breaking point for her was the steamy e-mails between the governor and his lover, published in The State.

Jenny Sanford makes those and other revelations in an ABC News interview scheduled to air Friday night at 10.

The broadcast is on the same day her book, "Staying True," will be released. The book is billed as an "inspirational memoir" recounting the Sanfords' courtship, marriage and the affair that put the couple in divorce court.

Jenny Sanford tells ABC News' Barbara Walters she thought Mark Sanford's reluctance to pledge fidelity was probably a case of cold feet.

Sanford ethics case still awaits a resolution

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:32 EST

A state ethics panel that is investigating Gov. Mark Sanford is not likely to resolve soon whether the two-term Republican broke state law with his travel and campaign expenses.

Herbert Hayden, executive director of the State Ethics Commission, said the nine-member panel has not yet asked to schedule a hearing on 37 charges that Sanford's use of state aircraft, business-class tickets and campaign money violated state ethics laws.

Hayden said the commission's docket is crowded and finding a full day to weigh the evidence in the case may be difficult.

"They haven't given us any indication at all of when they want to hear it," Hayden said of the nine-member panel, appointed by Sanford but confirmed by the S.C. Senate.

In announcing the charges in November, Hayden said the panel would consider them after the new year. The 37 charges carry a maximum fine of $74,000.

Lawmaker: SC unemployment agency didn't pay taxes

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:55 EST

The state's unemployment agency didn't pay the government the income tax it withheld from jobless benefits for months last year and faced nearly $1 million in penalties, according to a report a South Carolina lawmaker unveiled Wednesday as he called for an overhaul of the agency.

A South Carolina Employment Security accounting staffer "decided not to draw down the funds necessary to pay federal and state tax withholdings on benefits paid when certain data processing reports appeared to be in error," the auditor's Jan. 28 report said.

Republican Sen. Greg Ryberg of Aiken read from the Office of State Auditor report and noted the substantial accounting flaws it cited at the South Carolina Employment Security Commission.

"Management discovered that federal and state withholdings on benefits paid were not remitted for several months in 2009," Ryberg told the Senate. The state Department of Revenue asked why it wasn't getting payments and the agency was told staff decided not to make payments because "data processing reports appeared to be in error."

The delinquency brought a $900,000 state penalty plus $50,000 in interest. The state Revenue Department forgave the $900,000 levy and half the interest, but required the commission to pay $25,000 in interest.

S.C. Politics Today: Drake to announce jobs plan

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:55 EST

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dwight Drake will hold a news conference today to ask lawmakers to adopt a plan he says will "spur hiring and bring down unemployment in South Carolina."

Drake, according to his campaign, will be joined by Democratic Reps. Boyd Brown of Fairfield and Bakari Sellers of Bamberg, who will offer Drake's jobs plan as a bill.

"With unemployment at record levels and families across South Carolina suffering as a result, we need less talk and more results," Drake said. "As governor, jobs will be my No. 1 priority, but this state can't wait another year for action. So with the help of Representatives Brown and Sellers, we're going to get started on putting South Carolina back to work right away."

- From staff reports

Opposition to DHEC restructuring grows

SC legislators may halt teacher stipend program

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:00 EST

South Carolina would scrap incentive pay for teachers earning a prestigious national certification under a cost-cutting measure given initial approval by legislators.

A House Ways and Means subcommittee voted Tuesday to halt the $7,500 annual stipend for teachers earning national board certification, limiting it to those already in the system.

South Carolina would suspend new loans that pay upfront application fees for teachers entering the process and not pay stipends for teachers renewing their certificate for 10 more years.

The director of the Palmetto State Teachers Association said Wednesday she fears phasing out the program will cause many of the best teachers to move into administration to earn more money. But Kathy Maness said she realizes the state is in a budget crunch.

SC lawmakers split on tax breaks vs property sales

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:35 EST

South Carolina legislators are weighing whether communities should lose tax dollars or gain potential property sales.

The debate is to continue Thursday as state senators consider a proposal to offer a business and homeowner real estate tax break.

Real estate agents say a property tax law that shields homeowners from dramatic tax increases as values rise hurts sales because new buyers get slammed with the increase. They say the problem is worse for commercial property.

But local governments stand to lose $44 million under proposals that would keep tax bills from rising when property is sold.

Wednesday's Senate debate came as weeks of negotiations ended with no deal. Some legislators say the bill may need to be sent back to a committee.

E-mails were breaking point for Jenny

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:01 EST

Story continues below video

Gov. Mark Sanford took a few minutes to comment on his wife's book, which will hit bookshelves on Friday, and the importance of local tourism efforts. This took place Feb. 2, 2010, at the S.C. Governor's Conference on Travel and Tourism.

Jenny Sanford told ABC News her marriage was over after reading racy e-mails between her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, and his lover.

The e-mails, obtained by The State, included intimate details of an affair.

The e-mails were published after Sanford admitted to carrying on a yearlong relationship with an Argentine woman.

SC legislators approve warrantless searches

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:14 EST

South Carolina legislators have tweaked a bill allowing officers to conduct warrantless searches by requiring them to first verify the person is on probation or parole.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure on Tuesday that allows officers to bypass going to a judge for a warrant before searching people on probation or parole. They can search the person, the vehicle the person owns or is driving, and any possessions, such as a purse.

Democratic Rep. Todd Rutherford of Columbia said verification was needed to prevent officers from searching anyone they wanted, using the excuse they thought he was on probation.

The measure would also require officers to report they've searched someone, or face a one-day suspension.

The bill moves to the House floor. The Senate approved it last year.

Wilson, Miller rake in $626,000 combined

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:14 EST

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson and challenger Rob Miller raised more than $626,000 combined in the last quarter of 2009, sharply down from their third-quarter total but still more than most House contests in the country.

Wilson, a Springdale Republican, raised $401,954 in the year's final three months, hiking his 2009 total to $3.42 million - most of it raised in the dizzying days after his Sept. 9 "You lie!" yell at President Barack Obama catapulted him to national fame.

Miller, a Beaufort Democrat, raised $224,276 in the last quarter of 2009, bringing his total for the year to just over $2 million, the bulk of it also arriving the weeks following Wilson's outburst.

"I'm very pleased with the support we've received," Miller told McClatchy Newspapers on Tuesday. "We've spent a lot of time building a campaign in South Carolina."

Dustin Olson, Wilson's campaign manager, said more than half of his donations in the final quarter were less than $200 apiece.