Here’s why SC state Rep. Caskey donned a tin foil hat during the session’s last week
In the last week of session while House members discuss the second version of their budget, state Rep. Micah Caskey, R-Lexington, added a tin foil hat to his usual suit.
Caskey spoke against an amendment to allow gold and silver to be legal tender in South Carolina that was proposed by House Freedom Caucus member state Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley.
“I want you to support this amendment because I want you to stop thinking too,” Caskey said sarcastically while donning a tin foil hat bringing laughs to the chamber. “I think this bill allows us to trade genie lamps in for parking tickets.”
Pace defended his amendment.
“Coins are small round things with people’s faces on (them) and have been used in the entirety of human history as money,” Pace said.
Fellow House Freedom Caucus member state Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Spartanburg, speaking later on the floor on a separate amendment, debated about decorum with Caskey.
“You were just up here breaking decorum with a tin foil hat,” Magnuson told Caskey.
Caskey, who left a Judicial Merit Selection Commission state Supreme Court candidate screening which took place during the House session, pointed out that the administration of accepting gold and silver would be difficult because most entities don’t have the ability to weigh the gold and silver.
“The idea we should go back to paying tax bills with gold nuggets is ridiculous on its face and the sort of conspiracy theories they traffic are unhelpful to the state,” said Caskey ,who has had his verbal battles with the Freedom Caucus on the House floor.
House Speaker Murrell Smith eventually threw the amendment out before House members could vote on it. Smith however teased Caskey for the hat that being a touch too small.
“This is the General Assembly not kindergarten,” Smith said. “You pointed out that you have a big head and (the hat) does not fit.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2024 at 1:33 PM.
