Below is the full text of S.C. Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell‘s response to governor Nikki Haley‘s 2016 State of the State address, as prepared for delivery …
Hello. I am Mandy Powers Norrell and I represent the Southern half of Lancaster County in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Like Governor Haley, I was also born and raised in rural South Carolina, and educated in our public schools. But while we have similar backgrounds, we see things from different perspectives.
Governor Haley describes a South Carolina from the perspective of those at the top. I see it from the ground level. And from the perspective of a mother of teenagers in public school and a small business owner in a former textile community, I see hard working people struggling to make ends meet, Senior Citizens having to choose between paying their mortgage and buying their medicine, teachers trying to make do with less than minimally adequate funding, and families grieving after collisions on dangerous roads and bridges.
Twenty five years ago, Governor Haley and I were both finishing high school. She was in Bamberg and I was in Lancaster. Per-pupil funding in our schools was at an all time high. Our roads and bridges were some of the best in the nation. Our neighbors had jobs with reliable health insurance and stable retirement plans. The future looked bright.
What has changed in the past twenty-five years?
I’ll tell you one thing that has changed. During that time, Republicans have been in almost total control of state government.
They have had the Governor’s mansion, the House of Representatives, the Senate, our congressional delegation, and Republicans currently control every state wide elected office.
Are you proud of our public education system? Are you satisfied with the condition of our roads and bridges? Are you confident that if you got sick, you could afford the treatment?
In the past 25 years, our state has declined in almost every category. We’ve been duped.
I grew up in a textile town. Both of my parents worked for Springs Mills and I worked there during the summers to pay for college. But those mills and that textile economy are gone. What’s worse is that our Republican-led education system is not preparing our children for the economy of today, much less the next economy.
In the past two decades, public education has become grossly underfunded. If you find that hard to believe, ask yourself, did your parents have to send packs of paper, disinfectant wipes, and glue sticks to outfit your classroom on the first day of school each year?
Republican leaders refuse to fund even minimally adequate education for our poor and rural schools. And now they are even refusing to obey a Supreme Court Order requiring them to fund public schools schools equally.
This pattern of defunding is no accident. If public education is brought to its knees, then that strengthens the argument for those Republicans who want to divert our tax money from public schools to private academies that cater to the wealthy.
Public school has always been the great equalizer. It’s the promise that no matter who you are or where you come from, if you’re willing to work hard and sacrifice, you can be anything. And when I talk to children in our schools and ask them what they want to be when they grow up – rich kids, poor kids, kids of all races – they tell me the same things: doctor, lawyer, policeman, president. But we know that the chances of a child from a low income family realizing those goals is not as great as it was a generation ago.
A Democratic Legislature would invest in our public schools – the way we did 25 years ago. Democrats believe that our children are our future and that we need to start TODAY to prepare them for success in this quickly changing world. I bet you agree.
While Republicans talk a big game about economic development, their policies have weakened our small businesses, small towns, and farms.
Just one month ago, Governor Haley turned her back on our agriculture community when farmers, reeling from the flood, asked for disaster assistance. Her unwillingness to help our state’s largest industry has put the future of agriculture in South Carolina at risk. The South Carolina farm community can trust and believe you have a friend and unwavering advocate in Democrats.
You have heard a lot about the businesses that have relocated to our state. Sure the economy has improved in many ways, but I would submit to you that South Carolina’s recovery is part of the national recovery, happening in every single state – not just in South Carolina. January marks the 70th straight month of job growth in our country, so of course South Carolina is sharing in this national trend.
It’s true that we have brought in several out of state and overseas corporations by offering generous incentives funded by our citizens. But what about the local family businesses that are being taxed at the full rate while their larger competitors enjoy subsidies funded by every day South Carolinians like you and me? That’s not fair.
What about the workers who were displaced when their jobs moved overseas who are too young to retire, but all the available jobs only pay a fraction of what they used to make?
What if we didn’t have to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to convince companies to move to South Carolina? World-class public schools, a healthy workforce, and safe roadways would be far more persuasive incentives than the hundreds of millions in tax dollars our citizens are paying to recruit these companies now.
And speaking of safe roadways – why haven’t we passed a bill to improve our roads and bridges? I remember hearing my Republican colleagues say over a year ago that roads were the most important issue. Lately, you’ve heard Governor Haley call for unity. I agree. We need to start working together to get things done. But what she hasn’t told you is that the fighting is within her own party. Republicans in the Senate actually filibustered their own roads bill last summer until it was dead for the year and while Republicans are fighting amongst themselves, our citizens continue to suffer with tattered roads and dangerous bridges.
Democrats, on the other hand, remain unified in our commitment to pass a bill to reverse the decay of our long-neglected roadways. We hope the Republicans will join us. But make no mistake, if Democrats were in control of the legislature, we would have a roads bill on Governor Haley’s desk within days. Republicans have had over a generation and we still have no solution for our roads and bridges.
I love South Carolina. I know you do too. I especially love living in my hometown where I know the people I meet on the street every day. I know the names of the police officers and emergency workers who protect my neighbors and me. Our greatness comes from our people, not from our politicians. And we have a moral duty to take care of our people, our greatest resource.
Under Republican leadership, though, South Carolina remains one of the most unhealthy states in the nation with one of the highest rates of uninsured citizens.
Did you know that we actually turned down 11 billion dollars in federal funds that would have provided healthcare for 300,000 of our citizens who don’t have it now, and would have created 44,000 new jobs?
Did you know that if you are working but making minimum wage, you would have health care coverage at no cost if the Republicans had only voted with the Democrats to accept these federal funds?
And this money would have come at almost no cost to our state either. You’ve already paid for it with your Federal tax dollars. But Republicans said no.
That does not make sense for our people who need jobs, and it especially does not make sense for those in our state who are sick and who cannot afford to go to the doctor or hospital.
Our state has been through a lot in the past year – from the unspeakable tragedy in Charleston, to the 1000-year flood. These events tested our fabric and showed that South Carolinians are made to endure. But the storm is not over for many South Carolinians. While the flag has come down and the flood waters have receded, as state leaders, it is our responsibility to continue to unify our state and help affected families make a full recovery.
Yet the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Yet for a generation, we have continued to elect the party that refused federal health care funds, that underfunds public education, and that refuses to address our crumbling roads and bridges.
We want you to know that the South Carolina Democratic Party has been fighting for South Carolinians just like you and me.
But the Democratic Party has made mistakes too. Chief among them is that we have let the other side define themselves as the moral party.
But the truth is you cannot lead on moral issues if you mislead on substantive ones.
You cannot alleviate the hurts of working people by giving tax cuts to the wealthy.
You cannot protect this beautiful earth that God has given us by opening our shores to offshore drilling.
You can’t lift people up by pushing them down.
You can’t call yourself pro-life if you are anti-child.
And you can’t ensure a good education for every child if you take money from our public schools and give it to private schools that cater to the wealthy.
If the Republicans could have given us the South Carolina we want and know is possible, they would have done it a long time ago.
It’s time for us as a state to wake up from these distractions and misinformation because we are better than that. We are smarter than that.
We are South Carolinians.
We are a family.
And my colleagues and I urge you to come home to the Democratic Party – the party that cares about you. Everyone is welcome here.
Goodnight. God bless you and God bless the state of South Carolina.”
49 comments
Our schools are under-funded? I thought the Republicans were as much on board with throwing money at a failing system as the Democrats are. Hell, there should be as much or more common ground with the two factions on educstion as anywhere. As with most everything the government does, the answer is not throwing more money at it (higher taxes), but demanding AND receiving performance and accountability from those the money is given to. Whether SCDOT and no-bid contracts that make people like Hugh Leatherman laugh all the way to the bank, or numerous snd unnecessary school administrators making obscene salaries for at best doing nothing or even hindering teachers in the performance of their jobs, there needs to be accountability for our money and how it is spent.
Heck, I was hoping Ms Norrell was at least going to tell us about her recent trip to Cuba.
http://m.thelancasternews.com/lancasternews/db/322936/content/Zwu8gYol
There will never be any accountability so long as the elected can count on people reflexively pulling the “R” lever on election day.
The rubes in this state are simply to dim to see that the ONLY difference between “R” and “D” is who they give the free money to.
Yep!
As a Democrat loving Nazi type, I love me some RINO.
FLIP, I wish they would have discussed helping mental deficients such as you. Putting you in section 8 with a EBT card and letting you “blog” on the interweb al day while sitting on a load of crap in your shorts is not helping you.
Not me Taz.I consider you a weak,lying POS RINO that is the reason Obama was elected 2x’s however I am not spoofing your account.I wouldn’t waste my time with an intellectual light weight like you.
As you know, I’m not a particularly religious soul, just spiritual. That said and out of the way, I’ll just be damned if this article I came across a few minutes ago doesn’t say a lot about a recurring issue on here.
http://skywatchtv.com/2016/01/21/for-whom-the-baal-trolls-part-one/
Horn honkers like FLIP who proclaim to be “christian conservatives” and want to spend their day trolling you because they think you aren’t as good as them or have the same, cookie cutter, exact opinion as them are people who have such terrible personal failings and lives that they lash out at others to take their tiny minds off of their shortcomings. Take religion out and you have a far leftist. Both are fascist weaklings.
When FLIP attacks, I for one think…damn I did something right again.
You know you hit the mark when he keeps trolling you and then spoofs you. I deserve a marksmanship award, he is in meltdown.
Just couldn’t wait to go kiss up to the Commies could she? Both speeches are the same old stuff. To actually get something done isn’t where the political power is, it is in the promise of fulfilling the promises.
That’s a very good way of wording that, Taz!
“If the Republicans could have given us the South Carolina we want and know is possible, they would have done it a long time ago.”
Say what you want about the rest of the speech, the statement above is the absolute truth.
I wasn’t here at the time, but i am to understand it was the Democrats that left the party and voted them out for the same reasons as you want the Republicans out. As I said below, the power is in the promise, not the fulfillment.
Too bad Haley’s not a Democrat, they would have loved her State of the State address.
“I’ll tell you one thing that has changed. During that time, Republicans have been in almost total control of state government.”
correlation does not equal causation, and no, republicans are not to blame for our roads and education problems. high paid teachers and new facilities can not stem the tide of a culture shift to the gutter. The problem with our schools are the people. 25 years ago people had cheap gas and gas guzzling pickups and didnt mind the gas tax. now people drive cars that use 1/2 the gas therefore half the gas tax revenue, no wonder our roads are in shambles.
The problem is not “gas tax revenue”. The problem is just like Social Security and Medicare the tax revenue is thrown into the general fund and spent elsewhere.
Tax revenue is used to buy votes and when you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on the support of Paul.
Road contracting is a dirty business and I’m not talking about the asphalt. Same in Florida, widely corrupt. Our best start would be getting our money’s worth on what we spend now and then go from there.
This is the truest statement I have seen in a while. BRAVO.
Nimrata did not graduate a public school. She went to a private one…Orangeburg Prep. Her parents did lord knows what. She has no clue, as she and her husband live off the taxpayers.
Allow me to parse a little:
“…Twenty five years ago…Per-pupil funding in our schools was at an all time high. (LIE 1) Our roads and bridges were some of the best in the nation. (LIE 2)Our neighbors had jobs with reliable health insurance and stable retirement plans…” (LIE 3)
“…Did you know that if you are working but making minimum wage, you would have health care coverage at no cost(LIE 4) if the Republicans had only voted with the Democrats to accept these federal funds?…”
Lie 1 – Funding for public schools in South Carolina has consistently increased year in and year out with the exception of 2003 and 2008 for more than the last twenty years: http://www.scrgfoundation.org/files/SCRGPublicSchoolLayout.pdf. In ’03 and ’08, adjusted dollars showed the continued increase in spending over previous years.
Lie 2 – From the earliest days of our existence, South Carolina has suffered from poor roads and bridges. G. Washington described the sand hills this way during his Southern Tour of 1791 – south Carolina is a “…“pine barren of the worst sort, being hilly as well as poor…” He went on to decry the generally poor conditions of our roads and infrastructure.
Lie 3 and 4 – South Carolina has always had an uninsured group of about 16% of the state – the ACA did nothing to fix this: http://www.ipspr.sc.edu/scip/pubhealth/afford.asp http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts-and-features/state-by-state/how-aca-is-working-for-south-carolina/index.html
But Nikki took the confederate flag down for you suckers.Peace has broken out all over the world and Nikki can be worshiped at the alter of the RINO/Liberal Establishment.
Just like when Obummer was elected, the oceans started to recede. LOL
You didn’t build that…
Mike Huckabee said that was like thanking the bus driver because your kid got an A.
Thank GOD for Nikki Haley, she finally ended that racist little flag’s miserable influence on our state. Now our state can begin to heal and our people unite. God bless South Carolina!
What kind of car did G. Washington drive?
A Lincoln?
That’s what I was gonna say.Great minds…
Maybe a Ford?
The Ford is my auto; I shall not walk. It maketh me to lie down beneath it.
It leaveth me stranded in deep waters. It vexeth my soul.
It leadeth me in the path of ridicule for its namesake.
Yea, though I ride through the valleys, I am towed up the hills.
I fear all evil for my sparkplug orrodeth.
My rods and my bolts discomfort me.
It preparest a puncture in the presence of trouble.
It anointest my hands with grease. My radiator boileth over.
Surely, curses and punctures shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall plead before the Ford
in vain forever.
I don’t know about the school report. I would need to know who funded the study to know whether to trust it.
But you are wrong about the health care. If SC had elected expanded Medicaid, the percentage of uninsured in this state would have dropped dramatically. That was part of the affordable care act and was designed to deal with people who could not afford health insurance.
The reason we have always had uninsured is because there are people who cannot afford insurance or who private insurance companies do not want to insure.
I actually would prefer Sanders’ Medicare for all.
That argument riles people like David McIntosh, an evangelical Christian who heads the conservative Club for Growth.
“I fundamentally disagree with Kasich that that is the compassionate way to help poor people,’’ he said. “What he’s saying is, ‘We’ll spend money and sign you up for the worst kind of health care system in the country.’ ”
Expanded Medicaid under Obamacare is bankrupting Ohio.No doctors.Nobody is taking it.
The operative words that makes it a lie is “at no cost”. The cost is either increased taxes or increased debt – neither are acceptable at his point. as for the “Medicare for all” concept, getting health care for everyone was never the real intent of the ACA, it was getting “gubamint control” over your healthcare and insurance.
If congress had really wanted to provide “health care for all”, they would have shut down medicaid, allowed insurance companies to sell across state lines, encouraged MSAs and provided a stipend for those on Medicaid and up to 200% of the PL to but their own insurance. The savings from canceling Medicaid would have covered the cost easily.
Allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines does nothing. That is just a bunch of crap made up by Republicans. If you expand your sales into other states claims will go up as will your premiums. In the end all you get is states like Wyoming where cows outnumber people setting the rules on who can sell insurance in states states like California and New York. No accountability and the state is stuck with an uninsured population when the insurance company goes under and cannot pay the bills.
Medical Savings accounts do nothing if you cannot afford insurance.
The federal poverty level for a family of four is about 25k. People at 200% of the PL cannot possibly afford health insurance. Housing, utilities and food eat up there entire income.
Finally, you seem to be perfectly happy with government insurance, a government check, and government retirement.
I write the check for my health insurance each month. I will not be eligible for “gubamint” insurance until I am 60 (reservists do immediately get health care. I will not draw a dime of “gubamint” retirement until I am 57 and a half (Reservists draw their retirement at 60 and get credit for deployment time in some circumstances – I get credit for 2.5 years)
So despite getting all of you information wrong, nice ad hominem attack anyway.
As for the market place – allowing companies to sell across lines lowers the cost of insurance by allowing cost savings based on economies of scale. Your point about Montana making the rules for another state is ridiculous – just like car insurance, each state could set minimal requirements.
As for the PL argument – that’s why they get the stipend up to 200%.
Man, you’re all over it today 3 for 3…
I was under the impression you were a government employee. Do you not work for the state?
Selling across state lines will not lower cost by producing economies of scale if you let each state set the rules for who can sell insurance. That is what we have now. Any insurance company can ask to sell insurance in any state. They just have to meet the requirements of that state. That means certain reserve requirements and certain mandated coverage as well as other regulations designed to assure they have the ability to pay. If Montana Mutual wants to sell insurance in California they can do that now. They simply have to go through the California insurance commission and prove they meet the qualifications to do so.
You are totally missing my point on the PL. People at 200% to 300% of the poverty level probably cannot afford insurance. Where do you propose the subsidies stop? If you leave the insurance industry in charge they will always price their products to maximize profit not minimize cost.
200% for a family of 4 is slightly less than $50,000.
After I left active duty, my family of then three made slightly less than 200% in 1992 and lived quite well. We didn’t have a cool new car – we had my beater Isuzu. We didn’t have the latest cell phone (or any cell phone for that matter). We didn’t even have cable.
We made decisions to spend money based on what was important rather than what was “cool”. I’ve made considerably more in the intervening years but we still try to spend on what’s important rather than what’s cool. We’ve never owned a “new car” except for the Saturn we bought when my wife got her first real job. We average 250-300,000 miles on a car before we trade – the issues are about personal responsibility.
Oh don’t give me the I walked five miles to school in the snow talk. Wages have not kept up with inflation. Today a policy to cover a family of four is about $1,150 a month unsubsidized. Try paying for that when your income $4,100 a month gross and you have to house, feed and clothe the family.
You’d be surprised to know how many people are doing just that.
I love it. The government wants to take control of your health care. What a joke. After all a ruthless insurance company out to charge as much as possible, pay as little as possible, and dump you as soon as you get sick is a much better choice to put in control of your health care.
Americans pay more than any other country in the world for health care by a long shot, and yet we are nowhere near the top in health care results. Further our people are among the most unhappy with their health care.
We need a universal health care system or at least universal health insurance.
Mary, Bob – I assume you want you gender reassignment surgery to be covered?
In the immortal words of CSM Basil Plumley… “Gentleman; prepare to defend yourselves.”
You will be pilloried (once again) for bringing your pesky, factual BS onto this board.
Yeah, such is life…
Speaking of schools, they should get no additionsl funding unless and until they hire teachers, administrators, and other staff who can at least pretend to have common sense.
Although this is a Texas school, the stupidity in this story could have happened anywhere.
That this kid was suspended for doing ehat was right should result in at least s couple of firings.
http://www.wltx.com/story/news/nation/2016/01/21/tx-student-suspended-carrying-classmate-having-asthma-attack/79112058/
It would help if they knew the three R’s also.
Let’s keep things intellectual here…she is pretty cute, though.
Check out the Oil Price thread! Classic FITS.
Another Lancaster native here letting you know she is so full of shit!!! “I know all those who serve in my hometown”, this woman and her husband have their nose so far in the air they could care less about those they consider below them which includes all citizens of Lancaster and this state unless there’s Political power to gain. More lies from another useless human taking up more oxygen from those too stupid to kick her ass to the curb!!!