ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN?
If you thought this website stood alone among new media outlets in the Palmetto State, you’d be wrong … and that’s a good thing. The more voices in this marketplace the better. And the better those voices … the more we will be challenged in what we do.
Anyway, one of the new media outlets occupying the far left fringe of the Palmetto marketplace of ideas is Statehouse Report – which is published by longtime Democratic operative Andy Brack. We agree with Brack on very little, but he’s a great writer – and often produces some compelling commentary.
His latest piece? A look at efforts by S.C. governor Nikki Haley and various “conservative” groups to take over the S.C. Senate.
“According to sources, Senate moderates targeted by an under-the-radar, cash-laden campaign include high-profile GOP players such as Senate President Pro Tem and Finance Chair Hugh Leatherman of Florence, Judiciary Chair Larry Martin of Pickens, Banking and Insurance Chair Wes Hayes of Rock Hill, Ethics Chair Luke Rankin of Conway and veteran Paul Campbell of Goose Creek,” Brack reported.
And who is behind this “under-the-radar, cash-laden” campaign? Well, we’ve obviously written on some of them ourselves, but Brack has his own cast of characters.
“Haley, through her longtime strategist Tim Pearson, recently formed A Great Day SC PAC, a 527 political organization that allows it to raise unrestricted, or dark, money,” Brack reported. “Another political action committee, The Movement Fund, with pro-Haley ties reportedly raised $1.8 million from 2011 to 2014 to help the governor’s preferred candidates. Other nationally organizations walking in lock step here to reshape the Senate include the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity, both of which have strong ties to out-of-state money pools offered by wealthy activists, such as the billionaire Koch brothers.”
Well, well …
Brack neglected to mention one other connection. Sources tell us Pearson and another Haley loyalist – Katherine Veldran – have been especially chummy of late with politicians linked to the neo-Confederate empire of Richard Quinn and Associates.
Like … especially chummy.
Big money, people … placing big bets.
All that cash flowing into all those groups is kind of funny when you consider it took just one Senator – Tom Davis of Beaufort – to shut down a gas tax increase in the chamber two years running. Also, Davis now has enlisted the help of GOP majority leader Harvey Peeler in helping shut down the fiscally reckless machinations of liberal S.C. Senate president Hugh Leatherman.
Frankly, we kind of like the way things are trending in the Senate at the moment … although that’s not to say we wouldn’t relish removing a few of its left-leaning members (including Leatherman).
Here’s the thing, though: Assuming a bunch of Nikki Haley puppets are going to vote better on bread-and-butter fiscal issues than the current crop of fiscal liberals is delusional. How do we know? Because it’s a matter of factual record.
Nonetheless, they’ve got the liberals fooled …
“A purge of Senate GOP moderates would be a victory for the dream of those who want state government to be so small that it drowns in a bathtub,” Brack wrote.
Really?
Haley made it abundantly clear throughout the 2016 national election cycle that she’s nothing but a big government establishment “Republican.” In other words she and her special interest masters may be talking a good game, but at the end of the day they’re no better than the bought-and-paid-for whores they are clamoring to replace.
49 comments
TRANSLATION: That’s right—there’s just no off switch on the Will Folks Pinocchio machine… like how he slept with Haley
He’s got the ethics of a skunk and lotsa RINO junk in his trunk—and embarrasses himself as he proves that here daily !!!
And you’re here everyday, reading every article and commenting on most. What does that make you? A sad groupie.
Lonely wasn’t only lonely but every time he showed his left-leaning rump
He was relegated to the Sanford libertarian line trying to counter Trump !!!
And Lone Ranger tries to bust Will’s balls, while being all up on them every single day. Without Will’s blog, Lone Ranger would probably babble at the wall next to his computer screen all day. Lone Ranger lives for every new word FitsNews produces. Poor little bitch.
lonely wasn’t only a little neurotic but Dimwit to the core
Getting handed his head online just downed him even more !!!
We all missed where you’ve handed anybody their head online, ever.
Maybe he means his own head?
littlet and flip and everybody went to the Section 8 office trying to get SNAP
And they DID until Trump’s DA’s busted them all because they’re full of crap !!!
Lone Ranger so lonely he likes his own writing,
No one else does, because our brain cells are still fighting.
That’s right–Flip did bust out of Remedial English and thought the teacher had thrown him a curve
He vainly accused the teacher of being racist because she said sentences with subjects require…VERBS !!!
Lone Ranger likes to dress like a ghost,
Wave his flag and scare minorities the most,
But deep down he knew,
Nobody shared his world view,
And that’s why he likes his own post.
Back when he was GrandTango.
Or be out in the woods, waving his Confederate flag and dreaming of getting his butt kicked by the Yankees!
moron
PACs like this one mainly raise money that is managed and “earned” by those running the PAC. Pearson and Company will make a lot of money. They may or may not knock a politician out of office, but they will make a lot of money.
Andy Brack is funny reading. Everything conservatives do is labeled “dark” money, Soviet style or parochial. The moderate Republicans money is pure as the driven snow, in the best interest of the entire state. Their cabal with Democrats — not a selfish interest to be found.
In Mr. Brack’s mind trial lawyers, teacher’s union and road contractors’ money is a more acceptable “lighter shade” than Koch brothers. What a joke.
Excellent comment.
Bracks shilling for those groups in no more “funny” than the way you so called”moderate” (sic) Republicans shill for the Koch boys and their billionaire friends.
You all seem quite concerned about how much taxes the poor billionaires uh, excuse me, “jobs creators”(thank you Frank Luntz) are paying and ,of course, the impending demise of the “free enterprise” system which is making more money than has ever been made.
It’s a tough job, “saving America” isn’t it BT?
Thank God we have you and the Koch Brothers .Its a tough job but somebody has to do it!
Reading your comment, one is likely to get the impression that making a lot of money is a bad thing. We should prabably punish them for it. Hey! It worked in Venezuela.
Yes mount the ramparts !
The Cubans and Venezuelans are coming to take your patrons ill gotten gains!
Why one can hear the strains of Onward Christian Soldiers in the background!
Always enjoy Republicans reminiscing about the good old days of the Cold War.Its Hell to think that pretty soon all sorts of people(even Republicans) will soon be roaming the streets of Havana!
Where have you gone Fidel Castro, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you woooo!
In fairness to him it doesn’t seem like he’s saying making a lot of money is bad, what he’s saying is that when government can’t take the money someone has made, that’s bad.
You’re right. I was being unfair. The mistake libs make is assuming they will continue to create wealth when the government takes it away.
The problem with people like the Koch’s and all the people who want to give dark money, is not that they have a lot of money. The truth is government does not benefit all people equally. The wealthy benefit far more from government than the poor. They just don’t want to pay their fair share. Taxes are the price of civilization.
Civilization benefits everyone, but especially the wealthy.
The problem is, that if it weren’t for the Koch brothers and others like him, no one would have money to pay taxes much less pay for anything else. Koch Industries employs 60,000 people in the US alone. In South Carolina, Koch Industries, Georgia Pacific employs 1290 people. Invista employs hundreds. That doesn’t include all the products and services Koch Industries provides. Brawny paper towels, Northern TP. Lycra, Spandex, Stainmaster, Dixie cups,
Most of what Koch Industries produces is for other industries that employ tens of thousands more Americans.
Such total BS. Like most Republicans, you act as though wealthy people are somehow a unique asset to be revered. That we owe them more than buying their goods. The truth is that if Koch were not there to produce jobs someone else would be. The current Koch Brothers have done nothing for society. In fact the base of their empire came from their father building oil refineries for Nazi taxpayers. They make billions a year on government contracts. They call on government to force other people to sell the land for their pipelines. They use government infrastructure to make their business work. They rely on government to protect them from having their money taken, etc. etc
All groups are a necessary part of the economy. The Koch’s would not be rich if they did not have everyone else to sell to. You guys always want to put the cart before the horse. You act as though people like the Kochs would be rich industrialist if they were living in a world by themselves. That somehow they would arise to wealth and power if dropped them naked in the middle of the desert. You have a serf mentality.
Koch makes money selling to people and to the taxpayers of this nation and other nations. If we were not a civilized nation they would not be successful. They have benefited far more from our civilization that almost anyone, and they should be prepared to pay to protect that civilization.
Total bunk. When Fred did work on a German refinery in 1934, blacks were more oppressed in America than Jews and others under the Nazis.
“All groups are a necessary part of the economyy.” The fact that they do work for the government, only enhances their value to the country. What would you pay for gasoline without pipelines or eminent domain. Their pipelines must carry product for any company that the pipeline is designed to carry and there fees are regulated.
Boy you do not get this. “The fact that “they” do work for the government only enhances their value” No it does not. if they did not do the work someone else would. That is how the economy works. Stop thinking like a servant. Heck for all you know if Fred Koch had not built refineries for Nazi taxpayers, the Nazi’s may have lost the war sooner, and we may all be richer than we are today. The Kochs are not altruistic. They are making money. That’s all. We owe them no debt of gratitude because they are doing that; because if they did not someone else would.
You ask what would I pay for gasoline without Koch pipelines? My answer is no more I am paying now, because I would not be without pipelines. If the Koch’s did not build pipelines someone else would build the pipelines. Again They are not unique. They are lucky. That does not give them any more right to have input into how society is structured and how we run the country than I have.
The Kochs are no different than you and me. They were lucky their father made a bunch of money, some of which came from Nazi taxpayers and because of our civilization they were able to build on that wealth. If they had been born to a poor family in the Congo, they would probably be dead.
The wealthy of this nation do not appreciate what our society does for them, and they dramatically overestimate their value to our nation.
You are the one acting like a servant, a resentful one at that. I’m free. I can choose to buy Koch products or not. You act as if they exercise power over your life.
That is not how the economy works. The most efficient, competitive, or innovative over the long haul gets the job. Your statement denies the roll competition plays in growing the economy. You contradict yourself. If someone else could do the job then they did not help the Nazis. Someone else would have done it. You act like you, me and the Koch brothers have not unique individual value. You said we are all alike. I believe we are all unique.
“The most efficient, competitive, or innovative over the long haul gets the job.”
Or the one who uses enormous wealth to crush all competition.
Think of the the products Koch Industries produces. Fabrics, carpet, paper products, wood products, petroleum products. Name one product that they make in which there isn’t many suceessful competitors.
There are always multiple players in any industry, but they are not all at the same level. Consider the story of Fred Koch himself –
“In 1927, Koch developed a more efficient thermal cracking process for turning crude oil into gasoline which allowed smaller players in the industry to better compete with the oil majors. The larger oil companies quickly sued in response, filing 44 different lawsuits against Koch, and embroiling him in litigation for years. This extended litigation effectively put Winkler-Koch out of business in the U.S. for several years. “Unable to succeed at home, Koch found work in the Soviet Union”.Between 1929 and 1932 Winkler-Koch “trained Bolshevik engineers and helped Stalin’s regime set up fifteen modern oil refineries” in the Soviet Union”
So although Fred Koch was a “competitor” the larger players in the market were effectively able to spend money and litigate him out of business in the US.
Considering the wealth and holdings of Koch industries do you dispute the idea that they could outspend anyone in any market if they so choose?
They kept him down for a short while and maybe they crush some, but there always comes someone with a better idea. All you have to look at is Kodak, IBM, and AT&T.
“someone with a better idea”
and Kodak, IBM and AT&T all had the market share at one time to crush or buy up these competitors, just because they were complacent and did not recognize the coming changes does not mean my underlying argument is incorrect.
I give up. You have fallen back to the typical republican line. You are just jealous. You’re right, the only reason I think that wealthy people should not be allowed to pay for votes and funnel money into the pockets of politicians, who will then benefit them, is because I am jealous. The only reason I believe that wealthy people do not appreciate what this country does for them is I am jealous. Typical Rove politics. If you don’t like what a person is saying attack the person. Ok, you are free to go back to kissing Koch feet and thanking them for all they do for you.
I don’t think like a servant, I think like an equal. We all have value, and theirs is no greater than anyone else.
Typical liberal. “My life will be better if we take it from the rich.” I believe the money will do more good and benefit the poor more if it is left in their company than taken by the government.
“The wealthy benefit far more from government than the poor.”
Lo and behold we agree on something.
What I can’t understand is how you could call for more government in the name of helping the poor in light of this fact.
The wealthy not only always benefit the most from government, they do so because the thoroughly own & control it- and that will never change.
Thank the Lord for Brownback in Kansas…he really saved those poor rich folks and job creators from having to pay for anything!
Raised the sales tax to highest level ever, cut government to its lowest level ever and they are still 300+ million in the red.
http://www.kansasbudget.com/
Troll alert. This thread is full on mindless nitwits that have learned a little something and think they know it all.
Look, a pimp’s gotta keep his ho happy. My bitch earns her money.
In other news . The sun is hot. Jorge Soros backs move on and black lives splatter. What a blog . Next
I have always known these slimy Republican state politicians would sell their souls for a few pieces of silver, but now they want sell out our South Carolina. Haley immediately sold out the Jasper Port site for a speaking role. Was anyone impressed with her speech? Now she spearheads the sellout of all of us. Republicans. Making bad leaders in South Carolina since 1964.
Actually Haley is right, it’s “transparent money” when you can’t see it.
Dark money is a cancer on the political system ushered in by Citizens united. The public has a right to know who is paying politicians and who is paying to influence politics. If one company pays millions to affect an election, they expect something in return. The public has the right to know who they are and what they want.
Republicans love dark money. They love being able to sell votes in the shadows. If we can’t get money out of politics at least it needs to be fully in the light. We need to know who is paying who and what they expect in return.
And, when Republicans in Congress had the chance to vote for the Disclose Act to make all contributors public, they killed it…because they and those contributors believe people giving millions to political laundering operations have more privacy rights than people giving a few bucks directly to the candidate of their choice.
Dumb one nitrate,
Please look up the dark money on the left. And report back, honestly.
I don’t mind you guys being on the left. I do mind you being dumb and leaving out relevant facts.
What relevant facts? Both Democratic candidates have promised to do what they can to overturn Citizens United and supported legislation to outlaw dark money. The fact that dark money seeks to find its way to all politicians is evidence it is a growing cancer.
The truth is Republicans think they benefit more from Dark Money and so they defend the practice.
Since the Citizens United decision, dark money is reshaping our political and social landscape and there’s nothing we can do about it.
LARRY D. THOMPSON, author of DARK MONEY, a thriller, a mystery and an expose’ of the corruption of money in politics.
Nikki is a dark girl. Naturally, she would attract dark money. Dummy.