SC

Taylor Brown: Previewing Two Big SCGOP House Caucus Fights

DIVIDED REPUBLICANS FACE SUPREME COURT RACE, LOOMING SPEAKER’S ELECTION  || By TAYLOR BROWN ||  You recently read here about blow-up related to the S.C. House GOP campaign school.  We thought there was much more to the story – and, guess what?  We were right. Turns out the scandal was all…

DIVIDED REPUBLICANS FACE SUPREME COURT RACE, LOOMING SPEAKER’S ELECTION 

taylor brown|| By TAYLOR BROWN ||  You recently read here about blow-up related to the S.C. House GOP campaign school.  We thought there was much more to the story – and, guess what?  We were right.

Turns out the scandal was all about controlling the cash that flows into the organization.

Many GOP consultants – and some House members themselves – view money raised by the caucus as their own personal honeypot.  And it turns out some of the consultants – and their friends and supporters – don’t want anyone else having access to the honey.

Kinda cozy and “in the family,” huh?

To make matters even worse, several former “majority” leaders have actually worked for Democratic candidates against House GOP caucus members.  In other words they got paid to target Republicans.

Why does this matter?  It matters because there are two big fights brewing at the S.C. State House.  The first fight involves the election of the next chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court.  If the speculation in the lobby is accurate, this vote could be used as a roadmap in the second big fight – the election of the next Speaker of the House.

Here is the lay of the land: Liberal Democrat Don Beatty will be the most senior member of the Supreme Court following the retirement of lame duck justice Costa Pleicones – whose one-year reign begins on January 1.  Traditionally, the legislature elects the most senior member of the court to serve as chief justice.  The problem? Even though he was elected by a GOP-controlled legislature, Beatty is not a conservative judge – and has angered many of the state’s solicitors with comments he has made (read about it here).  He was also a former Democratic member of the House.

Many Republican lawmakers have been making noise recently about electing conservative judges and justices – including a current member of the U.S. House.  But Democrats (and even some self serving GOP members) love horse trading – and leveraging their votes for personal gain and glory.

Plus, horse trading is the only way Democrats wield any influence – which they do.

How does this work?  Democrats bring 40-odd votes to the table, but by cutting deals with liberal, self-serving Republicans – they can quickly reach majority status.  And my guess is they will be using this Supreme Court race as a staking horse to see if the coalition can hold together can successfully challenge Speaker Jay Lucas.

How bad could this get?  We could end up with a liberal court and a liberal speaker in what is supposed to be one of the reddest states in the nation.

Stay tuned …

Taylor Brown is a 20-something Wofford College graduate who somehow got sucked into politics at an early age.  She is easily won over with Rush’s fast food, wine, and spirited political arguments.

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27 comments

The Colonel (R) December 16, 2015 at 10:44 am

“…personal honeypot…”
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

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TroubleBaby December 16, 2015 at 10:47 am

“I’m rumbly in my tumbly.”

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The Buzzman December 16, 2015 at 11:05 am

We all get the sense of it, though.

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CorruptionInColumbia December 16, 2015 at 11:16 am

I guess that would tranlate to something thatvis “really good”, so maybe not so far off the mark.
:-)

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Tazmaniac December 16, 2015 at 3:11 pm

I know honeypots can make a lot of money but they aren’t really practical for money storage.

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CorruptionInColumbia December 16, 2015 at 8:34 pm

Yeah, and you hope its old money rather than new. Those paper cuts can be hell on one’s willie!
:-0

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shifty henry December 16, 2015 at 8:59 pm

now cut that out..!!

The Colonel (R) December 16, 2015 at 10:47 am

Anything that the State House does where the operation can be described as, “…Traditionally, the legislature…” scares the Hell out of me.

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Bye Teatards December 16, 2015 at 11:00 am

I like how the GOP is ejecting the more radical and extreme elements of the party these days. FitsNews included. Is it really even a fight? Isn’t it more of a “These guys? Yeah, we don’t really claim them as members of the GOP. They don’t speak for us. Ignore them or come talk to us, the Real GOP.” Hardly a war.

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deportdemZwetZbachs December 16, 2015 at 11:12 am

‘radical and extreme elements’?
The Democrat Party hates God,believes climate change is the reason for ISIS,butchering unborn children and selling the baby parts for profit or dumping them in a landfill with garbage is a badge of honor and advocates for perverted marriage.

The REAL Democrat Party.

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Everybody December 16, 2015 at 11:39 am

Hi pogo. Happy Holidays!

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Rocky Verdad December 16, 2015 at 4:08 pm

“Flip from Ohio” – sure…………..more like Conway.

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erneba December 16, 2015 at 11:04 am

“We could end up with a liberal court and a liberal speaker in what is supposed to be one of the reddest states in the nation.”

Money and the quest for personal power will possibly help create this situation in SC.
If somehow, we could abolish Democrat and Republican labels and then designate by “liberal spender” or “conservative spender” we would probably be better served. Our voting participating rate is really low in SC, the percentage of people that actually know who and what they are voting for is even lower.

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Sic Semper Tyrannis December 16, 2015 at 1:09 pm

Durn E, you sound like a sane person that cares ! Hat is off. Salute !

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CorruptionInColumbia December 16, 2015 at 11:20 am

I think we already have a “liberal” Speaker in Jay Lucas, at least in the sense that he is not Pro-Second Amendment. This was illustrated in his failure to keep his promise to gun rights groups to bring the House version (the better version) of Constitutional Carry to the floor in the waning days of this year’s legislative session.

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Tazmaniac December 16, 2015 at 3:02 pm

Well as long as he goes to church what do we care about the Constitution? Got that account back to normal I see. Boogerman is looking good.

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CorruptionInColumbia December 16, 2015 at 8:38 pm

Oh yeah, Taz! It feels good to have my snot body back again!!!!!

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shifty henry December 16, 2015 at 12:08 pm

Cousin Judge in Alabama alerted me to the following news item, with his comment, “What’s wrong with these Negros today?”

“Birmingham found itself thrust into the national spotlight on Tuesday in a most unwanted way as a fight at City Hall sent Mayor William Bell and Council Member Marcus Lundy to hospitals”

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erneba December 16, 2015 at 1:28 pm

Birmingham is evolving into the Baltimore of the South.

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shifty henry December 16, 2015 at 9:08 pm

1) – Columbia = Detroit
2) – Birmingham = Baltimore
3) – [we’ll have to start a permanent list]
— and it’s all because of climate change

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CorruptionInColumbia December 16, 2015 at 8:37 pm

God, I just passed through Birmingham, yesterday.

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shifty henry December 16, 2015 at 8:53 pm

Here’s an update: Council President Johnathan Austin said Bell (the mayor) interfered with Lundy’s personal job with Regions Bank, threatening to Lundy’s bosses to take all the city’s money out of that bank “if they didn’t do something about Lundy.” Also, a confrontation between the city’s law department and Lundy over his use of a city car – which is illegal under state law – took place Monday evening, according to city spokeswoman April Odom. Another city spokeswoman, Brittany Sharp, said Tuesday evening that the discussion of the use of the city vehicle was not connected to the physical altercation between Lundy and Bell. What led to the fight, however, still isn’t perfectly clear.

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shifty henry December 16, 2015 at 9:06 pm

Notice that there are two “city spokeswomen” (April and Brittany) — hell, it sounds like T-Bone might want three for himself!
——————–
“My mom had me when she was
15, so I know the younger the momma, the more jacked up your name will
be.” (Finesse Mitchell)

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staffer December 16, 2015 at 12:23 pm

The next Chief Justice is going to Trey Gowdy or Don Beatty. It is going to be John Kittredge, who is conservative and honest.

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staffer December 16, 2015 at 12:24 pm

* not going to be *

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LD December 16, 2015 at 1:06 pm

You act like that is bad thing. After seeing the T-Rump crowd, you better hope the other side wins. At least the “liberal side” is closer to the middle.

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Lone Ranger December 16, 2015 at 5:33 pm

Yo…Taylor—how’s that again?… “But Democrats (and even some self serving GOP members) love horse trading – and leveraging their votes for personal gain and glory”

Well…let’s diagram that—first the poster-boy of leveraging—Joe-I-Flag-Rip- WITHOUT-Your-Vote-Wilson—head up Boehner and Ryan—and there’s more to the story

Joe gave fast-track to Obama (we shoulda slapped his mama) and was part of the lying RINO caucus that said…hey we’ll defund Obamacare and then proceeded to NOT

And like the flag-ripping SC legislator RINOs and OTHER Dimwits—deserves to be lined up at the 2016 political firing squad—reminded of NOT letting us vote—then shot

So it’s these same foxes guarding the henhouse when it comes to selecting THEIR OWN to sit on the Toal-DUI-Hit & Run-Almost-Supreme South Carolina “High” Court

But hey—when that Tea Train runs over them all in 2016—what’ll happen to them will make what happened to Custer at Little Big Horn look like little league sport !!!

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