Since we’ve got Camp Hope and a family vacation this month, the blog will be down until August 1st. I’ll have access to my e-mail, so if you’ve got a question or need us for something, fill out this form or you may call Ms. Parker at 803-212-6024 (actually, Ms. Parker is the brains in our office if you haven’t figured that out already). TTFN

Our week’s theme this year was iSpace. Here’s a video that I produced while new to Final Cut Pro. Took a while but I learned a lot.

10.07.11.iSpace from Camp Hope on Vimeo.

I’ll be preparing to entertain 120 teen agers at our yearly week at Camp Hope shortly so there won’t be much from the backbench until August. New for camp is this zip line.  Take a look at this video from the top of the mountain. This is the 2nd longest zip line in the state of Georgia! Very Cool!

10.07.03.camphope.zipline1 from Camp Hope on Vimeo.

I’ll be on with Lee Rogers (Rick Driver is on vacation) on Tuesday morning, July 6th from 8am til. You may find WAIM at 1230am or listen via web at this link.

Many wanted to rush in to raise the cigarette tax because they are embarrassed that we have the lowest in the Nation. However, I wonder why there’s not an outcry to lower one of the highest income tax burdens in the US?

Here’s an exchange between Sen. Mick Mulvaney (R-Indian Land) and myself on this topic. The video was prepared by The Nerve (SC Policy Council)

This is the miracle we prayed for. Normally conference committees don’t open with a prayer, but after several meetings with no agreement with the required 4 votes, we opened the last meeting in prayer and asked for a miracle. We got one!

Here is a snap-snot of the signature page of the conference report on H. 3245, the 24 hour waiting period. Senators Brad Hutto, Jake Knotts, myself and Representatives Greg Delleney, Ted Vick, and Wendy Nanney were the members of that conference committee. Remember a conference committee is required to hammer out differences between Senate & House versions of a bill.

I also want to thank Holly Gatling (SC Citizens for Life), Oran Smith (Palmetto Family Council), Joe Mack (SC Baptist Convention) Medical Affairs Committee Research Staff, and Senate attorneys.

Seeing that the conference committee represents the membership of the legislature’s diversity on the varying degrees on this issue, I was confident that a conference report would be easily adopted in the full Senate and the full House.  The bill now awaits ratification, then an expected signature by Gov. Sanford.

General Assembly Saves 24-Hour Abortion Bill

Waiting Period Gives Day Long Reflecting Period Before Terminating Life

Columbia, SC – June 14, 2010 – With just hours left in the 2010 session, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a bill requiring women to wait 24-hours before having an abortion.  Chaired by Senator Kevin Bryant, a conference committee came to an agreement that will lower the number of abortions in South Carolina.

South Carolina is currently the only state in the country to have a one-hour waiting period for abortions – the shortest waiting period of all states with a waiting period. The new law would require a 24-hour waiting period upon printed materials about abortion being given to the patient. Information will also be placed on an interactive website created by DHEC.

The extended period would give women a full day of reflection before making one of the biggest decisions of their lives. The additional time to reflect on the risks of and alternatives to abortion will lower the number of abortions in South Carolina, help protect more unborn children and give mothers more time to consider the health risks.

In presenting the committee report to the Senate, Senator Bryant said,  “Each child is a gift from God and a person should truly reflect on their decision before terminating its life. A lot of abortions are made during crisis situations and this new law will simply require mothers to stop and think for twenty-four hours before making such a life altering decision.”

Senators Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson), Jake Knotts (R-Lexington) and Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) and Representatives Greg Delleney (R-Chester), Wendy Nanney (R- Greenville) and Ted Vick (D-Chesterfield) served on the conference committee. The bill was pushed through committee by Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler (R-Cherokee).

“South Carolina’s unborn children are safer because of the conference committee’s hard work. I’m proud that we were able to pass one of the most common sense bills of the session just in the nick of time,” Majority Leader Peeler said.  “I want to particularly thank Senator Bryant for not giving up and forcing the conference committee to come up with a compromise.  He personally saved this bill.”

DETAILS - H. 3245 - 24 Hour

Requires a woman to certify the she has received printed materials produced by DHEC 24 hours prior to an abortion.

Materials include:

- List of healthcare providers offering free ultrasounds
- Plainly worded explanation of how to determine gestational age of fetus
- Role of genetics in reproduction
- Forms for certifying you have seen the material

Materials may be printed from DHEC’s website - or requested to be mailed to the woman.

The Conference Report does not require a woman to receive an ultrasound 24 hours prior to an abortion.  Current law requires an ultrasound one (1) hour prior to an abortion.

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ): “The fight is about who is going to run public education in New Jersey. The parents and the people they elect or the mindless, faceless union leaders who decide that they’re going to be the ones who run it because they have the money and the authority to bully around school boards and local councils. So, listen, I know I don’t make myself the most popular guy in the world by having this fight, but [if] we don’t win this fight, there’s no other fights left. This is the fight we have to fight, this is the fight we have to win for the kids.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/04/gov_christie_to_teachers_unions_you_punch_them_i_punch_you_.html

Greenville News: Republicans challenge state’s open primary law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Patrick Haddon, Chairman, Greenville County Republican Party 864.320.1946

Joel Sawyer, Executive Director, SC Republican Party 803.988.8440

Greenville County GOP, SC GOP file suit to force registration by party

Greenville, SC _ June 2, 2010 - The Greenville County Republican Party and the South Carolina Republican Party have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Greenville, seeking to overturn laws that prevent political parties in this state from holding primaries in which only people registered for that party can vote.

The suit will have no effect on the June 8th 2010 Primary Elections, as it seeks only to change the way future primaries are conducted.

Currently, South Carolina law allows any registered voter to vote in any political party’s primaries, which denies political parties their 1st Amendment right of “free association,” a legal concept meaning individuals’ right to express themselves and promote common interests as a group.

In addition, the suit maintains that current state law denies political parties the right of equal protection under the law. State law requires that political parties who choose to nominate candidates by convention, rather than by primary, must get a 3/4 majority to nominate, effectively making the convention process prohibitively difficult. The suit notes that other entities, like non-profits and corporations, have no such restrictions under state law.

By overturning these unconstitutional state statutes, the Republican Party’s goal is to force a change in state law that allows parties to conduct party-only primaries in the future, if they choose to.

“We’ve seen Democrats influence Republican primaries for too long,: said Patrick Haddon, Chairman of the Greenville GOP. “We think that it’s our right as a party to hold our elections closed to people not registered as Republicans. Whether it’s churches, corporations or non-profits, government doesn’t mandate that people from outside those organizations tell them how to do their business. It should be the same for political parties.”

“The Executive Committee of the SCGOP made registration by party one of its top three legislative priorities for this year, and I am very proud to be joining Patrick and the Greenville GOP to push this suit forward,” said Karen Floyd, Chairman of the South Carolina GOP. “Republican primaries ought to be decided by Republicans, period. We believe this suit will be decided in our favor, and our hope is that it will force recognition of our right to make sure our primaries are not decided by outside influences seeking to exploit the system.”

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