This article was a pleasant shock to me, but polling shows that a race for president with Ron Paul vs. Barack Obama would be very close.

I support Ron Paul on many issues (taxes, life, limited role of gov’t) yet we part ways on many (drugs, gambling), however, this poll is reflective that Americans definitely want a 180° turn. BO is hands down the coolest of the two, but it looks like the cool factor isn’t carrying him any longer.

Pit maverick Republican Congressman Ron Paul against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up, and the race is – virtually dead even.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters finds Obama with 42% support and Paul with 41% of the vote. Eleven percent (11%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

This poll is evident that Republicans must abandon this misbelief that we can only win back the White House by nominating a moderate. How about DeMint 2012?

Currently, the SC State Health Plan covers abortions in certain circumstances. Last month, the SC House adopted a budget proviso that prohibits the coverage of abortions except with the life of the mother is in jeopardy. In a 13-7 vote last night, the Senate Finance Committee removed the House proviso. Voting with to keep this proviso: Alexander, Bryant, Hayes, McGill, Ryberg, Thomas, Verdin; absent: Anderson, Grooms, Matthews

Whether you favor the exceptions in rape and incest or not, you’ve got to remember that 1-the child is innocent and 2-the taxpayer should not be paying for these abortions.

Here’s an article printed in the State:

Senate won’t end abortion coverage

Budget writers in the S.C. Senate have nixed House plans to end state health insurance plan coverage for abortions stemming from rape or incest.

The 12-6 vote on Thursday came as the Senate Finance Committee resumed work on what has become a $4.9 billion state spending plan.

Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, voted against the change, saying allowing abortions for rape or incest would put blood on every taxpayer’s hands.

Others argued the exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health in the current law are consistent with what federal law allows.

In a marathon session last month, the House ended state health insurance plan coverage for abortions unless they are needed to protect a mother’s health.

-The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — (Independent Mail) A high school junior from Iva won first place in the American Legion’s national High School Oratorical Program this weekend, earning her an $18,000 college scholarship.

Tori Beth Black, who is home-schooled, started the weekend as one of 53 champions in the 73rd contest, which challenges students on how well they can speak to an audience about the U.S. Constitution.

She advanced to the championship through three rounds of intense competition, officials with the American Legion said Sunday.

In each round, students delivered a rehearsed 10-minute speech before a live audience. There was also a round where students were given a topic, selected at random, and had five minutes to prepare a response.

Judges looked at students’ poise, their body language, the content of their responses, their speaking skills and their knowledge of the Constitution.

Black’s winning speech was titled, “A Rising Sun.”

In her speech, Black praised the Constitution as “the result of honor, freedom and integrity.”

She saluted the veterans who fought to defend it and challenged another generation to continue defending it.

“As the citizens of the greatest nation in the world, we have seen the rays of this rising sun beam upon us,” Black said in her speech. “And in fulfilling our duty, upholding our rights, we have the opportunity to gaze upon this shining sun for years and years to come.”

The American Legion began the national contest in 1938, said Mike Buss, the program’s coordinator.

“It was an attempt to better inform young students about the Constitution of the United States of America,” Buss said. “We want students to understand the importance of the Constitution and what it stands for.”

The scholarship money comes from an American Legion endowment. Each contestant who participates in the national competition receives $1,500. Nearly $140,000 was awarded in scholarships this year, Buss said.

There’s one student from each state, plus students representing Washington, D.C., and two of the American Legion’s foreign offices.

Elizabeth Blessing, another home-schooled student from Auburn, Ala., earned a $16,000 college scholarship with a second-place finish. Brooke Connor, of Bridport, Vt., finished in third place and received a $14,000 scholarship.

The scholarships account for a portion of the $3.5 million in post-secondary scholarships that the American Legion awards annually.

New porn sales tax — the right thing to do

My wife is a pediatrician who practices medicine in the Lowcountry. She also serves on the executive committee of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Recently, the chapter asked her to call on legislators to support the proposal which called for the imposition of a new $0.50 sales tax on the sale of each pack of cigarettes in the state — and to ask them to consider raising this amount to $0.75 per pack.

As a Republican, I’m not generally fond of these types of proposals, and I have even published a letter in The Post and Courier which argued against Gov. Sanford’s previously-stated position that this is a worthwhile concept. I believe this reduces the medical community’s incentives for advocating healthy lifestyles and healthy consumption, something which cigarette smoking is not. Still, when my wife asked me for the personal numbers of some of my Republican friends serving in the legislature, I obliged her request, suggesting she should first call Larry Grooms, who represents us in the State Senate, to ask about his perspective on the proposal.

After our discussion with Larry, who has owned sundry stores in Berkeley County which retail products like cigarettes, I came up with an idea regarding a way the legislature could address some of the state’s tax revenue shortfalls in a manner that is largely consistent with raising taxes on the sales of packs of cigarettes to generate funding for child health care needs in the state:

Impose new taxes on the retail sales of so-called “adult entertainment” media (i.e. magazines, videos, memberships in online adult sites, etc.).

More specifically: Implement an additional $0.75 sales tax on the sale of each adult magazine by a South Caroline-based retailer, the sale of every adult film by a South Carolina-based retailer, and the sale of each membership in an online adult site to a person living in South Carolina.

As a close observer of state politics I am confident that if the funds collected by this tax were used to further supplement child health care needs across the state exclusively, virtually no one in the State House of Representatives or the State Senate will stand in the way of any legislator who decides to champion this concept by introducing a bill to propose this measure.

This would be the right thing to do — not to mention an example of policy entrepreneurship that will garner a great deal of national media attention for anyone serving in the South Carolina State House. Not that our elected officials think in those terms.

Michael S. Smith II