the notes below were taken by Meg Campbell, a bright young lady that works for my office occasionally:

Questions and Answers

Town Hall Meeting, Hopewell

January 7, 2010

Q. What will the censure (Governor Sanford) do? Will it be anything more than a slap on the wrist?

A. No. The best thing to do would be to speak to your Representative; the Senate cannot do anything until the House has passed the resolution to impeach. Possibility of a ‘Recall Mechanism’ in South Carolina. (A recall mechanism allows for the removal of a politician seen unfit to continue serving. A certain number of petitions should be signed, and then the politician would be unfit for service.)

Q. Did anyone try to impeach the governor?

A. Representative Greg Delaney drew up an impeachment, but this was sent to a subcommittee and was changed to the censure.

Q. Is the ‘Recall Mechanism’ what they used on California?

A. Yes, Governor Davis was recalled and that is how Schwarzenegger was made Governor. It would not be often used, only occasionally.

Q. How much debt is accrued because of unemployment benefits? How will we pay for it? more than a $billion

‘Sovereignty Resolution’ keeps states Sovereignty and rights, and may be amended to allow people to choose whether or not they will receive medical insurance. 40 % of unemployment benefits go to people who have quit their jobs. Some goes to those who have been fired because of bad conduct. Benefits should go to those laid off because the company cannot afford to pay.

Q. Why do people give cigarettes a bad rap and raise taxes, why not on Beer and other liquor as well?

A. Beer and other liquor (which are taxed also) do not kill like cigarettes do when taken in moderation. [Bryant Pharmacy?] serves over 200 oxygen patients, 95 % of which smoke or have smoked. The expense for these patients are unfair to non-smoking taxpayers. However, a bill to raise taxes on cigarettes should not go to grow socialized medicine.

Q. Talking about the Terry program, People accumulate money over a 5 year period then collect as a lump sum, how does that hurt the state?

A. [Some comments from audience] People “retire” to gain the Terry benefit than continue to work for the school so they are paid from the school itself, and also through the Terry Program.

Q. How much will the Health Care Bill cost SC?

A. Not sure now, it has not been passed, and so far there are no numbers.

Q. How can we stop the Health Care Bill?

A. SC has been doing its part. Barrett, Graham and DeMint are all against it. Prayer is always good, but besides contacting other state’s congressional representatives, there is not much we can do. 40 democrats will not vote if there is funding for abortion in the bill and this has caused further delay.

Q. There seems to be a need for jobs for younger adults, how can we solve that?

A. The new Boeing plant has opened many jobs in the Charleston area. In addition if we lower taxes for businesses than that will encourage expansion.

Q. What about school growth, how can we consolidate?

A. There should be consolidation. Representative Bowen introduced the idea of Consolidation of duties over school district lines; such functions would be personnel, finance and procurement. Resource sharing would help as well. According to Bowen, in the last 2 and a half years, SC has spent 212 million dollars on school architectural plans alone. The state average of dollars spent per student is 12,000 dollars, but all of this money does not reach the classroom and benefit the student.

[Comment] I have disclosed all my contributions; they are all online, even more than what is necessary by regulation. It would not be bad for the schools to do this as well so you could track your taxes.

Q. What about term limits? Do the states have power to impose term limits on Congressional representatives?

A. No. The idea is not bad, but I do not believe in self-imposing it. The Senate is based on seniority and it would not benefit my constituents for me to self-impose a term limit.

Q. College tuition is becoming less affordable; what should we do to help students? Lower the average necessary to receive the 5,000 per semester scholarship?

A. Schools are getting more expensive, but when you raise the scholarship, the tuition increases as well. I do support Tuition caps.

Q. Too many jobs have left the country, how can we get them back?

A. Yes that is true, but in the last few years off-shoring has rapidly declined. Even in the last five years there has been a drastic decrease  in the number of jobs gone overseas. There is too much red tape and too many burdens on businesses. There is a need for Tort reform to stop frivolous lawsuits.

Q. Will a Fair Tax help jobs?

A. Yes, I am co-sponsoring a Fair Tax bill; we should not punish productivity. Sales tax should be raised and income tax lowered. [Comment from audience] Everyone has to pay sales tax, even those who are here illegally, even drug dealers, et cetera.