June 23, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Statement on Governor Sanford  

      Senator Greg Ryberg (R-Aiken) today said that the man-made tempest surrounding the recent vacation of Governor Sanford is “nothing more than an intra-party political fight driven by the political enemies of Governor Sanford.” Senator Ryberg said that, “The only people worried about the fact that Governor Sanford went hiking without an armed guard remain well-documented Republican political adversaries of the governor seeking to embarrass and discredit the governor. These same people fiddled during the last six months while South Carolina burned. Governor Sanford spotlighted their dereliction and now the defenders of the status quo are lashing back.”

      Senator Ryberg noted that Governor Sanford was on a trade mission to Estonia at the time of the 2007 Charleston Sofa Superstore fire and that his office immediately located him to notify him of the tragedy and get him home in time for the memorial ceremonies. “I am confident,” Senator Ryberg said, “that if they can contact him in Eastern Europe then they can also contact him in a national park a few miles from here.”

      Senator Ryberg also noted that, “The loudest yelps of concern for gubernatorial authority come from the same people who take every opportunity to destroy that authority. The notion that these people worry about whether or not Governor Sanford needs to sit by the phone waiting to wield his nickel’s worth of power only adds insult to injury.”

      Senator Ryberg added that, “What is this bizarre obsession with security? It reeks of elitism—one that pervades South Carolina government at all levels. South Carolina legislators should spend less time worrying about bodyguards and more time worrying about the double-digit unemployment and reckless spending that really matters to the people who pay for the perks and status symbols of the legislators.”

I appreciate the SC Policy Council’s efforts to educate the public on limited government, free enterprise, and individual liberty. They’ve rightly criticized the legislature for wasteful spending and back door politics. I will vouch for the accuracy of this report except it only reports on roll call votes and leaves out voluntary recording of votes. In early 2009, during the debate on rules changes requiring more roll call votes, I was very vocal on changing on mandatory roll call votes on everything. We made some progress, yet not enough. At that time, Sen. Greg Ryberg (R-Aiken) and I made the commitment that we’d voluntarily record our votes in the journal on every bill on either 2^nd or 3^rd reading. Here’s a link to the Senate Journals. I would like to see a change in format of the Senate Journal as it is often difficult to decipher.

Here’s an excerpt from the SC Policy Council’s article:

2009 General Assembly Voted Anonymously 75 Percent of the Time

Written by SC Policy Council

The South Carolina General Assembly recorded its votes on 532 out of 2,116 bills considered during the 2009 legislative session, according to the final vote count tracked by the Policy Council.  This total excludes votes on congratulatory resolutions that did not impact actual legislation.

74.9 percent of votes held by the General Assembly were taken via anonymous voice votes despite new rules adopted by the legislature in January requiring more accountability. The House recorded votes 31.2 percent of the time in 2009. The Senate recorded votes 15.6 percent of the time.

Both legislative bodies held more votes on the record this year than in 2008, but even with this improvement the South Carolina legislature remains among the nation’s worst with just 1 out of every 4 votes being recorded. Read on