Haley Hammers House, Senate on Tax Reform
Gov. Haley says Republican legislature should start acting like one
Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she's about to get a lot louder.
Haley addressed the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers and issued a blunt condemnation of the S.C. House of Representatives for its failure to include tax reform in the proposed budget.
"I’m not going to stand by and continue to say I am the proud governor of a Republican state when I’ve got a Republican legislature that just doesn’t know how to act like one," Haley said.
Haley said her administration asked the General Assembly to begin a tax reform plan that would simplify the tax code and reduce the manufacturing tax from 10.5 percent to six percent.
But, Haley said, the House Ways and Means committee left the $140 million tax plan out of its $6 billion budget last month. The House will debate the budget on the floor next week.
"Enough is enough," Haley said. "At what point can I go face any state in the country and say we have a Republican House and we have a Republican Senate but we can't get tax reform in this state.
"Something is very wrong. It doesn’t matter if you have the "R" or the "D" behind your name. What matters is you have to care about the taxpayers, you have to understand we will never create jobs in this state as long as we tax people to death."
When asked if she thought taking her fight to the public square would help anything, Haley said she was simply trying to inform voters.
"It’s not yelling at them," Haley said of the legislature, "it’s educating the public. There is not a person in this state that if they knew that there was a $6 billion budget and we paid for $140 million in tax relief ... and [the General Assembly] turned it down, that would not want to ask their legislator that question."
UPDATE (5:41 p.m.): Harrell Responds to Haley
House Speaker Bobby Harrell issued a statement late Wednesday in response to Haley's criticism.
"Today the Governor accused our Caucus of not acting like Republicans," Harrell said. "The truth is, we have cut taxes over $20 billion since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, and this year's budget has over $500 million in tax relief.
"But we are also acting like South Carolinians by protecting our state’s ports by funding $180 million to deepen the Charleston Harbor and fighting Governor Haley, her DHEC Board and the state of Georgia over the Savannah River dredging."
Sammy Evans Sr.
12:36 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
What the he?? does she expect, She has yet to act like a Republican, She has been like a little child, pouting when things don't go her way. Maybe it is payback for the way she handled the (Savannah River Dredging) or the (over seas trips) or maybe (Some of the people she has appointed to high paying jobs) Knowing some of theses people LIKE HERSELF ARE NOT NOW, NEVER WAS, OR NEVER WILL BE QUALIFIED THE JOB THEY HOLD. And yes I am a Republican, but a Republican that will never vote for Haley.
stanley seigler
2:15 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
@Sammy Evans Sr.: "She has yet to act like a Republican, She has been like a little child, pouting when things don't go her way.
COMMENT:
an oxymoron here...a pouting little child is acting like a GOP
agree: people LIKE HERSELF [GOP's] ARE NOT NOW, NEVER WAS, OR NEVER WILL BE QUALIFIED THE JOB THEY HOLD.
just kidding folks...the USA needs a strong, vibrant GOP...sad most of the current crop dont qualify...
2012: BO all the way...DEMs may gain control of house and senate...tho not sure it would be good for the country.
John H
12:38 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
To Stanley; The Republicans began the sulking within nanoseconds of BO election, blossoming into a full blow pout as the glower has become the new face of the Republican Party. Kind of reminds me when Clinton was elected. The Regan Conservatives (I was one) announced it was the end of life as we know it. I even kind of threw up a little in my mouth and choked when he played the saxophone at his victory party. But we managed, even prospered. We maybe in for four more years of BO and we will do what we always do...adapt.
JoSCh
10:00 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
@John H. spoken like a true socialist! Why don't you just beg for another handout from Nobama! Adaptation is progressive, and neither the bible nor the constitution with which you're wiping your a$$ talk about progress! What would the founding fathers think?!?!
/just kidding, but could you tell? It's so easy to be a conservatroll. Even morons can do it.
//serious note, good attitude, the lack of reason is why I'm no longer a Republican, I'd love it if they got it back.
stanley seigler
2:34 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
@JoSCh: "...spoken like a true socialist!...What would the founding fathers [FF] think?!?!
sorry i missed JoSCh's sarcasm...but in truth we do need to consider what the FF would think...
BTW none were christians...well one was (jay)...other were diests...OK so there are different opines...but for sure jefferson was a diest...see his bible.
oh/and...if they were christians...their christian beliefs were considerable different from today's far right christian beliefs...
JoSCh
2:57 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
Stanley, why would we need to consider what they would think? Good ideas stand on their own, they don't need a contrived blessing from someone long dead, regardless of how well regarded that person is. Considering "What would the founding fathers think" is speculative at best and fallacious.
stanley seigler
3:02 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
opine: it's always good to review the thoughts and ideas of great minds (FF or others)...we may learn something.
the FF were great minds...their "good ideas" have stood the test of time...sad the TPers dont understand them...
John H
9:23 pm on Saturday, March 10, 2012
To JoSCH: spoken like a true socialist!
Good one! You almost had me. This is way off topic but if many of the FF were not Christians then the revision of The Pledge of Allegiance of 1954 should technically be recinded to it's original form excluding the phrase "under God". There I go again. Spoken like a true Socialist, Atheist, and Communist.
stanley seigler
11:57 pm on Saturday, March 10, 2012
@JohnH: "Spoken like a true Socialist, Atheist, and Communist."
like a true patriot with an open mind...
BTW it's not what's in the pledge...it's what in our minds/hearts...how we interpret the basic tenets of the FF...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"
perhaps the pledge should be revised to say "under our Creator"...
irony: those who profess to be Christians...practice little ,if any, of the teachings of Jesus...and little if any of the principles of the FF.
John H
11:02 pm on Sunday, March 11, 2012
Hi Stanley: "We hold these truths to be self-evident:
Point well taken. Creeds, pledges, and oaths mean nothing if the basis for them are not taken to heart, and put into practice. The FF at great personal risk did just that, “in Order to form a more perfect Union,”…”to ourselves and our Posterity.” There is a tremendous responsibility and trust implied in the last statement of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. The ideas of the FF are still relevant.
stanley seigler
1:29 am on Monday, March 12, 2012
@John H: The ideas of the FF are still relevant.
for sure for sure say the valley girls...an amazing group of men...and;
tho they may have not been christians, in the current sense, have little doubt they believed in a Creator...had an understanding of life...justice for all...we may never know...eg:
render unto caesar...separation of church and state...we dont get it they did.
JoSCh
11:38 am on Monday, March 12, 2012
At least some of the FF all owned slaves. I'm not saying that they'd be pro slavery today and they likely wouldn't, but to think that all their ideas from then are applicable today is preposterous. Times and attitudes change. Some of the ideas of the FF may still be applicable, but most would have likely changed to varying degrees. Saying that Thomas Jefferson would or would not have supported one thing or another is disingenuous by both Democrats and Republicans.
I really couldn't care less what religion the FF were or what the pledge of allegiance says. I know what I mean when I say it.
John H
6:52 pm on Monday, March 12, 2012
To JoSCh: … “Disingenuous by both Democrats and Republicans”. You have a point there.
We are different in a small way. I'm a follower. I'll actively memorize creeds, oaths and pledges....helps me to stay grounded. Not for everyone though.
The genius of the FF was that they provided a way to keep the Constitution intact and relevant regardless of the beliefs of those that instituted it or are in control at a particular time. The fact that we can have this conversation publically without being hauled off is a testament to that.
stanley seigler
8:50 pm on Monday, March 12, 2012
@John H: “Disingenuous by both Democrats and Republicans”. You [JoSCh] have a point there
agree and it's throw up time when DEMs/GOPs call on the name of the FF to back their stupid political spins...but;
this does not diminish the contributions of the FF
re " actively memorize creeds, oaths and pledges"
tho not a christian in the organized church sense...the Lords prayer...covers all the bases.
JoSCh
10:44 am on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
@John H. Jefferson recommended the constitution be rewritten as needed and that revolution was necessary every 20 years.
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
and
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...And what country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not
warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
At least one of the FF didn't want the constitution to endure. I agree with him.
John H
12:10 am on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
To JoSCh; Jefferson recommended"
Not knowing the context within which this was written, realizing that the FF ideas were not sacrosanct, I would disagree with TJ on this one. Article V creates a dynamic Constitution that allows for change from within without scrapping it.
TJ wrote; "What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." He could not have forseen 600,000 American dead in the civil war to refresh liberty. The countless thousands lost to preserve the freedom we enjoy because of our Constitution that protects it. I will defend our Constitution.
willie robinson
12:48 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
If the governor was easier to get to, she might have more corporation from the legislators.
JoSCh
1:43 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
Fantastic Freudian slip. I'm pretty sure she got all the corporation (money) she needed at this time from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. The legislature and the people of South Carolina failed to bid high enough.
penny
2:33 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
Gee, Queen Nimrata, we can't do better on the budget. We have to cover all those bills you've been running up. Perhaps your favorite Georgia campaign donor could help us out. Or, perhaps, the Koch Bros.
Ken
9:14 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
The problem is that the republicans in this state ARE acting like republicans. They are protecting the interests of everyone except the ordinary citizens who were foolish enough to elect them.
stanley seigler
10:31 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
@Ken: "...foolish enough to elect them."
so very very difficult to understand...how we could be so foolish...especially the women.
John H
12:36 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
The headline of this article, “Haley Hammers House, Senate on Tax Reform” is apropos to the way Governor Haley handles certain situations. It might serve her cause better (whatever that may be) to adhere to the adage that it’s not what you say it’s how you say it. She has indicated that doing the right thing is more important than politics. However, when elected, she entered the political arena meaning that everything she does is political. Her demagoguery has alienated lawmakers and citizens alike, and it’s adversely affecting the efficiency of our state government. Perhaps part of being a good leader is learning the art of the velvet “hammer”.
John H
12:46 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
To Sammy; The Savanna River dredging was an example if inexperience. Our Governor didn’t directly issue the dredging approval; she asked the permit department of DHEC who previously denied the request, to let the Governor of Georgia plead their case, in effect adding that you (DHEC permits) are then free to do what you think is right. Everyone knows that when the boss asks you to consider another opinion what the boss is really saying is I’m not happy with the decision. It would be in your best interest to change it which they did. Then sometime later at the Propeller Club meeting she defended her actions explaining that she didn’t want politics to taint the permitting process adding there’s nothing there while at the same time she was making a political appointment at the head of the same DHEC that she wants to be apolitical. It seems as though she is naïve when it comes to the power and influence of her position.
Yvonne
1:26 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
I'm an independent, I refuse to blindly follow or support either group. However at this point there isn't a single politician who even deserves a vote. Government across the board from Federal to the smallest towns are so busy trying to appease everyone by passing laws, forming committees, regulations etc. that no one knows what there job is. We have DHEC and DNR supporter going to court to argue about deepening ports in GA. States are suing the FEDs about Healthcare. The Feds are suing states about immigration laws. ITS STUPID. BIG GOVERNMENT isn't just a FED problem but is reaching into the smallest parts of government. No One seems to know who is responsible for WHAT. STOP, THINK AND work together people. Stop passing laws and forming regulations before you check and see if a current law or regulation covers it.
stanley seigler
2:18 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
@Yvonne: "Stop passing laws and forming regulations before you check and see if a current law or regulation covers it."
as yvonne suggest: time-energy better spend enforcing existing laws/regs vice creating the illusion of progress with duplicate or unnecessary laws.
sadly illusions have become SOP.