Sunday, December 16, 2012
Ard resigned in March, pleaded guilty to ethics violation.
Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Ken Ard has given his first interview since leaving office in March amid an ethics scandal that ended his political prospects. He admits to breaking the law, but says he never intended to do wrong, and that most of his failings were stupid mistakes. “There was never any malice in my heart. I didn’t think or know I was breaking the law. But I did,” said Ard in an exclusive interview with his hometown paper. “It was my responsibility to know how to do things, and I chose to do them a different way. What I did was stupid and wrong — without a doubt." Ard pleaded guilty in March to breaking campaign finance laws. He was sentenced to probation and resigned from office. Charleston Sen. Glenn McConnell was sworn in …
Monday, March 19, 2012
South Carolina near the bottom for corruption risk
South Carolina ranks among the states most likely to suffer from government corruption, according to a study released Monday. The Palmetto State earned an "F" in the study, conducted by the Center for Public Integrity, because it lacked accountability, its ethics commission was deemed inadequate and campaign finance laws were not strict enough. "An undercurrent of fear and political interference bubbles throughout the state’s civil service, one that is shot through with cronyism and patronage," Corey Hutchins, the State Integrity Investigation reporter for South Carolina, wrote in his report. The report graded states on 14 categories from the public's ability to access information to internal auditing to legislative accountability. South …
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Next lieutenant governor bringing baggage: respect and leadership.
Sen. Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) will take the oath of office today to become South Carolina's next lieutenant governor — a political demotion for the ages that brings the state's most powerful politician down to the level of executive seat-warmer. Explaining his decision, McConnell said Friday that he didn't want Columbia to change who he was. That will likely prove ironic, because observers are convinced that he will change the role of the lieutenant governor in the Palmetto State. With former Lt. Gov. Ken Ard facing a year-long investigation into his campaign misdeeds, the expectation was that an eventual exit would be prefaced by some musical chairs in the Senate. McConnell would step down from his leadership role momentarily to let…
Friday, March 9, 2012
He'll be the state's next lieutenant governor, but powerful senator says he won't close any doors.
S.C. Sen. Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) should become the state's next lieutenant governor Tuesday, but the powerful leader of the senate won't rule out another run for his seat representing Charleston's District 41. McConnell acknowledged the sacrifice he is making by accepting the oath, losing the seniority he has built over decades serving in the Statehouse. But the resignation of Lt. Gov. Ken Ard over campaign finance abuses meant McConnell was next in line. "It's not an office I have sought, but the order of succession must be maintained," he said. "I want the people of the district to know I did not abandoned them. I simply complied with the Constitution." But will McConnell abandon his new post? The senator refused to say for …
Lt. Gov. Ard out over ethics violations
Update: Ard Pleads Guilty To 7 Charges, Sentenced to Probation, Community Service A judge sentenced former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Ken Ard to five years probation Friday afternoon after Ard admitted campaign ethics violations. Ard pled guilty to seven ethics charges Friday afternoon, hours after resigning his position. Ard will also have to do 300 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine. He could have been sentenced to up to one year in jail on each charge. A state Grand Jury indicted Ard on seven charges of violating ethics laws Friday following a months-long investigation into his use of campaign finances. Attorney General Alan Wilson said the ethics violations were unprecedented and represented a total ignorance of campaign …
The social media response to the Lt. Gov. stepping down was swift
Storify is tool that allows readers to track what's happening on Social Media on a particular topic. Over the past few days, there has been plenty of talk about Ken Ard.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ard uses state letterhead to pen endorsement
Lt. Gov. Ken Ard brought more ethics questions upon himself Tuesday when he sent out his endorsement of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on state letterhead. Ard's endorsement is not the problem, but the state-funded paper it was written on could have been. The Palmetto Public Record cited a section of the South Carolina Ethics Reform Act that prohibits the use of any public property to influence an election. The law states: (A) A person may not use or authorize the use of public funds, property, or time to influence the outcome of an election. Ard's communication director, Julia Foster, sent the press release, which may also be considered a violation of the law. But South Carolina Ethics Commission general counsel Cathy Hazelwood told …
Dr. John
7:28 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Stanley, I do understand also that we are talking about personal tax rates and not corporate rates. But your remark about going back to the 1950's tax rates bothers me. You cannot choose just one aspect of a certain period such as tax rates. Although you disagree with the tax rates that have progressively lowered over the last 60 years, you are disregarding all of the progress, socially and … more ›