Why I switched to Republican: We need jobs

From the Augusta Chronicle- February 18, 2010
By James E. Sanderson, Jr.

Certainly, it has surprised some in our community that as a lifelong Democrat and a member of the United Steelworkers of America for 36 years, I decided to become a Republican.

It wasn't a choice I made capriciously, nor was it something that hadn't already been a long time coming.

I'D LIKE TO START out by saying that I'm proud to be a steelworker, and proud for standing up for jobs in Georgetown County, S.C. I've been president of USW Local 7898 for 22 years.

But now, the plant is idle and people around here are hurting. Men and women, committed to putting in a hard day's work to provide for their families, are now doing whatever they can to get by.

I don't need to tell you that a person's work is important. Just look at a man who has been out of work, then look at one who just got a new job, or just got called back to work after a layoff. It's night and day. Unfortunately, around here, we've been seeing a lot more people out of work than those getting jobs. That has to change.

The fact is, Democrats aren't doing it. They aren't getting it done when it comes to creating jobs and securing a good business climate.

For years, I was a Democrat because I thought they represented the interests of working people. That's certainly not true anymore. They seem to have forgotten that when you harm businesses, you take away their ability to hire new people or even keep current employees on staff.

One example is the cap-and-trade debacle that they've taken up. This will take a giant sledgehammer to the American manufacturing base. The plant I worked in for so many years would probably never reopen. All those people I worked so hard for on behalf of the union would be dealt a critical blow.

I moved to Georgetown County in 1974. Democrats have been in control of the county council for almost all of the ensuing years. What do they have to show for it? Precious little. Over the years, it's become very obvious that the Republican Party in the county is the real standard-bearer for job creation. It's not that hard to figure out.

WHEN YOU'RE pro-business, you're pro-worker, too. As companies prosper and expand, people get hired, and get raises and better benefits. A company that's doing well doesn't want to lose good employees. So, if they're doing a good job, and you're doing a good job, everybody wins. That's why we can't tax and regulate businesses to within an inch of their lives.

Republicans understand this. I've been for lower taxes for as long as I can remember. You can't do what the Democrats are doing -- raising taxes on people -- while the government is spending money on foolish items and programs. You can't slap massive tax increases on companies and expect them to go on a hiring blitz. It simply defies reality.

Some people don't know this, but a lot of union members, like myself, are conservative. We believe in faith and family. We have a reverence for tradition. We love our country, and want it to be strong.

WE OPPOSE ILLEGAL immigration and support strong borders because America doesn't need people breaking the law coming into the country to take our jobs and take advantage of our government programs without paying the tax dollars that fund those programs. Our nation is one of immigrants, but legal immigrants. If you want to live and work here, you have to obey the law like everyone else.

I've talked to the membership in the local, and a good portion of the members are coming with me, working to help get Republicans elected. I don't see a contradiction in my being a union member and a Republican, because the only party out there busting its hump for job creation is the Republican Party.

(The writer lives in Georgetown, S.C.)
Link: http://chronicle.augusta.com/print/453363

Democrats play politics with road funding

Published in the Pawleys Island Coastal Observer- August 13, 2009

By Tom Swatzel

It all started several years ago when the Georgetown County Transportation Committee refused to pave a parking lot.

Democrats Rep. Vida Miller and Senator Yancey McGill appeared before the CTC to ask the committee to approve using road improvement funds to pave a parking lot at a proposed library in McGill’s district.

Shortly after the CTC rightfully denied the parking lot funding, Miller and McGill collaborated on legislation that removed county council’s power to appoint CTC members and gave those powers instead to the Georgetown County legislative delegation which now consists of Democrats Miller, McGill, and Rep. Carl Anderson, and lone Republican Senator Ray Cleary.

Since being captured by the Democrat Party-controlled legislative delegation, the CTC, which should be spending gas tax money objectively on a thoughtful plan to improve county roads, has instead become a puppet for the Democrats' efforts to fund back-room road deals.

In 2007, after being strong-armed by the delegation, the CTC agreed to spend almost $800,000 in taxpayer money as a “pilot project” to pave five very sparsely populated roads in McGill’s district in western Georgetown County.

Incredibly these five roads jumped ahead of all 28 of the Waccamaw Neck roads listed at the time on the CTC paving priority lists. Two of the roads did not appear on any of the CTC priority lists and one of the roads, the 1.5 mile long Center Road, had no houses on it at all.

When a member of the CTC, Ricky Horne, balked at approving the paving and was vocal in his opposition, he was removed by Miller, McGill, and Anderson. They replaced Horne with Betty Moseley, who actually lived on one of the roads involved in the questionable funding.

Linwood Altman, a respected former Democrat state legislator from Pawleys Island, who strongly opposed the paving plan, resigned from the CTC rather than participate as a rubber stamp.

Recently McGill issued a letter to the CTC “on behalf” of the legislative delegation that effectively commanded that the CTC approve spending $85,000 to partially pay for a Highway 17 median cut in Murrells Inlet that would benefit a local bank.

Never mind that McGill’s letter violates state open meetings law because the legislative delegation never held a required public meeting to vote on issuing the letter to the CTC.

In June, the CTC approved McGill’s directive and funded the median cut despite that fact that the cut is contrary to the county transportation plan and violates both county and state road access standards.

Only Republican Cleary has publicly opposed the median cut.

A review of McGill’s 2008 campaign finance reports reveals that he got several thousand dollars in campaign contributions from members of the bank’s board of directors. The contributions are curious because none of the board members live in McGill’s district, nor does the bank have a branch there.

The CTC has been asked to reconsider their vote on the median cut funding, in part because the cut is not in compliance with their transportation plan. When the issue of the plan was brought to the CTC’s attention, effectively they said “what plan?” acknowledging that they had never seen the plan.

It’s no wonder the CTC is devoid of a transportation plan. As long as the Democrats on the legislative delegation control the appointments and treat appointees as puppets, they will never be able to think for themselves and deal with the important transportation issues facing Georgetown County objectively.

County taxpayers would be much better served if the CTC appointment powers were returned to county council, ending the reign of the Democrats and their costly back-room deals.

The writer is chairman of the Georgetown County Republican Party

County GOP News

August 4, 2009

GOP candidates for City of Georgetown offices debut campaign websites this week

Marty Tennant, candidate for mayor, and Paige Sawyer, incumbent candidate for city council, debuted their campaign websites this week.

Tennant's site is www.martytennant.com

Sawyer's site is www.paigesawyer.com

Tennant faces liberal Democrat Jack Scoville, a long time Democrat Party activist, and petition candidate Bob Sizemore for mayor.

In addition to Sawyer, James Moody and Bruce Yablin are the other Republicans running for the three open city council seats. They are opposed by Democrats Brendon Barber, Jeanette Ard, and Dedric Bonds.

The election is on November 3rd.

The GOP Patriot's Club will conduct a "Phonathon" this Saturday, August 8th to expand the Georgetown GOP's membership and data base. Volunteers are needed to man the phones. Contact club president Vikky Ferris at (843) 546-5590 for more information.

The Waccamaw Neck Republican Club will hold a special meeting on Friday, August 21st at Applewood's Restaurant in Litchfield.

Congressman Henry Brown will be the featured speaker. Mark your calendar and join our Congressman for a "Cup of Coffee". The meeting will start at 10 am.

Congressman Brown will provide an update on legislation in Washington and more importantly he wants to hear constituent concerns.

The public is invited. Contact club president Jim Jerow at (843) 237-9456 for more information.

Visit the events calendar at www.georgetowngop.org for a full listing of upcoming GOP events.

Why make taxpayers fund candidates they don't support?

Published in the Coastal Observer- June 4, 2009

By Tom Swatzel

Do you agree with liberal Democrat Rep. Vida Miller that you and your family should be taxed to pay for the election campaigns of politicians running for the General Assembly or statewide office?

Especially now, in this severe economic recession -- with state and local governments having to cut back on basic services including laying off hundreds of teachers -- is it really a good idea, as Miller proposes, to divert our tax dollars to pay instead for politicians' political campaign ads?

Do you think it’s wise, as Miller wants, to give politicians state-issued, taxpayer-funded debit cards to pay for all their campaign signs, bumper stickers, polling, and other campaign costs?

Do you think it's fair that you would be forced under Miller's scheme to financially support the campaigns even of politicians whose views you strongly oppose?

Not surprisingly, there are a handful of radically liberal politicians in Columbia who agree with Miller, who would answer “yes” to all the above and do think it’s good public policy to coerce you and me to fund their election campaigns with our state tax dollars.

Luckily for us, these radically liberal politicians are few in number. Out of 124 members of the state House, only three were willing this year to join Miller in sponsoring legislation that would force taxpayers to fund election campaigns. Thankfully, her legislation never made it out of committee.

Besides Miller, who are the politicians who think you and I should be forced to pay for their reelection campaigns? Democrat representatives Joe Neal, David Mack, and Lonnie Hosey.

It’s no real surprise that Miller is pushing this coercive big government legislation. Her liberal views are in complete agreement with the S.C. Progressive Network, the left-wing special interest group clamoring for her compulsory taxpayer-funded campaign bill. Both SCPN and Miller are pro-abortion, anti-Right to Work, and don’t support the state Marriage Protection Amendment that defined marriage as being between one man and one women.

In 2005, Neal joined Miller in refusing to vote in favor of even putting the Marriage Protection Amendment on the ballot, and in 2007, they refused to vote to ratify the amendment even after 77 percent of South Carolinians voted in favor of it. The official House Journal recorded Miller and Neal as “present” but not voting in each case. Mack was also recorded as present but not voting in 2005, but in 2007, he actually voted against ratifying the amendment.

According to research by the North Carolina-based Civitas Institute, the influence of liberal special interest groups such as S.C. Progressive Network is likely to increase with taxpayer-financed elections.

According to the Institute, “special interest groups would be able to leverage smaller amounts of private money to open public coffers for their chosen candidates. One can easily envision teachers unions hand-picking the candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction by mining the union members for the qualifying contributions.”

Additionally, in a study of taxpayer-financed elections in Maine and Arizona, the Civitas Institute found the following problems:

* Incumbent politicians became further entrenched.
* The number of candidates running did not increase.
* The way lawmakers vote on legislation did not change.
* Elections were not more competitive.
* Voter turnout did not increase.
* Taxpayers' confidence in government did not improve.

Clearly, the research proves that compulsory taxpayer-financed elections do not live up to the promises of their propagandists.

Let’s be thankful Miller and her small band of big government liberals in Columbia were not successful in forcing us to pay for their reelection campaigns. Please join me in urging her to drop this terrible idea.

Swatzel is the chairman of the Georgetown County Republican Party

Vida Miller's out-of-state campaign money

From the April 30, 2009 edition of the Pawleys Island Coastal Observer

By Carole Faulk

Former county Democrat Party chairman Richard Smith’s recent defense of liberal Democrat Rep. Vida Miller’s state house bill that would force taxpayers to fund the political campaigns of candidates for the General Assembly and state offices is a masterpiece in deception.

Never did he acknowledge the fact that Miller’s proposal would cost taxpayers millions of dollars to pay for the campaign expenses of politicians and for the administration of the proposed law.

At a time when the state budget is extremely tight and cuts in essential services are likely, apparently using our tax dollars to pay for the campaigns of politicians is a spending priority for Smith, Miller, and the other liberal Democrats that have sponsored this bill.

Nor does Smith admit that beyond the support of liberal Democrats for Miller’s bill, the primary supporter is the South Carolina Progressive Network, a far left special interest group that supports gay marriage, is pro-abortion, and anti-right to work.

Smith wants to talk about Sen. John McCain’s and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s support for taxpayer funded elections in their states and how Jill Kelso is at odds with the two Republicans on the issue.

Kelso, a Republican, represents the best interests of already beleaguered taxpayers in South Carolina, not big-name politicians in Arizona and California, regardless of their party affiliation. She believes Sen. McCain and Gov. Schwarzenegger are wrong to support forcing taxpayers to pay for political campaigns, and she's not afraid to say so just because they happen to be Republicans. And I agree.

While Smith wants to take issue with campaign contributions that Miller’s opponent, Kelso, received from supporters from around the country of limited government, lower taxes, and education reform, he fails to mention the special interest groups that Miller is financially beholden to.

These are just some of the out-of-state special interest groups that have financed Miller’s campaigns:

Pay day lender TitleMax- Savannah, Georgia; Bank of America- Charlotte, North Carolina; hospital operator United Health Services- Toccoa, Georgia; nursing home operator National HealthCare Corporation- Murfreesboro, Tennessee; pro-abortion PACs Emily’s List (they endorsed her) and the Women’s Campaign Forum- Washington, DC; labor union PACs from the steelworker’s, longshoremen and autoworker’s and the AFL-CIO.

Smith fails to mention that Miller’s liberal voting record in Columbia has attracted a number of fans: big-name liberal Democrats Joe Biden, John Edwards, Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Dick Gephardt, nationally-recognized liberals who funneled $4,000 from their out-of-state PACs to Miller’s campaigns because they like the liberal way she votes.

And let’s not forget some of the in-state special interest groups that have contributed to Miller:

SC Trial Lawyers Association; both the SC Beer and Liquor Wholesaler’s Associations; the convenience store operators via the SC Petroleum Marketers Association; and the pro-abortion SC Reproductive Health PAC, which endorsed her candidacy.

If Smith and Miller want to champion spending our hard earned taxes to pay for political campaigns, that’s their right. But let’s be very clear about the costs and effects on the state budget.

Let’s also be very clear that this is an attempt by liberal politicians to force taxpayers to financially support the election campaigns of candidates that they do not agree with.