Monday, March 11, 2013

SC politicians to lose some cover? I mean gain some transparency


"South Carolina stands alone", the article begins. A portentious four words, isn't it! Yes, the Patriot Network's home state has a lot of distinctions, for both good and ill. It was first in secession, somewhat typical for its on-off passion for independence and righteous principles through the centuries. For this and its fame as a center of conservative "family values", it was chosen as the focus state for Christian Exodus -- a very high distinction, but (there's always a "but" in the age of political correctness) it never came to much, alas.

S.C. also has a long history at the bottom of the states in public school prowess and so forth. I've read that we're one of the states most cursed by environmental degradation and political corruption. Thank God for the S.C. Policy Council -- it does a magnificent job exposing the latter every day, partly via this website:

http://thenerve.org/news/2013/03/08/ethics-bills/?utm_source=The+Nerve&utm_campaign=c6311b0e9a-Today_on_The_Nerve03_08_2013&utm_medium=email
State Law Allows Public Officials to Hide Private Income Sources

........“S.C. is the only state to require just one source of income to be disclosed: government income,” states the report from the South Carolina Commission on Ethics Reform, an 11-member panel appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley that made 23 recommendations in January to reform state ethics laws.

During a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday on several ethics bills, Henry McMaster and Travis Medlock, two former S.C. attorneys general who chaired the ethics-reform panel, emphasized the importance of public officials disclosing all sources of income – both government and private.

 Medlock told the subcommittee he was a member of the S.C. House in 1969 when he tried to get disclosure of private sources of income into an ethics bill.......

Every state suffers a greater or lesser degree of corruption but very few have a high-profile, professional-quality site dedicated to shining light on the illustrious pin-striped cockroaches. Quite a surprise that Robert's cousin Henry is in the lead here. He did give RBC some help in his many legal defenses, God bless him, but has a reputation as a neocon. Both he and Travis Medlock were trouble during the Confederate flag fight.

Maybe they'll redeem themselves with this action. Maybe God will forgive this blogger, too, for his cynical gut reaction to it -- wondering their real motivation might be.

Tell everybody about the Policy Council, The Nerve, the Patriot Network, and this blog!

/\/.\/\/.  torpenhow@charter.net

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