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Columns

  • Column: As Senate debated gas tax, reason flew out the window

    The state Senate passed its version of the gas-tax hike late Wednesday night, after two days of debate. This version of the bill raises the tax by 12 cents a gallon gradually over six years. The House version was a 10-cent hike.
    Whenever large groups of politicians talk for long periods of time, you hear some real gems. Here are a few of this week’s Capitol highlights.
    ◆ House Speaker Jay Lucas: “A responsible plan does not raid the general fund to pay for roads.”

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  • Column: Imagine Jesus as a candidate in 5th District GOP contest

    Hearing the comments from some 5th District candidates and others already in Congress makes me wonder what a 21st century Jesus might say if he were espousing the same policies.
    “I would like to thank all of you for being here today,” Jesus would tell his followers. “After spending time feeding, sheltering and healing the less fortunate in Africa, seeking peace in the Mideast, trying to placate the Russians and addressing other world crises, it is good to be back in the greatest country on the planet.

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  • Column: The key to success: High expectations

    This column is about a teacher, a family and a state, and one simple but powerful idea – expectations.
    First the teacher. In 1804, in the S.C. backwoods of what is now McCormick County, at a crossroads called Willington, four Presbyterian men decided that the community needed a church and  a school.
    Presbyterians (then and now) place a high value on learning. Church rules require that ministers be “educated and trained,” and thus many Presbyterian ministers also taught school.

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  • Column: I don’t believe marchers’ science

    This weekend over 600 rallies and marches happened around the world for science. I watched some of the speeches on CSPAN from the rally in D.C. Many science topics were spoken about, but the core subject was that man-made global warming is considered settled science.
    What they are proclaiming is that their science is real. Why do they need rally for science that is real? They are not supporting Newton’s laws of motion here.

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  • Column: S.C. choice: Ideology or better roads

    For the last several years, plans to properly fund the maintenance and expansion of our state’s roads have been short-circuited in the S.C. Senate by road-plan opponents.
    Due to their stubbornness, only piecemeal solutions – the legislative equivalent of I-95’s stop-and-go traffic – have been advanced.

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  • Column: Call me bleeding-heart conservative

    I was the sole candidate who challenged Mick Mulvaney in last year’s Republican primary. Sadly, fewer than 14 percent of eligible voters voted. This year I have six Republicans in opposition to my bid – not to mention three in the Democratic Party and some others.
    Who will best represent all 660,000 citizens in 10-plus counties? I will. Here’s why. Principle: Much of leadership is clearing the clutter.

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  • Column: Biggest threat to driver safety is cell phones, not bad roads

    In the seemingly interminable debate about funding for roads in South Carolina, with the latest gas-tax hike being debated this week in the state Senate, we’re often told that billions of dollars must be taxed or borrowed in order to make the roads safer and more efficient.

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  • Column: Universities losing ‘unity of diversity’

    Recent events make me think back to my time in divinity school studying for my master’s degree.
    The university it was attached to was well-known as a theologically conservative institution, but the divinity school gained a reputation for being liberal-minded because it insisted we learn both sides of the argument.

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  • Column: Pug Ravenel and the tragedy of what S.C. might have been

    Pug Ravenel died last month. He was 79. Most people living in South Carolina today don’t know who he was or what he did. But they should learn.

    Pug epitomized the triumphs and tragedies of what is and what might have been for South Carolina.
    Full disclosure: I worked for Pug for almost two years when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1978. I was a true believer.

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  • Column: Send expert to Washington and restructure flawed system

    April 15 is a day most Americans dread. But for millions of hardworking taxpayers, the completion of tax returns is actually unnecessary.
    The government maintains records showing how much tax has been withheld from their paychecks. Their income is on file. The amount of tax they owe or tax to be refunded is on file, too. Yet tens of millions of hours are wasted with millions of Americans filing their tax returns with information the government already has.

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