South Carolina Lt Governor Ken Ard resigns

Good riddance to another South Carolina Tea Party busybody! Let's hope Governor Haley is next, even if she DOES get the cover of Italian Vogue.

From the Charleston Post and Courier (story by Robert Behre):

COLUMBIA -- Ken Ard quickly rose to prominence in S.C. politics as a tea party favorite, hailing his business credentials and his family's roots in Pamplico, a Florence County town so small it lacked a traffic light.

Ard's political career crashed around him Friday, and the Republican lieutenant governor resigned in disgrace.

In an unprecedented sequence of events, Ard then:

:: Was slapped with seven ethics violations by a state grand jury.

:: Pleaded guilty in a Columbia courtroom, tearfully asked a circuit judge for mercy.

:: Was spared prison but was given five years' probation, a $5,000 fine and 300 hours of community service.

Ard's legal woes reverberated far beyond his office. Charleston Republican Glenn McConnell also resigned Friday as Senate president pro tempore, a post considered the most powerful in state government, to assume the state's largely ceremonial, part-time lieutenant governor job, as the state constitution calls for.

Friday's unprecedented sequence of events stemmed from Ard's decision, the year before his 2010 election, to funnel his own money through friends back into his own campaign so it appeared that he had far more financial supporters than he actually did.

That would work to scare off potential primary opponents.

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson noted that Ard could have contributed legally as much money to his bid as he wanted -- and Ard did spend about $525,000 on his own race. But it was $75,000 of his money that Ard deceitfully funneled through others and back into his campaign that led to four charges of unlawful reimbursement of campaign funds, Wilson said.

Ard also pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false reports stemming from about $87,500 in phantom contributions that were never made to him. The last count was for using his campaign money for personal use, a charge for which he already had paid a $60,900 ethics fine, the second-highest in the state's history.

"Campaign transparency was in reality campaign deceit," Wilson said. "Nothing is more important than our election process. The people have a right to true and accurate information so that the voters can make their own judgment. ... If the process is falsely manipulated, its purpose is destroyed."

From his resignation statement to his appearance before Circuit Judge G. Thomas Cooper, Ard did not attempt to gloss over his failings.

"Your honor, I stand here accepting 100 percent of the blame," he said. "I stand here humble, apologetic."

Ard's voice cracked as he mentioned his wife and three children by name, saying they and his supporters have been better to him than he has deserved. Ard said he was "ashamed" of what he had done, but noted that he can't undo it. "All I can do is say I'm sorry."

He also said he would love to have the day back when he sat in his truck and conceived of the illegal campaign financing scheme.

"I don't regret much, but I regret this as much as anything I've ever done in my life," he said.

Eddie Floyd of Florence County said he deeply regrets advising Ard that he did not need to spend thousands of dollars on a professional campaign consultant, and Floyd said he would serve Ard's sentence for him if he could.

Ken Jackson, a business associate of Ard, expressed the same regret, saying Ard never was one to tend to details. "He is what you might call a 'manager by walking around.' He is not a detail person."

The Rev. Jim Crooks, Ard's pastor, said he has come to love Ard in spite of his mistakes in this case. "I like his realness," Crooks said. "He's been straight up ... he has not tried to lie his way out of it, and I admire that about him."

Left: Ken Ard, guilty guilty guilty.




Cooper noted that he, like Ard, also once served on a county council, adding, "I think you have done a disservice to the people of South Carolina by these actions." Cooper also told Ard that he was different from most criminals who appear before his court. "Some might say this sentence is harsh. Some might say it's lenient," Cooper said. "I do not feel a prison sentence is appropriate today."

Wilson said he expects no further indictments in the case by the state grand jury. He noted that all witnesses had cooperated.

As a politician who also won his first statewide office in 2010 and who campaigned alongside Ard as part of the GOP ticket, Wilson he still personally likes Ard and wishes his family the best.

"I entered this day with a heavy heart. I leave it with a heavy heart," Wilson said. "There's nothing fun about this."

For those following Friday's news as it broke, there were few lulls.

At 9:40 a.m., Wilson's office said he would discuss the statewide grand jury later in the day. Ard submitted his resignation to Gov. Nikki Haley by 10 a.m. Wilson met with a swarm of reporters at 1 p.m., then he and Ard appeared in a courtroom an hour later.

Well, *I* thought a prison sentence was appropriate today, and every day, for lying politicians. (Read the rest of it.)

Meanwhile, dogged Will Folks is still on the case. He pointedly asks where our fashion-plate Governor had gone off to, during the Ken Ard extravaganza? Good question:

So where was South Carolina’s embattled governor, Nikki Haley, during all of this turmoil?

That’s easy … she was sipping drinks at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, where she and her husband Michael were attending the 2012 Club for Growth winter conference. In fact the governor and First Gentleman were spotted “enjoying some Cabernet” with Jon Fleischman, editor of a 1990s-themed California political blog.

Wait … Haley? At a Club for Growth event? With her atrocious fiscal record?

Apparently so … in fact Haley goes to these sorts of things all the time … all over the country.

It's like when they caught Spiro before they caught Nixon.

Doesn't seem fair, somehow, does it?

Stay tuned, sports fans.

Haley Watch: Nikki wastes another $1M, needs tutorial in how to govern

This just in from the intrepid Renee Dudley of the Charleston Post and Courier:

SC Gov. Haley dictated health panel finding
Outcome ordered before committee met
BY RENEE DUDLEY
rdudley@postandcourier.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Gov. Nikki Haley dictated the conclusions of a committee charged with deciding how the state should implement federal health care reform before the group ever held its first meeting, public documents show.

Now, some of those involved in the dozens of meetings are calling the entire planning process a sham that wasted their time and part of a $1 million federal grant.

In a March 31 email thread that included Haley, her top advisers and the committee member who eventually wrote the report, Haley wrote, "The whole point of this commission should be to figure out how to opt out and how to avoid a federal takeover, NOT create a state exchange," which is eventually what happened.

A central part of the federal health care overhaul, an exchange is a marketplace where various insurance plans eventually will be sold.

The emails were released to the newspaper Friday afternoon in response to a Nov. 16 public records request to the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The newspaper had made a nearly identical request of the governor's office in May, but the office did not include the emails in its response.

The documents show a first-term Republican administration focused on public perception of its handling of the Democratic health care reform law. They also reveal the tight control Haley and her top aides exercise over other state agencies, requiring media inquiries to various state departments to pass through the governor's office for inspection.

"Oh my God, we just threw $1 million away here," said Frank Knapp, who participated in the meetings as president of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce. "This confirms this whole thing was an effort to justify the million-dollar grant, but the reality is they had no intention of even exploring whether the state should establish an exchange -- which is exactly what the grant called for."

Through a spokesman, Haley said she had no time to be interviewed Tuesday or today for this story. Spokesman Rob Godfrey said the governor's office responded fairly to questions about the committee.

"She has a lot to do over the next few days in preparation for the holidays," he said. "It's just a matter of a tight schedule."

Godfrey did not respond to questions related to the email discrepancy. In an email, he wrote, "The governor calls it watching out for the citizens of our state as we try to deliver the most health care for the least amount of money."

Lack of oversight

In a March 10 executive order, Haley established the nonpartisan South Carolina Health Planning Committee to "build trust and consensus among stakeholders" and to decide "whether or not the state should establish a health insurance exchange."

States that decline to set up their own exchanges are subject to federally run ones beginning in 2014.

Members of the nonpartisan committee and its four subcommittees, who met more than 30 times over the past seven months, did exactly that. In a report sent to the governor two weeks ago, the panel rejected the idea of a state-run exchange, saying South Carolina has few incentives to be a "first-mover" nationally.

Instead, it would "encourage and facilitate ... private exchanges," the report said.

It is unclear whether federal health officials will accept the private solution, but consumer advocates have raised concerns about lack of oversight and regulation. Insurance exchanges are the state- or federally-established marketplaces where health coverage will be sold to individuals and small business employees beginning in 2014.

Copied on Haley's March email thread was S.C. Health and Human Services Director Tony Keck, an influential member of the Health Planning Committee established by executive order.

Read it all.

I told yall NOT to vote for this woman, didn't I? (sigh) Her wanton mismanagement just gets worse and worse.

Here is the short version:

The newly released emails enraged consumer advocates, small business leaders, local economists, taxpayer watchdogs and S.C. Press Association officials this week.

"They took the money on the pretense they would conduct an objective analysis of whether the state should do the exchange or not," said John Crangle, executive director of Common Cause of South Carolina. "But they decided what they were going to find before they even started the research process."

This seems to be Haley's standard method of governance.

Radio radio

I got through my second radio broadcast! (((pants))) We still don't have a podcast yet, but I am assured it is in the works. (Commercial: The South Carolina Green Party presents THE DAISY DEADHEAD SHOW!!! Every Saturday at 9-10am on WFIS radio! You can listen online.)

Yeesh, Kathy Griffin isn't kidding about that flop sweat. After we were finished and exiting the radio station... suddenly wondered why I was so wet. I also get awful insomnia the night before. I think it will take awhile before these symptoms subside. As my late grandma would say, I have "a case of the nerves."

The good news: We had TWO phone calls! Yeah!

Gregg took these photos while I was actively running my mouth, so a bit blurry. (I was talking about the commemoration of 9/11 in the second photo.) I did not have a death grip on the Notre Dame rosary this time (as I did last week), but as you can see, I DID find it necessary to slip it over my head, just in case.

Today, we trashed the governor. It was FUN! Update: Thursday, Governor Nikki Haley called Renee Dudley (the reporter who exposed her pricey European junket in the Charleston Post and Courier) a "little girl". (Exact quote: "God bless that little girl at the Post and Courier.") I asked how she would like it if someone called HER a little girl? I then segued into criticizing Republican presidential candidate, Governor Rick Perry, for cutting funding for rural Fire Departments in Texas (from $30 million to $7 million), which is the whole reason the place is currently burning up.

We also covered the case of Troy Anthony Davis, a likely-innocent man who is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 21. I addressed the pro-death penalty people directly (probably 95% of listeners in SC) and said it does not help their cause when innocent people (or even possibly-innocent people) are executed, and that they should be in the forefront, trying to get Davis off Death Row. (It was an unexpected comment right off the top of my head, and I was proud of it.) Not sure how that went over, but I said it anyway.

Notably, I always write out a sign, NO CUSSING, right before the show. The FCC fine is $10,000 a pop for every one of these you say. (Ordinarily, I would be madly cussing over alla this stuff, of course, as DEAD AIR regulars know.)

I got through it, but another double mocha Frappucino was required. I will never get down to a single vanilla at this rate.

~*~

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me
I wanna bite that hand so badly
I wanna make them wish they'd never seen me


Radio Radio - Elvis Costello and the Attractions

Haley Watch: Nikki and Michele have a slumber party!

At left: BFFs Nikki and Michele trash the NLRB and foment anti-union sentiment at a recent SC Town Hall meeting.




I debated whether that was a sexist title, and then I thought, wait, WHO am I talking about here? Two of the most pernicious political women in the country. Therefore, I reserve the right to invoke sexist slumber party jokes! (Sorry about that yall, but I just can't be politically correct ALL the time.) And seriously, it does sound like that to me. Can't you just imagine all that right-wing giggling, as they huddle together in their jammies, popping popcorn and conspiring to deny even more rights to labor unions and gays?

Makes me slightly nauseous to think about it:

Michele Bachmann had some face-time with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Sunday night, dining with the governor and coveted endorser and staying over at the governor's mansion, according to a source familiar with the get-together.

It's not the first time of late that Haley has appeared with Bachmann — she recently made a surprise showing at the presidential candidate's town hall forum in the state.

The latest get-together came as Rick Perry, who is crowding out Bachmann in attention and with tea party activists, is holding a town hall in the Palmetto State with Rep. Tim Scott.

Rick Perry notably missed Jim DeMint's Tea Party Extravaganza in Columbia yesterday, since much of Texas is currently in flames. I respect his decision to stay in his home state to deal with the wildfires, even if he is nervous about debating. As Texas governor, he really needs to do his ELECTED JOB first.

And besides the slumber party (Aside: Since they are both so pro-war, maybe I should call it Slumber Party Massacre, which I'll bet you feminists didn't known was written by none other than Rita Mae Brown), there is plenty more where that came from.

((drum roll)) THIS is the big enchilada we have all been waiting for!!!

Yes, I know. I roped you in with vague promises of Republican girl-romps, and now, I get all economically-serious on your asses. More apologies. Things can't be girly fun all the time, you know.

Or maybe it can! Let's go to EUROPE on the people's dime! Yee-ha!

I KNEW she was a fiscal fake (since she has never held a real job), and now we have proof of it. I am printing the following article from the Charleston Post and Courier in its entirety, for emphasis. (And thanks to SC Progressive Network for always being on the case; damn, I loves you guys!!)

European vacation or legitimate business? Haley's fiscal priorities under fire as summer 'jobs' trip detailed
BY RENEE DUDLEY
rdudley@postandcourier.com
Monday, September 5, 2011

Gov. Nikki Haley's weeklong trip to Europe in June in search of "jobs, jobs, jobs" cost South Carolinians more than $127,000. But the governor and her entourage of more than two dozen returned without any finished deals to bring new employers to the Palmetto State.

Daisy pauses to scream: TWO DOZEN? Christ, Hillary didn't even take that many people to freaking Bosnia.

Haley, who captured the governor's office preaching fiscal restraint, spent the cash so she, her husband and the rest of the state's contingent could stay in five-star hotels; sip cocktails at the Paris Ritz; dine on what an invitation touted as "delicious French cuisine" at a swanky rooftop restaurant; and rub elbows with the U.S. Ambassador to France at his official residence near the French presidential palace.

The South Carolina group also threw a soiree at the Hotel de Talleyrand, a historic Parisian townhouse where they feted foreign employers in hopes they'd set up shop in South Carolina. The Department of Commerce billed the $25,000 event as a "networking opportunity for members of the South Carolina delegation."

"It was a great party," Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt said in an interview last week.

Expenses from the trip still are being submitted, Hitt said. The $127,000 figure represents spending only by the Commerce Department, which covered many but not all of Haley's expenses, he said.

Daisy is hereby reduced to sputtering. (This hardly ever happens.)

This is a nakedly greedy, self-serving and self-involved politician who is zealously cutting services to disabled people, so she can eat nice food in France. Where, if I am not mistaken, Marie Antoinette was from.

Nikki needs to go read about what happened to HER.

It's unclear exactly what Haley accomplished during the taxpayer-funded excursion. Many documents released Monday to The Post and Courier in response to a July 7 Freedom of Information Act request were heavily redacted.

During a press conference -- unrelated to the trip -- Friday afternoon in Charleston, Haley told the newspaper the state "closed two deals" while abroad. She referred further questions to the Commerce Department.

We'll be looking forward to hearing about those deals, Governor. Why no big-ass bitchin press conference, like the one you had to announce that Amy's Organics was moving here to the upstate?

Put up or shut up. Show us the money!

In a follow-up interview Friday, Hitt said the state, in fact, closed no deals. Two agreements involving foreign employers are in the works, he said. He provided no details.

Spending criticized

Critics called the mid-June trip an inappropriately timed junket: It took place at the zenith of legislative debate over the tightest budget in recent history.

Benefits of the trip for South Carolinians -- who confront an unemployment rate of almost 11 percent -- are unclear, said the critics, who include a respected state senator from the governor's own party and a Columbia Tea Party organizer.

John Crangle, executive director of South Carolina Common Cause, asked, "What did they bring home from the hunt?"

Crangle, whose organization is a government ethics watchdog, then answered his own question: "They came back with an empty whiskey bottle," he said. "Or I guess since they went to the Ritz it was an empty Champagne bottle. They had a good time at the state's expense."

S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said Haley was "channeling Marie Antoinette."

"Has the average South Carolinian ever stayed in a $650 a night hotel or spent almost $4,000 in one week on airfare?" Harpootlian said. "Her response to the people who footed the bill would be, 'Let them eat cake.' "

Like they say, great minds think alike.

Or is it just such an obvious comparison in these harsh economic times?

S.C. Sen. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican, called the logic of economic development trips "flawed."

"If you get the fundamental things right -- solid education and health care -- capital will come to the state," Davis said. "Those are the functions of government. Not creating jobs. ... It's a socialist state when the government's core function is to create jobs."

But Hitt, the Commerce secretary, defended the excursion as a "vital link" for attracting foreign employers to South Carolina instead of other nearby states.

"We have to go out and market ourselves," he said. "It's a tough game to play."

Following repeated requests, Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said Thursday he would "find three to five minutes" for a phone interview with the governor, but by Friday Godfrey said in an email "the governor is not available." Godfrey said in the email that the governor had offered the newspaper an "exclusive opportunity to accompany the delegation" to Europe to "cover, first hand, the productivity of the trip." The newspaper declined.

Godfrey had requested an emailed list of questions for this story, but he did not respond to them. In a statement, he said: "Governor Haley will never miss an opportunity to talk about our great state's business opportunities to companies across the world -- and that's what her trip to Europe was about."

The newspaper briefly spoke with Haley after finding her at the Charleston news conference Friday.

Accomplishments?

Haley and the two dozen-member South Carolina contingent traveled to France and Germany the week of June 18. They attended the International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget and toured BMW headquarters in Munich.

A daily itinerary shows the governor and her staff scheduled more than 20 meetings in France and Germany, but the details are heavily redacted because they contain "confidential proprietary information," the governor's attorney said in a letter. Among the only unredacted business meetings were appointments with Boeing and BMW, which already have large operations in the state.

Haley's office cited no expectations or results involving the mission, although the newspaper specifically requested both in its Freedom of Information Act letter.

The governor had planned to discuss economic development progress with the media during her trip. Her itinerary twice shows time set aside for "availability with South Carolina media." But the time slot was 10:45 a.m. Paris and Munich time -- that is 4:45 a.m. South Carolina time.

Actually, I think they call that being a garden-variety DUMB ASS.

Haley did, however, express her hopes in a YouTube video shot at the Paris Air Show on June 20. In it, she said Boeing's arrival in South Carolina has fanned the interest of "so many suppliers who are looking to do business here." She continued: "We will continue to work on jobs, jobs, jobs, but just know that everybody in this beautiful city is talking about our beautiful state of South Carolina."

The state's official overseas economic development missions date to the 1960s, when the textile industry's decline made officials scramble to find replacements, said Douglas Woodward, a professor at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.

"It laid the groundwork for the revitalization of the state's economy," said Woodward, who specializes in economic development studies. "German chemical companies and BMW put us on the map. Before that, I'm not sure that Europeans would know where we are. ... The benefits can be enormous, but it takes time."

Critics, though, are wary of vague benefits, saying state officials shouldn't waste taxpayer cash on overseas trips while simultaneously approving deep cuts in education and health care spending.

"It's hard to know whether or not there was any benefit to these trips," said Crangle of Common Cause.

Allen Olson, an organizer for the Columbia Tea Party, said he wants to know how the money was spent.

"If there was waste, we have a problem," he said.

Upgrading to compete

South Carolina has had a presence at the Paris Air Show each year since 2005. Gov. Mark Sanford, who took at least one major international trip each year he was in office, had attended.

The Commerce Department did not respond last week to a request for Air Show spending details for each of those years.

This year, though, the state had some upgrades.

For the first time, South Carolina abandoned the standard booth in favor of a "chalet," an area with shared conference rooms, business equipment, private bathrooms, a patio and a "beverage service," Hitt said.

"My view was that we needed something different. ... It's more professional," said Hitt, a former BMW executive who filled the Commerce post in January. "The things we did this year are the things we have to do to be successful."

By comparison, North Carolina's commerce department got a booth and sent seven people to the Air Show, spending about $112,000, according to a spokesman for that state. Georgia sent two people and had no booth, a spokeswoman for that state said.

Neither state's governor attended the show.

Critics such as Harpootlian, the Democratic party chairman, said ancillary industries connected to Boeing and BMW would be unswayed by the governor's visit to Europe. Suppliers would follow the major industries to the state regardless, they said.

"At this point you don't have to go pitch them," the Columbia attorney said. "They will come here."

But Hitt said South Carolina must make a grand appearance at the show to compete with nearby states like North Carolina and Georgia for the new employers.

"It's naive to think people will show up no matter what," Hitt said. "Simply responding to emails and phone calls -- it's not the way it works."

Harpootlian countered that argument, saying, "You can recruit employers without staying in a five-star hotel."

Hitt, who originally denied the group stayed in five-star accommodations, said, "We have a special rate we worked out."

The average daily rate for the governor's hotels was $430, according to the Commerce Department.

More perks

When they weren't dining out, Haley and her entourage had "warm meals" delivered to their hotel rooms. They used the "VIP access" at the airport, according to an itinerary. Airfare to and from Europe cost about $1,530 per person, according to travel receipts from the governor's office.

Some members of the group also traveled by plane and train while in Europe, trekking to the German cities of Munich, Dresden and Stuttgart. Airfare from France to the German cities cost about $2,000 for Haley alone, the records show.

Michael Haley -- the governor's husband, who is a technician for the South Carolina National Guard -- paid his own travel expenses, according to Commerce Department. He traveled by train to the German cities, where he attended meetings with the U.S. Europe and Africa Commands. Hitt, the Commerce secretary, said those meetings also involved economic development.

Commerce officials said 27 people were in the South Carolina delegation, which included staffers and security agents from the governor's office, managers from the Commerce Department, S.C. Sen. Hugh Leatherman, a Florence Republican, and Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. The group charged more than $5,100 in per diem expenses to the state, according to the Commerce Department.

About a dozen members of the group represented the state's regional economic development "alliances." Eight of those groups, which receive a share of tax dollars, contributed $8,000 apiece to help cover the trip's expenses.

Additional overseas economic development trips are on the horizon.

Hitt said last week he is planning a trip abroad later this month. He said the governor would not be attending, but he declined to provide any further details.

Haley's June trip, her first overseas trip as governor, is not likely to be her last.

India is one location she has considered. Haley met Meera Shankar, the Indian Ambassador to the U.S., in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, according to a March press release posted on the ambassador's website. At that time Haley said she wanted to "visit India along with a trade and business delegation," the release said.

Renee Dudley for Pope! Great expose of a TOTAL FUCKING PHONY.

Read and pass along please!

So here I am, unemployed, scrambling for peanuts, as my husband's taxes pay for Governor Haley to eat gourmet French foods and have warm meals delivered to her room. Why am I not surprised the Tea Party Queen is just another liar?

As one of my favorite modern philosophers once said, Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Haley Watch 3-2-11

Eager to prove that she is not a big-spending politician in the traditional GOP mold, Governor Nikki Haley skipped the National Governors Association meeting at the end of February. She has claimed a savings of $100,000 on annual dues to the organization. (This will undoubtedly put heat on other governors to do likewise.) Haley also claims that she has saved taxpayers all kinds of money in hotel and travel costs, etc.

Well, that's true as far as it goes. But Haley's action was widely regarded as a snub of bipartisanship, rather than as a strictly cost-cutting measure. Particularly since she attended a Republican Governors conference instead, which she claimed was "privately funded" and not paid for by taxpayers.

Am I the only one who wonders--privately funded by WHOM, exactly?

From the Charleston Post and Courier:

WASHINGTON — While most other governors huddle with their counterparts in Washington this weekend regardless of party affiliation, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley planned to meet only with Republican state executives.

Haley is skipping the winter meeting of the bipartisan National Governors Association because of her decision not to pay $100,000 for South Carolina’s annual dues to the main policy and lobbying group for the 50 state chiefs.

...

Haley will meet with the other 28 GOP state heads in concurrent sessions of the Republican Governors Association, a partisan group previously led by former Gov. Mark Sanford and whose members use campaign funds and other private contributions to finance its activities.

“The RGA is covering the costs of the governor’s lodging,” Godfrey said. “A donor has been generous enough to provide transportation, which we will disclose via the governor’s voluntary plane log.”

"A donor" has been generous. Well isn't that NICE?!?

Who is the donor, and what do they expect to get out of this?

The Columbia State newspaper has given me some ideas, though. It's probably the usual suspects:

$900,000 spent on Haley
Most of the money from GOP governors bought advertising during S.C. gubernatorial race
By JOHN O’CONNOR

A national Republican group spent $900,000 to ensure Gov. Nikki Haley’s election, soliciting donations from tobacco manufacturers, oil companies, health care and pharmaceutical businesses, construction firms and trade groups.

The money was spent by two S.C. political action committees set up by the Republican Governors Association.

The State newspaper and others previously have reported the GOP group was running ads on Haley’s behalf. But campaign reports filed last month, which include donors, show the group spent more than previously thought.

The state-based PACs are part of a new strategy of the Republican Governors Association to influence governors’ races across the country.

Most of the money was spent on advertising during the contest’s final weeks, according to campaign finance reports, including a television ad that declared Democratic opponent Vincent Sheheen to be an “Obama liberal in our own backyard.”

The Republican Governors group prominently has featured Haley, and other newly minted Republican winners, in Web advertising.

Haley’s office declined to comment for this story. However, a Greenville-based Republican political consultant said the ad was the GOP’s way of supporting a possible future star.

“They certainly see her as a rising star,” said Chip Felkel, of Haley’s possible national profile. “They see she has a lot of potential.”

This translates to: At some point, she will be foisted on the rest of you. Be advised.

And finally, a bright-eyed young fella at USC, writes an optimistically titled editorial in the DAILY GAMECOCK: Haley must consider others’ views to solve problems. Funny title! (Clearly, this well-meaning student does not yet understand that the definition of conservative rules out such activities.)

Michael Ulmer writes:

Former Gov. Mark Sanford, Haley’s notoriously frugal predecessor, regularly attended the association’s meetings during his time in office and was even open to heading policy panel discussions during his trips to the meetings in Washington. According to an article by James Rosen in The State, Sanford viewed the organization as a very useful group that represented states’ interests to members of Congress and provided in-depth research for governors.

During her Washington trip, Gov. Haley did step away from her Republican cronies and chat with TV host Jake Tapper on “This Week,” ABC’s national political show. During her visit to the program, she joined a round table of fellow governors to talk about issues facing the states. She used most of her time to criticize Wisconsin Democrats for avoiding a vote on a budget bill aimed at stripping labor union bargaining rights for public employees. We need our governor to be looking out for the people of the Palmetto State and leave Wisconsin politics to the people of Wisconsin.

Boo-yah governor! Excellent shot, Michael.

~*~

And the Haley reign revs up... stay tuned for our next installment.

Economist Al Parish, greedhead and scumbag

Al Parish, from the Charleston News and Courier




Al Parish is finally going to the pokey! Huzzahs and celebrations are in order!

If you aren't from these parts, sit down and listen to the story of our greedy economics professor, Al, as told by local journalists. First from Katy Stech of The Charleston News and Courier:

In 1986 [Al] Parish began offering his moneymaking services by launching Parish Economics LLC to oversee investment pools for individuals, corporations and pension and retirement plans.

Still, he kept a foot planted firmly in academia. In 1990 he became a professor at Charleston Southern University, a private college in North Charleston with about 3,000 students. Less than two years later the university honored him as an ''outstanding faculty member.''

As director of CSU's Center for Economic Forecasting, he developed a forecasting model that has been used by, among others, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber's Web site estimates that he lectures on economic and financial topics more than 200 times a year.

He currently sits on the chamber's board of directors, and on the board of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Parish still teaches classes at CSU. This semester he is teaching two courses - ''Investments and Securities Analysis'' and ''Quantitative Methods.'' He has also written columns for The Post and Courier.

Parish, a Summerville resident, also taught Sunday school classes on financial planning at his church, according to his Web site.

Over the years, Parish acquired a taste for loud clothes, cartoon art and expensive pens.

He has said his pen collection is valued at $1.2 million and includes a Montblanc model that's studded with 1,400 white and blue diamonds.

Not your ordinary professor at a small southern college, you're thinking? You can say that again! Anderson Burns of Charleston's ABC-News affiliate, Channel 4, reported on the discrepancies that became apparent during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation:

Parish claimed over $134 million dollars in his four managed accounts. First, he produced an Ameritrade account showing $15 million in stocks. Ameritrade officers produced the same account, showing just $4 thousand. Parish's account was for Parish Economics. Ameritrade showed the account was simply a personal husband and wife account, and that Parish's statements "appear to be made up by someone other than Ameritrade."

Second, Parish produced a Tradestation account, with no account number, showing $18 million in foreign bonds. Tradestation's version showed two accounts for Parish- one with $42 thousand, a second with $49,500. No bonds, of any kind, existed. Tradestation officials said Parish's versions were "not legitimate."

Third, Parish produced this Lind Waldock account statement, again with no account number, showing $52 million in futures commodities. Lind Waldock's version showed three accounts, with $7,000, $14,500 and nearly $112,000, respectively. They also said Parish's version was "not legitimate."

Finally, there's the matter of the $56 million worth of hard assets-art, watches, pens, etc. Sotheby's is expected to appraise what is in Parish's home on Monday. But even here, fraud appears present. A letter allegedly written by the chairman of a collectibles dealer out of Atlanta says "Dr. Al Parish has purchased approximately $16 million worth of Swiss watches, jewerly, and objects...." The secretary for the company said the company only sells about $6 million worth of items a year.

You'd think an economist could do better math than that!

The shit hit the fan in April of this year. Doncha love how Al conveniently develops amnesia!? Obviously, a big fan of the TV-Land network, or possibly old soaps:

A lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court accuses local economist and CSU Professor Al Parish of lying to hundreds of investors.

The suit, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Charleston, alleges that Parish provided fraudulent statements to some 300 investors, saying that their investments were growing and totaled more than $314 million. The SEC says, in fact, those accounts held less than $230,000 total.

The shake-up has investors scratching their heads, wondering where their money went. Motley Rice law firm, in Mt. Pleasant, had heard from 15 to 20 investors, as of Friday night, interested in filing suit against Parish. The multiple suits could end up in a class action suit. “How do you treat all of those people fairly if you don’t do it in some kind of united way?” says Joe Rice, attorney for Motley Rice, LLC. “I think a class action suit would be the appropriate way.”

Rice also says the investors aren’t only in Charleston. He says the fallout is affecting investors from all over the country.

"I think most people are completely lost, says David Dantzler, an attorney with Hays Consulting, the Atlanta-based firm appointed by the court to seize all Parish’s assets. “What happens in these cases, and we've done a lot of them, people are used to some level of income as a result of their investment, or some expectation that this investment was performing a certain way."

Meanwhile, Al Parish checked into a hospital last week, reportedly with a case of amnesia. MUSC cannot confirm or deny that he is there.

His home is being guarded throughout the weekend, until special moving plans can be made to transport his millions of dollars worth of assets to a storage facility.

"We're taking control of assets, furnishings in their home,” says Dantzler. “Jewelry, china, everything really, and they are cooperating with us."

Some of those assets include antiques and valuable artwork including original Norman Rockwell paintings and Disney cells. A source says the house also holds a custom-made Mercedes worth $475,000 and a chess set with a receipt for $3.2 million.

No criminal charges have been filed, meaning that if Parish is found guilty in the civil lawsuits, he would have to pay the money, but would not do any time. However, criminal charges have not been ruled out, but they would have to be brought on by state or federal authorities.

A hotline was set up for those who invested with Parish and needed more information. I am unsure if the phone number is still active, but if you are personally concerned about your own investments or someone you know, call (404) 926-0059 or visit www.haysconsulting.net to find out more.

And don't forget the fundie connection! This being South Carolina, you knew there had to be one! Will Moredock, of Charleston City Paper, writes:

As a Baptist college, CSU is very interested in preserving its image. For that reason, it requires its faculty and staff to sign a code of personal conduct, according to The Post and Courier. I readily admit that I have not seen a copy of said code (though I would love to), but that will not stop me from speculating freely about its contents. With that said, I would bet my shoes that the code has strict proscriptions on sexual activity and substances that may be ingested for recreational and entertainment purposes. And I would bet my socks that it said nothing about one's economic behavior — whether one was running a giant scam to defraud his friends and colleagues out of their savings, or investing in child-slave factories in Southern Asia.

The fact is, Parish's investors didn't know what their guru was doing with their money. Parish was notoriously secretive about the workings of his investment schemes and how he was able to promise returns of 30 percent and more. And the investors were happy not to know — as long as the money was rolling in.

One of those investors was CSU, which had $10.6 million — or a third of its endowment — invested with Parish. Who was responsible for doing the due diligence on Parish and his investments? Why didn't they know that he was not licensed with the Securities Exchange Commission to trade in securities for other people? Reading the accounts in the P&C, it was fun to watch the CSU president and the chairman of the board toss that hot potato back and forth.

The real victims of this tragedy at CSU are the students, more than 600 of whom may have lost their scholarship money in this debacle. Let us hope that this blue-collar university is chastened and not crippled by this disaster.

Two other smug institutions which have egg on their faces in the wake of the Al Parish imbroglio are the Post and Courier and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. Parish frequently addressed gatherings of the Chamber with his economic forecasts and musings. Starting in January, he had graced the Business section of the P&C each week with the same.

And finally, today... good riddance!

S.C. Economist Pleads Guilty
Published: 10/5/07, 10:25 AM EDT
By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A former economist pleaded guilty Friday for his role in swindling investors out of an estimated $90 million, which authorities said he used to purchase diamond-encrusted pens, swanky cars and garish clothing.

Al Parish, 50, admitted to two counts of fraud and lying to investigators. He faces up to 45 years in prison.

Prosecutors claimed that Parish, known for his flashy sports coats and penchant for collecting paintings by comedian Red Skelton, defrauded about 500 people through his investment company.

Much of the $90 million taken was spent on Parish's lavish lifestyle, which included a half-dozen homes, customized cars, garish clothing, fine art and diamond-encrusted pens, authorities said.

Parish, a former economics professor at Charleston Southern University, claimed he had amnesia when authorities announced their investigation in April.

Authorities said he was not registered with the state or with the Securities and Exchange Commission to deal in securities, and that he promised investors returns well beyond Wall Street's wildest ambitions. He was fired from the university after the scandal broke.

Red Skelton?

Hope he rots in there.