Kevin Bryant

*SENATE SENDS CLEAR SIGNAL TO WASHINGTON: QUIT STEPPING ON OUR RIGHTS*

The South Carolina State Senate sent a strong signal to Washington politicians today when it passed a resolution demanding that Congress quit passing legislation intruding on our state’s and our taxpayer’s rights.  Led by Senate Republicans, a solid majority voted for the bill, sending it over to the House, and requesting that the Attorney General take action on behalf of South Carolina residents to stop a government take over of America’s health care system.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler (R-Cherokee) said “we cannot continue to sit idly by as Washington politicians continue growing government, bailing out corporations, and passing absurd spending bills. It’s killing our economy. I’m proud of my fellow Senators for standing up and saying ‘No.’”

Resolution sponsor Lee Bright (R-Spartanburg) echoed Peeler’s comments, claiming a great victory for South Carolina’s working families. “Massive spending is costing us jobs and putting too many families out of work. Liberal politicians are spending everything they can beg, borrow, steal, or print. This resolution is more than symbolic, telling the Attorney General to protect our rights from liberal Washington bureaucrats.”

Our friends at fitsnews posted our op/ed on Jim DeMint. That’s a first.

In preparation for what they expect to be Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate special election tonight, conservatives and Republicans have unearthed a novel and ironic precedent, which they’re using to argue that, if he wins, Brown should be seated right away as the 41st vote against health care reform.

Senate rules require that all newly-elected Senators be certified as winners by their home states before they can be sworn in. But on November 6, 1962, none other than Ted Kennedy himself won a special election to fill his own brother’s Senate seat in Massachusetts, and was sworn in the very next day–two full weeks before his victory was certified, and three weeks before that certification arrived in Washington.

1962 is a long way back, and according to Senate historian Don Ritchie, the relevant rule has been in place since well before then.

“Senators have always had to be certified to be sworn in,” he says.

So why the exception for Kennedy? The short answer is the Senate disregarded its own rules and seated him despite lacking certification (the state certificate arrived a few weeks later). The longer answer is that there are some important differences between Kennedy’s election 47 years ago and this year’s race in Massachusetts.

Most crucially, according to Ritchie, the Senate was not in session in November, 1962, which means nobody was around to object to seating him immediately–the rules were waived and Kennedy was sworn in without certification. “Kennedy was sworn in the next day,” Ritchie emails. “He won by a commanding majority, and the Senate was not in session, so there was no challenge, even though the paperwork for his certification came later.”

Going into Thursday I had never witnessed a town hall meeting.  I wasn’t sure what to expect before the gathering took place.  Mostly I had built a fantasy from ignorant imagination that put politics out of my realm and on a higher pedestal than my way of life.  I used to think that I couldn’t make a difference because those men up on Capitol Hill would never listen to my small voice mixed in with the sea of Americans that have and have been standing before me.  As I involve myself I see that I can make a difference.  Politicians are no different than you and me.  I have set back and let television develop a larger than life portrayal of those in power.  That is far from the case.  These men and women are our neighbors.

      The average good hearted man doesn’t want to be controlled; therefore he doesn’t want to control others.  I feel that since there hasn’t been the real need for control those men have taken a step back and let the machine run itself.  If it isn’t broke then don’t fix it.  Our founding fathers, through struggle, put guidelines into place as long as everyone plays by the rules America should run itself.   Well that hasn’t been the case, and those good men have stood by for too long.  With my eyes, I have seen those men waking up.  I am also proud to say that I am represented by one of those men and his name is Senator Kevin Bryant.

      Arriving thirty minutes early at the fire station where the meeting was to take place there was a little worry that I was at the wrong place.  Even though the men inside were setting up the seating area, the parking lot was empty.  I wanted a crowd and was afraid that I wasn’t going to get one.  After waiting in the parking lot for several minutes the decision was made to go ahead and take a seat.  Inside the building it was easy to tell that my schedule was correct.  Taking a seat two rows back from the podium it didn’t take long before the occasion to be put into motion.  Other hopeful Congress candidates use the meetings as a platform for making themselves known to the public.  The best place to meet people that are going to vote is within activities where citizens are keeping themselves involved. 

      First I was greeted by Mr. Duncan who will be running for Congress. He was a good model of what you would think a politician would act like.  He was personable by taking time and talking all while introducing his character.  By giving off a clear and bold approach he let it be known that he was a conservative that would be fighting for the constitution that he proudly displayed a copy of from the inside pocket of his jacket.  Unhappy with the way things were being run, Duncan did seem like he was a fighter.  The only problem was that he also seemed that he wasn’t too far from going up there and rubbing elbows with the problem at hand.

      Second I was greeted by another Congress hopeful, Mr. Cash.  He had nothing bad to say about Duncan.  He thought Duncan was a great guy, and hoped he came in second.  Mr. Cash was our local boy who was also a small business owner.  By sitting down Mr. Cash got eye level opposed to Duncan who stood the entire conversation.  It felt that the seated approach was more personal than the dominating stance.  Sitting can be perceived that you believe you are on the same level as your listener.  He made a true statement that we have to get involved, or are country would be gone.  At the time Cash seemed more passive than Duncan who came off as someone that would make his voice know, but my thoughts of that are most likely far from the truth.  His character was just different.

      As the crowd began to fill in Senator Kevin Bryant arrived and the preparation for the meeting commenced.  The first thing a noticed was the black and yellow pin that displayed a coiled snake.  It was the “Don’t Tread on Me” icon that I have seen all over the recent rallies.  It is the mascot for the conservatives and Tea Party members.  Senator Bryant was elected in 04 and reelected in 08.  He is a member of the Finance, Agriculture, Medical Affairs, and General committee.  Being a pharmacist allows him extensive knowledge from experience in the medical side of issues. 

      Senator Bryant led us in  the pledge of allegiance before beginning the meeting.  After some introductions were made our meeting was underway.  The Senator was just returning from Columbia where the frontline for the fight against our states Freedom was being held.  Transparency has been on the lips all around Washington and the meaning is even meeting resistance in our backyard.  Senator Bryant let us know that we were the first county government to post spending on-line, and contrary to what you might have heard it isn’t that expensive to do.  There is also opposition from our officials in the name of the Cornhusker Kickback.  This battle comes from the alleged Nebraska politicians selling their vote on health care for the benefit of not being responsible for their Medicaid spending.

      Talking on the topic of Health Care, Senator Bryant was not opposed to the idea.  He just didn’t think we needed the one that was on the table at this time.  What congress is doing with Health Care at this time is unconstitutional.  To stand our ground on the Federal decisions of Health Care some of our state officials want to declare our state sovereignty.  On the other end of that issue it is being said, by some SC state officials, that it is a waste of time to declare our sovereignty.  Confusingly, when it was set in motion to vote for the declaration the same one’s that said it was a waste of time put in place a filibuster.  By placing the filibuster they have now extended what they said was a waste of time in the first place.  So if it is such a waste of time why is it that they are wasting more time on the issue?

      To have the political courage to cut spending or to be able to justify tax increases was something Senator Bryant thought our officials needed.  It has been an eye opener for the Senator to see how reckless money has been spent.  In 2006 SC received 1.6 billion in new money.  Most of that has been spent.  We need to save money and be watchful of Pork Barrel products.  In two and a half years 212 million was spent in architect fees.  The Terry Program that was first set in place to retain seasoned teachers has since then transferred to encompass all state employees.  Some guilty consciences would understand if they lost it.  It’s extra money to put back into our budget.

      Right now there is nothing stopping someone from placing a pipe into the river and taking the water for any reason.  That is a topic for attention.  Also, he would like to see a 24 hour waiting period for pregnant women seeking an abortion.  Offering the mother to view the ultrasound before such process is another thing the Senator would like seen.  Another topic of discussion is voter I.D. pictures to prevent voter fraud.  Our Senator is also looking for the impeachment of Governor Sanford.  Senator Bryant doesn’t feel that Governor Sanford is going to be too effective for the remainder of his term.  House decided not to, and now it would be up to the Senate and a unanimous vote to keep it from going to committee.  There is also not a lot of pity given to the smoker’s tax since it is a lot of smokers that have to use government funding to help keep them alive when the drug finally takes a toll on their body and they are not financially stable to support the care themselves.  Do you want to help pay for someone that has intentionally damaged their body for a majority of their life?  There was also light given to the fact that Education Administration has felt no pain from cuts, but opposition to such high salaries can get you labeled as a person who is anti education or anti kids.  The most remarkable thing that I was given knowledge about was unemployment.  There has been 300 million dollars paid out for unemployed people who quit or were fired.  That just doesn’t make sense to me.

      My first town hall meeting was an enjoyable experience.  I felt that I was in the know, but it is information that is available for anyone.  All you have to do is get involved.  If we stay uninvolved we will wake up one morning and not recognize the country that we live in.  Our children and youth are at risk of losing the country that has become who we are.  We are at risk at losing our identity, and becoming something our forefathers fought hard to keep us away from.  America is the last bastion for Freedom around the world, and once it’s gone dark days will follow.  To stop this change there has to be opposition.  For you to oppose something you have to have knowledge that it is going on.  Knowledge of what is going on can only come with participation and community involvement.  Those good hearted men and women can stand by no longer thinking that America is going to run itself.  There is a war against our constitution, and only Americans can make sure that nothing ever happens to the groundwork that we built our prosperous nation upon.  Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.  It is time for us to get our preparations in order.

Any South Carolinian who loves their freedom and security should thank Jim DeMint for blocking the nomination of Erroll Southers to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Southers refuses to agree with the CIA, FBI, Secret Service and Coast Guard and reject unionization of the TSA. Senator DeMint said that, “If Mr. Southers is unwilling to put security ahead of politics…then he’s not qualified and should not be confirmed.”

The Muslim terrorist that attempted but failed to blow an airplane out of the sky on Christmas Day illustrates the politicization of the War on Terror-starting with the fact that President Obama and his administration refuse to recognize it as a war.

The Obama Administration has scrapped the term “War on Terror” in favor of “Overseas Contingency Operation.” It will close Guantanamo Bay and move the terrorists to a small town near you. It will try the September 11 masterminds in civilian court. It will prosecute Navy SEALS that punched a terrorist in the face.

Obama’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) meanwhile has declared that “rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits” including “groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

People who oppose killing babies apparently are far more dangerous than those who want to kill us. And, the likely recruits of the domestic terrorists according to DHS are-“returning veterans.” The Obama Administration believes that our own soldiers pose a greater danger to our lives than al Qaeda. Now that is change that Osama bin Laden can believe in.

The strategy and tactics of the War on Terror (I still say Merry Christmas, too) themselves fail the sanity test.

The most insane element of our “security” regime is the prohibition against passenger profiling such as that used by the Israeli airline, El Al. El Al has suffered not one terrorist attack in the forty years since the inception of its system.

American security conducts no automatic check against a suspect database, no analysis of the itinerary, the method of payment or even the name (yes the Israelis double-check Arab passengers).

While the Obama Administration was double-checking the pro-life population of the local VFW, twenty-three year old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was preparing himself in a Yemeni al Qaeda training camp to kill Americans. The training, aside from learning to sew explosives into his BVDs, did not have to be very hard.

American security, which prides itself on making airline passengers take off their shoes and leave their nail clippers at home and picking every third little old lady out of line for a rubber-gloved pat down, apparently found this guy totally non-threatening.

After all, the guy named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had forfeited his British visa. He had a lengthy dialogue with al Qaeda officials that had been known to American intelligence for some time.

US officials received word from Yemen prior to Christmas Day that al Qaeda was prepping “a Nigerian” for a terror attack. The guy’s father even went to the US embassy in Nigeria in mid-November and said, in effect, “My son is nuts. Please watch out for him.” Then, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab buys a one-way ticket, with cash and has no check-in luggage.

Were it not for some folks who really do care about their safety, the passengers, the attack would have succeeded. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as it was, merely lit his crotch on fire before being subdued like the sniveling punk that he is.

The Obama Administration, undaunted, initially declared that the “system” worked perfectly. The American public, finally gorged on Obamaspeak, refused the bait upon which the president has backpedaled into a declaration that the events were “totally unacceptable.”

Some of his fellow Democrats, however, remain undeterred. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said recently that, “This Swedish grandmother could just as well be a part of a terrorist plot as anyone else….” So could the Christian veteran, but certainly not someone named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Now, instead of actually focusing on the people trying to kill us (hint: it’s not a family of four from Cedar Rapids named Johnson), our government will make us arrive earlier, carry nearly nothing on board and stay seated for the entire flight. That will surely work because, after all, we are the enemy.

The Obama Administration and its Congressional allies will continue whistling past the graveyard and hope that nothing happens. Thank goodness that Jim DeMint has the courage to stand up.