Same old story, different characters - South Carolina has a Governor in some hot-water and a Lieutenant Governor in a lot of hot water. This past week has again been about our officials instead of our solutions. The “talk” coming out of the statehouse has (again) been questions about the ethics of our leaders. And, we certainly should be tired of that in the middle of South Carolina.
New questions have been raised about our Governor’s strange employment relationships and whether or not she has been an honest taxpayer. She's apparently claimed she earned $103,000 more than she claimed on her taxes in 2007. Her history does not serve her well. She has been far from forthcoming about these issues in the past, but I pray she is telling the truth now or this will get uglier for the state before it is all cleared up.
The Lieutenant Governor has been charged on more than one-hundred counts of either withholding information about his campaign account or using it as a personal slush fund for all kinds of expenses not allowed by the SC Ethics Commission. He's also had many ethics violations in his past as a member of the Florence County Council. So far his responses to the investigation have at best been unsatisfactory, and at worst have added fuel-to-the-fire.
Elected service thrives on trust. In most cases, leaders have only been able to make great strides when they have engendered a sense of trust with those they govern. It’s hard to take money or give it out when people don’t have confidence that you are an honest broker on their behalf.
Hope these come to a quick end. If these questions persist about the two highest elected positions in South Carolina, the Legislature will continue to hold sway over every issue (as it has for the last eight years) and our government will continue to be rudderless in dealing with the great dilemmas that face us.
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