The Week

Monday and Tuesday were regular office workdays, and it felt like forever since I’d just been able to have a regular workday. They were very productive days, and Tuesday night I was able to take my children to “Meadowfield Elementary Night” at the Garner’s Ferry Chick-fil-a for some fun with the kids and parents.

On Wednesday, I went to one of the nicest towns in SC, Aiken, for the SCATT (Auditors, Treasurers, and Tax Collectors) fall conference where we discussed what is happening around South Carolina during tax season. I was able to give an impromptu moment to the group on how our Richland County Treasurer’s Office was the first in the state to allow taxpayers to print their own receipts online (www.rcgov.us/treasurer) to complete their business at the SC Department of Motor Vehicles.


Wednesday night I drove back to Columbia, picked up my oldest son, and we drove to Charleston to watch my Citadel Bulldogs get drubbed by Clemson in basketball. We haven’t been able to get to The Citadel this fall with a new baby so it was exciting for us. After the game, we went to Daniel Library where my son decided he wanted to learn the entire history of my school. So, while he finished his super-sized salty pretzel I recounted some of the courageous episodes of The Citadel’s history. We got home late.

Thursday was a return to Aiken for the conference where, in the afternoon as the Co-Chair of the SCATT Legislative Committee, I presented a synopsis of legal changes to the Forfeit Land Commission statute (you don’t want to know). And on Friday, I went back to Aiken to discuss the upcoming legislative session with my co-Chair, Lancaster County Auditor Cheryl Morgan – one of the smartest people in our organization.


On Saturday, I was finally able to spend the day with my wife. The kids went to the grandparents, and we went to Williams-Brice to watch the Carolina/Citadel football game. My Bulldogs acquitted themselves well before falling 41-20, but I was especially happy to be there for the fantastic military appreciation halftime show (complete with a flyover from our own McEntire Airbase) which brought tears to everyone's eyes.

My Clemson Tigers just got destroyed by NC State, but other than that, it has been a great week.

Passing the buck, again?

This is a story from The Washington Post called "Supercommittee unlikely to reach an agreement," by Montgomery and Helderman. A very brief excerpt reads:

If the congressional “supercommittee” cannot agree on a plan to tame the federal debt by next week’s deadline, as now appears likely, here’s what will happen: nothing.

The automatic spending cuts that were supposed to force the panel to deliver more palatable options would not take effect until January 2013. That leaves lawmakers a full year to devise alternatives.

Read the entire article, here.

The week & how to help abused children

For two days of this short, four-day week, I had to (tried to) work from home. My daughter got the stomach bug going around at the same time my bride caught a cold.

Though working from home can be very productive when the home is quiet, it is not as easy to do when you’re dodging germs, quieting new baby, and running all the errands. I’m not sure how my wife does it everyday – because I’m sure the way she acted sick is probably a lot like I act on a normal day. Getting back to work full-time was almost easy by comparison.

Of course, the time at home let me watch the drama unfold at Penn State University. And that situation reminded me that we as a society still don’t do enough to protect our children, or to disdain those who abuse them. Children are treated horribly in every community, everyday, and far too often it is hidden away.

It is a tragedy that you can help fix. If you can, prayerfully consider volunteering to help abused and neglected children. Every child saved is a blessing to our society in the future. One of the best organizations in the nation helping protect children is right here in Columbia, Richland County CASA. Click here for more information on how to help.

Clemson Clinches Atlantic

Clemson (Drama) Kings of the Atlantic Division – Williams (TigerIllustrated.com)

The Week

Sorry for the long post … It has been a busy week. And, out side of Clemson losing, it’s been a pretty good one.

Real estate tax bills were sent out by the Auditor’s Office at the beginning of this week. Though it is always a difficult time for folks to pay their tax bills, this year’s bills for homeowners should have been a pleasant surprise because we were able to give an additional $3 million in credits to the tax bills this year. That means that homeowners’ bills increased from $0-$8 per $100,000 of a property’s value – meaning bills were substantially the same as last year. Hopefully, that is some good news.

Last Saturday I was asked to speak at the Lexington Democratic Party’s monthly meeting, and it was a great crowd at the Tri-City Leisure Center in West Columbia. I spoke on the current political environment in both Washington and at the Statehouse, and the dire need we have for more choices at the ballot box other than the ideologues who currently dominate our policy debates.
*** Of course, during that speech I had to miss my son’s soccer game (the first I missed all year) in which he scored three goals. I asked him if I should miss the next one so he could score a bunch more and he said: “No daddy, I’ll still try to score a goal even if you show up next time.”

On Wednesday I was at a fundraiser for my Citadel classmate, Solicitor Dan Johnson, where I was able to see several old friends and meet some new ones. It would not surprise anyone back during The Citadel days that Dan would succeed (I cannot claim the same for me) and I was happy to support him. I left that fundraiser to fellowship with many more old friends at the annual dinner for the Urban League which had a fantastic attendance to support their efforts in the community and listen to Mayor Steve Benjamin’s speech.

On Thursday, I attended a meeting of the SC Association of Counties Legislative Committee where we reconsidered support for a number of issues for the upcoming legislative session.

And today I was able to go to one of my favorite monthly meetings, the Columbia Luncheon Club, one of the founding groups in the Midlands that brought white and black residents together during the Civil Rights movement. They still meet every month to discuss issues vital to the Midlands under the umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce’s Community Relations Council. It is a group where you feel better every time you leave one of their meetings.

Tomorrow, I will be speaking to the Lower Richland Democratic Breakfast at nine in the morning at the Garner’s Ferry Lizard’s Thicket.

Bi Partisan group of US Representatives help debt supercommittee – Helderman and Montgomery (Washington Post)

Here is an excerpt of the story:

A group of 40 House Republicans for the first time encouraged Congress’s deficit reduction committee to explore new revenue as part of a broad deal that would make a major dent in the nation’s debt Wednesday, joining 60 Democrats in a rare bipartisan effort to urge the “supercommittee” to reach a big deal that could also include entitlement cuts. …

“To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table,” the group wrote, adding that previous deficit reduction task forces have suggested a goal of reducing the debt by $4 trillion over the next decade. “Our country needs our honest, bipartisan judgment and our political courage.”

Read the entire story here.