More Happenings

Sunday, 21 April 2013

Celebrate Shandon is one of our
family's favorite annual events.

• Celebrate Shandon (Shandon UMC, 3407 Devine St.)
• Welcome South Korean Delegation (Columbia Hilton Hotel)

Monday, 22 April 2013

• SC Democratic Party Meeting (Hampton St.)
• Lunch Meeting (Devine St.)

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

• Taxpayer Resolution Meeting (2020 Hampton St.)
• County Council A&F Hearing (2020 Hampton St.)

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

• Richland Employee Appreciation Social (2020 Hampton St.)

  

  RC Chairman Kelvin Washington
  welcomes a delegation from
  South Korea on 4/21/13.

• Taxpayer Resolution Meetings(2020 Hampton St.)

Thursday, 25 April 2013

• Richland School District One, Principal for A Day (HB Rhame Elementary School, 2600 Barhamville Rd.)

Friday, 26 April 2013

• Taxpayer Resolution Meetings (2020 Hampton St.)
• Columbia Housing Authority Wall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Drew Wellness Center)
• Meadowfield Elementary School Fair (525 Galway Ln.)

Saturday, 27 April 2013

• Lower Richland Sweet Potato Festival (Hopkins Park. 150 Hopkins Park Rd.)

  

  I had a great time as Principal for a
  day learning from our children and
  teachers at HB Rhame Elementary.

Events and Meetings

Friday, 19 April 2013

• Taxpayer resolution meeting (2020 Hampton St.)
• Bond closing documents received for Airport (2020 Hampton St.)

  

  Mayor Benjamin speaks at the
  dedication of the Isadore Lourie
  Senior Center on 4/18

• Staff meeting (2020 Hampton St.)
• Hand Middle School Foundation event (Wilmot St.)

Thursday, 18 April 2013

• Hon. Isadore Lourie Senior Center dedication (1650 Park Circle)

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

• SC Auditors, Treasurers, Tax Collectors – SCATT meeting (Myrtle Beach)
• SCATT Legislative presentation – speech (Myrtle Beach)
• SCATT Delinquent Tax Collector Issues – on panel (Myrtle Beach)

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

• Taxpayer resolution meeting (2020 Hampton St.)

  

  Sen. Vincent Sheheen speaks at the
  opening event of his campaign for
  Governor of South Carolina.

• Vincent Sheheen for Governor event (Blanding St.)
• The Citadel Alumni Legislative BBQ (Cantey Bldg., State Fairgrounds)

Monday, 15 April 2013

• Richland delinquent property tax notices sent (2020 Hampton St.)
• Junior League meeting (Hampton Trace Neighborhood)

Saturday, 13 April 2013

• Junior League of Columbia “Kids Touch-a-Truck” event (SC State Farmers’ Market)

Friday, 12 April 2013

• Mail perfection software meeting (2020 Hampton St.)

  

  The Junior League of Columbia's
  Touch-a-Truck event was a great
  time for children big and small.

Thursday, 11 April 2013

• Taxpayer resolution meeting (2020 Hampton St.)

Tuesday, 9 April 2013

• Mail perfection software meeting (2020 Hampton St.)
• Nulla Bona Committee notification (2020 Hampton St.)

Things are slower around Easter blessings

Friday, 5 April 2013

• Columbia Luncheon Club (Maxcy Gregg Park)
• Banking services meeting (2020 Hampton St.)

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

• Website review (2020 Hampton St.)

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

• County Council Meeting (2020 Hampton St.) 

  

  The Washington DC Kite Festival is one
  of the greatest events for kids we've found.

  

Saturday, 30 March 2013

• Washington DC Kite Festival (The Mall, Washington, DC)

Friday, 29 March 2013

• Annual tax deed signing (2020 Hampton St.)
• Washington DC Trip

Thursday, 28 March 2013

• Lower Richland Senior Citizens Fun Day (Seawell's, 1125 Rosewood Dr.)
• Banking Services meeting (2020 Hampton St.)

  

  Around 500 hundred senior citizens got
  lunch, information about services they
  may need, and lots of door prizes at
  Seawell's on March 28th.

• Meadowfield Elementary conferences

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

• Taxpayer resolution meeting (2020 Hampton St.)
• Richland County Department Heads meeting (2020 Hampton St.)
• Pamela Adams filing to run for school board (2020 Hampton St.)

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

• Banking services review (2020 Hampton St.)

Monday, 25 March 2013

• DMV mailing agreement (2020 Hampton St.)

Great night ... almost perfect

Last night, my son and I went to the South Carolina v. Citadel baseball game.  "The Ray" is such a great place to watch a game, and the weather in Columbia is just about perfect right now.

I saw some old Citadel friends, but most of the night was a father/son night spent between our seats near the visitors' dugout and the concession stands.  Between us, we ate around twelve pounds of junk food.  And, P staked out the dugout until a cadet tossed him a game ball.

It got late, and we were walking out at the start of the ninth inning - our team was losing 2-5 and all looked lost.  As we reached the exit, two Bulldogs got on base and we stopped to watch in the outfield.  We played catch between batters, and by the end of The Citadel's at-bat, the game was tied 5-5.  We settled into a spot to wait for extra innings, but before we settled in the Gamecocks knocked a solo home run to win the game, 6-5.

It was a great night, and it was one run short of perfect.

Getting more people to pay in

In a recent Freakonomics podcast, they review some of the complications in federal tax collections, as well as some of the things that work to get people to meet their civic obligation.  It is a duty to pay taxes, but it should be easier, not harder.  The podcast is short, fun and makes you think about how easy it can be to make government work by getting government to try to work with (instead of against) the people it serves.

You can access "The Tax Man Nudgeth" here.

A shameful failure

Democrats have usually been compassionate and thorough in the policies addressing our veterans' care when they return from protecting us and our interests around the world.  Apparently, not in this case.  For too many of our veterans, the ability to receive timely care is getting worse by the day – and exponentially worse over the last four years.

This is one of the issues over which people’s faith in government to do anything is rightfully shaken.  When something goes as wrong as this, and all the stakeholders agree to do what is necessary to fix it, the government should be able to demand that a quick remedy can be found. Otherwise, what is government for? 

It is past time to make this a priority for those who have so nobly served us.

Watch this light, informative, and infuriating, Daily Show report here.

Victory for a career politician

It is not redemption for Mark Sanford, but it was another victory.  The former Governor who spent the last twenty years claiming to disdain politics and government, and who actively worked to accomplish nothing as a Congressman or Governor, has succeeded in claiming the GOP nomination to replace Senator Tim Scott. 

I thought Sanford’s brazen neglect, deceit, constant failure, and unbelievable self-absorption meant he couldn’t be a winner – I was wrong.

Somehow the anti-politician who was among the first claiming to push for term limits – and who doesn’t think government service should be used to lead anything – has now been running for political office for a generation.  Isn’t it funny how the guys who complain about government service the most are the ones who try the hardest to grasp it?

Politico reports that the GOP is worried that Sanford might squander a very safely gerrymandered seat.  Read the Alex Isenstadt article here.

On the Go

Saturday, 23 March 2013

Pamela and I with Gov. O'Malley

• SC Democratic Party Issues Conference, West Ashley High School (Charleston)
• Reception for Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, Peachtree St. (Charleston)

Friday, 22 March 2013

• Trader Joe's Grand Opening, Forest Drive
• South Carolina Democratic Party Meeting, Vista Starbucks
• Supporter Lunch, Diprato's

Thursday, 21 March 2013

Grand Opening on Forest Drive

• Together We Can Read, Bradley Elementary School, 3032 Pine Belt Rd.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

• Together We Can Read Kick-off, Eau Claire Print Building 

Tuesday, 19 March 2013

• Fair Labor Standard Act County Review, 2020 Hampton St.
• Banking Services Call, Richland Treasurer's Office

  

  Kick-off Event for Together We Can Read
  

  

Monday, 18 March 2013

• Clerk of Court Banking Meeting, 1701 Main St.

Saturday, 16 March 2013

• St. Patrick's Day Parade, Devine St.
• Hampton Old Woodlands St. Patrick's Day Neighborhood Party 

Thursday, 14 March 2013

• Banking Services Meeting, Richland Treasurer's Office

  

  St. Patrick's Day Parade, 3/16

• Councilman Norman Jackson's State of the County, Lower Richland High School

Wednesday, 13 March 2013

• Chamber of Commerce Leadership Breakfast, Seawell's
• Supporter Lunch, Henry's on Devine

Tuesday, 12 March 2013

• Banking Services Meeting, Richland Treasurer's Office

Monday, 11 March 2013

• Taxpayer Resolution Meeting, Richland Treasurer's Office
• Hon. Barbara Scott Memorial Service, Dunbar Funeral Home

Saturday, 9 March 2013

• NE Democrats Breakfast, Ryan's on Two Notch Rd.

Get Going

After a full two months in which one or another of our family was ill or otherwise engaged, the last few weeks have finally started to hit stride again.  Here are a few of the things we've been up to professionally and as a part of the community (I'll finish through the month later, and then try to update weekly).  It is going to be an exciting year!

Thursday, 7 March 2013

• Career Day, Meadowfield Elementary School
• Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson Event, SC Statehouse

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

• Mailing Services Meeting, Richland Treasurer's Office
• Sen. Vincent Sheheen Event, 701 Whaley St.

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

• Statehouse meeting, Local Government
• Banking Services Meeting, 1221 Main Street
• Rep. Mia Butler Event, The Inn at USC

Friday, 1 March 2013

• American Council of Young Political Leaders Breakfast, Millwood Coffee Co.
• American Council of Young Political Leaders Meeting, SC Attorney General's Office
• American Council of Young Political Leaders Luncheon, Za's Restaurant

Thursday, 28 February 2013

• Property Tax Software Meeting, Richland Treasurer's Office
• Statement regarding SC Investment Commission, Richland Treasurer's Office
• American Council of Young Political Leaders, SC Governor's Office

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

• American Council of Young Political Leaders, Al-Amir Restaurant

Fundraising in 2012 Presidential politics

Why is President Obama losing the "money" race in this year's election?  In this story in The New Yorker magazine, Jane Mayer writes that the President's campaign hasn't taken the time to cultivate the big donors who give hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) to get men and women elected.  Here is an excerpt:

"… By the time that Obama ran for President, in 2008, his relations with the financial industry had grown warmer, and he attracted more donations from Wall Street leaders than John McCain, his Republican opponent, did. Yet this good feeling did not last, despite the government’s bailout of the banking sector. Many financial titans felt that the President’s attitude toward the “one per cent” was insufficiently admiring, even hostile. … [Instead of getting to talk to the President about their issues at events, the Wall Street crowd got] about seven minutes per table, each of which accommodated eight donors. This was fundraising as speed-dating. …"

Read the entire article, "Schmooze or lose: Obama doesn’t like cozying up to billionaires. Could it cost him the election?" by Jane Mayer here.

Three New Articles

Kathleen Parker's piece in Newsweek is called: "What the *#@% is wrong with Republican men? It's not just Akin. By pushing some of the most invasive state policies in modern history, the men of the GOP are driving their party off a cliff. "  Read her entire column here.

In a blog called "Right Turn" in the Washington Post site, Jennifer Rubin writes an artible called "Ten myths about conservatives." 

"… Much of what the observers know is wrong, so simply dispelling 10 misconceptions that they have about Republicans should be useful. …"

Read all ten of Ms. Rubin's myth-busters by clicking here.

Finally, here is a fine tribute to the kind of hero Americans' are drawn to and the kind of hero former astronaut Neil Armstrong was.  The article by Megan Garber in The Atlantic is titled, "What died with Neil Armstrong," and an excerpt is here:

American mythology loves nothing more than the reluctant hero: the man -- it is usually a man -- whose natural talents have destined him for more than obliging obscurity. George Washington, we are told, was a leader who would have preferred to have been a farmer. Thomas Jefferson, a writer. Martin Luther King, Jr., a preacher. These men were roused from lives of perfunctory achievement, our legends have it, not because they chose their own exceptionalism, but because we, the people, chose it for them. … Neil Armstrong was a hero of this stripe: constitutionally humble, circumstantially noble.

Read the entire tribute here.

Three Articles

Here's an exerpt from "Arbitrage and why we love being conned" by Megan McArdle in Newsweek.  To read the entire article, click here.

"… fraudsters and Ponzi schemers do not succeed at their scams merely because we let them. Recent financial frauds have big dollar signs attached, but at their heart, they’re often not much different from Nigerian email scams or a three-card monte game. They work best when they let the mark believe he’s getting away with something—often something illegal, or at least dishonest. It’s an old saw that “you can’t cheat an honest man,” but it’s mostly true. We are most vulnerable to Ponzi schemes and other confidence tricks when we start to believe that we can cheat the universe—that we can get something for nothing. The best con men succeed mostly because we are so desperate to believe them. ..."

Next is a post from Wonkblog titled "How often do Presidents get what they want?" by Dylan Matthews.  Read it here.

Finally is an excerpt from an article called "All the spammers in the world may only make $200 million a year" by Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic.  Click here for the entire article.

"… It is just so cheap to send spam and even if you only ensnare a tiny number of people, that's enough to make it worthwhile. Rao and Reiley estimate that only 1 in 25,000 people need somehow buy something through spam advertising to make it worthwhile. …"

Big Mistake - David Brooks (NY Times)

Here is an exerpt of Brook's piece today:

"Ryan’s fantasy happens to be the No.1 political fantasy in America today, which has inebriated both parties. It is the fantasy that the other party will not exist. It is the fantasy that you are about to win a 1932-style victory that will render your opponents powerless.

"Every single speech in this election campaign is based on this fantasy. There hasn’t been a speech this year that grapples with the real world – that we live in a highly polarized, evenly divided nation and the next president is going to have to try to pass laws in that context. …

"The real world … [is] where you get a diverse group of people who try to make progress in the areas where that is possible and try to sidestep the areas where it is not."

Read the entire column here.

Debates don't lead to deals - Ezra Klein (Wonkblog)

This is an exerpt from today's Klein offering -

When I talk to legislators from both parties, I tend to hear some variation of the following: “This is a choice election. The American people are getting two very different visions and they’re going to pick one of them.” ... Which is why my standard follow-up question is, “If you think this is a choice election, will you let the other side govern if they win?” No one has ever said yes.

Read the entire post here.

Dullest campaign ever - David Brooks (NY Times)

This is an excerpt of today's Brooks column about how this Presidential campaign is just a retread of every campaign we've seen for more than a generation:

"Since then, I’ve come up with a number of reasons for why [the campaign] is so dull. First, intellectual stagnation. This race is the latest iteration of the same debate we’ve been having since 1964. Mitt Romney is calling President Obama a big-government liberal who wants to crush business. Obama is calling Romney a corporate tool who wants to take away grandma’s health care.

"American politics went through tremendous changes between 1900 and 1936, and then again between 1940 and 1976. But our big government/small government debate is back where it was a generation ago. Candidates don’t even have to rehearse the arguments anymore; they just find the gaffes that will help them pin their opponent to the standard bogymen clichés."

Read the entire column here.

The tiny fraction of Americans who will decide the 2012 election

This was part of an interesting post by Ezra Klein on July 18, 2012 ...

[Paul Begala says] We can almost guarantee that 48 percent of each state’s voters will go for Obama, and another 48 percent will decide for Romney. And so the whole shootin’ match comes down to around 4 percent of the voters in six states.

I did the math so you won’t have to. Four percent of the presidential vote in Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado is 916,643 people. That’s it. The American president will be selected by fewer than half the number of people who paid to get into a Houston Astros home game last year — and my beloved Astros sucked last year; they were the worst team in baseball.

Read the entire post here.

In nothing we trust - Fournier & Quinton (National Journal)

Below is an excerpt from "In nothing we trust."

Whitmire is a story of Muncie, and Muncie is the story of America. In this place—dubbed “Middletown” by early 20th-century sociologists—people have lost faith in their institutions. Government, politics, corporations, the media, organized religion, organized labor, banks, businesses, and other mainstays of a healthy society are failing. It’s not just that the institutions are corrupt or broken; those clichés oversimplify an existential problem: With few notable exceptions, the nation’s onetime social pillars are ill-equipped for the 21st century. Most critically, they are failing to adapt quickly enough for a population buffeted by wrenching economic, technological, and demographic change.

Knock around Muncie for proof: City Hall, like Washington, is petty and polarized, driving down voter engagement. Stodgy mainline churches are losing worshipers in droves. Low-tech and unruly public schools are prompting parents to pull their children out. The city’s once-beloved business class shuttered its factories, leaving a legacy of double-digit unemployment and helplessness. Labor unions once credited with creating the middle class are now often blamed for the demise of industry. Even The Star Press, Muncie’s daily newspaper once venerated for holding locals to account, was gutted after a job-killing merger in 1996 and the sale, a few years later, to media giant Gannett.

Muncie is a microcosm of a nation who’s motto could be, “In Nothing We Trust.”

Read the entire article here.

One for the Country - Thomas Friedman (NY Times)

Below is a piece of Mr. Friedman's column today ...

... But with Europe in peril, China and America wobbling, the Arab world in turmoil, energy prices spiraling and the climate changing, we are facing some real storms ahead. We need to weatherproof our American house — and fast — in order to ensure that America remains a rock of stability for the world. To do that, we’ll have to make some big, hard decisions soon — and to do that successfully will require presidential leadership in the next four years of the highest caliber.

This election has to be about those hard choices, smart investments and shared sacrifices — how we set our economy on a clear-cut path of near-term, job-growing improvements in infrastructure and education and on a long-term pathway to serious fiscal, tax and entitlement reform. The next president has to have a mandate to do all of this.

But, today, neither party is generating that mandate — talking seriously enough about the taxes that will have to be raised or the entitlement spending that will have to be cut to put us on sustainable footing, let alone offering an inspired vision of American renewal that might motivate such sacrifice. That’s why I still believe that the national debate would benefit from the entrance of a substantial independent candidate — like the straight-talking, socially moderate and fiscally conservative Bloomberg — who could challenge, and maybe even improve, both major-party presidential candidates by speaking honestly about what is needed to restore the foundations of America’s global leadership before we implode.

Read the full article here

Thanks for the prayers

Last Thursday night I heard the baby at midnight - and he never wakes overnight. When I checked on him he couldn't breathe and we went to the emergency room where we learned we would be guests for two nights. As you can see baby boogie had a great time at Palmetto Richland Hospital. He received great care and boogie was, and still is, in a great mood. He's still undergoing treatments, and is getting past it.

Thanks to everyone at Palmetto Richland, Shandon Methodist Church, and all of our friends and family and co-workers for their help, support and prayers!

Repost: On Taxes, George W. Bush has won

From Ezra Klein at Wonkbook, Washington Post today:

"I wish they weren’t called the Bush tax cuts," the 43rd president said in remarks on Tuesday. "If they were called some other body's tax cuts, they're probably less likely to be raised."

Perhaps. But George W. Bush is selling himself short here. Most of his tax cuts are, at this point, an almost foregone conclusion. No one is talking about taking the 10% bracket and raising it back to 15%. No one is talking about raising the 25% bracket back to 28%, or the 28% bracket back to 31%, or the 33% bracket back to 36%. And not only do both parties support the expanded child tax credit, but Democrats have expanded it further. The bulk of the Bush tax cuts are now a bipartisan affair.

To put it differently, Democrats have, for the most part, admitted that Bush was right, and the Clinton-era tax rates were too high on most Americans. For all that Democrats talk about returning to the Clinton-era tax rates, they only ever mean for the top two percent of taxpayers -- the folks who are now in the 35% bracket, but whom they would like to see in a 39.6% bracket.

The reality is that, on tax policy, Democrats are now closer to Bush than to Clinton. But neither side much likes to admit that. For Democrats, it means confessing to how far right they've moved on taxes. And for Republicans, it means admitting how far right Democrats have moved on taxes.

Access the entire article here.