Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a leading congressional advocate for immigrants' rights, has introduced a bill that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens and would end a controversial program that enlists local police to enforce immigration laws. The bill is widely viewed as too liberal to pass. Obama administration officials have said they are looking instead to a more moderate, bipartisan immigration-reform bill to be introduced in the Senate early next year by Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).Still, the Chicago Democrat made it clear that he and his allies expect a seat at the...

The issue of concealed weapons has stirred up debate in Georgetown County. S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster said the county’s ban on concealed weapons on school grounds does not comply with state law. School district officials they will re-think the policy, which prohibits the possession of concealed weapons on school grounds even if the owner has a permit. The attorney general’s office said state law requires the permit holder to lock a weapon in a trunk, a center console or glove box of a vehicle. The district’s plan to work its policy has some families concerned. “If you have your...

An opinion from South Carolina’s attorney general is forcing the Georgetown County School District to rethink an illegal policy that bans concealed weapons on school property. Henry McMaster told the district that the policy, which prohibits visitors, parents, teachers and students from carrying weapons on school property including parking lots — even with a concealed carry permit — was a violation of state law. That law was approved by the General Assembly earlier this year and allows anyone with a concealed carry permit to keep weapons locked in their vehicles on school property. Rep. Thad Viers (R-Horry) requested the opinion...

South Carolina’s economy shed more jobs in November as the holiday season got under way, with the unemployment rate jumping to 12.3%, in a month when the national jobless rate dropped 0.2 percentage point to 10.0%. The state Employment Security Commission said November’s 0.3-percentage-point increase in jobless figures set a record for the state. Estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbered the state’s labor force at 2,173,054 in November, an increase of 2,079. The number of unemployed increased 5,896 to 266,330. The Employment Security Commission is now taking claims from people who might be eligible for additional benefits....

Fort Mill, SC (WBTV) – In this season of giving, retail giant Lowe's Home Improvement donated $25,000 to help bring 200 soldiers home for the holidays. The company's generosity is making it possible for Pierson Young's husband to be there for their baby girl, Addison's first Christmas. "We're very excited," said Young. "When he left last time, she wasn't holding her head up on her own and now she can almost sit by herself," she said. "And all these new things we get to share with Daddy. Milestones that I was afraid he was going to miss--but is now going...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham makes an unlikely champion for action on climate change. The South Carolina Republican has joined forces with Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to drum up support for a bill that would put a price on heat-trapping pollution. Graham's position has irked just about everybody. (snip) Q: How did you get involved in this issue? A: It was a slow evolution. I started traveling with Sen. (John) McCain, who has been a climate change advocate for a long time, and I went to the Arctic region with him and...

South Carolina's unemployment rate has hit a new high at 12.3 percent. The November jobless rate released Friday by the state Employment Security Commission sets a record. Officials attribute the rise to continued losses in the hospitality and construction sectors. Officials also adjusted the state's October jobless rate down slightly, to 12 percent. It had been 12.1 percent, a figure that placed the state fifth-highest in the country and matched a state record earlier in the year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release state-by-state figures later Friday.

Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he is prepared to use every procedural tool to delay a vote on the Democratic healthcare legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to schedule votes around the clock over the next week to meet a deadline of passing the bill by Christmas. Without the cooperation of Republicans, the marathon schedule would end with a vote on Christmas Eve. Reid hopes that Republicans will waive some of the procedural formalities so senators are not forced to spend the evening before Christmas milling about the Senate floor. But Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.), chairman of the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is scheduled to meet privately Wednesday evening with top administration climate aide Carol Browner. Graham is working with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to craft a bipartisan cap and trade bill. He plans to discuss the ways Senate leaders can deal with manufacturing and coal state worries that the bill will spike electricity bills in the midst of a deep recession. “We’ve got to address people’s concerns about compliance costs and rate payer increases,” he told POLITICO. He’ll also use the meaning to address nuclear power, off-shore drilling and new coal technologies —...

Staffer once claimed to have fathered child of former candidate's mistress ABC News will air an exclusive interview next month with the man who once claimed to have fathered the child of former Sen. John Edwards' mistress, the network said Wednesday. ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff's interview with Andrew Young will air Jan. 29 on "20/20." Young was a longtime friend and aide to Edwards, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004. Young will discuss his upcoming book, "The Politician," an account of Edwards' 2004 campaign and the Rielle Hunter scandal, the network said. Hunter's video production firm worked...

As President Obama heads to Copenhagen this week to convince world leaders of the United States' commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he's getting help from an unexpected quarter. In the Senate, where partisan feuding engulfs Obama's health care bill, an unusual group of lawmakers is working across party lines on a compromise bill that would boost domestic energy production while reducing pollution that causes global warming. Described by participants as "tripartisan," the effort unites Sens. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat; Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent; and Lindsey Graham, an outspoken South Carolina Republican.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday praised President Barack Obama for heeding his advice to bypass the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., and transfer terror suspects instead to an Illinois prison from the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he spoke with Obama recently and reiterated his strong opposition to moving the Guantanamo detainees to the medium-security brig at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston. "I spoke to the president about Charleston a couple weeks ago," Graham told McClatchy. "He listened intently as I said I thought Charleston is not an appropriate...

Just in case you’ve missed it, there has been a lot of debate recently about reforming our nation’s health care system. The president and his allies in Congress have told us they have just the ticket to fix our problems: a plan that creates a new federal government insurance company and pays for it by raising taxes on just about everyone and cutting nearly $500 billion from Medicare. Their plan takes an unsustainable mountain of government debt, bureaucracy and spending, then bulldozes a new mountain of bureaucracy and debt right on top of it. But for all of the mind-boggling...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is putting Capitol Hill on a "Code Red" alert Tuesday in an effort to stop the Senate's health care reform legislation. In a release from his office Monday, DeMint announced he will speak at what is being billed as an "emergency rally" coordinated by several groups, including the American Conservative Union and the Susan B. Anthony List. "The event has 'tea party' trimmings and plenty of muscle, including grass-roots support from six states," according to the GOP senator's Web site.

US Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has begun to make a name for himself in national politics. Not content to pursue his own hard-line conservative course in the Senate, he has begun to encourage the election of Republicans of similar outlook across the nation. DeMint has his own political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which is frequently at odds with the choices -- stated or assumed -- of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s official body for electing members of the upper chamber. In Florida's 2010 GOP Senate primary, DeMint endorsed conservative underdog Marco Rubio, a former speaker of...

Hub-Bub has been awarded a grant for $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts for the Hub-Bub Artists-in-Residence program. Only 30 other artists' communities in the U.S. will receive funding from the NEA during this grant cycle. Hub-Bub will also receive funding in 2010 from the Dedalus Foundation, which fosters public understanding of modern art by facilitating research, publications and exhibitions in the field. Funding from Dedalus will be used to bring six visiting artists to Spartanburg over the next year for community-based art projects.

WASHINGTON — Senators negotiating a bipartisan climate change bill on Thursday unveiled the broad outlines of their plan to combine greenhouse gas limits with expanded offshore drilling, more nuclear power and protections for refiners in a bid to attract support from wary lawmakers. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., announced their proposal as international leaders at a summit in Copenhagen were trying to devise a plan to combat global warming. President Barack Obama is set to attend the Copenhagen meeting next week. Graham said the group “did this just for Copenhagen … to give the...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's first lady, a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband's political career, announced Friday she is filing for divorce months after his tearful public confession of an affair with an Argentine woman.

Sanford’s Wife Files for Divorce ROBBIE BROWN December 11, 2009 Jenny Sanford on Friday filed for divorce from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who confessed in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process,” Ms. Sanford said in a statement. “Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known, so I choose to release this brief...

CHARLESTON, S.C. – South Carolina's first lady, a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband's political career, filed for divorce Friday more than five months after his tearful public confession of an affair with an Argentine woman. "This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," Jenny Sanford said in a statement. The divorce complaint was filed in Charleston County Family Court. In a statement, the governor blamed himself and said he and Jenny will "work earnestly to be the best mom...

ATLANTA — Jenny Sanford announced on Friday that she is filing for divorce from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who confessed in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process,” Ms. Sanford said in a statement. “Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known, so I choose to release this brief notice that I am...

Jenny Sanford announced today that she will file for divorce from embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who admitted in June to an affair with a longtime lover in Argentina. "I am now filing for divorce," she said in a statement. "This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family." Sanford moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children in August. "I remain thankful to so many across this state and nation for their words of encouragement and prayers during...

COLUMBIA, SC (WCSC) - South Carolina's first lady is filing for divorce. In a statement issued Friday morning, Jenny Sanford said she is filing for divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford, who disclosed an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman after staff reports of a hiking trip on the Appalachain Trail fell apart under scrutiny. The memo states: "As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process. It is also a very personal and private one. Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal...

Barack Obama began his presidency with an open hand toward the man he had just defeated in a race that was at times bitter. "There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain," said Obama at an inauguration-eve tribute dinner to his former foe. But in the year since that evening of comity and collegiality, McCain has emerged as one of the leading critics of the new president. On foreign policy, his traditional area of expertise, and domestic affairs, where McCain has shown new passion, the 72-year-old Arizonan is making it...

Three Senators released a broadly-worded blueprint of a climate change and energy bill on Thursday afternoon that they believe can win the 60 votes needed to push the bill through next year. The proposal was timed to help persuade delegates to the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen that the Senate is serious about passing a climate bill and not mired in a partisan morass. Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and Joseph I. Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, sent President Obama a letter on Thursday outlining their plan.

A report released this week by the Center for American Progress (CAP) includes recommendations that could serve as a blue-print of sorts for a broad immigration reform bill being crafted by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Immigration subcommittee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). An overhaul of the U.S. immigration laws has for years been a high priority for technology companies that say they need more H-1B visas and green-cards to hire high-skilled workers and keep the industry competitive on a global scale. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and others make yearly pilgrimages to Washington to make...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) inched his way further into the 2010 Senate races Thursday, endorsing a member of the Texas Railroad Commission for the seat that might be vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas.) in her run for governor. In the blistering cold with the Capitol as a backdrop, DeMint threw his weight and the weight of his Senate Conservatives Fund behind Michael Williams, an African-American who served in both the Reagan and first Bush administrations. Williams said he’s looking to come to Washington to “stop the slouch toward European-style socialism.” DeMint said he’s looking to pull the Republican...

A South Carolina House panel voted down a resolution Wednesday to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford, but the embattled Republican faces one more procedural hurdle before his survival in office is guaranteed. In their final meeting to consider the impeachment resolution, members of the special House subcommittee called Sanford's behavior "reprehensible," "arrogant" and "indefensible" - but six of the seven lawmakers on the panel concluded that the Republican's behavior does not rise to the constitutional level of impeachment. Sanford has been under scrutiny since June, when he left the country for five days to visit his Argentine mistress without informing his...

South Carolina's First Lady Tells Barbara Walters About Decision Not to Stand Next to Husband Gov. Mark Sanford During Press Conference Jenny Sanford, wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, told Barbara Walters in her first television interview about her husband's affair that she wouldn't have stood by his side when he publicly admitted the affair even if he had asked her to. Sanford, who has moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children, openly discussed the heartbreak behind the headlines of their breakup.

Boeing plans to make all the parts for the 787 Dreamliner currently produced in the Puget Sound region at a second location so that the second final assembly line being set up in North Charleston, S.C., can operate independently.Local Boeing workers have long complained that only the vertical tail fin of the 787 Dreamliner is built in the Puget Sound region. But now even that small claim to uniqueness is going to be shared, as Boeing continues to turn the screws on the Machinists union after their two-month strike in 2008. The company said Monday it plans to use suppliers...

Two of the most influential Republicans in the U.S. Senate these days come from South Carolina, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham. But Graham’s efforts to work with majority Democrats on some issues has angered many GOP voters in the state, even prompting efforts to censure him. Fifty-one percent (51%) of Republican voters in South Carolina say the GOP should be more like DeMint, who’s a staunch conservative, than like Graham, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state. Thirty-two percent (32%) of the state’s Republican voters think the party should model itself more after Graham, and 18%...

Shaw Airmen supporting the alert mission, from maintainers to pilots, standby 'round the clock in case they are needed. The alert mission at Shaw is part of Operation Noble Eagle, which provides quick-reaction support to protect U.S. airspace and significant events like presidential movements and space shuttle launches. "We have to be ready if the alarm goes off at 2:30 in the morning," said Master Sgt. William Martin, alert NCO-in-charge. "I want everything to be ingrained in them (the Airmen) so they can get the mission done." Recently, the alert Airmen were tested by exercise Fertile Keynote. The exercise was...

Sen. Lindsey Graham may be under fire from conservatives back home in South Carolina. But the Republican got a personal assurance from President Obama yesterday that the White House is supporting his efforts to craft a sweeping Senate energy and global warming bill. “The president told me personally he was very open, that nuclear power would be part of the mix, that clean coal would be part of the mix, that he’s for offshore drilling in a responsible way,” Graham said today in describing his Oval Office meeting with Obama. “But we have to have a price on carbon,...

Senator pledges to hold nomination until the Senate votes on the Fed Audit WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, announced this morning that he will oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Senator DeMint made the announcement after Bernanke's confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, and pledged to object to floor consideration of the nomination until the Senate votes on S. 604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009. "Ben Bernanke is an intelligent and well-intended public...

COLUMBIA. – South Carolina junior Senator Jim DeMint announced Thursday he will oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. DeMint said he would also block consideration of the nomination on the Senate floor until lawmakers vote on their version of a House bill introduced by Texas Congressman Ron Paul that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve. The House bill has more than 300 co-sponsors. The Senate version of the legislation sponsored by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has more than 30 co-sponsors and would allow the Government Accountability Office...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a darling of the Tea Party crowd, credited that movement with blocking Democratic health care reform efforts and predicted the conservative activists behind the movement could ultimately thwart the passage of that bill and others.. "The only reason we don't have national health care right now is you - is the people outside of Washington," DeMint told a gathering of Tea Party activists gathered Wednesday night in Washington for the premiere of a documentary about the movement. "I think we do have a shot at stopping this thing," he said of the health care reform bill...

Republican Senator Jim DeMint, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said on Thursday he would oppose Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term as Federal Reserve Chairman. "Americans want a new Fed chairman who is willing to provide transparency into the Fed's actions, who is willing to accept responsibility for the Fed's mistakes, and who is willing to support true monetary reform that guarantees the soundness of our money," DeMint said in a statement.

(snip) “Why did I do this? I want my time to count. I want to be seen as someone who can solve a hard problem by working with my colleagues across the aisle. I want to do something that matters. I can’t think of a better use of my time than to work with Democrats and Republicans to break our dependency on foreign oil, to create jobs for our next generation of Americans that will never go to China. And yes, leave behind a cleaner planet.” (snip)

Fort Mill, S.C. – "I'm living the American dream," said Jack Sheppard. "I've got the No. 1 product in America." That would be guns, and the 42-year-old Sheppard, owner of Aim Right Guns & Ammo, is an expert. At his shop on Main Street in this small South Carolina town just over the state line from Charlotte, N.C., business was brisk. It was a Black Friday bonanza. For the second year, the 48 hours starting at 12:01 a.m. the Friday after Thanksgiving marked what's called "Second Amendment Weekend," at least by the Republican state legislator who sponsored the bill. To...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor is blaming Islamist extremists in the Middle East after his campaign website was hacked and defaced Tuesday morning. However, a computer expert says it's impossible to determine where the hacker was based. Bill Conner, an attorney and Lt. Colonel who served the Army in Afghanistan, said his website was hacked "apparently from the Middle East." "From Garmsir to Fort Hood, we face in radical Islam an enemy whose attacks range from petty web hacks to mass murder," Connor said. "What was done to our campaign website is nothing compared to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senators on Tuesday gave a boost to next week's global environmental summit in Copenhagen, with a senior Democrat advocating more U.S. funding of climate change efforts by poor nations and a key Republican calling for quick action on a U.S. climate bill. Democratic Senator John Kerry, a leading advocate of climate control legislation in Congress, recommended that the Obama administration include $3 billion in next year's budget to help fund efforts to address global warming. This year's funding is about one third that amount. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the few Republicans willing to negotiate with...

When the Charleston County Republican Party censured South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham last month, the official statement read that Graham: “in the name of bipartisanship — continues to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism.” That some Republicans-any Republicans-would dare treat Graham as a traitor for his bipartisan efforts, was portrayed by the national media and liberal pundits as yet another example that “fringe” elements were taking over the GOP. (Accompanying YouTube video)When Connecticut Democrats sought to censure Joe Lieberman in 2008 they cited the senator’s “extraordinary disloyalty to countless Connecticut...

WASHINGTON — South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is using his rising national profile among conservative activists to support and bankroll Republican Senate candidates around the country, some of them underdogs challenging GOP establishment favorites.....

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who is up for re-election in 2010 and is heavily favored to win, has made an interesting admission: That he's not thinking about South Carolina when he votes in the Senate, but about larger conservative principles. From The State: DeMint, 58, makes no bones that he's more focused on advancing conservative goals nationwide than on pursuing the parochial interests of his state. "All of you all over the country - please remember that Senate seats are not about a particular state," DeMint told more than 4,000 listeners on the recent conference call. "They're about our country....

CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Senator Lindsey Graham joined forces last month with Senator John Kerry on a compromise to the climate change legislation known as cap and trade, it was the last straw for the Charleston County Republican Party. The latest on President Obama, his administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. The county party, which has traditionally been considered moderate, voted by a wide margin to censure Mr. Graham in harsh terms. Their grievance list was long: it cited the senator for calling opponents of immigration law change “bigots,” holding the Republican Party...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   South Carolina: “Second Amendment Weekend” to be Held November 27 and 28!   Friday, November 20, 2009   South Carolinians will celebrate more than just Thanksgiving next week.  The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving this year, November 27 and 28, will be the second annual “tax holiday” on firearm purchases in the Palmetto State.  Dubbed the “Second Amendment Weekend,” this concept was the brainchild of State Representative Mike Pitts (R-14).  Last year’s inaugural “tax holiday” saw a tremendous surge in firearm purchases, and this year could be just as successful.  The...

I rarely pay attention to the squealing, indignant rants that define Michael Daly of the New York Daily News. His paper is notoriously hostile to the right to keep and bear arms, and Daly typifies the stereotype defined so well in Julia Gorin's brilliant classic, "The anti-gun male": In short, he is a man begging for subjugation. He longs for its promise of equality in helplessness. Because only when that strange, independent alpha breed of male is helpless along with him will he feel adequate. So I'm not going to waste my time rebutting his latest foot-stamping tantrum against South...

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has become a media celebrity. On constitutional issues, aside from the right to life, gun rights and national security, he takes a center-left position. Graham opposed the Republican option on judicial nominees and also voted yes on Sotomayor, knowing she supports abortion and gun control and is not for a strong national defense. Graham is determined to again attempt to pass an immigration reform bill with amnesty for illegals, never mind his 2007 resounding defeat on this issue. Graham is said to be working with far left Sen. John Kerry on cap and trade and seeking...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford faces 37 ethics charges he broke state laws limiting official use of airplanes and involving campaign money. The details were released Monday by the State Ethics Commission. They came five days after the panel charged the governor without offering any specifics. Sanford's lawyers have claimed the charges involve minor and technical aspects of the law. The charges followed a probe into whether Sanford used state aircraft for personal and political trips, used pricey airline seats despite low-cost travel requirements and reimbursed himself with campaign cash.

Senator Lindsey Graham, of all people, destroys Our Attorney General (and Obama) on their idiotic decision to fight this war as a law enforcement issue: Ann Althouse: Holder imagines that he can hide inside that “thoughtful” routine that Obama so often relies on, but it is utterly pathetic here. Either he knows damned well what he’s doing and he’s lying or he’s outrageously unqualified for his job. His evasive style is so similar to Obama’s that he makes Obama look worse. Dan Karipides at Wizbang isn’t buying it. He doesn’t believe Holder is this much of an amateur: Which unfortunately...