Free Republic

NEW YORK — New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a Bloomberg administration program to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. ~ snip ~ Families have been sent to 24 states and five continents, mostly to Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. City officials say none of the relocated families have returned to city

Will consult other ex-footballers who transitioned to CongressSam Wyche, pioneer of the "no-huddle" offense, is taking his time to consult other ex-football players turned politicians about running for Congress. Sam Wyche, the longtime National Football League coach who led the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl, is now looking to pursue a career in congressional politics. Wyche told POLITICO he’s exploring a campaign to succeed Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.), who is leaving his House seat to run for governor. “I’ve had a number of people ask me to consider it, which is very flattering. I just now need to see...

The Obama administration is raising the stakes in a fight over states' rights and firearm ownership by arguing that new pro-gun laws in Montana and Tennessee are invalid. In the last few months, a grass-roots, federalist revolt against Washington, D.C. has begun to spread through states that are home to politically active gun owners. Montana and Tennessee have enacted state laws saying that federal rules do not apply to firearms manufactured entirely within the state, and similar bills are pending in Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, and South Carolina. Yet the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives now claims that...

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Police have released the identity of a man accused of kidnapping and shooting a Cherokee County deputy. Sheriff Bill Blanton told FOX Carolina that 52-year-old Jerry Douglas Case, of Gastonia, N.C., is the man accused in the shooting. Before his name was released, Blanton told FOX Carolina that Case had a lengthy criminal history, had previously been convicted of murder and had, at one point, been sentenced to death.

With his admission of an affair with a reporter from Argentina, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford became the latest in a growing list of GOP lawmakers who have confessed to infidelity. His acknowledgment of the long distance relationship cast the Governor in a negative light and not surprisingly there have been increasing calls for his resignation. Not only did Sanford leave his wife and children on Father’s Day weekend, but he also jettisoned his gubernatorial responsibilities for five days and lied to his staff about his whereabouts. These behaviors will not soon be forgotten by South Carolina voters. While he...

Recently, the Smosska Corporation swooped into Florence, South Carolina promising to instantly create some 400 new jobs with an assurance of 3,000 before next year is out. For an area that needs jobs this seemed like welcome news. Last week a job fair was held in Florence by the new company at which free health care was offered those that would be hired. At that time an aptitude test was taken by applicants if, that is, they had the $40 fee to pay to take the thing. The company claimed this “fee” would be used to pay for drug tests...

The Republican chief judge of the Richmond-based federal appeals court has retired suddenly because of illness, giving President Obama another opening to fill on what was once considered the nation's most conservative appellate court. Karen Williams of South Carolina, the first female chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, stepped down this week shortly after learning that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, according to her family. Alzheimer's, for which there is no cure, can cause mental deterioration and memory loss. Williams is 57 years old. The 4th Circuit, an influential voice...

CHESNEE, S.C. — Police in South Carolina say an 8-year-old girl has been shot to death by the estranged husband of her father's girlfriend. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright says the man grabbed the girl in a headlock Wednesday and shot her twice in the driveway of a home in Chesnee, about 60 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C.

BREAKING NEWS: SOUTH CAROLINA KILLER IS DEAD

Cofitachequi: We can’t pronounce it, we don’t know exactly where it is, but the importance of this Native American mound city is clear. North Carolina has the Lost Colony, a 16th-century legend that draws the curious to the longest running outdoor theater production in North America. The desert Southwest has the Anasazi, the native culture that vanished in the 14th century and is celebrated at a dozen National Park Service sites. South Carolina has a combination of the two — Cofitachequi. Ever heard of it? Cofitachequi is mentioned in third-grade S.C. history books, and there’s a diorama about it at...

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- FOX Carolina has confirmed with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office that the four recent slayings in Gaffney are connected. The Cherokee County Coroner released the name of the fourth victim early Friday morning. Stephen Tyler, 48, was shot and killed at his business -- Tyler Home Center -- on Thursday night. Tyler's 15-year-old daughter was also shot in the head and was transported to an area hospital. There is no word on her condition. The shooting of the Tylers is only the latest incident in a violent spree of shootings. On Saturday, a peach farmer was killed....

S.C. politicians wavering on Sanford (USA Today cannot be posted on FR)

Dear Friends, I write to apologize and ask for your forgiveness. Well beyond the personal consequences within my own family, I know that at so many different levels my actions have upset, offended and disappointed friends and supporters and for this I am most sorry. As I mentioned in last week's press conference, I've always believed God's laws were there to protect us from ourselves, and what has transpired over this last week vividly illustrates the damage that comes personally, and to those you love and respect, in doing otherwise. So in the aftermath of this failure I want to...

How Mark Sanford's affair blew up Governor's missteps, others' reactions painted him into a corner By RODDIE BURRIS, LEROY CHAPMAN JR., CLIF LeBLANC, JOHN O’CONNOR and GINA SMITH - The State Newspaper The first was Sanford himself. Long a loner, Sanford refuses to issue a public schedule, for example, and then vanishes. He also disdains and evades his security detail. Thus, he thought he could vanish again to Argentina to see his mistress. Then there was Jake’s revenge. Last year, Sanford and his wife, Jenny, tried to defeat Lexington state Sen. Jake Knotts — an ally of Lt. Gov. Andre...

I have been reading the stories about Mark Sanford who had a error in judgement this past week. I understand that his wife is upset and many conservatives are disappointed. My question is what is the Air Force saying? He was an Air Force Reservist. I did not know that until today reading other posts. He could be court martialed for adultry which is against the UCMJ. Does anyone know if there is anything about this?

S.C. governor's wife: I told him to stop affair ‘I was hoping he was on the Appalachian Trail,’ she says in interview Jenny Sanford, wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, says she told her husband in no uncertain terms to stop seeing his lover. View related photos Alice Keeney / AP NBC Video: Politics GOP, a reality-show based community? June 26: Countdown presents the Republican candidates for 2012 as reality show contestants in 'The Real GOP candidates of 2012.' Sanford all apologies Sanford shows no signs of stepping down Obama calls Iran crackdown 'outrageous' Jackson’s personal politics Slideshow First...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – It's a wild scene outside the luxury apartment building where Gov. Mark Sanford's mistress reportedly lives, where dozens of journalists have camped out, interviewing every passerby in hopes of finding Sanford's elusive "Maria." But with at least five Marias living in the building, the mystery persists. Reporters and cameramen descended on Republica de la India street after a South Carolina newspaper found the address in the couple's steamy e-mails. But the paper, called The State, did not publish her last name, leaving the rest of the pack scrambling for clues and complaining about their stakeout duty...

Can't anyone make a dignified apology? We can now add the sad-eyed Gov. Mark Sanford, making his tearful public confessional, to the galaxy of similar fallen stars we have seen in this state before. The question no one has ever answered is how they all fell into the grip of the same delusion: namely, that the way to retrieving dignity is to go before the microphones to issue craven apologies to a list of purported victims. Can these recitals, interrupted by barely suppressed sobs, acknowledgment of all the betrayed -- the family dog will be in there some day --...

Sanford was with his family Thursday as legal and ethical questions swirled A top South Carolina Republican leader said philandering Gov. Mark Sanford should resign and practice the philosophy he's preached of holding GOP leaders accountable. Glenn McCall is one of the state's two national representatives to the Republican National Committee. He's also a county party chairman and said Thursday that party members want Sanford out. McCall said Sanford repeatedly has said party leaders should be held accountable for not upholding the GOP's principles. And McCall says the married father of four should be held to the same standard.

Gov. Mark Sanford met with his mistress on a taxpayer funded trip to Brazil and Argentina last year, according to documents released by the S.C. Department of Commerce and e-mails exchanged between Sanford and the woman. The S.C. Department of Commerce paid more than $8,000 for the trip to Brazil and Argentina June 21-28 of last year, according to documents Commerce released today. Sanford, in a statement, acknowledged the meeting and said he would reimburse the state.

Sharp-witted. Direct. In control. Loyal. Jenny Sanford, here with her husband, was a Wall Street executive before she married Mark Sanford. [...] Jenny Sanford grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, and earned a degree in finance from Georgetown University. She met Mark Sanford when they worked for investment firms in New York, she at Lazard Freres and he at Goldman Sachs. The two married and moved to his native South Carolina, and she managed his campaign for Congress in 1994. "Mark started out with five other opponents, and he didn't really have a shot. That was the opinion of most people,"...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A top South Carolina Republican leader says philandering Gov. Mark Sanford should resign and practice the philosophy he's preached of holding GOP leaders accountable. Glenn McCall is one of the state's two national representatives to the Republican National Committee. He's also a county party chairman and said Thursday that party members want Sanford out.....

A newspaper in South Carolina called Thursday for the resignation of the state's governor, who has admitted to having to an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. Gov. Mark Sanford told The State newspaper he was surprised the story was attracting such attention. Republican Gov. Mark Sanford "cannot navigate a deep and painful personal crisis and lead the state through its economic crisis at the same time," an editorial in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal said. "He should resign." After disappearing from the public eye for nearly a week, Sanford, 49, admitted Wednesday that he had not hiked the Appalachian Trail --...

Another day, yet another political sex scandal. Do we need any more reasons to begin a wholesale cleaning of our political house? How can we expect these people to make conscientious decisions? by Michael Naragon Mark Sanford’s admission of his affair on Wednesday prompted differing reactions from different people. Rush Limbaugh, in a rare moment, was nearly speechless upon hearing the announcement. My cynicism toward all politicians kept me from being shocked by the news. My reaction was one of anger, pure and simple. In a time when so many critical issues face the nation, and liberals–including their cohorts in...

Statement from First Lady Jenny Sanford I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost twenty years of marriage. I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

During an emotional news conference, SC Gov. Stanford said he is resigning as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.1 minute ago from BNO Headquarters

ATLANTA -- Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning, having wrapped up a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said. Sanford said he had not been hiking along the Appalachian Trail, as his staff said in a Tuesday statement to the media. Sanford's whereabouts had been unknown since Thursday, and the mystery surrounding his absence fueled speculation about where he had been and who's in charge in his absence. His emergence Wednesday ended the mystery. Sanford, in an exclusive interview with The State, said he decided at the last minute to go to the South...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's mysterious disappearance from his state is the latest sign that Republican governors, once thought to be President Obama's most credible adversaries, haven't quite lived up to their billing. From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's cringe-inducing nationally televised response to Obama's first budget address to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's suggestion that his state might secede, GOP governors — including those said to be eyeing a potential 2012 presidential bid — haven't exactly looked like the political grown-ups many party strategists had promised. And none has had a rockier go of it than the party's best-known governor, Alaska's...

SUMTER, S.C. -- A suspect is in custody in connection with last week's shooting death of a man who became famous in 1988 as the first one to report a sighting of the legendary Lizard Man. Lakiem Davar Butler, 19, turned himself in to police in connection with Wednesday's fatal shooting. Officials said 37-year-old Christopher Davis was killed in his home in an apparent drug-related incident. Davis became an international celebrity at the age of 16 when he reported the first sighting of the legendary Lizard Man, a big-eyed swamp creature. Authorities never figured out what prompted the reports.

In a new twist to an already-bizarre episode, South Carolina’s lieutenant governor said Monday night that neither he nor Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff know where the governor is and that Sanford’s office refused his demand to talk to his fellow Republican. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who was elected separately from Sanford, issued a statement to POLITICO after a day of frenzied national speculation about the governor’s whereabouts. Bauer said he called Sanford’s office Monday and requested an “immediate phone conversation with the governor.” “That request was denied because the governor’s chief of staff does not know where the governor is,...

A new internet data map offers a first-of-its-kind, county-level look at HIV cases in the U.S. and finds the infection rates tend to be highest in the South. The highest numbers of HIV cases are in population centers like New York and California. However, many of the areas with the highest rates of HIV—that is, the highest proportion of people with the AIDS-causing virus—are in the South, according to the data map, which has information for about 99 percent of the nation's counties. HIV infection rates are higher in African-American communities, and high minority populations in the South help explain...

Florence County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a fatal shooting outside a Florence hotel room Monday morning. It happened about 7 a.m. at the Thunderbird Inn, located at 2004 W. Lucas St., at the U.S. 52/Interstate 95 intersection, Capt. Brett Camp said. The 83-year-old victim, identified by Florence County Coroner M.G. “Bubba” Matthews as Clair Chaffin of Archer, Fla., was shot while he was in the process of packing his vehicle, Camp said. Chaffin was shot after being confronted by two men during what investigators think was an attempted armed robbery, the captain said. Chaffin was taken to an area hospital,...

South Carolina is selling money to make money. State officials have quietly picked through boxes of Civil War state currency and auctioned it on eBay, providing the state archives with an influx of cash amid tight budgets. "These are very bad times. This helps us a great deal. We can pay for things we could never afford otherwise," said Charles Lesser, a senior archivist at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. About 40 boxes of the currency were supposed to be destroyed more than a century ago, but some of the bills were tucked away in the Statehouse...

Note: The following text is a quote: Eight Uzbekistan Nationals Among 12 Charged with Racketeering, Human Trafficking & Immigration Violations in Scheme to Employ Illegal Aliens in 14 States Twelve defendants, including eight Uzbekistan nationals, have been charged in a 45-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on May 6, 2009, on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges related to labor racketeering, forced labor trafficking and immigration and other violations in 14 states. Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, 30, Nodir Yunusov, 22, Rustamjon Shukurov, 21, citizens of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan.; Ilkham Fazilov, 44, Nodirbek...

Southern Republicans — the backbone of the GOP — are not sold on any of their party’s possible high-profile presidential candidates in 2012, a finding that could be good news for S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford. Sanford rubbed shoulders at a Columbia health care forum Thursday with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who remains highly regarded by many in the Republican Party. It was another moment in the spotlight for Sanford, who has generated buzz about his 2012 presidential prospects with his frequent television appearances and outspoken opposition to Democratic President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus plan. Southerners overwhelmingly back Sanford’s...

State Republicans elected Spartanburg businesswoman Karen Floyd to head the party at a state convention that underscored the divisions facing the GOP as it prepares for 2010 elections. Floyd, who was unopposed, was elected unanimously. She said her 2006 loss running for state Superintendent of Education had motivated her, as well as national Democrats who had her seeing red. “I have hope and excitement and a vision for our great party,” Floyd told the convention crowd. But during speeches by state officials, party divisions were clear about what it means to be a Republican after several losing national cycles. Gov....

South Carolina State Rep. Dennis Moss switched parties yesterday, becoming a Republican in the hopes of better representing his conservative district. "My district's a conservative district," Moss told the Rock Hill Herald. "Obama lost my district pretty substantially. I don't know what I can say, other than to represent my district to the best of my ability, I've got to be where I can do that effectively." In an interesting reversal of the scene in Congress when Arlen Specter switched parties, Moss's decision is drawing bitter rebukes from state Democrats who accuse him of political posturing for his re-election campaign....

Move upsets SC Democrats State Rep. Dennis Moss switched to the Republican Party on Friday, a move that infuriated S.C. Democrats who say he sold out for his own political gain. Moss, the legislator for western York County and part of Chester County in rural District 29, has built a conservative voting record during his three years in office. He even supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the S.C. presidential primary. "My district's a conservative district," said Moss. "Obama lost my district pretty substantially. I don't know what I can say, other than to represent my district to the...

A West Columbia woman is undergoing several weeks of preventive medical treatment after handling a bat that tested positive Wednesday for rabies. She took the live bat out of her dog’s mouth Saturday with her bare hands, thinking it was a baby bird, said Department of Health and Environmental Control spokeswoman Clair Boatwright. It’s unclear whether the bat bit the woman, but she is receiving shots, just in case. DHEC would not release her name, citing privacy laws. It was the fourth confirmed rabid animal in Lexington County this year, according to DHEC. The others were raccoons.

Introduced in the South Carolina State Senate on May 6, 2009, the “Firearms Freedom Act” (s-794) seeks “to provide that a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured and retained in South Carolina is exempt from federal regulation under the commerce clause of the Constitution of the United States.” The bill is sponsored by South Carolina State Senators Bright, Bryant, Mulvaney, Davis, Shoopman, S. Martin and McConnell. They join Montana, Utah, and Texas in an effort to limit federal regulation of guns, and specifically invoke the 9th and 10th Amendments as restrictions on federal power: “the regulation of intrastate commerce is...

Holy Cow! Did any of you South Caroliniana or interested conservatives just see Lindsey Graham on CNNN? He was practically praising Obama for wanting to close Guantanama, with words like "the good thing about this president", and also said south carolina should accept the stimulus funds, which most s. carolinians are against. This Rhino must go!!!!!!!!!!!!

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's highest court on Tuesday temporarily stopped thousands of pending foreclosure sales in the state to give homeowners more time to take advantage of a new federal program to help them refinance mortgages. The injunction — which mortgage experts said appeared to be the nation's first court-ordered stop for an entire state — prevents judges in South Carolina from finalizing foreclosure sales on properties guaranteed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or any other mortgage company that has signed on to a federal assistance program. RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing firm, says the ruling could affect...

REPUBLICAN HOLDS HOUSE DISTRICT 30 SEAT FOR FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 30 YEARS For the first time in at least 30 years, folks in South Carolina State House District 30 will have a Republican representative. GOP nominee Steve Moss beat out Democrat Tim Spencer Tuesday by seven points to win the Cherokee County seat left vacant by late Rep. Olin Phillips. “I’m overjoyed at what we have been able to accomplish today and what we will continue to accomplish in Columbia,” Moss told The Palmetto Scoop. “This was a team effort and I want to thank everyone who helped...

...and the RINO you rode in on. Don't let the door hit ya!

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Olympia Snowe — one of the three moderate Republicans including Arlen Specter who supported President Obama's stimulus package — told CNN Tuesday that she has also been approached many times about becoming a Democrat, but that it hasn't happened for a while. "I've been asked, but not recently," she said. Snowe said the Republican Party never learned its lesson from the "painful" party switch of Sen. Jim Jeffords in 2001.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In the wake of Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic caucus, Republicans are primed for yet another round of soul-searching and intra-party sniping about the GOP's future. That debate might be best illustrated in South Carolina, where the state's two Republican senators are sharply split on how the party should move forward. In one corner is Sen. Jim DeMint, perhaps the most conservative member of the upper chamber. In a speech to party activists last fall, DeMint became the first Republican to publicly blast John McCain after he lost the presidential election, accusing the Arizona senator of...

Last Thursday night on the Senate floor, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, then still a Republican, that DeMint would be supporting Specter’s rival, former Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., in next year’s Senate Republican primary. DeMint says Specter “pretty much cut me off and said, ‘I’ve heard enough.’”

Moderates blame conservatives By: Lisa Lerer April 28, 2009 01:38 PM EST Two leading Republican moderates say Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to become a Democrat highlights the hostility moderates feel from an increasingly conservative GOP. “You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words about how [the GOP] views moderates,” said Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the Senate. Snowe said the party's message has been, “Either you're with us or you’re against us.” Her frustration was shared by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), who slammed right-wing interest groups for pushing moderates out of the party. Specter...

This week CRP posted new 2010 fundraising profiles for members of Congress, including the total that each lawmaker has raised and spent in the 1st Quarter of 2009. Who's raising the most? Who's already spent the most? With nearly all of the records now in from the Federal Election Commission (with the exception of some senators who aren't up for re-election until at least 2012 and have more time to raise money), we offer a few of our observations: Among members of the House of Representatives, Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have so far raised the...