Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:
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June 25
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard on budget deal:
Attention was rightfully taken away from regular business in the General Assembly last week after a special legislative session was marred with a tragic note, but there still remains the need to have a state budget signed, sealed and delivered by lawmakers.
Members of a legislative conference committee wrapped up compromises on what became a rather complicated budget process over this past weekend, which were then approved by the full legislature on Tuesday. Lawmakers are now waiting for S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley to consider any vetoes she may have related to the budget.
The state budgetary process certainly unfolded more hastily than hoped. The failure of lawmakers to pass a state budget by the end of their regular session on June 4, combined with the horrific shooting in Charleston on June 17 that resulted in the death of nine people, including S.C. Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Japser, undoubtedly created a different and harder legislative framework than anyone imagined at the start of the session.
Given this uniquely difficult framework, the state budget still recognizes and fulfills several significant needs, especially for Aiken County.
S.C. Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, who served on the conference committee that considered the budget and also represents part of Aiken County, noted, in particular, that the budget includes an $800 bonus for state employees, winter storm reimbursement funding and dollars for programs and projects at USC Aiken and Aiken Technical College. In addition, the budget wisely includes an increase in base student cost for the state’s public education system.
Setzler added that there’s also $336 million in money added for our state’s roads and bridges. As part of that funding, Aiken County will see about $8 million in new funding for existing infrastructure. However, that $336 million doesn’t come anywhere close to the needs facing our state’s roads and bridges, particularly since it’s one-time, non-recurring funding. It’s also worth nothing that $70 million of that will go toward one specific project - to build an interchange for the recently recruited Volvo manufacturing plant in Berkeley County.
Lawmakers, however, shouldn’t be left off the hook for failing to pass any kind of long-term infrastructure bill, which has been consistently listed as one, if not the highest, of priorities for this year. Also, given the discovery of a more than $300 million budget surplus toward the end of the session, the General Assembly did little to address a number of other backlogged needs that exist in the state, particularly properly funding mandates that the state places on local governments and school districts.
Haley has already indicated that the legislature’s decision concerning this surplus is “precedent-setting” as the economy improves and officials foresee more surpluses in the years to come. Lawmakers would be wise to reconsider these lingering needs as they move on to the next budget cycle.
Let’s also hope that the dysfunction that existed this session, which not only included the failure to address long-term infrastructure needs, but also overdue ethics reform and changes to the state’s Freedom of Information Act, will be resolved or at least alleviated when lawmakers return for the second half of this session in January.
Members of the Aiken County delegation are obviously only part of the full legislature and can’t single-handily accomplish many of the needs and goals facing our state. Given that reality, Setzler and S.C. Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken, who also served on the budget conference committee, particularly deserve credit for working diligently to ensure Aiken County received needed funding that local officials were seeking.
However, South Carolinians shouldn’t forget that even before the tragedy in Charleston occurred, lawmakers were on pace to go beyond the regular 21-week time frame of the session to accomplish the people’s business.
The more dysfunction that exists in Columbia, not only makes it harder to approve anything of substance, but also means more taxpayers dollars being spent to extend the session. Let’s hope this year serves as a lesson for lawmakers in the future to deliberate and approve its business in a more efficient and cost-effective fashion.
Online:
https://www.aikenstandard.com
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June 25
Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina, on Iran deal:
It is reassuring that the Senate recently presented President Barack Obama with a veto-proof demand for Congress to be given time to review any deal he may strike with Iran lifting economic sanctions in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.
That backstop means the president must get an agreement that will survive congressional scrutiny.
Recent comments by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei indicate that he is backing away from previous promises about verification. And a new State Department report on Iran’s continued support of terrorism also raises troubling questions about that nation’s future role in the Middle East if an agreement is reached.
That is apparently not the way President Obama has hoped his readiness to negotiate with Iran and make nuclear concessions would be received.
During an interview with National Public Radio in April, President Obama discussed what might happen to an estimated $150 billion in frozen Iranian funds if sanctions were lifted. That sum is equal to about one-fourth of Iran’s GDP as estimated by the CIA’s World Factbook. It is as if the United States suddenly received a one-time $4 trillion shot in the arm.
Asked if the funds might be used to advance Iran’s Mideast objectives and military power, the president said he thought there would be a strong chance that the funds would be mainly used to improve life for all Iranians. Referring to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, he said, “I think that, if in fact the Rouhani administration - the forces that are more moderating … if they are shown to have delivered for their people, presumably it strengthens their hand vis-a-vis some of the hardliners inside of Iran.”
Last week, however, the State Department issued a report showing that neither the election of supposedly moderate President Rouhani nor ongoing nuclear negotiations with the U.S. and other representatives of the U.N. Security Council has caused Iran to back down from its aggressive campaign to extend its power in the Middle East. Nor has it diminished its threat to Israel. That cannot be much comfort to a White House hoping that Iran will become a partner in stabilizing the region if a nuclear deal is reached.
Meanwhile, Ayatollah Khamenei this week issued a demand for an immediate lifting of sanctions before any Iranian moves to limit its nuclear activity, and barred any long-lasting freeze on Iranian development of more efficient ways to enrich uranium. He also reiterated a refusal to allow international inspection of military facilities.
The Ayatollah’s demands run directly counter to an eight-point framework for a successful negotiation laid out earlier this year by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a leading advocate of tying any agreement to rigorous verification.
Fortunately for the national interest, President Obama will have to effectively defend any agreement he eventually reaches with Iran - and the current July 1 deadline now looks unlikely - to an appropriately cautious Senate.
Online:
https://www.postandcourier.com
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June 24
The Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, on removing Confederate flag:
Now is the time for South Carolina to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds.
It should not take a lot of time, because this topic has been at the forefront of public dialogue for 20 years.
When the legislature voted to move the flag from the capitol dome to a prominent position near the front steps in 2000, it was the first step, not the last, toward healing a festering wound among the races in this state.
Last week, the wound got ripped open. A racist massacre in a Charleston church showed the world what the flag has been since it was no longer needed on the Civil War battlefield. It is a symbol of white supremacy.
White supremacy is disavowed in the Constitution. It is not acceptable legally, morally or economically.
The flag’s place on Statehouse grounds gives it state-government sanction, when in fact the flag does not stand for all citizens of the state. It is indeed very hurtful to many as it is accurately associated with slavery, segregation, unequal rights, unequal schools, Black Codes, lynching, the KKK, terrorism, extremism and heinous violence like we saw last week. It’s sad but true.
The values of the 1860s and 1960s, which are why the flag is where it is today, need to be buried, not exalted by the state legislature.
The flag belongs in museums.
South Carolina’s legislature holds the key to freeing the state from this anachronism.
The legislature, meeting in a special section this week to pass a budget, was quick Tuesday to enable a discussion of removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds.
Now it must act equally as fast to catch up with the rest of society that was sickened by the racist killings of nine people studying the Bible at the historic Emanuel AME Church.
The innocent victims were the best and the brightest of society, including one of the legislature’s own, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney of Ridgeland. Pinckney also was pastor of “Mother Emanuel,” one of the most influential churches in the state’s history.
All of these South Carolinians were killed solely because they were black.
The suspect is a Confederate flag-waving, self-proclaimed racist who says he wanted to start a race war.
Instead, history must recall, he inadvertently set in motion the bright day that the state legislature moves beyond the 19th century and accepts all South Carolinians as equals.
We don’t need to tiptoe around this issue anymore. The Emanuel massacre and the forgiving spirit of the victims’ loved ones made it easy to see the difference between right and wrong.
The legislature should correct other wrongs of the Heritage Act that got the flag off the dome. The law requires a super-majority vote to move the flag, and it prohibits certain memorials on public property anywhere in the state from being “relocated, removed, disturbed or altered” without approval of the legislature. That is a wrong-headed move to entrench racism into the future.
Since the massacre, thousands have marched to show their unity with the African-American community. The business world reacted swiftly. Wal-Mart, Amazon, eBay and Sears announced this week bans on the sale of Confederate flag merchandise.
We are thankful to three of South Carolina’s top elected leaders — Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott — for coming out this week in favor of removing the flag. The legislature now must get it done.
Removing the flag is the right thing to do on all counts, but it will not change the hearts of man. It will not be a cure-all any more than moving it off the capitol dome ended racism. But like that step in 2000, this next step is important. And it is the only way to get South Carolina where it needs to go.
Online:
https://www.islandpacket.com
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