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Monday, October 1
7:00 p.m.
at
Berkeley Electric Co-op
3351 Maybank Highway
Johns Island
Here's why it's important --


Carol Tempel needs your support.  She needs to have us all stand behind her on Monday, October 1, when she answers questions about the issues that are important to residents of SC House District 115, Charleston, and the entire state.


Her opponent has declined this important invitation to speak, and to hear the concerns of the voters.


So be there, and bring your family, friends and neighbors.  This is an opportunity to get to know Carol.  And it's an opportunity for those of us who know her, and know how important her candidacy is to us, to show her we're behind her.

Carol Temple
Petition Candidate
SC House 115

 
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Carol Tempel, who is running as a Petition Candidate for SC House 115, wants to hear your opinions.  She also wants you to know where she stands on issues like education, jobs, social security, health care, and public safety.  That is why she will be appearing at a Candidate Forum on Monday, October 1.

Sadly, her opponent, Peter McCoy, who has held the seat for two years, has turned down the invitation to appear at this event.  Perhaps he doesn't think voters need to know where he stands.  Maybe he would like to avoid defending his voting record of the past two years.

Apparently, he has excused himself from this event stating that the location, the Berkeley County Electric Co-op at 3351 Maybank Highway on Johns Island is not home to his constituents.  In fact, it is just about halfway between the voters on Kiawah and Seabrook Islands and those on James Island -- equally convenient to both.

So Carol has decided to accept the invitation of the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women to tell voters about herself.

We need to get out on Monday and show our support for this great candidate.  Bring family, friends and neighbors out to meet Carol and hear her views.  Let's show her we care about our representation in Columbia as much as she does!

And as for Peter McCoy, let's just assume that he will be represented at this forum, too...

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by jodimullenfondell.blogspot.com
Tempel Town Hall Meeting
Monday, October 1,  7 :00  -  8:00 pm 
Berkeley County Electric Co-Op
3351  Maybank Highway on Johns  Island, SC
next to the fire station 
 
If you haven't yet been introduced to FreedomWorks, it's time.  Despite it's patriotic sounding name, FreedomWorks is funded by all those right-wing extremists that believe that no tax is a good tax (unless it goes to big corporations), and that money that you don't work for -- like investment income and inheritance -- is more valuable than money earned through actual hard work.


Here in South Carolina, we have lots of notables on the FreedomWorks roster.  The lovely Jim DeMint scored a 91% on FreedomWorks' economic scorecard in 2003; he worked tirelessly to end up with a near-perfect 98% for his 2011 voting record (what on earth could that 2% have represented???).  Today, though, he out-DeMint's DeMint, with a just-announced perfect score of 100%.  "You-lie" class act Joe Wilson and Tim Scott are also reported by FreedomWorks to be "other winners."  On that, I must agree.  And that is not a compliment.


Tim Scott believes fervently in what these FreedomWorks folks call "school choice".  He himself went to public school in South Carolina, and despite his apparent success, he is at the forefront in dismantling public education.  In the illogical twists and turns of the FreedomWorks right-wing mind, he has convinced himself that the key to helping children in poor neighborhoods is for businesses to get involved in school programs, without nasty government intervention -- or dollars -- and this will provide quality education for all.

Yes, you heard him right.  Tim Scott actually says he believes we can "think our way out of poverty."


Why would a smart man say something so dumb?  Because there really is absolutely no defense for killing public education.  Businesses will not equitably fund all neighborhoods.  Parents may not know which are the best choices for their children, and even if they know, may not find open seats available, or have the means to transport a child to that school.  And, guess what, those good schools are not going to be plentiful, and they aren't going to be cheap.


Honestly?  In Tim Scott's America, school choice will exist only for those with the most cash, and the means to investigate, apply for, and then get their kids to the "best schools."  When we allow Tim Scott and Jim DeMint, and here in the SC House, folks like Peter McCoy to win their war against funding public schools, we will see even worse discrimination between the rich and poor.  Oh, and those who will be getting both taxed and slammed will be the middle class, because how else can you pull off this sleight-of-hand?

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Bobbie Rose has a more reality-based and let me say democratic philosophy about education.  She knows that the only way to provide good schools for all is for South Carolina to work with the Federal Government to provide the long-overdue investment in our children.  This means that folks like Tim Scott and Jim DeMint will have to pay slightly higher taxes so that all children will have the opportunity they deserve.  (Sorry, guys, that's how true "freedom works.")

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And let's not forget how important it is to get real pro-education legislators in Columbia to work with the federal government to distribute our tax dollars equitably and sensibly.  Carol Tempel, SC House Petition Candidate, knows first hand how to turn education around in South Carolina.  She knows, unlike her opponent Peter McCoy, that slash-and-burn tax cuts will never work.


"School choice" isn't really about choice.  But this election truly is about choice.  We can choose those folks that talk about freedom while they curtail ours, or we can elect candidates who will represent us, our families, our children, our future.

 
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Government didn't just happen, and our government was not imposed on us, and it has been working for us for quite some time.  But there are many of us today who believe government should just get out of the way.
     If we look at the poor employment figures for South Carolina, we can see firsthand the results of cutting back government.  We have lost jobs in education and in public health and safety.  We have inadequate government funding to build and upgrade roads and schools.  Our electrical grid is fragile.  We have lost opportunities in developing clean energy and moving ahead with fast and efficient public transportation.
     When we lose government jobs, when funding is cut for important government projects and even more jobs are lost, the effect ripples throughout our communities.  Those lost jobs are individuals who have to struggle to pay for the roof over their heads, and are no longer able to spend money in the community.  When that happens to the extent that we have seen over the past years, businesses are forced to cut back, and more jobs are lost.
     South Carolina House Representative for District 115 Peter McCoy has fought over the past two years to chop and slash government spending, so that big tax savings can go to big business.  He does not recognize the damage that those tax cuts do in terms of loss of government jobs and services, and contracts to small businesses to improve our communities.  In fact, those tax cuts he brags about actually cost us more in lost services.
     When will private sector jobs come back?  Those jobs will come back when people in the community have the financial security that will allow them to spend and grow their neighbors' small businesses.  When those small businesses grow, they hire.
     Carol Tempel understands the way government jobs fuel our communities, and our businesses.  This is why she will fight for smart taxation and spending, so that Charleston and South Carolina can begin to grow again.

Choose
Carol Tempel
South Carolina House 115
Petition Candidate

 
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Carol Tempel knows what works and what doesn't.  She has run a successful small business, and she has been a top school administrator right here in Charleston.  Now she wants to put her talents to work for a greater goal -- she wants to change the downward spiral of education, jobs and quality of life in Charleston and in South Carolina.


Her opponent, Peter McCoy, doesn't just follow the Tea Party dictum of cut taxes and services, he doesn't just believe that less government is ALWAYS better government, he has worked in Columbia for nearly two years to cut services to hard working South Carolinians.  His latest scheme is to give back $280 to families with school-aged children and tell them, "Good luck finding a quality education with that."


Carol knows that when public education is done right, it is the best value democracy can offer.  But when our legislators chop at our education funds year after year, we are left with fewer teachers, larger classes, buildings falling into disrepair, school programs that have fallen behind for want of supplies and technology.


Yet Peter McCoy continues to believe that if we just chop a little more off, the problem will fix itself.


It hasn't happened yet, and it's not going to.


So give your support and your vote to Carol Tempel for South Carolina House #115.

Carol Tempel
Petition Candidate
SC House 115
 
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Hillary told us that "it takes a village", but for quite a few years now we have been hearing that all it takes is the wealthy, or as they call themselves, the job creators.
     But, in fact, they haven't been creating a whole lot of jobs, and when they have, they haven't done it alone.  And Elizabeth Warren was the first in a long time to say it:  "Nobody got rich on his own."
     And while the likes of Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Scott Brown and Tim Scott continue to vote for those with the deep pockets that are paying for those votes, women like Elizabeth Warren and Bobbie Rose are begging to differ.
     Fact is, the reason trickle down will never work, the reason tax cuts for the wealthy will not work, is that capitalism doesn't work if people can't afford to buy your product.  Unfortunately, that one percent doesn't care.  They don't care because their money is safe in offshore accounts, stacked in huge piles where they can come count it whenever they want, like Scrooge McDuck

     Yes, Warren is right when she says the game is rigged.  And along with dynamic women like Bobbie Rose, she will fight for a living wage for all of us, and will partner government with those businesses which will move us forward, through good and ethical hiring practices as well as industry that will promote 21st century needs for a clean environment and fuel efficiency.  She will fight for the quality of our education, as well as the safety of our schools and roads.
     When Elizabeth Warren and Bobbie Rose vote on financial matters, they will not be voting so that the rich get richer.  They will not be voting with a mind to pinching pennies on the middle class so that their wealthy constituents can stack up more profit.  They will be voting with the understanding that, for America to succeed, we must all succeed.
     In many ways, America is still stuck in the 20th Century.  We need women with vision like Elizabeth Warren and Bobbie Rose in the US Congress to move this country -- and the people who live in it -- forward.