We are all so election weary, but I just have to share with you Peter McCoy's last-minute mailing, just because it is hilarious, and we are all in need of a little humor right about now.
Half of the mailing is all about Peter, with a cute photo and the usual stuff, how he is 100 percent in the pocket of big business (I don't know if he admitted the “big” part or not), and how he is going to make sure that every one of us has the choice to send our kids to whichever minimally adequate school we like. So you don't need to see that, because it's same old, same old.
But the part about his opponent, Carol Tempel, is what cracked me up.
First, there was a picture of Carol:
Then, Peter went into all the terrible awful no-good very bad things about her.
Like the fact that nobody that's pro-jobs has endorsed her. Except of course, the AFL-CIO, EdFirstSC, and the Working Families Party. Oh, and those crazy liberals at the Post & Courier.
And we all know that, except for having diverse public schools that reflect the many diverse needs of the children of South Carolina, Carol is not in favor of giving parents school choice.
We all know that the main goal for Carol, if she is elected, is to spend as much money as possible. Unlike McCoy, who is in favor of giving massive tax breaks to millionaires, and then cutting government services, much like when daddy buys a new Lamborghini and then cuts your allowance to pay for it.
All of the above criticisms are just plain cruel, but the last one is the worst.
Peter McCoy has accused Carol Tempel of supporting Barack Obama! That's just too much. I mean, that puts her in the company of radical lefties like Colin Powell. And Chris Christie. And, as if that isn't bad enough, Peter says Carol is – I kid you not – “a 'community activist' for hard liberal causes.”
Now that is some cold stuff. Mostly because I have absolutely no idea what it means.
So, folks, don't vote for Carol Tempel, unless you want to have someone up in Columbia voting to spend tax dollars on education instead of tax breaks for millionaires, bringing our federal taxes back home to fix roads, hire teachers and firefighters, and protect our environment. Carol Tempel
Petition Candidate
SC House 115
caroltempel.com
First of all, I apologize for the title pun, but the race is almost over, and somebody had to do it.Secondly, I know we are all election-weary. So I admit, I attended the Tempel - McCoy Forum last night thankful that it was putting us all one step closer to that #!@&! election.I've been writing about SC House 115 incumbent Peter McCoy for a few weeks now, but have never seen the man; after all, he was unable to drive all the way to Johns Island to attend the first Forum. Let me admit that I had a bad attitude going in, but then let me add about the following, as Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up."Peter McCoy began his introductory statement by striding around the podium and to the front of the room, where he paced back and forth, much like a young Perry Mason, the better to impress the jury with his opening arguments. Because he is a very young man, and since his idol, Newt Gingrich, lost the bid for the Republican nomination, he has shorn his whiskers, he lacked the presence that he seemed to so desire.And when he addressed a particular friend in the audience to indicate to all that he knows that Joe or Ted or whoever he was wants to be able to choose where his children go to school, he was trying way to hard to mimic the now popular use by candidates of real people to seem to be in touch.That said, I'd like to talk about a couple of the issues.Peter McCoy stated that he is a proud recipient of the Peas and Carrots Award for both years that he was a legislator. Hrmph. Call me a cynic, but I am not impressed by a cute name. So I did a little research and was taken aback to learn that The Citizens for Sound Conservation, who sponsor the award, is actually a pro-business, pro-drilling, anti-environmental organization! Imagine that. Along the way, I found a great website called Barbecue & Politics, which sadly exists no longer, but their take on this fake environmental group is well worth the read.Let's talk a little about roads, bridges, traffic and 526.You might wonder, as did I, why in two years the only contribution McCoy has made to the traffic situation on James Island is to add those big, ugly and no doubt expensive street signs -- you know, the ones that tell you what street you're approaching before you get there, and those humungous stop signs and the like -- to nearly every intersection. Because, for example, you may be driving up Camp Road approaching Folly, like you do every day, and forget that it's Folly Road, or that there is a light ahead.Well, this is just my opinion, but I believe that the reason all those simple solutions to traffic congestion, like adding a right-turn lane at a traffic light, didn't get done on Peter's watch is because they would improve traffic.Confused? Hear me out.If traffic improves, then the residents will be less likely to accept the need for the 526 extension. After all, why destroy part of James Island County Park if a new street light or a turn lane eases traffic congestion? It wasn't discussed last night, but let me guess that Peter McCoy has also not supported improved public transportation, no doubt because of the cost and despite the fact that it would ease traffic and help those who cannot afford the cost of a car or the high price of gas.Peter McCoy, also a proud friend of big business as well as peas and carrots (am I being redundant here?) totally supports Route 526, coming to your town soon if McCoy is re-elected.Speaking of big business, McCoy last night brought up his support for the new Michelin Tire plant that would bring hundreds of new jobs upstate. Mm-hm. What he failed to mention, besides the fact that these would be lower-paying manufacturing jobs and that they would be upstate, is that once again he and fellow legislators have given away the store, or, to be precise, $9.1 million worth of incentives. That's our tax dollars at work, folks, going to those big guys at Michelin so that they can get cheap labor in South Carolina.
By the way, Peter was insulted when Tempel questioned his part in the bizarre redistricting lines that have cut out parts of James Island and added the way-far-away lands of Kiawah and Seabrook to SC House 115. How could she imply that he had anything to do with that? After all, there were forums, and committees, and he is just one person.The first absurd thing about the protestation is this:Try to imagine the folks at Kiawah and Seabrook insisting that the best way they could be represented would be to be grouped with two towns that are 40 minutes away.And if that sounds ridiculous, ask yourself why your representative would not have fought for lines that brought together a community, instead of isolating groups of constituents.I hate to say it, because I like all y'all from Kiawah and Seabrook, but it occurs to me that cutting out a couple of African-American neighborhoods and adding in a couple of well-to-do areas, no matter where they are, might have seemed like good business to Peter McCoy.Not that he was able to take on this bizarre redistricting scheme all by himself. I am sure he had help from others in his corrupt House of Representatives.No, not his House of Representatives. These guys may think it belongs to them, but it is our House of Representatives.
That's why we need to get out and vote for Carol Tempel on November 6. We need a candidate who will not be controlled by big business. $9.1 million to Michelin while teachers have been furloughed? Cut a highway through our County Park? It may be peas and carrots to Peter McCoy, but for the rest of us it's the quality of our life.That's why you don't need to get out and vote for Carol Tempel on November 6. You need to get yourself and a friend and a neighbor and a co-worker out to vote. And I know you know someone who is planning on voting up until November 6 when they decide it's probably not that important so they'll just skip it.It is that important. Our children, our parks, our roads, and yes, our jobs, are at stake. So let's get out and support Carol Tempel on November 6. Carol Tempel
Petition Candidate
SC House 115
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?
 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.")
 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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