Four heroes made on Wendesday

Friends of South Carolina,

From time to time, there are heroes who truly step up and fight for the people.

Wednesday was one of those times.

Wednesday was the day when our amendment to the restructuring bill, H3066, was to get a vote on the floor of the Senate.

We worked hard over the last few weeks to tell our Senators that this is what the people want.  This was the one that would have implemented the recommendations of the South Carolina Policy Council!

All of the Senators knew that A122 was “our” amendment!  There was no question about that.

Now, you know I rarely have anything good to say about a politician.  If you were to search back through my archives you’d be hard pressed to find more than one or two good words about any of them.

Today demands otherwise.

Four Senators fought the leadership of the Senate and the Governor for you!

They heard your calls for true separation of powers in our state government.

They listened to your demands for responsibility and accountability by following the recommendations of the South Carolina Policy Council on restructuring our government.

The people demanded it.

These four fought to implement it for you Wednesday!

Senators Davis, Bright, Bryant, and Shane Martin stood for you!  They deserve your thanks!

However, your Senate leadership and the Governor bargained away our chance for true reform!

The remainder of the Senate folded under the lobbying of the Governor and the Senate leadership.

They abandoned you!

They’d rather preserve their power and influence than give you good government.

They compromised with each other and with the Governor to diffuse responsibility and concentrate power.

Then they used procedural tricks to try to prevent our amendment from coming up for a vote.

The president of the Senate ruled it “out of order”.

I don’t have time tonight, as I write this at midnight, to detail all the betrayals.  There are plenty that I will tell you about in the coming days.

But you need to know that Wednesday, these four Senators fought the procedural tricks and challenged the ruling of the Senate President that our amendment was “out of order”.

They forced a vote and you need to thank them!

• Senator Tom Davis tomdavis@scsenate.gov
• Senator Shane Martin shanemartin@scsenate.gov
• Senator Kevin Bryant kevinbryant@scsenate.gov
• Senator Lee Bright leebright@scsenate.gov

They will suffer retribution from leadership because they dared to stand and challenge leadership’s procedural tricks.

We lost that challenge, 4 – 31, but because of the courage of these four, the vote went on the record for who stood with leadership, and who stood with you.

Don’t let those who betrayed you tell you their vote to sustain the ruling of the president was not a vote against your amendment.

It was.

The vote to sustain the ruling of the president is the vote that killed our amendment.

These thirty one betrayed you and voted to sustain the ruling.  Hold them accountable:

Alexander, Campbell, Campsen, Cleary, Courson, Cromer, Fair,  Ford, Gregory, Grooms, Hayes, Jackson, Knotts, Leatherman, Lourie, Malloy, Larry Martin, Massey, McConnell, Nicholson, O’Dell, Peeler, Rankin, Rose, Ryberg, Scott, Setzler, Sheheen, Shoopman, Verdin, Williams.

We have forty-six Senators.  That means eleven names are missing.  It’s late and I haven’t had time to check to see which of the eleven had leave and who just was too chicken to vote.

But I’ll remind you of my policy:  If you are not present and voting with us, then you are against us.  Those eleven who didn’t cast a vote did not stand with you any more than those thirty one who voted against you.

Remember… Davis, Bryant, Bright, and Shane Martin stood with you Wednesday night.

I’ll explain more in the coming days, as well as Governor Haley’s involvement in this mess!  I will show you how she was ready to fight for half way weak reform, but not for real reform.

But right now, you need to thank these four Senators for standing up and fighting for your amendment to the restructuring bill.

They heard your cries for better government and they followed through.

Even more than saying thank you, I challenge you to go to their website and chip in some money toward their re-election!

Click here to donate to Senator Tom Davis

Click here to donate to Senator Shane Martin

Click here to donate to Senator Kevin Bryant

Click here to donate to Senator Lee Bright

McConnell and Leatherman will make them pay for their open challenge of his authority!  These two do not like to be challenged, especially openly in this manner!

Help them retain their seat so they can continue to fight for us next year!

Sincerely,

Talbert Black Jr.

P.S. Senators Davis, Bright, Bryant, and Shane Martin were the only four Senators who were willing to fight all the way for you Wednesday.

They fought the procedural tricks to prevent a vote on your amendment to the restructuring bill that would have implemented the recommendations of the South Carolina Policy Council.  This was the amendment that we have been fighting for over the last few weeks!

The rest of the Senate betrayed you.

Take a moment and chip in a donation to each of them.  They will need it to keep their seat and continue to fight for you next year.

Click here to donate to Senator Tom Davis

Click here to donate to Senator Shane Martin

Click here to donate to Senator Kevin Bryant

Click here to donate to Senator Lee Bright