It's not easy for me living here in South Carolina. As a true liberal - and proud of it - I catch the smirks, the snide comments and the ridicule. My father, a well-known union leader here in Georgetown, just switched to the Republican Party.
I know what it's like to be loyal. I am.
But I realize a true liberal will not win outright here in S.C. We just don't have the people. Rather than hide from that, I would like to work my ass off to elect a Democratic senator that we can build a foundation with.
Jim DeMint is Jim DeMint. We all know what he's doing right now - and has done since being elected. We know what we get.
With Chad McGowan, we get a spot at the table again. We get a announced Democratic lawmaker. He's not liberal. But he's got what it takes to be Democratic and what it takes to get progress moving.
Jim DeMint only knows one word. No.
I am basically pleading with my fellow readers here to give Chad a chance as I have. We need change in this state. It's in turmoil, politically.
I hope that you can give at least $5, $10, $20 to Chad in his quest. Jim DeMint has 3 million. We need to defeat DeMint and take our state back from tea party ideology.
Help me help Chad make this state a better place for all South Carolinians.
Chad's Web site
Job Creation
The first thing we need to do is put America back to work. To do it, we need a jobs plan that encourages the folks who create jobs to do just that. That means offering refundable tax credits to companies that hire new employees, creating tax incentives for companies that locate their manufacturing facilities in the United States, and crafting an economic stimulus plan that actually stimulates the economy.
We also should force the federal government to "buy American." If the federal government needs a product and it’s made in America, they should buy it from an American company that employs American workers.
We need to reexamine our trade policy so that it is fair to our nation and state. Thousands of South Carolinians have lost their jobs to outsourcing and trade-related layoffs. We can’t let Chinese and Mexican workers unfairly compete with our homegrown manufacturing base. Simply put, under the banner of "Free Trade" other countries cheat and takeaway our jobs.
We also need to completely reform our corporate tax structure to remove the incentives of companies to send our jobs overseas.
The Federal Budget
American families work hard to live within their means and to spend no more than they earn. The federal government shouldn’t be any different.
We must balance the federal budget and reduce our deficit. How do we do that? We put people back to work. We grow the economy. We reinstate pay-as-you-go budgeting. If we slashed the national debt by just 10%, we’d save $40 billion a year in interest payments alone. In short, our politicians should start making decisions based on the next generation, not the next election.
We should also eliminate wasteful spending on unnecessary earmarks and special interest handouts. Here’s an example. Did you know that the pharmaceutical lobby convinced Congress to prevent the Medicare program from negotiating prescription drug prices directly with the drug companies? The move costs us about $20 billion each year. I’d allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices directly with the drug companies... just like many other federal agencies do. There’s also up to $800 billion of outright waste and fraud in our Medicare system. I’d triple the investigators assigned to root out that fraud and send those folks to jail.
Education
Public education is critical to South Carolina’s economic development and to its future. The federal government must work with our state to ensure that our kids get the education they need to prepare them to take on tomorrow’s challenges. That means ending unfunded mandates, extending grants for job training, and making it easier for middle class kids to pay for an attend college.
Health Insurance Reform
It’s clear: our health insurance system is broken and it needs to change. Millions of uninsured Americans get "free" care while the rest of us get stuck with the bill. Meaningful reform would make everyone personally responsible for the health care costs they incur.
The insurance industry itself also needs fixing. We must encourage competition in the insurance industry, bar insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and end the practice of canceling, or rescinding, policies on a whim when an insured reaches a certain age or contracts an "expensive" disease.
One thing is clear. We can’t do nothing. It’s wrong and it’s expensive.
Energy Independence
We must have a comprehensive energy plan to make us independent of foreign sources of energy. Any plan must include solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear and the responsible development of natural gas resources. We should also do more with less, and that means making more efficient use of our energy resources. With a comprehensive energy policy, we can be energy independent, reduce our carbon footprint, and preserve our planet for our kids.
Seniors
We must shore up Social Security and protect Medicare. We do that by balancing the federal budget, protecting the Social Security trust fund, and opposing any effort to reduce benefits. It’s the least we can do for our seniors.
Second Amendment
I’m a lifetime hunter, outdoorsman, and National Rifle Association member. I strongly support the fundamental right, enshrined in the Second Amendment, to keep and bear arms.
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