|
|
Mark Sanford on Principles & ValuesRepublican SC Governor; previously Representative (SC-1) |
"She went there, Gov. Sanford," said the debate's moderator.
"I couldn't hear what she said," Sanford responded. "Repeat it, I didn't hear it."
"Answer the question," Colbert Busch said.
"What was the question?" asked Sanford, who then answered the original question on spending.
Later, Sanford was reminded by a questioner that he voted to impeach President Bill Clinton because of his involvement with Monica Lewinsky and asked if he would vote that way again. "I would reverse the question," Sanford said. "Do you think President Clinton should be condemned for the rest of his life for a mistake he made in his life?"
Sanford is trying to rebound from a scandal that sidelined his political career. In 2009, Sanford, after telling his staff he was out hiking the Appalachian Trail, revealed that he was in Argentina with a woman he later became engaged to after divorcing his wife, Jenny. Before leaving office, Sanford avoided impeachment but was censured by the Legislature over state travel expenses he used for the affair. He also paid the largest ethics fine ever in S.C, $70,000.
After initially saying she was sure he was just taking some time away from the kids to write, Jenny Sanford changed her tone and her message. "I am being a mom today," she told CNN. "I have not heard from my husband." Clearly, something was not right.
A local reporter, acting on an anonymous trip, met Sanford as he stepped off a flight from Buenos Aires. Later that day, the governor held an emotional press conference. He confessed to being unfaithful to his wife and traveling to Argentina to meet his mistress.
Any presidential aspirations he had, needless to say, were gone. His career in state politics seemed to be effectively over.
For my part, I tried to shift the focus back to the reform agenda. Almost alone among political figures in the state, I did not push him to resign or be impeached. "The people of South Carolina have heard enough about the governor's personal life," I said at that time.
You could say that Governor Sanford was lucky in his timing. The legislature had just recessed when the scandal broke. When the issue of impeachment was raised, some of the legislators maintained that the rules didn't allow an impeachment vote until the legislature reconvened in January 2010.
In typical Sanford fashion, the governor fired back by having a press conference outside Senator Thomas's law office. He accused his critics of "selective outrage" and showed that previous administrations had passed up economy class at least 230 times since 1984. He accused his opponents of playing politics. "Me hanging up the spurs 16 months out, as comfortable as that would be, it is wrong," he said.
I had studied the charges against the governor carefully. I continued to defend him against calls for his impeachment because I didn't believe his actions warranted impeachment.
The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).
Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.
The GOP controls the Senate by just one vote. Even with today’s margin, the GOP doesn’t have effective control of the agenda as the Democrats use the filibuster to kill pro-growth reform or crucial judicial appointments. The next Senate could confirm two U.S. Supreme Court justices.
If the Republicans do manage to pick up a few extra seats in the Senate, there could also be an ideological shift toward pro-growth issues. Right now, the balance of power is in the hands of the RINO Republicans like Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter. With a seat pick-up for the GOP, plus the addition of GOP superstars, Olympia and Arlen would no longer be deciding votes. We could move away from watered-down Republicanism toward a genuine pro-growth agenda.
Members of the Club are economic conservatives, like-minded political contributors who are frustrated with the ideological drift of both parties today. Club members have a shared goal of contributing to and electing more Reaganites to Congress who are willing to stand for the issues like: cutting taxes, controlling federal spending, personal accounts for Social Security, ending the death tax, eliminating the capital gains tax, fundamental tax reform, providing true school choice and minimizing government's role in our daily lives.
The stakes are mighty high in the Senate elections. That’s why we’re providing you now with our outlook for every competitive Senate race and a list of our top tier choices. The “A” List Candidates make this list because their races are competitive and they are the very best on economic issues. The “B” List Candidates are all in hotly contested races too, but they are not as rock solid on economic growth issues.
The Tea Party movement is a populist conservative social movement in the United States that emerged in 2009 through a series of locally and nationally coordinated protests. The protests were partially in response to several Federal laws: the stimulus package; te healthcare bill; and the TARP bailouts. The name "Tea Party" refers to the Boston Tea Party of 1773, the source of the phrase, "No Taxation Without Representation."
Organizational Self-Description: The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has served as the conservative caucus of House Republicans and a leading influencer on the Right since its original founding in 1973. It exists to bring like-minded House members together to promote a strong, principled legislative agenda that will limit government, strengthen our national defense, boost America's economy, preserve traditional values and balance our budget.
The RSC provides the tools and research that members of Congress need to craft and advance policies that will benefit the American people. It also provides a forum for like-minded members to join together to support common causes and challenge the status quo. By doing so, the RSC ensures that conservatives have a powerful voice on every issue coming before the House, whether it is the economy, health care, defense, social safety net reform, or Washington's dangerous, out-of-control spending.
We believe that the appropriate role of a limited government is to protect liberty, opportunity, and security, and that it is the responsibility of this generation to preserve them for the next. We believe that more government is the problem, not the sol
Excerpts from press release from House Freedom Caucus (HFC) founders (1/26/15): According to its mission statement, the HFC "gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans." HFC leader Rep. Mark Meadows said, "The HFC will work to provide a unified conservative voice in the House Republican Conference. I look forward to working with leadership to make the concerns of conservatives known as we work together to advance a pro-growth, limited government agenda in the House."
Excerpts from Wikipedia article on HFC: The HFC is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the US House of Representatives. It was formed by a group of Congressmen as a "smaller, more cohesive, more agile and more active" group of conservatives. Many members are also part of the Republican Study Committee, another conservative House group. The caucus is sympathetic to the Tea Party movement.
Supporting argument: (Heritage Foundation, "Conservatives and the HFC," by Jim DeMint, 11/9/2015): The HFC had the audacity to challenge the status quo in Congress, and in the eyes of Washington's elites, that's a serious offense. For years, Washington's chattering class has guarded the status quo Establishment. But despite the howls of media outrage, the HFC has fought to stop business-as-usual in Washington. They are dedicated to [ending] the irresponsible federal spending we've seen over the last decade. This support for commonsense policies has led the Establishment to brand them as "radical" and "ultra-conservative." In reality they are merely advocating for doing what Republican leaders pledged to do. The Freedom Caucus exists to serve as a strong, conservative conscience guiding Congress.
As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body, we propose not just to change its policies, but to restore the bounds of trust between the people and their elected representatives. That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.