Restore Accountability

To restore accountability to state government, we must first shake up Columbia. We can get the job done, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.

CUT SPENDING

Columbia is spending too much money and getting few results. Reducing spending allows us to cut taxes, giving families more money to spend, spurring our economy, and creating jobs in private industry. As your State Senator I will work hard to pass measurers limiting state spending to the formula: population + inflation.

RESTRUCTURE STATE GOVERNMENT

We must continue Governor Carroll Campbell’s legacy by adopting Governor Sanford’s restructuring proposals. Our state government is duplicative and unaccountable. According to studies by the Governor’s Office:

For every 10,000 South Carolinians, there are 234 state employees. That’s 34% more than the U.S. average. Additionally, South Carolinians currently spend 130% the national average of the cost of government, due in large part to an inefficiently structured government. Add to this the fact that in South Carolina more than 18% of our personal income goes to pay for government. The national average is less than 14%.

Those figures are unacceptable. We must restructure, streamline, and consolidate the 50 independent agencies and departments that make up our redundant state government. Cutting waste and making government more accountable will reduce spending, creating the ability to cut taxes.

CLEAN UP GOVERNMENT

Scandals are rocking government at all levels. $90,000 was found in a Congressman’s freezer. A Senator admitted to having used a DC “escort service.” A Congressman was caught sending explicit sexual emails to a teenage boy. A high powered lobbyist has been sent to jail and numerous Congressmen and staffers are in trouble after being linked to his firm. All those violations of our trust have happened in Washington in just the past couple years.

Here in South Carolina two statewide constitutional officers have been indicted on federal charges in just the past three years.

It’s time to shake up the status quo and clean up government. I promise that I will never betray your trust as your State Senator. I will also demand stricter ethics laws cracking down unethical and immoral behavior by elected officials.

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