Tim Scott's Anti-Environmental Agenda

Hooray for Tim Scott!  Once again, he has received an award -- and just in time for the upcoming election -- for his service to, well, to the wealthy and powerful.  In Newspeak, it is called, The Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence.  With emphasis on the word "legislative" of course.  What it means is that our Tim has worked hardest of all hard-bought legislators to make laws that protect big business.

You might not be surprised to learn that the National Association of Manufacturers is associated with our friends the Koch brothers.  Their agenda is also not much of a surprise:  they are anti-environmental regulation and have fought efforts by the government to control greenhouse gas emission.  Most recently, they lobbied to exempt certain external power supplies from complying with federal energy standards in February of 2014.  Yeah, Tim!

It's been a bit like word-puzzle fun to get an email from Tim about an award and trying to figure out what it really means, but not that much of a challenge.  As usual, Tim doesn't ever break new ground.  He pretty much does what all those fancy corporate lobbying groups tell him to do.

But I am tired of our state being held hostage by ALEC and the Kochs.  Our workers are underpaid and there are too many unemployed (latest figures show the numbers creeping up in spite of the nation's continued downward trend).  We sacrifice improving schools and roads and bridges so we can cut taxes on big corporations who are willing to do business in South Carolina if we treat them real good.  Too many in South Carolina are needlessly uninsured and suffer poor nutrition because Tim continues to vote against programs that would give his constituents a fighting chance.

Tim Scott and his buddy Nikki Haley have gotten pretty tiresome.  Their press releases are lies that cover up their true alliances as we continue to hold down the bottom rungs of any measure of education, health, public safety.

This is why we need to talk up the November 4 election.  Lots of our friends and family don't know it's coming up, and too many don't think it is important.  With only two more years of the Obama administration we need to give him a Congress that will support his environmental, health care, and immigration initiatives.  We need to give him a Congress that does not force him to compromise on programs that will truly move us forward.

Joyce Dickerson is a woman who will accomplish that in the US Senate.  She has been fighting to be heard over all the cash that is flowing on the other side, and she needs our help to let others know who she is.  She is the candidate that will work for better health care, better education, better services for seniors and veterans.  She will fight so that we all can earn a living wage, and so that women have the same rights as men.  She will protect our rights to privacy and a safe and healthy environment.

So please, spread the word.  The time is getting short and this election is too important to skip out on.  Use Facebook and Twitter, send out emails, call your friends and family and talk to your co-workers.  Tell them how Tim Scott's votes have kept them from improving their lives and those of their family.  Let's not let the phony awards get in the way of the truth.

Joyce Dickerson

for US Senate

November 4

Dickerson v. Scott on November 4

In September, in another blog, I wrote about Joyce Dickerson.  For those of you who may not know, there is an election coming up, on November 4.  And you may know that there is an election, but you may not know who is running against Tim Scott.  The answer is, Joyce Dickerson.  And the reason you may not have heard of her, is that all the money, I mean, all the big money, is on Tim Scott.  He is being financed by all those cats from all those foundations that have the word "freedom" in them.  You know, freedom as in don't mess with my freedom to keep making big bucks and not have to be responsible to anyone for how I do it.

Well, in the time it has taken for Nikki Haley, who has never met a big donor she didn't like, to appoint Tim Scott to take care of her supporters in the US Senate, he has become a Big Name in politics.  Not because he is smart, because he is not.  Not because he makes tough choices, because he doesn't.  Not because he cares about the people of South Carolina.  Tim Scott's claim to fame is that he is an African American.  Yes, the media loves Tim Scott for being an African American senator the same way they love Nikki Haley because she is a woman governor.

But Tim Scott, like Nikki Haley, are rubber-stamp Tea Party conservatives.  Scott has been, since his appointment by Haley, groomed by the right wing, and he is delighted to do their bidding, and to believe that he is doing it for the good of the people.  But if you look at his voting record, there is no question whose camp he is in.

He may send out flowery emails on all the days that commemorate our veterans, but he does not hesitate to vote against anything that might improve their lives when they are done fighting for their country.  He is quick to tell how he was raised by a hard working mother who sacrificed to help him get where he is today, but he will flush down the toilet any bill that might give other children that same chance, or make the going a little easier for the moms that raise them.  He has learned to talk about how he is pro-small-business, but small businesses take a back seat to the big corporations that control him.

And then there is Joyce.

Even our own Jim Clyburn couldn't quite figure out why a woman would want to run against two men in the SC primary election.  But she knew why she needed to run, and without a whole lot of help, she beat her opponents.  She is outspoken and unafraid, and she will be heard.

Joyce Dickerson is uncompromising when it comes to working for the middle class and the disadvantaged.  She understands that freedom includes the right for a woman to determine her own reproductive health care, and without the intrusion of the government.  She knows that supporting the veterans isn't just about waving a flag and sending out emails on Veterans Day, but about making sure they have health care, and jobs or the opportunity to train for jobs that will provide them a living wage when they get home.  She will fight for a living wage for workers and the right to affordable health care.  Joyce will make sure that our children don't go hungry, and that they will be educated in good schools by well-trained and well-paid teachers.  Improve our roads?  Keep the oil barons out of our port?

What Joyce's candidacy means to me is just about every issue that matters.  She's not afraid to speak her mind and follow that up with action.  I can imagine her on the floor of the Senate, and being interviewed about critical issues and votes.  She is a woman we could be proud to have represent us in South Carolina.  What a breath of fresh air!

So, if a breath of fresh air is what you think we need, please be sure to vote.  Equally important:  don't be afraid to talk to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors about the upcoming election.  Ask them what they are unhappy about, and then tell them how Joyce Dickerson will work to change those things.

Joyce Dickerson for US Senate

   

Why We Vote ... And Why We Don't

Given the fact that we are free to complain as much as we want about our politicians, it's just sad how little we know about what they do.  Political success these days, with help from the Supreme Court, is determined by public relations, which is brought to us by... money, lots of money.

And yet, if we wanted to learn about our candidates, we have so much information at our fingertips.  Project Vote Smart has a wealth of information about candidates, including voting record and ratings by organizations.

And yet, if not for a plethora of TV ads, most of us would have no idea there is an election coming up.  And those of us that do know, and plan on voting, may not have a clue who the candidates are, or their stand on the issues.

Man oh man, this is not the time to vote with your eyes closed.  Nor is it the time to skip voting.  We have had too many years of the rich getting richer and the poor losing voting rights, health care, and wages to stay silent.

Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Nancy, is an amazing documentary film maker, who wanders around shopping centers and parking lots across America asking people questions about politics.  In an interview with Bill Maher on Real Time on September 26, she said, "...people do not know there is an election."  Those who said they were going to vote rarely knew the candidates.  If they said they were going to vote "for the republican," and Pelosi asked about specific issues, she comments that "...if you go through the laundry list (of issues), they don't know what a republican is."

So here's the thing.  We need to tell people there is an election on November 4.  Our politicians need to get personal, and talk not just about the issues, but about how the issues are going to affect them.

They need to know that by South Carolina not taking federal Medicaid dollars, not only are our tax dollars going back to Washington, but people here are getting sick and costing us all whether it is in time lost from work or children going to school with contagious illnesses.  When state and federal government try to make laws regulating a woman's reproductive health, this is government interference in family decisions.  When our lawmakers refuse to allow our college graduates to refinance their student loans, they are burdening our young adults as they are trying to begin their adult lives.  And all of the above taxes our economy and stresses our families.  And wastes taxpayer dollars.

We need to get specific.  Because when people talk about the issues, and their personal stake in those issues, they are talking about Democratic values.  They just don't know it yet.  And when they realize what is personally at stake, they may just make the effort to get out and vote.