I’ve been in meetings all day and haven’t been able even to stop and think about this, but I thought I’d put up a post so y’all can start commenting on it if you choose. Here’s a news story, and below is the release in its entirety:
Sheheen Takes Steps to Form Gubernatorial CampaignState Senator & 2010 gubernatorial nominee says South Carolinians deserve better than status quo of failed and dysfunctional governmentCamden – Today, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen announced that he is taking the steps necessary to establish a campaign for governor and asked his fellow South Carolinians for their support.Sen. Sheheen, an attorney and businessman, pledged to be a governor focused on putting the people of South Carolina ahead of personal and partisan agendas. He laid out his vision for moving South Carolina forward by promoting existing businesses within the state, focusing on public education, and restoring honesty in leadership to deliver results. He stressed the need for a change given the state’s high unemployment rate, challenged public-education system, sky-high tuition and the continued failures of the current leadership that have allowed corruption and incompetence in the administration and state government.The full text of Sen. Sheheen’s email is below:South Carolina is the greatest state in the union, with unlimited potential. But let’s face it, the status quo is not working.I want what you want – a South Carolina that our families, and the families of our children and grandchildren, can be successful in. For South Carolina to succeed, we have to change. And we need change now!That’s why today I’m taking steps to launch a campaign for governor.Our state deserves better than the failed and dysfunctional government it has received from our current politicians. Now, we need leaders.South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and has for the last 10 years. Under Governor Haley, more South Carolinians are having trouble finding work than people in other states, and our small businesses have been ignored.South Carolina families pay the highest college tuition rates in the southeast and our families have a harder time achieving the American Dream than in almost any other state. Yet our current governor almost never talks about public education.This administration’s dysfunction allowed hackers to steal the most personal and private information that more than three million of us have and the Governor has refused to apologize or take responsibility for it.There’s a better way.In the coming months, we’ll build our organization and officially launch the campaign this summer. Three years ago, we came so very close to changing South Carolina for the better. Now we can finish the job together. I hope you will join us.Together we can create stronger schools for all of our children, help small businesses grow and create jobs, and restore honesty to our state’s government. We need a governor whose top priority is the people of South Carolina and not the politics of ideology and ambition. I pledge to you that I will be the kind of governor we so desperately need.We will get there together. You can help us start today by contributing $500, $250, $100, $50, or whatever you can afford.Today we start our journey to change South Carolina’s tomorrow.I couldn’t be more excited, and I hope you are too!Let’s believe again,VincentVincent Sheheen was the democratic nominee for governor in 2010 and came within 4 points of winning South Carolina in a Tea Party wave election. He was born and raised in rural Camden, South Carolina, where he still lives with his wife Amy and their sons Austin, Joseph and Anthony.###
I’ll only add this for now: I appreciate Vincent stepping up to offer the voters of South Carolina a choice. Here’s hope that our people actually make a wise decision this time — something they haven’t done in quite a few years.
Related Posts
“South Carolina is the greatest state in the union, with unlimited potential.”
A bit of a stretch, isn’t it? After that hyperbole, why should we believe anything else
he says?
South Carolina is the greatest state in the union? South Carolina has never been the greatest state in the union! He lost me right there.
Jeez he couldn’t wait a few months or at least until the end of the legislative session to announce. Just when one election ends, another begins. We need official limits on campaigning like most other Western democracies have. I would love it if candidates and PACs were limited to raising money and airing ads only six months prior to an election.
I’ll vote for Haley over Sheheen… and I can’t stand Haley, but at least we know what kind of incompetence we have with her.
Nikki’$ got two mil in the bank. Babarino’s got a lot of catching up to do.
Timing is everything. Sheheen should have waited a little longer before announcing his intent to run again. There was a very short piece in the local paper this morning, nothing but a couple of paragraphs but important information on several fronts.
Georgia-Pacific is planning to open a new facility in Alcolu, SC to make OSB board and will employ approximately 130 people. For anyone who doesn’t understand the significance of the announcement, allow me to elaborate.
First, OSB board is one of the most widely used materials in construction, especially home and light commercial buildings. If G-P is expanding and building a facility to manufacture OSB board, then the forecast for home and light commercial construction can be nothing but good otherwise, G-P wouldn’t spend the money on expansion. These are the trends I look for in a recovery, not the bogus indicators of a stock market that is over inflated once again. Trading money is not a recovery, real time investment into one of the mainstays of a healthy economy is a better indicator of things to come.
Second, the facility will employ 130 people in an area where jobs are badly needed and timber harvesting will see an uptic along with associated businesses required to support an OSB plant. The downside is the way timber harvesting leaves so many forest areas looking like a battlefield scene, creating a perfect scenario for erosion, flooding, and leaving areas subject to standing water, perfect for mosquitos.
Third, I have had the good fortune to visit and work with several G-P OSB facilities across the country and other companies producing the same product. G-P is a good corporate and community partner, paying good wages and offering good benefits. It is a win-win for SC.
Now that Boeing has announced another billion plus investment in Charleston and the ripple effects will go to surrounding communities as far away as Columbia, Florence, etc. It has been Haley’s good fortune to be in office when some of the major investments in SC have been announced and whether she had anything to do with any of it or not, she will get credit.
Unless something really disastrous happens, the governorship will Haley’s to lose, not Sheheen’s to win.
I get Boeing being a big deal (despite the company’s major problems over the past few months), but how is one Georgia-Pacific plant creating just 130 jobs a big deal? That won’t lower the state’s unemployment rate even a hundredth of a point.
What? If a new facility opening doesn’t create hundreds or thousands of new jobs requiring degrees, its not worth mentioning? Adding 130 new jobs plus ancillary support is not important, especially to the people who need a job? What does it take to satisfy you?
Did you bother read the main reason I thought the announcement was important? It was about more than the 130 new jobs but apparently the point was lost on you.
And, you just couldn’t resist throwing in a negative comment ( ) about Boeing, negating the nebulous compliment, could you?
Jeez touchy about Boeing aren’t we? Do you work at the Dept of Commerce? Seeing as Boeing is the poster child of crony capitalism I couldn’t resist. Sorry for alluding to an obvious fact that has been in the news for the past several weeks.
Yeah I get how this plant opening would be a big deal for Alcolu, SC, but you’re making this one plant opening out to be some kind of major sea change in the 2014 gubernatorial campaign. It isn’t a big deal for most of the electorate. One plant opening doesn’t signal the housing market is about to take off anytime soon.
Bart,
I see your point about the trend that OSB production supports. It is good to see after six long years.
On the other hand, the Alcolu thing is really just the classic bottom of the barrel manufaturing story replayed. GP owns the mill site there already. They are just making use of the low-hanging fruit. They will add jobs as needed, and furlough as needed. These are not Boeing jobs, these are mostly didn’t get a GED jobs. Still good, and good as an economic indicator.
And while I supported the idea of the initial Boeing incentives, I think the legislature is once again reacting more to lobbying and less to doing what is best for the state.
Mark,
The OSB plant in Alcolu is located in Clarendon County and construction started last year. There is an existing plant in Allendale already producing OSB products. The average starting wage for an entry level employee at G-P, Huber, and most other OSB plants is $15.00 an hour with benefits. As for the GED reference, I will have to take issue with you on that one.
As mentioned, it has been my good fortune to have worked with several OSB plants across the country and unless an employee had been with the companies I worked with for a long time, for a new employee, a high school education was the lowest level of education acceptable. The plants are almost fully automated and to operate the equipment and handle the materials, especially the chemicals required to bind the wood chips together into a sheet of OSB board requires more than “grunt” labor or “stoop” labor skills. Most have at least a high school education or a degree from a tech school.
At least, that has been my first hand experience with the industry.
Darn, need to do a better job of reviewing commas, etc. before posting.
I think the Boeing investment and subsequent expansion in Charleston is going to be a key talking point of the Haley reelection campaign. That was really a huge coup for South Carolina, maybe larger than BMW was for the state. Aerospace jobs are good jobs, skilled manufacturing as well as unskilled manufacturing, and hopefully we are attracting many tier 1 and 2 suppliers as well.
Despite her failings, the Guv’s going to be riding on a perceived economic recovery, which will make her hard to beat.
Perceived recovery is right. The whole Boeing thing illustrates the problem with these big ticket employers. They may hire a couple thousand folks but the wages are relatively low compared to comparable union jobs in other states hence there isn’t a huge driving force to create ancilliary jobs very rapidly. With unimployment still in double digits it’s hard to make a persuasive case that this governor has done a good job for the people.
Nationally we are in a perceived recovery, and I agree that there are problems with the incentives offered to land big employers. That said, the wages are very good compared to prevailing manufacturing wages in South Carolina. Even if they are low compared to Seattle or Bavaria they are still very good jobs here.
The entire strategy though, is to offer incentives to the large assemblers with the understanding that many of their suppliers and associated businesses will locate in close proximity. I don’t know if this has happened with Boeing, but it definitely happened with BMW. These lower tier suppliers don’t receive the same tax incentives and other economic incentives as Boeing or BMW, so that’s where the state attempts to recoup its initial investment.
Again, as with the POTUS, I’m not sure how much influence the Guv has on the unemployment rate. We are part of a national and international economy, and there are a lot of contributing factors that affect SC. I am disappointed with many of Haley’s intiatives, and I continue to be disappointed with the overall governance of South Carolina, but I believe that the Boeing plant is her biggest success story thus far.
Nobody panic, but Andre Bauer is entering the race as an Independent. We’ll all be okay now… as long as he doesn’t drive like his (according to him) twin brother Jeff Gordon or get behind the controls of an airplane while trying to pretend to be Tom “Maverick” Cruise in Top Gun.
I bet that there’s a lot of people who want a “do over” of the prior election. Governot Haley campaigned on transparency in government.
Apparently, her opinion of governmental transparency only applies to the General Assembly and not to the office of governor.
This Robert Araial cartoon demonstrates her hypocrisy
http://robertariail.com/2010/07/18/nikki-haley/