Cut the cutting: Budget from view of state’s poor

FEB. 26, 2010 – Maybe state lawmakers should think about how their budget proposals look to someone who doesn’t earn much.

The House Ways and Means Committee this week approved a $5.1 billion budget recommendation that will be the focus of legislative debate starting March 8. Due to the tepid economy, state revenues aren’t robust. In fact, the budget is $5.1 billion – more than a billion less than just a couple of years back.

Thoughts turning to wild, wonderful summer camps

On the heels of the Great Snow of 2010, the hint of spring in the air over the weekend turned our thoughts to summer. In turn, we wondered what kind of activities we’d offer to our children in the season of Lowcountry heat. As always, there are a lot of things kids can do besides watching TV or playing outside: swim teams, Vacation Bible Schools, school-based camps, baseball, hiking, camping and more.

Balanced budgeting approach can help legislators

FEB. 19, 2010 – Raising taxes in a down economy sounds counterintuitive, but it is a viable strategy that may be better than simply cutting spending, according to a new report on budget strategies. Merely cutting spending as a budget solution can be harmful, writes Iris Lav of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [...]

A snow storm (of criticism) for school district Einsteins

FEB. 15, 2010 – Hats off to the Einsteins at the Charleston County School District who closed schools an hour early Friday to deal with inclement … rain. Yes, it’s obvious the school district’s leaders wanted to take precautions to avoid possible problems from an evening snow that eventually brought two to four inches to the Lowcountry. But come on, didn’t they go just a little overboard? Did having one hour less at school make any real difference?

Brack in The State on Sanford book

From a Feb. 13, 2010, story in The State on Jenny Sanford’s book, Staying True: Democrat and publisher of Statehouse Report Andy Brack got a dose of the gender gap at a recent dinner party of Democrats, Republicans and independents when he called the first lady a hypocrite. “We men tended to be a little [...]