Comments on: Getting South Carolina Lawmakers To Go On The Record

By: Reminder: Nikki Haley is a Secret Muslim Whore : Jenn Q. Public

Reminder: Nikki Haley is a Secret Muslim Whore : Jenn Q. Public — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:12:06 +0000

[...] get this out of the way right now: no one in South Carolina has taken greater risks to improve government transparency than Nikki Haley. These unimaginably titillating messages that might or might not lurk in her email [...]

By: Jake Knotts: You Vicious Racist Scumbag « Snark And Boobs

Jake Knotts: You Vicious Racist Scumbag « Snark And Boobs — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:41:32 +0000

[...] on the record shouldn’t be a huge deal, should it? Well, guess again: South Carolina ranks lowest in the nation for legislative accountability and the vast majority of [...]

By: Die In A Fire, You Vicious Racist Scumbag | RedState

Die In A Fire, You Vicious Racist Scumbag | RedState — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:18:25 +0000

[...] on the record shouldn’t be a huge deal, should it? Well, guess again: South Carolina ranks lowest in the nation for legislative accountability and the vast majority of [...]

By: Eclectic Radical

Eclectic Radical — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:42:55 +0000

Coming from California, which has made a religion out of state ballot initiatives, I share the same prejudice against them. Strange, that. In California, state wide referenda are used to legislate around the constitutional majority requirements in the state senate. They are misrepresented in political campaigns by both their supporters and their opponents and most people lack either the time, inclination, or both to review them in the depth they deserve. Truly stupid initiatives have been passed only to be overturned by the courts (most notably a truly racist set of policies allegedly targeting ‘illegal immigrants’ that were essentially institutional discrimination against Latinos)or are even awaiting such overturning now.

I still agree with you more than not, I think, and I take your point about South Carolina’s budget issues. I am happy enough that you see where I am coming from, and I see where you are coming from too.

I will say that I think the character of our elected officials has a lot to do with it. The individuals willing to make tough choices have always been rarer than those wishing to make popular choices, and those willing to truly make thoughtful decisions about tough choices even rarer. Secrecy won’t help such people improve, this is true.

By: Jenn Q. Public

Jenn Q. Public — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:18:07 +0000

Anne, I wasn’t sure from your comment – did you find the list of states at the link I provided? If not, they are: Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and of course, South Carolina.

By: Anne Maggiari

Anne Maggiari — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:12:00 +0000

I have been hunting high and low for the 4 other states who’s legislature is nearly as opaque as ours.
I want Glen Beck or Bill O’Reilly to shine a little daylight in these dark Houses. It is the business of the citizens of those states to change this but they have to know they have a problem first.

By: Jenn Q. Public

Jenn Q. Public — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:01:55 +0000

Afrocity, the librarian in me wondered the same thing about archived legislative records. Unfortunately, it isn’t an issue of access to records. As unbelievable as it seems, it’s that until recently, the state General Assembly didn’t record most votes at all! If passed, the Accountability Act will permanently fix this ridiculous system that should never have existed in the first place.

By: Jenn Q. Public

Jenn Q. Public — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:51:02 +0000

Chris, I know what a republic is, and I’m grateful to live in one rather than a direct democracy. Unlike most righties, even statewide referenda tend to make me uncomfortable as I think popular votes lend themselves too easily to tyranny of the majority (though I may be biased coming from NY where we had no state ballot initiatives.)

But even in a republic, I feel that the people’s access to representatives’ voting histories is one of the only truly indisputable records available with which we can make decisions on election day. The average citizen may not have time to keep up with the daily dealings of our elected officials, but gather together a couple years’ worth of legislative votes, and a representative picture emerges that allows us to make a fair assessment at the polls. I see where you’re coming from with your examples, but for me, freedom of information still outweighs possibly misguided heat from constituents. Part of a politician’s job is to adequately justify tough choices to voters.

I would also add that SC reps have had the luxury of unrecorded votes, and yet, even in the face of current budget woes, our income taxes have not been raised.

By: Afrocity

Afrocity — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:18:49 +0000

Jenn, are the legislative records public in the SC state or local archives? If not, try to use your state archivist as mediators in this issue. They can be of great assistance.

By: Eclectic Radical

Eclectic Radical — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:55:46 +0000

A republic is the idea that the people do not make the decisions themselves, but elect the representatives who make those decisions. It includes a basic assumption that there are issues that the public cannot be expected to understand in the full detail necessary to make an informed decision, not out of ingrained elitism (though concerns about mob rule have always existed, and have always been valid to some degree) but out of an understanding that the business of life can prevent the average citizen from fully studying and appreciating the business of governance.

I will use California (my former home state) as an example. California has a long history of budgetary woe, because of the unpopularity of raising the state income tax. If votes on the state income tax were sealed, California’s sales and gas taxes would be drastically lower and the state income tax would be marginally higher, probably to the benefit of both the taxpayers and the state budget. Tax votes are never popular, but sometimes necessary.

For a second example, if the US Congress could make a sealed vote on Social Security (where neither Democrats nor Republicans were forced to have their votes eviscerated by constituents) then the issue would not be an issue.

Those two specific examples (and possible situations like them) aside, I agree with you more than I disagree.