The Other Brooks Brothers and Their Sister, Too. — “Suddenly-relevant”

There are some in the South Carolina Senate that apparently didn’t see Wilson’s thought-provoking Pulitzer-worthy (this Pulitzer, not this one) commentary on Monday, which is kind of funny since so many others did — including the folks at FITSNews, SC Hotline and The Shot.

NOTE TO THE FITS GIRLS: OK, so the other guys around here didn’t send your Founding Editor a “nudie pic.” I think Bo posted a shot of my ripped skirt from this year’s Cup. That’s gotta count for something.

In case you’re like the Senate and missed what he said, it was pretty much that the state and its local government counterparts are largely irresponsible when it comes not only to taxation, but to spending.

Well, the self-described “deliberative” body of our legislature had a chance this week to make some changes and move toward limiting state spending.

Boy, did they blow it.

Senator McConnell’s bill (S.718) for a constitutional amendment referendum failed on third reading by a vote of 30-13. In case you’re wondering, it needed 31 votes to pass. Why would any legislator vote against a referendum like that in an election year — especially with the primary coming up in just a couple of weeks?

Here’s who voted how.

The 30 “Yes” votes came from:

Alexander, Bryant, Campbell, Campsen, Ceips, Cleary, Courson, Cromer, Drummond, Elliott, Fair, Gregory, Grooms, Hawkins, Hayes, Knotts, Leatherman, Martin, Massey, McConnell, O’Dell, Peeler, Rankin, Ritchie, Ryberg, Scott *, Setzler, Sheheen, Thomas, and Verdin.

The 13 “No” votes came from:

Anderson, Hutto, Jackson, Land, Leventis, Lourie, Malloy, Matthews, McGill, Patterson, Pinckney, Reese, and Williams.

Congratulations, South Carolina. We’ll continue to have a government that spends money like drunken sailors.

Cheers!

– Mary Claire Forrester