Commentary | Summerville Journal Scene

Commentary

The sticker shock of South Carolina's consumer health-care costs in 2020

The coming year will determine whether or in what form health reform survives. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on reform's constitutionality before it adjourns in June. If it survives the court challenge, it will at least face a politi ... full story

Smith Says: Who said it

Maybe you saw a newspaper quiz last week about “who said what” famous quotations. I got most right, except “Give me liberty or give me death,” which I always think was Nathan Hale but was Patrick Henry. (Hale said, “I re ... full story

Four Ways to Improve Education in SC Right Now for Little or No Money

“Give a man a fish,” goes the old adage, “and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” And if anyone, anywhere has ever come up with a better argument for a world class public education sys ... full story

First Week of School and Highway 165

After our first meeting of Council in January, I presented Council with a gift. It was a calendar, created by Despair, Inc. Inside were 12 months of discouraging quotes, historical facts of ineptitude, and beautiful pictures to match the depressing q ... full story

The Rob Report 11/18/09

Type of theft: Armed robberyLocation: Dollar General, Orangeburg RoadDate: Nov. 9Time of day: 8:55 p.m.-9:09 p.m.Item stolen: CashTotal value: $350Incident report details: A man dressed in all black and a ski mask forced his way into the store and ma ... full story

Adult day service centers are vital to our growing senior population

As health care costs continue to rise and as the size of our state’s aging population increases, it is time to focus on ways to take care of our state’s older citizens in a safe, respectful, and cost efficient manner. Community long term care ( ... full story

A tale of two deliveries

Editor’s note: Friends and Summerville residents Megan Dungan and Julie Plummer both gave birth to healthy baby girls this summer after experiencing two miscarriages. In honor of this weekend’s A Walk to Remember, they agreed to share their story of ... full story

We Must Pass Health Insurance Reform Now

Like many average, everyday Americans, I’m beginning to feel overwhelmed and slightly aggravated with the myriad of discussions about health care reform. Whether positive or negative, this topic has bombarded every newspaper, television news show and ... full story

S.C. Comptroller lets residents track stimulus spending on Web

South Carolinians who want to see where federal stimulus dollars are going can now do so with a few clicks of a mouse.State Comptroller Richard Eckstrom recently announced that all individual expenditures of stimulus funds by state agencies are avail ... full story

Service Club meetings

The Summerville Oakbrook Rotary Club meets on Monday at 7:30 a.m. at the Wescott Plantation Club House. For more information about the club, go to summervilleoakbrookrotary.org.The Rotary Club of Summerville meets Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. at Sticky Fi ... full story

Gov. Sanford rejects Bauer’s offer to fill out term

Dear Andre,Thank you for your letter.I very much appreciate your offer to step in and serve out the 16 months remaining in my term of office, because at a personal level that would come as a relief. To escape the glare of television cameras and repor ... full story

The people of South Carolina must come first

(Editors note: The following two letters are to and from Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Gov. Mark Sanford.)For the last six years, it has been my distinct honor to serve as Lt. Governor of the State of South Carolina. During this time, I have served alongs ... full story

Local Scout Pack visits USS Yorktown

Local Cub Scout Pack 725 recently relived a part of history when they participated in the overnight camping program aboard the World War II Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown located on Charleston Harbor. The overnight campers became shipmates with others ... full story

More than $480,000 in ‘stimulus’ so far

At the recent meeting of the S.C. Stimulus Oversight Task Force, I was pleased to introduce state Treasurer Converse Chellis as a co-chairman. Treasurer Chellis was chosen by the state legislature this summer to join me in heading up the task force, ... full story

Service Scene

This column will regularly feature photos from local community service clubs. Submit your club information and photos to: Judy Watts, Summerville Journal Scene, Summerville, SC 29483; or e-mail jwatts@journalscene.com, All people in photos must be co ... full story

Much More Work to Be Done During the 118th General Assembly

It has been a privilege representing House District 94 in the House this first year of my first term as your Representative. As I reflect upon the work done in the General Assembly this year, I am reminded that many important pieces of legislation di ... full story

GOV. MARK SANFORD: Righting wrongs to S.C. residents

I have struggled with how best to convey my regret in letting so many down, and, in that regard, I realize this op-ed does not do justice to the process of saying "I am sorry."A handwritten note or phone call would ultimately be more appropriate, but ... full story

How community newspapers help open government (and improve your quality of life)

I was recently asked to speak to a community group about my office‘s open government efforts, including our initiative to encourage local governments to post their spending details on the Internet. During the question-and-answer session, someone broa ... full story

"Smith Says" generates comments

Julie Smith’s “Smith Says” last week generated lots of comments. Most applauded her way with words. When we asked one letter-writer if we could publish her comments about Julie Smith, she said “Oh you sure can. She’s pure genius.”On the other side, o ... full story

Liberty or Freedom?

Thoughts for July 4, 2009- In the Founding Era liberty and freedom were two discrete precepts and not at all the interchangeable terms they often are today. The Enlightenment had produced new understandings that individual liberty was a natural state ... full story

Show me the money

Since being appointed as the state’s “stimulus watchdog” earlier this year, I’ve often been asked how much of the federal stimulus money we’ve received so far. I thought I’d take this opportunity to answer that question and to explain how it’s being ... full story

Rep. Young leader in reform efforts

Since gaining the majority in the South Carolina House of Representatives, Republicans have fought hard to protect your tax dollars and pass much needed government reforms. We have held government growth to less than 2.8 percent a year and have ... full story

Tracking the ‘stimulus’ money

A couple weeks ago I accepted an invitation to appear on the cable news channel C-SPAN, which was doing a special feature on the federal “stimulus” package approved by Congress. Our state has established itself as a national leader on spending transp ... full story

Dropout report

Each day in South Carolina, 122 public high school students are lost.That’s according to a new report on high school dropouts by Education Week magazine, entitled “Diplomas Count 2009.”The nonpartisan report looked at how successfully public high sch ... full story

Admit reality of graduation rates

Admitting the problem is the first step on the road to recovery. That’s why State Superintendent Jim Rex deserves full credit for drawing attention to South Carolina’s persistently low public high school graduation rate.Too bad he has waited two year ... full story