Haley's company penalized for overdue taxes
Island Packet Friday 9/10/2010

COLUMBIA — On the campaign trail, South Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley frequently cites her experience as the accountant for her family’s clothing store, saying she oversaw its growth to a m u l t i m i l l i o n - dollar operation, and the state needs such skills.
 
But records obtained by The Associated Press show the family company has been penalized three times since 2003 for not paying taxes. In each case, the taxes were at least 19 months past due.

Two of the tax liens were for failing to pay corporate income taxes and one was for not turning over taxes withheld from employee checks. The company was fined nearly $4,000. Credit records show the business frequently pays operating bills more than a month late, compared to an industry average of 10 days late.

In response, Haley’s campaign said Thursday she is running in part because she wants to reduce red tape and taxes that are too burdensome. Her campaign declined to discuss the specifics of the liens.
 
“As a family, we saw how hard it was to make a dollar and how easy it was for government to take it,” Haley said. “I’m committed to making government friendlier to the people and businesses it serves.”
 
A key part of Haley’s economic plan is to eliminate corporate income taxes, an idea the legislature rejected earlier this year.
 
“The reason why I know I’m the right person to go into this next position is because I’m an accountant, who knows what it means to stretch a dollar,” Haley, a state House member, has said.
 
Last month, a review of Haley’s personal income taxes since 2004 showed she has repeatedly paid fines for failing to pay them on time, including twice filing more than 14 months late.
 
Research turned up a fourth lien on her family’s business from 2005, with a total of $601 resolved less than a month later, but a note says “filed in error.” The state Revenue Department could not explain what that meant.
 
Tax experts say a state tax lien is filed only after a long, back-and-forth process between the government and the business. They also say the withholding penalty is more serious, because it involves the company taking money from employees but not sending it to the government.

Governor’s race heats up over ports, immigration
Island Packet Wednesday 9/8/2010
 
CHARLESTON — With Labor Day past, the race for South Carolina governor was in full swing Tuesday as the campaigns of Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Vincent Sheheen traded jabs on immigration and deepening the Charleston port.
 
Haley, a state representative, unveiled her first TV ad of the general election while Sheheen, a state senator, lined up the endorsement of a statewide teachers’ group.

Sheheen, flanked by former state Commerce Secretary Bob Royall and other business leaders, held a news conference on a Charleston pier asking where Haley stands on getting federal money to dredge Charleston Harbor.

Later, the Haley campaign released a statement asking if Sheheen stands behind Republican state Attorney General Henry McMaster’s filing a court brief last week supporting Arizona’s strict new immigration law.

The candidates are vying to replace Republican Gov. Mark Sanford who cannot seek reelection because of term limits.
 
In Charleston, Sheheen said other East Coast ports like Savannah, Norfolk and New York already have federal budget earmarks for port deepening projects and Charleston is in danger of falling further behind competitively.

The ports mean an estimated $45 billion to the state economy.
 
Charleston needs $400,000 to continue with a study and deepening projects are done is through budget earmarks, he said.
 
“It is important for the next governor to take a stand on this issue,” Sheheen said, adding he asked Haley several weeks ago about her position and has heard nothing.
 
He said he supports the state congressional delegation’s work to get money for the harbor deepening and added, “I wish my opponent on the governor’s campaign was joining me.”

“Ensuring the long term strength of our port system will be one of Nikki’s top priorities,” responded campaign spokesman Rob Godfrey. “Our focus is on getting funding for the port, not on which bureaucratic pot of money it comes from.”

Haley later asked Sheheen to support McMaster’s Arizona court filing.
 
“Given Washington’s repeated failures to secure our borders, every state has an obligation to protect its citizens,” she said.

Sheheen seeks to build off small-town success
Island Packet Monday 9/6/2010
  
CAMDEN — Vincent Sheheen’s advisers urged him to move his gubernatorial campaign headquarters to Columbia, but he insisted on staying in his hometown.
After all, the Kershaw County seat is where his great-grandfather Abraham put down roots 115 years ago.
It’s where some of Abraham’s offspring opened businesses and earned enough trust and goodwill to get elected mayor, chairman of Kershaw County Council, state representative, state senator and executive director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.
In Camden, Sheheen can hop in his pickup, drop his children at school and arrive at his law office within 10 minutes. He can keep tabs on his extended family and the five chickens in his backyard.
And if Sheheen can expand to the rest of the state what he has done in Camden — successfully running as a Democrat in staunchly Republican territory — then he stands a chance to win the state’s top job this fall.
“Kershaw County is a microcosm of the state, and it’s given me a good view in a small way of a lot of things that are happening in South Carolina,” Sheheen said as a passerby called him by name and waved. “It’s also typical of a small town in that people know each other, obviously.”

TRACTOR PARKING
 
Camden, one of the state’s oldest cities, sprang up in colonial times at the fall line of the Wateree River. It witnessed one of the patriots’ worst drubbings in the Revolutionary War, later saw a renaissance when northerners were lured to its grand hotels, and nurtured a reputation as the Steeplechase Capital of the World.
Sheheen says Kershaw County’s mix of rich and poor, black and white, and newcomers and old-timers mirrors South Carolina’s demographics, while its small towns are grappling with similar problems found in other corners of the state.
The DuPont plant outside Camden changed hands, dramatically reducing its number of employees. A growing number of residents are commuting the 30 or so miles to Columbia, which helps them find jobs but means they’re often doing more shopping there than in town.
Camden also is the kind of town where people still parallel park their tractor on a town street.
William Leonhard of Cassatt, a tiny town just northeast of Camden, left his John Deere between the discount tobacco shop and a sandwich shop considered Camden’s oldest restaurant. Leonhard says he supports Sheheen, not just because the family has hired him to clear its land but also because Sheheen’s late uncle Michael helped him after a 1983 motorcycle accident left him disabled.
“If you need help, they’d give the shirt off their back for you,” Leonhard said. “They helped me out until I could get back on my feet.”
 
FAMILY MATTERS
 
In 1895, Abraham Sheheen, a Lebanese native who immigrated to Virginia, went south, selling dry goods along the way to finance his journey.
“It’s the American story. They were looking for a place where they could prosper economically,” Vincent Sheheen said.
Abraham opened a grocery store, and as the family expanded its members also opened a feed and seed store and a printing business.
The family’s political legacy began in the 1960s when Abraham’s son Austin, Vincent Sheheen’s grandfather, was elected mayor.
Sheheen’s father, Fred, formerly headed the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. His mother was an elementary school teacher in Kershaw County public schools and later served as an elementary school principal.
Vincent Sheheen says he hasn’t sought much advice or help from his family members in this race. He didn’t even campaign much with his uncle, former Rep. Bob Sheheen, when he ran for his old Statehouse seat.
“I had to earn it on my own. I had to prove it own my own,” Sheheen said, “and I think the people here would have held it against me if I didn’t.”
 
CAUTIONARY NOTE

Harold Griffin says he has known the Sheheen family since he moved to Camden in 1977. The owner of Harold’s Wheel Alignment Tire & Brake Service says he is impressed with how Vincent listens.
“I’m a card-carrying Republican, and I can show you the card,” Griffin said, explaining he will vote for Sheheen because he sees Republican Nikki Haley as four more years of Mark Sanford. “We don’t need four more years,” he said.
Griffin said he voted in the GOP primary June 8, mainly to vote against a Republican sheriff’s candidate in a race that seems to rival the gubernatorial race in Camden in interest.
The numbers in Kershaw are a cautionary tale for Sheheen. Even in his home county, he collected only 5,000 votes in the primary, plenty to trounce his Democratic rivals but only 247 more votes than Haley received in the GOP primary.
Republican voters in Kershaw outnumbered Democrats almost 2-1 on June 8.
But those statistics don’t discourage Margene Clinton of Camden, who says she feels Sheheen has been groomed for the job. “We don’t call him senator anymore. We just call him governor,” she said.
 
RED STATE
 
When Sheheen was a student at Clemson University, one of his political science professors, Dave Woodard, told him he had a bright political future — if he became a Republican.
Sheheen says he was told that by others, too, when he first ran for a Statehouse seat in 2000.
“I’m a very loyal person, so I don’t change hats lightly,” he said, adding that he enjoys being a Democrat because that party doesn’t ask its members to toe the party line.
“Many of the Republicans in Columbia had gone into more of an anti-government approach, which isn’t consistent with what I believe,” he said. “I do believe there’s a role for government to play.”
As governor, Sheheen says he would focus on recruiting businesses and attracting jobs, as well as improving education.
He wants to reform South Carolina’s tax system, which he says contains loopholes that have shifted the tax burden onto the middle class. Doing so, he says, also would make the state more competitive and bring in much-needed jobs. Some of those new jobs could come from growing the health-care economy, he said.
Sheheen also wants to restructure state government and the budgeting process, and improve accountability in Columbia.
He has other plans, including those that address environmental issues.
First, though, he has to defeat Haley, a contest that will be determined in part on how he does in the money race.
The most recent campaign financial reports, released after the party primaries, showed Sheheen had raised $1.7 million and spent $1.7 million on his bid, while Haley had brought in $1.4millionandspent$1.2million.
While running for office might have some parallels to the steeplechase races Camden still revels in each spring and fall, Sheheen hesitates while comparing the two.
“Steeplechase is interesting. Jump the hurdles, you win the trophy and you have a big party. The difference is after you win that race, the work is over. In the governor’s race, you know after you win, the work is just beginning.
“The much more important part is after the race.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sheheen campaigns in Lowcountry
Island Packet Wednesday 9/1/2010

South Carolina is in crisis, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Vincent Sheheen told a crowd of supporters in Beaufort on Tuesday.

Unemployment is high, public schools are laying off teachers and a lack of accountability has led to ethics violations and criminal charges against elected officials. He said legislators in the General Assembly are divided -- between Republicans and Democrats, the Upstate and the Lowcountry and even within their own political parties.

But South Carolina and its politics haven't always been that way, said Sheheen, who represents Chesterfield, Kershaw and Lancaster counties in the state senate.

He pointed to two Beaufort County residents as proof --former state Rep. Harriet Keyserling and former Lieutenant Governor W. Brantley Harvey Jr.

"These two people represent a time in South Carolina when we respected our leaders," Sheheen said. "We can be that way again."

He said elected officials must return to putting the good of the state ahead of what's good for individuals, one region or themselves.

"We're at this crossroads," he said. "And this time, we're going to choose the better path."

Sheheen will face Republican Nikki Haley, a Bamberg native who has represented Lexington County in the state House since 2004, to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mark Sanford.

On Tuesday, Beaufort County residents snacked on appetizers and desserts -- including blue-frosted cookies with a "Vote Sheheen" message -- while Sheheen discussed his priorities at a fundraiser at Keyserling's Beaufort home.

He said his top priorities include:

• Job creation and growing the state's economy.

• Restoring trust in state government.

• Ensuring public schools are adequately funded.

The crowd applauded when Sheheen said he is proud to be a public school graduate, the father of children in public schools and the son of an elementary school teacher.

He said the way South Carolina's public schools are funded should be reformed so that education dollars are tied more closely to students, rather than districts. He also said he opposes voucher programs, or efforts to use public money for private school tuition.

Jane Frederick, a Beaufort architect, is one of three local women who organized the fundraiser. She said supporters want Sheheen to be elected in November and will help him raise the money needed to achieve that goal.

"He has the ideas that can move the state forward," Frederick said. "And he knows how to work with the legislature to get those ideas in place."

To see an Article and pictures in The Island News about Vincent Sheheen attending a Fund Raiser in Beaufort on 8/31/2010, click HERE. After reading the article, click on the BACK arrow to return here.

Haley focuses on accountability
Island Packet Friday 8/27/2010
Democrat Vincent Sheheen claims Nikki Haley didn't include all of her income in her ethics forms.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley is hitting again on her signature campaign issue of government accountability, but critics charged she has been recycling ideas and questioned her own transparency.

The three-term Republican statehouse representative called her latest campaign event Thursday evening in Greenville a "Take our Government Back" rally.

As the governor's race gained momentum entering the fall stretch to November, Haley chose for her third major agenda speech the issue that compelled her to run. The same issue also helped her attract the tea party support that pushed her to the top of a four-way Republican primary and win the nomination.

"The people of our state are strong, resourceful and honest, and they rightfully expect a state government that understands it works for the people and not the other way around," she said.

But the campaign of Democratic nominee Vincent Sheheen is crying foul about her call to push lawmakers to disclose all their sources of income as a way to avoid conflicts of interest.

When Haley allowed reporters to review some of her tax records in June, they showed she had received more than $40,000 in consulting fees from Wilbur Smith Associates, which the firm said was for generating business leads. She didn't disclose that link on her ethics forms.

"This is another example of her glaring hypocrisy," said Trav Robertson, a spokesman for Sheheen. "We support Nikki Haley releasing her secret sources of income."

Haley's campaign has said she wasn't required to disclose that information. Her campaign also has called for Sheheen, a Camden lawyer, to disclose all of his legal clients.

Several features in her plan have been raised and repeatedly rejected by lawmakers.

The idea of term limits for state legislators has been around since at least 1994, when the state GOP asked primary voters whether they supported it. GOP voters overwhelmingly did, by roughly 90 percent, but while the House passed a term limits bill at least twice, in 1995 and 1997, it went no further. Halet wants the question put before all voters in a general election, but that would require the legislature passing a bill to put it there.

Haley knows parts of her agenda are a tough sell, "but she also knows there is also a lot of support for those ideas" and will push for them, said her spokesman, Rob Godfrey.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, first elected in 1980, said it would be hypocritical of him to support term limits, and voters decide every 4 years whether to limit his tenure.

"The determination is made by the voting public, not by a politician'" said Peeler, R-Gaffney. "Now, if we really want to take a baby step, let's limit the governor's term to one term."

Haley also continues her push for on-the-record voting - something she's been fighting for since 2008, so residents can see how their legislators vote on issues and how they spend tax money.

But her campaign message doesn't take into account that both chambers separately have passed chamber rules requiring them to do so. The House also passed a bill this year to put the legislative rules into law, but it got bogged down in the Senate, with senators of both parties complaining that Haley's allies were pushing it as a political stunt.

Other items in Haley's plan debated throughout Gov. Mark Sanford's tenure are government spending caps - something the House has passed at least 5 times - and restructuring government to give the governor more control.

Sheheen defends parts of health care law
Island Packet Thursday 8/26/2010
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful also says he's pro-life and supports the state's existing immigration law.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Vincent Sheheen considers himself pro-life. He says South Carolina's illegal immigration law, which he supported, is stronger than Arizona's.

And he supports much of the federal health care reform. But Sheheen, a Kershaw County state senator, said if elected governor he would leave the decision to pursue a pending lawsuit over health care reform to the state's next attorney general.

The state Republican Party and Sheheen's opponent, Republican Rep. Nikki Haley, have pressured Sheheen for weeks for his position on those Washington issues. Sheheen addressed many of them in an interview with The (Columbia) State this week, as state Republicans made it clear they want to busy Sheheen with defending national Democrat's views on policies that affect South Carolina.

There are 68 days left b efore voters go to the polls to elect e new governor. Sheheen said Tuesday he wants the campaign to instead focus on issues over which the governor has more influence, such as economic development, education and tax reform.

But Sheheen took the national issues head-on, at times rejecting parts of the national Democrat's platform and charting his own course.

State lawmakers have proposed an anti-illegal immigration bill modeled after a new Arizona law. Sheheen said a South Carolina approved in 2008 is better because it sets tougher for verifying employee residency and provides law enforcement the ability to enforce immigration law. "Ours is frankly tougher," Sheheen said. "We need to fully implement the law that we passed and that's not been done."

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd recently told a legislative panel his agency does not have the funding or manpower to provide its current public safety services and also enforce the anti-illegal immigration law. Sheheen thinks South Carolina needs to fund its current enforcement.

"Nikki supports the Arizona immigration law and would support it for South Carolina," said Haley campaign spokesman Rob Godfrey. "Vincent Sheheen ducks the question."

Sheheen said he would be open to additional changes, once the current law was enforced. "I would think I would not veto (as governor) any provisions that are needed," he said.

Greenville-based political consultant Chip Felkel said questions about the health care law, immigration and abortion matter to voters. However, he said, the election will be about the economy and leadership. "You've got to convince the people you can actually do the job," Felkel said. "It's about jobs and about the job of governor."

Sheheen was less definitive about his position on the health care reform laws, saying he supported parts of the law that prevented insurers from eliminating coverage for those who get sick or denying it to those who previously have had major illnesses. Sheheen also supported extending coverage to dependents until the age of 25.

Among Sheheen's concerns about the law are the potential state budget costs and impact on small businesses, which might be required to insure employees or pay a fine.

Small businesses would be given tax breaks to ease the cost of insurance while the federal government would pay for most of the expansion to state-run health care roles mandated by the law. Independent analysts have said the law likely will increase health care costs, and the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services estimates state costs would increase by $914 million by 2020.

Sheheen challenges Haley on education
Island Packet Thursday 8/19/2010

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Vincent Sheheen says he would veto any efforts to provide public aid for private-school tuition and Republican cuts to education.

His opponent, Lexington state Rep. Nikki Haley, plans on releasing an educational proposal today, but Sheheen, a Kershaw County state senator, was quick to invoke the hot-button voucher issue she has supported in the past. Providing parents vouchers or tax credits to pay private-school tuition has been the most consistently divisive legislative issue since Gov. Mark Sanford took office in 2003 supporting the idea. Lawmakers have yet to approve any version of the idea.

"For the last eight years, we've spent our time talking about vouchers when we should be talking about how to improve public education," Sheheen said. "Enough is enough, and I'm standing today for public education."

Sheheen's Wednesday news conference at a Columbia middle school had the feel of an event just weeks, not months, from election day. State Republican staffers held signs asking Sheheen's positions on health care and illegal immigration, while Sheheen staffers boxed out a Haley camera crew attempting to record the event.

Sheheen said he would end teacher pay cuts and reduce class sizes. But South Carolina could face as much as a $1 billion budget shortfall next year and Sheheen did not say how schools could pay for the programs to achieve those goals. Sheheen said he would not raise taxes to fund education.

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey noted Democrats have held the superintendent of education post for more than a decade. "They have no program for reform," Godfrey said. "Their only idea is to throw more money at the education bureaucracy. As the mother of children in public schools, Nikki Haley knows our children deserve first-class schools, and that means getting our educational dollars into the classrooms, not into the state Department of Education."

Haley supported private-school choice during the primary, but also said her first focus as governor would be to make sure schools were spending their money on classroom expenses.

Sheheen blamed Republicans for an "unhealthy" obsession with standardized tests, which he said prevent teachers from doing their jobs.

The event allowed Republicans a chance to press Sheheen on issues that might be unpopular among voters. Sanford was in the Upstate on Wednesday signing a new law that requires women to wait before they can have an abortion, prompting Haley's campaign to ask Sheheen to state whether he was pro-life or pro-choice. Sheheen declined to answer any question except those dealing with education.

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