Charleston Currents – Andy Brack

Articles by: Andy Brack

BRACK: Where’s the saber-rattling over the ask for a federal bailout?

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Two questions:

1. What is the state that was offered $11 billion from the federal government to provide better health care for the poorest of its citizens and said no?

2. What is the state that now wants the federal government to provide a $5 billion bailout for roads after not doing enough over the last 30 years to meet their infrastructure obligations?

Answer: South Carolina, also now known as the Hypocrisy State.

by Andy Brack · 02/13/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

PHOTO: Upside down

We’re told this boat has been turned upside down in this James Island creek for quite some time. Hurricane Matthew apparently blew it to one side of a dock, but it slowly returned to where it now gathers a few oysters growing on the side. Photo by Andy Brack.

by Andy Brack · 02/13/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Photos

FEEDBACK: On gas tax proposal and mentorship program

Fred Sales, James Island: “On the gas tax for roads: The proposal is a start, but given 30 years of the same gas tax, plus inflation, we need a real kick start. At minimum, an increase of 10 cents and additional hikes until it gets in line.” Also, a letter from George Graf on mentoring.

by Andy Brack · 02/06/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Feedback

BRACK: Gentrification is putting crimp on Charleston’s style

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The new Charleston: Too many cranes. Too many hotels. Too much hustle. Too much bustle.

The Holy City’s very success in attracting tourists and newcomers to enjoy its sleepy charm and lifestyle is rubbing off Charleston’s shine. If we don’t watch it, our success in attracting three dozen new people to move into the metro area every day will cause us to become just one more vanilla, metropolitan city filled with a homogenized population of gawkers who happen to live where there’s some interesting stuff to see.

by Andy Brack · 02/06/2017 · 2 comments · Andy Brack, Views

MYSTERY: Where is this hellacious reminder?

We ran across this dilapidated building in a rural area of South Carolina (not in the Charleston area) and thought it begged to be snapped as this week’s Mystery Photo. We’re expecting that it might be just too hard to find online, but maybe you’ll remember it if you ever drove along a highway in this part of the Palmetto State. (In advance, we apologize for making this one so tough, but thought it might be a fun exercise for some). We’ll offer a prize on this one (don’t know what yet). Send your best guess to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com — and make sure to include the name of the town in which you live.

by Andy Brack · 02/06/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos

PHOTO: Moving into the neighborhood

This old single house seems to be an object of gentrification in the East Side neighborhood. It’s being relocated to the corner of Amherst and Drake street in the traditionally black neighborhood that is becoming home to more college students. For more on gentrification, see Andy Brack’s commentary today. (Photo by Andy Brack.)

by Andy Brack · 02/06/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Photos

Then Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster during a nomination speech of President-elect Donald Trump at the 2016 GOP convention.

BRACK: McMaster can learn lessons from past governors

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | South Carolina’s new governor, Henry McMaster, has boatloads of political and governmental experience. But that doesn’t mean he can’t learn a little, especially from people who have occupied the same seat that he took over this week.

by Andy Brack · 01/30/2017 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: State needs to break grip of death spiral on governing

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Over the last 14 years, two South Carolina governors pounded a philosophy on the stump and at the Statehouse that there was little government could do to be good or worthwhile.

This drumbeat against government, a child of Washington think tanks from the 1990s, seeped into South Carolina under Gov. Mark Sanford, who was obsessed against government borrowing to finance long-term needs. Then it found an erstwhile acolyte in his successor, Gov. Nikki Haley, now headed to the national stage. Using the bully pulpit of the governor’s office, they railed against big government, preached a gospel against taxes and proselytized for treating government like a business.

by Andy Brack · 01/23/2017 · 3 comments · Andy Brack, Views

Gov. Nikki Haley, center, flanked by Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, on left, and Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster.

BRACK: Haley reflects on accomplishments, but downplays flag

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Gov. Nikki Haley took a victory lap around a legislature Wednesday with which she didn’t always get along.

“When I was first elected, I heard over and again from governors around the country that this would be the best job I would ever have,” she said in her final State of the State address prior to expected confirmation soon as the new ambassador to the United Nations. “I didn’t understand what they meant back then – and if I’m honest, some days, especially during the legislative session, I didn’t agree with them.”

by Andy Brack · 01/16/2017 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

In this White House photo taken in July 2016, President Barack Obama hugged Eliana Pinckney and her younger sister Malana Pinckney, daughters of the late Rev. and Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was one of nine slain in murders at Emanuel AME Church. The girls’ mother, Jennifer Pinckney, looks on. She testified this week in the trial of the man convicted of the murders.

BRACK: Obama deserves more credit than he gets

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | I’m going to miss President Barack Obama in the White House. There. I’ve said it. Before half of you spit out your coffee or explode into a hysterical frenzy, consider that you still have your guns. He didn’t take them away, as many misled by the gun lobby feared.

Despite doom and gloom prophecies, Obama didn’t ruin America’s economy. Rather, after inheriting the worst recession in 75 years, Obama steered Congress to take measured, decisive actions to shore up the faltering automobile sector, deal with some of the power of the big banks and use $800 billion in a stimulus package for tax relief, education initiatives and much-needed investments in research and infrastructure. The strategy worked and kept a real depression at bay.

by Andy Brack · 01/09/2017 · 4 comments · Andy Brack, Views