Few in Horry County have heard the names of Rep. Jonathon Hill of Anderson or Rep. Josiah Magnuson of Spartanburg. Yet these are the faces of the new conservative movement now also taking shape in Horry County.
Hill sponsored the very popular constitutional carry bill which stalled this month in the S.C. House. MyrtleBeachSC news is informed the popular bill will not be allowed to pass, because leadership simply does not like Representative Jonathon Hill.
Yesterday, the powerful S.C. House GOP Caucus indefinitely kicked Hill out of the caucus while his bill languished with little hope of passing.
When Horry County Representative Alan Clemmons reversed himself gutting his very own sponsored Civil Asset Forfeiture bill, Rep. Josiah Magnuson was among the first to alert S.C. residents.
RINO CULTURE
Take A Half Loaf?
Representatives we spoke with asked why Hill would not, at times, give up his hard core, conservative principles and take a half-loaf compromise?
From our ongoing coverage of all things S.C., we know he can’t. It’s not possible. Unless S.C. voters elect more politicians who operate like Hill, no half-loaf exists.
Hill doesn’t fit the Columbia, S.C. Rino culture, so he is out. The RINOs, who are entrenched in establishment power, have no desire to compromise. There is no half-loaf to get.
House Republicans use closed-door meetings in the Republican caucus to discuss proposed legislation, getting their questions answered and concerns addressed before they debate on the House floor. This is where true legislation happens just outside the purview of citizens.
The caucus is a dues-paying organization that the courts have declared exempt from the state’s open-records laws. But it also serves as a private forum where the Republicans who dominate the House build consensus before passing legislation overwhelmingly. It’s a back room, inside the club thing.
“Rep. Hill’s actions are against everything our body stands for,” House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York, wrote in a statement to The State Newspaper. “His actions are unbecoming of a member of the State House as well as a member of the House Republican Caucus. At best, he is an obstructionist. At worst, an anarchist.”
OPENNESS, TRANSPARENCY, OR PARLOR TRICKS
Said Hill, “There’s a time and place for private discussions, but I also think that privacy is for private citizens and openness and transparency is for government.”
The long-standing establishment disagrees. Back door negotiating and deal cutting allows for a polished approach on the House floor. This arrangement also allows for negotiations S.C. House Representatives would prefer the public not be made aware of.
The rise of a new social media conservative movement is eroding the establishment’s ability to continue running Columbia entirely this way, however. And the establishment is beginning to fight back.
THE FIGHT – It’s not what you think
The fight is not a fight over principles at all. The fight is largely over money. The reason most Republicans in S.C. turn RINO once elected is all about the collection and distribution of tax monies. This is ground zero for where the establishment’s power lies.
KEY EXAMPLE: The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber (MBACC) is lauded by these same crop of establishment leaders. Combined, S.C. lawmakers write legislation that allows MBACC to collect over $55 million in tax subsidies annually. These laws are written exlusively for five property managers (hotel managers) operating in Myrtle Beach. All are millionaires. Some of these very dollars are then recycled back into election campaigns.
However, social media is creating transparency issues for the establishment that include exposing leadership on: SCDOT spending, MBACC funding and real accountability, $8 billion losses VC Summer, constitutional carry politics, to the latest House of Representatives procedural 180 degree turn on civil asset forfeiture. The establishment is no longer able to operate in secret, despite closed, back door negotiations. The public is now awake and aware.
As MyrtleBeachSC news reports on these issues ongoing, we understand why residents are so upset.
They don’t believe city, county and state governments work for them. While the establishment’s own voting records show they have not, establishment leaders at every level of government are retaliating against the residents at large. One key example is this display put on by Surfside Beach Mayor Bob Childs last night.
A new state wide-movement is afoot. This movement is new, but it has the potential to bring residents together for a greater good.
Or perhaps, like other such movements, these fire brands will burn themselves out fighting amongst one another. Only time will tell.