A former chairman for the Board of Economic Advisors has filed suit against Gov. Nikki Haley, questioning whether or not she broke ethics laws while she was serving in the state's House of Representatives.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Richland County on behalf of prominent GOP fundraiser John Rainey, and focuses on the then-representative Haley's job as a fundraiser for the Lexington Medical Center, and whether or not she used her position as a lawmaker for personal benefit by working as a lobbyist.
"While serving in the House, Haley exploited her public office for personal financial gain by trading on her influence and office to benefit corporations that were paying her money," the lawsuit reads, referencing immediately her role at LMC.
It also accuses Haley of failing to report a relationship with Wilbur Smith and Associates, which was lobbying lawmakers and "secretly" paying Haley, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asks the court to rule on whether Haley's work with WSA, which was not disclosed until the final days before the runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and LMC while she was a state lawmaker violates the state's ethics code.
A judgment, according to the lawsuit, will offer "guidance" moving forward.
Rainey, an attorney who lives in Camden, has been a vocal critic of Haley, saying he believes her to be corrupt "to the core of her being."
"This reeks of what it is: sour grapes," Haley said on Thursday afternoon after a town hall meeting with Alcoa employees in Goose Creek. She pointed out that Rainey had hired former state Democratic chairman Dick Harpootlian as his attorney.
Rainey has held several powerful positions in the state. He is the current chairman for Easlan Capital, former chairman for the state's Public Service Authority, and served on numerous political campaigns in financial capacities, including President George Bush in 2000 and 2004, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2002, U.S. Sen. Jim Demint in 2004 and Republican nominee John McCain in 2008.
Rainey currently serves on the S.C. finance team for former Ambassador Jon Huntsman's campaign for president.
“This bogus lawsuit is a transparent political stunt by a disgruntled Republican has-been and the chairman of the state Democratic Party," said Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey.
"It’s a shame they would waste the court system’s time with this obviously frivolous suit. The governor acted completely appropriately in all these matters – something that has been made clear every time these same two career political antagonists try and rehash these issues."
Second, The unions built America, they got no "special" treatment for the jobs that they did and do (in fact many people find the work most union members do objectionable) Third, union powers grew as their membership grew, and it did in SOME cases get out of hand, that has been reigned in considerabley in last decade (nothing to do with politics) But, a union fights for fair wages and benefits as a BODY so don't blame them for having some things better,they earned and fought collectively for them. If your world sucks - BLAME the Corporation or whom you work for - Don't blame the unions.
re: I am a South Carolinian by way of NY - Damn Yankee yeah, damn yankee...go back to NY...and put all blacks on a boat to africa...and get ICE to return all latinos (illegal or otherwise) back to mexico or where ever... get all the germans back to germany...and especially all japanese back to japan...after all they stabbed us in the back at pearl harbor... thought we had gotten past this crap...guess not. OTOH...agree with many of your comments/opines...welcome to my beloved South...glad you saw the light. havent followed the SC gov so have no opine...but OH, FL, WI, should recall their governors...
At least on of the Republicans took the information he had, and made a "sure bet" in the stock market that he knew would win. THAT is insider trading. What Pelosi did was know that Visa was going to drop in value, and bought it anyway. She lost money. The best INVESTMENT is to buy stock that you think will increase in value over the long haul, but more important, will pay good, steady dividends. That will provide an income for a long time.
"I recently wrote the CEO of McDonalds who claimed that they needed tax reform, I asked him just how greedy can they be, their profits and stock are at all time highs! If they really wanted to fuel the economy, double the wages, pay health benefits and give their workers a 401k with a match! So burgers would go up? Big deal!" Joe - 10:13am on Friday, November 18, 2011 Based on that statement, I believe that the only difference between our arguements is I do not lay the blame at the feet of the unions for the problem. If you are lucky enough to be in an industry that has a union, then you are provided the means to fight the greed you describe above. Otherwise, on our own, as individuals, we are unable to to fight for "better wages, health benefits, and a 401K with a match" that would fuel the economy. The corporation will just find a more compliant employee who will work for less. Instead, I blame a government bought by the, what did you call them, oh yea 'greedy' corporations and banks. I blame the 279 congressmen that signed Grover Norquist's 'Taxpayer protection pledge" so they are no longer there working for the best interest of their constituents, but working for Grover Norquist. I blame the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which prohibited commercial banks from engaging in the investment business. These are the things that brought us to where we are, not Unions.
Yes, I am aware of that. The repeal of Glass-Steagall began in the 1980s and finally was completely repealed by the 106th congress and Bill Clinton in 1999. The republican's and democrat's fingerprints are all over the final legislation to complete the repeal of Glass-Steagall. Also, guess what? both democrats and republicans have signed Grover Norquist's 'Taxpayer protection pledge'. It isn't about party, it is about greed. There is plenty of blame to go around and not just in Washington. To quote factcheck.org 'The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation.' And we all cooperated beautifully.
Let's put the Depression Era regulations back in place, and go from there.
re: both democrats and republicans have signed Grover Norquist's 'Taxpayer protection pledge'...It isn't about party, it is about greed. FYI. Sitting Democrats who have signed the pledge are Sen. Ben Nelson (NE) and House members Robert Andrews (NJ) and Ben Chandler (KY). it is about greed and party philosophy and ideology...a mistaken belief (aka GOP voodoo economics) that the 1% will invest and grow the economy...true to some extent...but consumer spending trumps investment by the 1%. a major factor in economic growth is consumer spending by the middle class (MC)...and if the MC has to spend more on health care, education, etcetc (the result of deep spending cuts)...then they have less or none to spend on consumers goods... opine: the 1% (or 10%) will spend no less on consumer goods if their taxes are increased by 1% or whatever...neither will an increase substantially reduce their investing in businesses or the stock market...if they can make 10% vice 15%, they will still go for it. and a tax increase on rich folks would do much to reduce budget deficits and the debt. ask buffett, gates and the "patriotic millionaires"... regs are needed to protect us from greedy bastards...repeal of glass steagall was a huge mistake by DEMs and GOPs...it had protected us for 70 some years... the unregulated free market works only in a society where there are no bad guys...nirvana
'You have to take human nature where you find it' - George Washington. Well said. I agree with you and I believe I said as much in an earlier post (possibly not as clearly). However, I will stand by my statement to Joe that it is not about party, but about greed. The reason being is that I wanted it understood that just because I believe that a certain decision is wrong does not automatically mean I am naive enough to think that only one party makes bad decisions. Nor do I believe that only one party is the 'evil doers' and the other are 'saviours'. Or that they are immune to tempation. Or that they never have lapses in ethics, etc. etc. They are human after all. We have to stop thinking in terms of 'good vs. evil' and get more realistic as to what really needs to be done. Repealing Glass-Steagall was a bad decision no matter who made it and it needs to be corrected.
gawd hate to disagree with the most brilliant leader in our history...but, 'take[ing] human nature where you find it'...ie, to accept and excuse our behavior because it's human nature is a reason for the current sad state of affairs... re: 'naive enough to think that only one party makes bad decisions.' for sure, for sure, say the valley girl...defending a party bs is another reason for the current sad state of affairs...we can/could do so much better if the common good is our JOB #1...NOT defending party crap/bs...eg; we could end hunger and poverty...provide fair and appropriate education (FAPE) for all...probably wont happen even in God's lifetime...for we (DEM/GOPs)...continue to 'take human nature where we find it.'...and argue party crap. tho not religious...much could be accomplished if we were a true christian nation and not a bunch of hypocrites. so much for california dreaming...
know it wont happen...but posting adhoms may encourage comments...and help people see ignorance...