The Nerve

Not peachy-keen on tax-credit schemes By HANNAH HILL Tax credits can be some of the worst policies a government can pass. Taxes, as a rule, should be broad-based (everybody pays them) and low-rate (nobody pays much). Tax credits usually violate that principle – after all, tax cuts are different from tax favors. The former lowers […]

Comptroller says account will be online By ROBERT MEYEROWITZ Once the state gas tax increase went into effect on the first day of July, money began to flow from it and vehicle sales tax and registration fees through various state agencies to the State Treasurer, en route to… To where, precisely, is the question. The […]

Santee Cooper proposes raising residential rates by almost 10 percent By ROBERT MEYEROWITZ Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, is notifying customers that it wants to raise its rates by more than 9 percent over the next several years, in part to cover “costs associated with nuclear construction.” The reference is to its share of the $11 […]

Consulting jobs for ex-agency heads are costly and unnecessary By ABBY NUGENT According to a contract obtained by the Post and Courier, the former head of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Catherine Templeton, accepted a contract with the agency just one day after she left her position in January of 2015. […]

We pay more than any other state — but not all of us do By ROBERT MEYEROWITZ In a ranking of states by total energy costs, South Carolina is solidly in the middle, at 24th most expensive. When the costs of electricity, natural gas, motor fuel, and home heating oil are averaged and combined, state […]

When economic development becomes a state priority, citizens lose control By HANNAH HILL As the Policy Council has been compiling this year’s Best and Worst of the General Assembly, I couldn’t help noticing a recurring theme: economic development-related bills. Some are overt, like one that would create two new programs and a grant fund to […]

Feeling nibbled? Here’s one reason By ROBERT MEYEROWITZ If you shop locally and wonder where the money goes, the Tax Foundation has an explanation. South Carolinians pay the 17th-highest sales taxes in the nation, according to a new midyear report from the nonpartisan think tank. The ranking, arrived at by combining state and a population-weighted average […]

Decision to replace Mike Wooten was made in early May By ROBERT MEYEROWITZ More than two months ago, the office of Governor Henry McMaster was lining up a permanent replacement for former state Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Wooten. When it did, it was guided solely by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, according […]

There’s always work to do By HANNAH HILL The Declaration of Independence wasn’t about revolution. Here’s what it says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident… that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men… that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to […]

With this commission, there will always be problems By HANNAH HILL When Mike Wooten resigned from the state Department of Transportation commission, he blamed the ethics provisions in the gas tax hike bill just passed by the General Assembly, saying “The new law basically states that commissioners cannot apply for permits from SCDOT, so, if […]