Hoorr Jesus er fright.
Yeah, Saint America and Jery for Regus one nation in your naval.
Yes is wrong.
This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
Six sixteen Now and welcome to a Thursday. We're inching closer and closer to UH time change weekend. Yeah, you only get forty seven hours this weekend, but hey, it'll stay light longer.
Works for me. Good morning to you.
It's March the sixth I'm Gary David, that is Christopher Thompson.
That is one of the most unhealthy weekends in the entire year.
Well, you know, I mean you can make up for it Friday. You'll go to Saturday, go to bed an hour earlier or whatever. But it's just that does mess things up for a little bit.
It does. Is that? Is it?
The Is it the when we spring forward, when we fall back, when the the data seems to show we that following Monday, we have more accidents.
This coming Monday. Springing forward, Okay, this is losing losing that hour. It's darker earlier, yeah, or stays darker later, I guess I should say, disrupting your rhythm. And then and then sometimes on that drive home, not now the sun's in a different spot and it could. Yeah, so all right, we got that to look forward to.
You know, remember the old days when you had well I still have a few of those clocks around the house. You gotta change. But that's a great thing about smartphones and smart watches and such. You ought to worry about it. And it's always should break. We should remind the boys it's time change week. And I said, they don't have a clock in their house. Everything is digitally. Have to worry about that. It takes care of takes care of itself. Microwave,
the stove, Yeah, yeah, that are those things. Couple of things. Yeah, and the war of the car, you know, in the car because is it just me every year? How did I do that again?
Yeah?
Sometimes requires the manual for that.
All right.
Well for a kid or a kid, yeah, yeah, just get your six year old. They know how to do it. Good to have you with us. Plenty going on here. Let's at least to get the thirty thousand foot view of some of the things that we'll be talking about this morning here the rundown, the big stories, the hot topics for Thursday, March the eighth. Check that it's March the sixth, I wish you were the eighth and b Saturday. Then oh okay, Well, is anything else getting talked about
or done or considered the State House right now? Aside from tort reform? Man, it has taken center stage over on Tureva Street. And yesterday we saw hundreds of folks on both sides of this issue pack in the State House lobbying lawmakers one way or the other on this tort reform. And well, in a pretty rare event, we had the Governor Henry McMaster personally jumping into this fray here, something he doesn't do very often, but he wants this done.
So the governor getting involved, we'll talk about that. Yeah, there are a few other things happening over there. And on the Senate side, they're considering an energy bill that would fast track a new Edistoa River gas plan. So, yeah, the energy conversation continues to go on here and the State House legislators will continue to try to find ways to meet our state's growing demand for power. This story
is going to get national attention. It already has. Tomorrow, Brad Sigmund will go to his death in the death chamber this time though for the first time ever in South Carolina by the firing squad, and it'll be the first time in fifteen years that's somebody in this has been put to death by that method. Needless to say, it's going to get all sorts of national play tomorrow.
And recall, this was you know, there was a reason why Sigmund's attorneys and and all wanted to almost this is almost was a protest choice, uh, saying that the the the method are our last two condemned men have gone to their you know, their fate by lethal injection, that it was flawed, that it didn't work right, YadA, YadA, YadA. So uh, Sigmund choosing what what's what what's some experts say is really the most painless way to die, if
you've got to have to die. And that's with that, of course, the Supreme Court in our state turning down an appeal here on that.
You know, we boy I knew this yesterday.
We didn't get around to it because yesterday most of the discussion was taken up by the uh.
Uh.
The President's addressed the night before, but I mean the news had hermo on Eric Sickinger, the town council member, the mayor pro tem. He's arrest on multiple counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. This miner said to have been a young boy. He's out on bond now he is still on council. He hasn't been removed from his position. But this is a fifteen year old boy.
Wow.
We always get to this stage and it comes down to semantics. Well, he hasn't been indicted yet, so the governor can't act. Once he's indicted, then the governor can remove it.
And expect the governor to move quickly once that happens. Meantime, over in the Myrtle Beach, a second Jane Doe coming forward and accusing John Paul Miller, the pastor there, who's made again a national and worldwide headlines after the death of his wife, and still a lot of controversy and unknown there it seems now a second one, a second Jane Doe accusing both Miller and his father of sexual impropriety. Another fiber optic company digging in the town of Lexington
has been put on pause. Last time it was Ripple Fiber who was busting water lines and even a couple of gas lines and including in my neighborhood. Now Lumo's Fiber has been issued a stop work order. This confirmed yesterday or actually Tuesday. What is it with these people that are digging these these lines for these fiber optic cables. Man, they seem to have no clue as to what they're doing. I will tell you when they were in our neighborhood.
I mean, they work like Trojans. But I don't think a single person working in our neighborhood was actually born in this country, if you know what I'm saying. I'm just I wonder how well trained some of these folks are. A well anyway, regardless, So here's another stop order issued in Lexington for a different fiber optic company. Wow, correct me if I'm wrong about didn't we already know this
the news all a guy guy yesterday? The Spirit Airlines is adding three nonstops to Columbia and starting up this summer. And initially, at least on some flights, fairs low was fifty bucks. One way, we already knew this, right, That announcement was a couple of months ago.
I think they'd already anounce say it, I guess this was.
The official announcement. Okay, all right, I got you. Well.
The fallout continues from the Democrat reaction to Trump's speech to the Joint Session of Congress the other night, self phoned and unhinged petulance. The Democrat response say, some a lot of Democrat strategists are up in arms over this. They're not happy at all with their party's behavior at that joint address the other night. John Fetterman saying this decision to protest and the way they did just helped Trump look more presidential. We got a a lot of
reaction to that. It continues to pour in, Needless to say, the Supreme Court denying the State Department's request to cancel foreign aid payments. You had to well, to no one's great surprise, the Chief Justice John Roberts against this. But the surprising thing was that Amy Cony Barrett also was against these cuts, these cancelations. Okay, the trade wars, the tariffs, at least for now, for thirty days, a temporary terror for leaf ordered by the Trump administration for US automakers.
They continue to negotiate. Trump issuing another ultimatum to Hamas. This is probably the third or fourth one, but says this is the final one. Let the hostages go, release all the bodies. Not a single Hamas member will be safe. If you don't do as I say, there will be hell to pay. This is your last warning. Okay, well, here we go with that again.
Uh.
Meantime, up on Capitol Hill, you had well Democrat mayors you know it's these sanctuary cities testifying. You had Michelle Who of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, and a few others, and it was not pretty, not at all. We'll get into some of that. Okay, we'll get that. We got more heading your way here on this the Thursday morning edition of Columbia's Morning News.
Good to have you with us talking about you.
Gotta keep talking the good job, the stuff that matters. I think I've been listening to y'all in the eighteen year plus. Right one all three point five FM at five sixty am w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC six.
Forty two the time now listening hearing that to listeners say and listened to us in the eighteen year plus range. Just reminds me of how long has this been going on, man, Nearly a quarter of a century. Yeah, yeah, actually more than that, because we did it together for a couple of years, and I was gone for a year or two, and then back in two thousand and.
One, So twenty four plus years. Yeah, almost twenty almost.
A quarter of a century. We've been here a little while. Dang, been a while. Enjoyed every moment of it. Thank y'all so much for being along for this extended ride here. We appreciate that, all right.
Now.
We mentioned in the rundown a couple of minutes ago that getting most of the attention over the State House right now is tort reform, and then they packed the place yesterday fern against and mentioned the governor, who very rarely inserts himself into State House business, is all in on this one. He wants us done well. We'll get
to that a little bit later on. But something else that is being talked to and has been well even prior to this session is our growing energy needs here in the state, and we talk about this from time to time. Gil gatch Dorchester Republican in the House sponsoring a bill saying this quote, even if we were to close the doors to South Carolina, no more businesses, no more people moving in here, we're losing fifty percent of our energy generation right now in the next ten years. Okay,
So there's been a lot of discussion. What do we do here? Do we restart construction out in Jenkinsville at the ill fated VC summer plant expansion that's gotten up most all the attention here, at least publicly because of what happened last time. They tell us if we go down that road, it won't be like last time. I'm of course, the hurdle to jump is to find some company out there who decides they want to come in and you know, take this on their own and try
to finish that project off. That's not the only option here. And the Senate is considering a major energy bill that the supporters say could pave the way for new energy projects to meet our state's growing demands. Again this bill, remember we talked about this, you know, the conservation folks
all up in arms over this. But it aims, among the things, to simplify the approval process for these sorts of projects and a particular focus here of this bill is the fast track the transformation of the old coal plant in the Cannedys Colleon County, proposed natural gas plant there that could generate to a large amount of electricity. Well, they heard in a subcommittee public testimony this is again a proposal that would allow a joint partnership here between
Santie Coop and the state old utility and dominion. Anytime you hear about the just brings back bad memories. I know, but critics say we shouldn't be putting all our eggs in one basket. Well, we we got to get some excurrior going here. I don't know how many we can. We can do it one time, but we got to get something going on.
Now.
As far as how much this plant, this has been talked about now for a while, and Kennedy's would would cost, we don't know yet. What impact would have on rate payers, we don't know yet. And remember this other thing that's being discussed, and these big businesses that are sucking up so much energy in our state want the alternative of
actually purchasing energy from other providers outside the state. Critics of that say, well that could cause you know, all sorts of issues with rates for you know, homeowners and everybody else. This is being done in it. I think Georgia does it. I think Georgia allows this. I know other states do. I think Georgia is one of them. You got to get creative here. We're not alone in this, of course. Pretty much every state in the country is facing the same sort of thing.
You know.
It just as an aside here because I listen, I'm not the most technically I'm no elon Musk Okay, and you keep hearing about this bitcoin thing and mining for bitcoin exactly what drains a lot of Yeah? And I so, yeah, I okay, what exactly is that? Yeah, it's it's not you know, mining out in the field somewhere for bitcoin. It's computers. It's computers that are running into it's trying to find unique whatevers. This whole, this whole thing just blows my mind how that has any value at all.
But it does sometimes sometimes, yeah, sometimes. But the sort of the amount of electricity these big server farms are sucking up, it's just incredible or just incredible. We've mentioned this a couple of times, and I may get the numbers wrong here, it's been a little while, but you know, the expectation is is that, yeah, we're going to be somewhere around next year or two, somewhere around maybe maybe as much as ten percent of all the electricity used in this country is going to go to these big
server farms. Ten And if the number is correct right now, we've got somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty seven hundred of them or so across the country, and they're taking about about six percent of all electricity generated. I mean, these are electricity hogs, man, and we're not just going to turn them off. They got to keep going. So we've got to keep coming up with ways to not
only satisfy their demands. But again, a place like South Carolina, i mean we're, like, you know, we're tops in the nation of people coming here.
If you didn't know that, just look around.
And boy, you look in places like down around Beaufort in the Low Country and that area. Crazy about of folks coming in here, and they all need energy. So this may not this is not one of these issues that necessarily is as sexy as some other things the State House considers, But boy, there's nothing more important than this one.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning news on one oh three point five FM and five sixty AM WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
They hate Trump more than they love the country and they'll never come back that way.
Good morning, it.
Is fifteen after seven o'clock. There's Graham commenting about the Democrat reaction to the Trump speech two nights ago. Did anything else get talked about yesterday?
Yeah?
I told you this speech is going to be remembered, unfortunately, not for what Trump said, but for the way that Democrats reacted, at least here in the short term. That's all the buzz inside the Beltway right now.
And it just shows how lost that party is that. I mean, they they can't even craft a coherent response that some in their own party could respect. Instead, it's all about protest.
Do you see Stephen Colbert's segment did not He held up on those littles and he said do something. He was not happy with the Democrat response. Do something, he said.
I'm not sure many party leaders were, but you know they're they're if they're going to lead the party, they've got to lead it out of this se mess they're in. And I doesn't appear to they're elected officials have any clue what to do?
That that begs the question, who is who is leading the party right now? That's a good question. Wow, okay, I saw Tim Walls was asked that question yesterday. Oh Tim Walls, who was actually flirting with the idea of running for president, please go ahead make my day.
I guess he is. I don't know. He's making the rounds right now. And he was asked, all right, who's in charge? And he sputtered and paused, and I mean, is it nobody? Is it Kamala Harris?
Well, if it is, she is, m i A, she's.
Gone radio sign. I guess she's preparing to run California for a while.
Doesn't seem to be Barack Obama anymore. Nancy Pelosi is not sure what year it is.
Yeah, she needs to take Mitch McConnell's advice, and yeah, right, walk out.
So some of the response from Democrats now the Hill one not naming some of these folks. One Democrat strategist saying, we never learn. We can't just be the party that barks at Trump. And I'm sorry, but that's what we are. And until we learn that lesson, we're gonna lose another one. He owned us. He made us look like what we are blanking buffoons.
Wow.
John Fetterman a sad cavalcade of cell phones and unhinged petulance. Gess, nicely done, and he said the Democrat response makes Trump look more presidential and restrained. David Axelrod says it wasn't helpful. I don't think the performative stuff was very helpful at all. You're hard pressed to find too many Democrat strategists or analysts or former advisors or whomever that were happy with
that performance the other night. By the way, Chuck Schumer declining to remark on, among other things, how he felt about al Green interrupting Trump's speech.
He's going to check out the pulling numbers first, He's gonna yeah.
He's gonna read the tea leaves first, then get back to us on that.
Yes, my guess is he'll come out against al Green in a couple of days because nothing looks good about the way things went the other.
No, no, it doesn't does. By the way, a resolution to centre Green did survive a procedural hurdle late yesterday afternoon, so there will be a housewife. Vote to center, the Texas Democrat and Caroline Levitt, I mean Levitt, she doesn't pull any punches. Man from behind the podium in these press conference, she personally called out Nicole Wallace. Did we mention Nicole Wallace's response yesterday morning?
I was going to I don't think I ever got around to it.
Yeah, just soil. You know, Nicole Wallace hosts a show on MSNBC.
And she has become unhinged since Inauguration Day.
And this is all around again. DJ Daniel, the thirteen year old cancer survivor. After the speech show that night, Nicole Wallace says, I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer, but I hope he never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump supporters. And if he does, I hope he isn't one of the six who loses his life to suicide. Levitt calling her out on that yesterday from behind the podium, that's
just a bridge too far, it really is. I understand the point she's trying to make, but that's this kid has nothing to do with that argument.
Nope.
Levin is saying it's sad and frankly pathetic that Democrats and liberals and the legacy media continue to allow their hatred for the president to override their love for our country and not getting as much play. But we did mention this yesterday, and that was one of the guests that Trump invited, Peyton McNabb. And suddenly Democrats are upset that Trump and guests to use as a quote unquote political prop I mean that trend started a long time ago.
Oh yeah, okay, every president has done it. But it was Paid McNabb who, at the age of seventeen, hit in the face by a spiked volleyball from a biological male, who suffered brain injury, some paralysis, all sorts of injuries. She's going to live with for the rest of her life. She was honored by trumpet that speech. She's calling out the Democrat women who decided to adorn themselves in pink to what you that's to what signify their support for women, right,
I guess for women's rights and everything else. Well, they didn't stand in applaud for paid McNab when she was singled out the other night, McNabb saying, last night, I thought that the pink suits and everyone matching was real cute when, of course, the day before zero Democrats voted to protect women and girls, and then zero Democrats stood up and applauded when I was getting recognized from my injury at the hands of a biological male. By the way, yeah,
it is hypocrisy. Oh and maybe this is the reason why. Let's see here in particular as it relates to DJ. The thirteen year old Greg Cassar, Democrat Texas representative, who I think is a member of the squad, argued that Democrats were actually showing respect for DJ Daniel by not standing up on a plotting. And I didn't really. Every Democrat, he says, stands with enormous respect for the American people, whether they agree with us or not, especially for those
who are ill and struggling. But he says, they're actually shown respect bye bye by not standing at a plotting DJ Daniel, And he didn't didn't exactly exactly explain why that was. Well, that's because you don't want to stand in a plot a young man because he developed a brain tumor. Ill. Again, they're struggling, man, they are. They are out there in the middle of a raging sea right now in a rudderless vehicle.
I'm not unhappy to see it. No, I'm not either, but yeah, it's at the same time, you wonder, all right, who's gonna run in two years? In four years? Right, what's the message? What are they gonna do? I mean, they can't come up with a single strategy that seems to be working right now.
They can't.
I'm gonna tell you the the lasting memory, and Trump yesterday urged Republicans to run on this to remind constituents about this behavior. In particular. You know, do you know how many how many house races now in the midterms, you going to see Republican candidates running ads showing if they're up against an incumbent Democrat, showing that incumbent Democrat sitting on their hands with a sour puss look on
their face. When DJ Daniel was recognized the other night, that is going to be a lasting image that is going to haunt these people for a long time to come, and it should where the spirit.
Of America lives off.
Reading and learn from each other.
One On three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC, This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one on three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
Seven forty three. Good morning, good to have you long. It is Thursday, March the sixth.
A city that's scared is not a city that's safe. A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free.
People are sick of their leaders, they're sick of mayors like these that we had on Capitol Hill today. And they're done, they're they're waking up.
Well, that was fun yesterday.
You got overshadowed a bit by all the other you know, the hangover from the Trump speech the other night. But but there they were, Michelle wou that was the first voice you heard right there. Can we hear from from Michelle again? Is that is that possible?
Okay? Yeah, no, maybe not? Okay, let's see, Yeah, all right.
A city that's scared is not a city that's safe. A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free.
You know what she's She's exactly right, mister Thompson, She's exactly right, but for the wrong reason. A city like Boston, a city like New York, a city like Chicago, like Denver, this is what we've seen these are cities ruled by fear. So yeah, this is this is not People don't feel free when their cities are ruled by fear, and not not exclusively because of illegal immigration, but way too much of it. She's exactly right, but for all the wrong reasons.
So you had Michelle Wou, you had Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, you had the mayor John Stunn of Denver, and Eric Adams in New York City in front of the House Overside Committee yesterday, and try as he might, James Comer could not get a direct answer from Wu of Boston or Johnson of Chicago when he asked over and over again if they were willing to follow federal law by turning over illegal immigrants with criminal records to Ice. They talked all around that thing. Man, We happen to
know that they don't. And Tom Holman was interviewed after the fact the borders are and he brought the point that you know, you have got these criminals behind bars, and rather than just turn them over then when nothing bad could potentially happen, you're putting them back on the street. Our folks having to go now track them down at a great risk to themselves and to the individual potentially what else is happening when they do that? Oh guess
what they're finding? You know, more illegals right there with this person they're looking for. I guess what happens to those folks? They're going out too, collateral damage.
But mayor says, the people of Boston are tired, yes, of hearing people from outside Boston telling them what to do, so they're not listening.
I'm just you know, on a wild guess here, I'm just gonna say that if Michelle Wu, who's not listening to the people of Boston, I could be wrong. Byron Donald's asked, do you know how much money you're spending on the illegal immigration? Well, two of these mayors had an answer. Mike Johnston. This gets confused. Is Mike Johnson's the mayor of Denver? Brandon Johnson is the mayor of Chicago. Well, the Denver mayor had an answer and and uh yeah.
Eric Adams had an answer to six point nine billion dollars when asked how much money his city, New York City, has spent on illegal immigration six point nine billion dollars. Wu and john Son had no answers to this, and they're the two biggest defenders, Boston Chicago, the two biggest.
And you would think if you spend that kind of money, you'd be begging the federal government for help, Please help us.
You'd think.
But instead they don't want to answer the question because they don't want to hear their constituents back home. Here a number, how much money there of their money is going towards this And Anna Pauline A Luna Anna Pauline Luna told these four mayors she would be referring them to Pam Bondy for potential prosecution, the crime being, she says, it's very clear these policies that you will have all
implicated are alive and well in your cities. They're in a direct violation with US Title eight, sub section thirteen twenty four. It's a federal offense.
Look it up.
Okay, I'm gonna have to look it up because I don't know what that is off the top of my head.
I'll be happy to repeat it. US Title eight, sub section one three two four.
Oh that one, well you know that one?
Oh yeah, everybody knows that one. Well, when you look it up, you'll find out, yes, these these mayors are in a direct violation of it. Okay, direct violation of it. So yeah, that was fun. Is it going to change anything? Oh no, probably more than likely, at least for Boston Chicago. It's not going to change unless you know, Annapoline A Luna comes through with her threat here and Tom Holman's been saying all along, Yeah, we're gonna come after you.
We're bringing hell, We're gonna come after you. Until that happens, Well, this is going to continue.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM and five sixty AM WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
It is sixteen after a good morning you good to have you long Thursday, March sixth Uh, tomorrow is gonna be all about that nationally.
You're gonna hear this over and over and over again. Tomorrow.
Tomorrow's the day when Brad Sigmund is slated to go to his death, and this time, for the first time ever in our state, it will be by firing squad. His choice. He had choices, his victims did not. His victims, the parents of his ex girlfriend beaten to death with a baseball bat in two separate rooms of the home. As I recall going back and forth, back and forth, beating them until they were dead with a baseball bat,
how long did it take them to die? How much pain and fear did they have to go through before that final release? Well, for Brad Sigmund, he might not even know what hit him. The worst part for Brad Sigmund tomorrow will be as he sits strapped to that chair with a bag over his head, is wondering, Okay, when does this happen. Chances are he may not feel much anything at all. But it'll be the first time we've ever put someone to death here in South Carolina
by a firing squad. It will be the first time in fifteen years that's happened in this country. So this will be noteworthy and newsworthy. Tomorrow you'll hear about it over and over and over again, and you'll hear all the all the all the bleeding hearts bemoaning the fact that the state is in the execution business.
I get it.
We're one of just five states that that will be allow this method, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and the others. They've been doing it for a long time, and is it Utah Idaho that's been doing it for a long time. Utah, Utah, it's been spent a long time since it's happened, fifteen years. Okay, So expect a lot of discussion about that tomorrow. But remember his his choice, this was all part of a
bigger play here. Didn't want to do the lethal injection thing because you know, his attorneys tried to argue that the last two we put to death via lethal injection that they suffered.
Know what do you.
Okay, so I guess we'll eventually get an investigation. You know, somebody will foil the medical records as they do an autopsy on the on Sigmund.
Sure, yeah, and.
Try and figure out where the bullet hit, Which bullet hit first? Is that the bullet that killed him or was he hit more than one because there is more than one shooter, right, yes, yeah.
So that's tomorrow. Now.
Yesterday, on a separate note, they were lined up over the State House. This this whole tort reform, this has become the big issue at the state House. Remember well there were this was this was a priority going in. I know, also the you know, the the funding for these private school vouchers that that seemed to be the biggest priority going in. That's still going on. Senate has
their version, House has theirs. Remember this is the House version the State Supreme Court ruled last year was unconstitutional. They're just hoping they don't rule the same this year, I guess, But that that's still ongoing here where we're at the March what's March sixth now?
But tort reform, his.
UH has really taken center stage, and we saw hundreds of folks show up yesterday on both sides, but really in a in a rare event. We also saw the governor at the State House yesterday, which is something he very seldom does when it comes to you know, kind of uh, you know, putt putting his uh, his weight on how he wants the legislature to act. The governor is very much in favor of this tort reform. So yeah, what we saw yesterday was kind of kind of unusual
in this one. But this one has been heated. Man, We've been talking about this.
I mean it's been heated on the floor, whether I mean the Senate. You've had Shane Massey reportedly cursing out some opponents. He's in committee. He's talked about, you know, all the people who are in their basement criticizing him and don't have the guts to come forward and say it to his face. It's just I mean, it's been really I mean some of the some of the letter, because it's been pretty hostile.
It really has been. And yet I guess, you know, we should have expected this considering how many you know, lawyers are over there at the State House, and how many of them are practicing personal defense law. Some actually represent these insurance companies, and insurance is big business, this one, this one maybe more so than any other topic that's come over there in the last few years. This seems to be a lot of people with a very vested interest in this over the State House.
Well, I think what's been forgotten in all this is that originally the idea came to try and provide some relief to some of these restaurants and bars, right who are just sinking under these insurance premiums.
And there are those who are just shutting their doors, yeah, because they couldn't afford to pay these premiums.
And apparently, you know this this S two forty four. Apparently there's a a rival bill. Now, you know, because all the critics of two forty four say that it doesn't do what it's intended to do. So now there's a rival bill that's come up and said, okay, well, you know, this may not have the impact that two forty four does, but what it does do is level the playing field for some of these small businesses.
And remember what this is, you know, at least a part of what this is all about. And this, this was this, this whole thing could have been avoided, but this was this was generated by the state House several years ago with changes they made. Well, what we're in a situation now where these attorneys and the plaintiffs are are going after the the defendant with the deepest pockets, not it doesn't matter the better level of negligence. You know, if I can make a bad analogy here, uh, you
get two individuals. This is this is a bad analogy because the hand of one is the hand of all I know. But you know, somebody commits a murder and uh, you know, someone else happens to be, you know, somewhere in the vicinity and associate with this person. They weren't all involved in the commission of the murder. Yet you know the prosecution de side, who have to this other person who didn't commit the murder and charged them with
the murder instead be get for whatever. It's a bad analogy, I know, but this is you know, they were they responsible to some degree, yes? Were they responsible to that degree no, But in the meantime where they they let the murder off the hook, the person who pulled the trigger off the hook because they want to go after this person. And that's kind of what we're bad at allergy.
But still it's kind of what we're looking at right now. Okay, well, this this, this defense doesn't really have any money, so let's just ignore them. But this one over here part of the crime here. They Nobody is saying that these people that are that are losing loved ones or who suffer you know, permanent lifelong injuries don't deserve you have to get money out of these insurance companies for this
sort of thing, all these establishments. Nobody's saying that. But it's just that we need to be fair about who we're targeting here, and it used to be based on some sense of Okay, how responsible were they? Oh this is an ugly one man?
Yeah, and again I think a lot of citizens aren't quite sure who to trust. Yeah, because you've got so many of these lawyeral legislators, and you know some of them are even representing insurance companies, which she muddies the water even more.
Your morning News, getting ready for work and all day in fault and.
Check in throughout the day.
One on three point five FM and five to sixty am w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one on three point five FM and five sixty am doub VOC.
It's eight forty and it's happened again. Another fiber optic company digging up people's yards has been initialed to stop order in the town of Lexington.
Wow. Last month, I guess it was. It was Ripple.
He came through our neighborhood. They think to dropped by the other day and put a little flag out in our yard. Yeah, they listen, these folks in the company get I got a letter back around the first of the year Christmas.
Whatever.
Hey, good news, fiber optics coming to your neighborhood. Okay, and we'll be doing some digging, but we'll we'll, we'll set things right, Well, we'll we'll make it back, put it back as good as it was, or maybe even better. You know what their idea better was in yards where they had dug up, just go get a hunk of saw it and throw it on top of it. Dam just throw it on top of the dirt, no preparation or not, just just lay it out there. Well, yeah, and at this time of the year, that's gonna work.
But worse than that, they in our neighborhood, they on several occasions broke water lines. They broke a gas line, and then the neighborhood next door to ours, well they busted a gas line right at the only way in and out of that neighborhood.
And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that's where the mayor.
That's where the mayor lives. Yes, well, that that got an immediate stop order for Ripple. And now it's Loomo's fiber that's been a sure to stop order, same reasons busting uh, busting water lines. Loomost, by the way, is the same company that got in trouble in Iermo last was it last year? Uh, for the very same reasons.
I don't I don't know if this is just you know, shoddy work on behalf of these fiber optic companies and the crews are sending out to do to dig or if the people marking all these lines aren't doing a good I don't know. But if you get a letter in the mail saying, hey, good news, fiber optic is coming to your neighborhood.
It's not going to be a painless procedure.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Okay, I asked this question earlier, and I think we were correct. I mean a lot of a lot of a lot of talk yesterday around here about Spirit Airlines coming to town. We already knew this, right what this was announced months ago?
Uh?
I guess this was some maybe the official I don't know, but none of the Spirit Airlines was adding three flights from Columbia, Fort Lauderdale, Newark, and Orlando. These are nonstops. They launched June fifth, and for some, at least for some of the flights initially, you can go fifty dollars one way, Not bad bad. I just hop on one just to fly because I like to fly. I don't know, but I mean we already knew this, right.
I mean, they've been here before. But yeah, I feel like.
Have they been to Columbia another up in the Upstate? They're another Myrtle Beach or Charleton one the two. Well, anyway, so that's coming this summer. Supreme Court yesterday denying the State Department's application to vacate a district court district court's order to issue payments on some of these foreign Development aid funds, you know, the US AID stuff. So yeah, the five to four decision, the highest court in the lands says, yeah, yeah, it starts sending that money again.
Now that no one's great surprise. John Roberts sided with the Libs on this one, but so did Amy Coney Barrett. That raised quite a number of eyebrows in their descent. Thomas Alito, gorsicch and Kavanaugh. Alito said in his descending opinion that the district court likely did not have jurisdiction in its case. Does a single district court judge who lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out and probably lose
forever two billion tax dollars? He says, the answer should be an emphatic no. But apparently, Oh, but the majority of this court apparently things otherwise, I am stunned. So yeah, yeah, we're talking about a lot of money here, two billion taxpayer dollars that we'll probably never see again.
There you go.
Tariff wars well, at least for automakers, a one month exemption this news coming out yesterday, one month exemption on new tariffs on imports of automobiles from Mexico and Canada. As they continue to try to work all of this out, and the cuts keep on a coming, IRS reportedly playing to slash forty thousand employees sounds like a lot, it is. The total number of IRS employees in this country is ninety thousand. That's almost half cut right out of there.
H Is that a good idea? I don't know. I'd love to see how many calls they take, for example, and churn through in the average January to April fifteenth time, right, But I feel like it's got to be less just because of the fact that there are so many computer programs out there that will do it for you.
Oh, that's a good point.
And generally, if you're going to the trouble of you know, itemizing and filing anything other than a standard ten forty easy. You probably got an accountant doing it.
For you, or you're doing it online. It's you know, one of these online programs. Yeah, sure, Well but is this part of a bigger play? Oh you're saying it's politically motivated, you know.
I'm saying maybe it's.
Well, Dan's Covino, Deputy chief of Staff a couple of days ago posting its time to abolish the IRS.
Okay, that talk is ramping up. All right, Now again, how does this work? There's got to be a plan in place. You can't just say, well, let's make the IRS go away.
Right, Yeah, you're your place income tax with a national sales tax or you know, some people think that the tariffs could could make it up as that's.
A stretch for me.
But hey, I'm all about I'm all about abolishing the IRS.
Bro that's going to be.
You want to put in a national sales tax, I'm all for that because guess what, I don't have to buy that much stuff if I don't want to, Right, we all have that choice. Some things we got to buy. But if we don't want to buy, big ticket, out them over here because the national sales tax or what we don't have to.
Well, that's going to be the big challenge for Republicans, and that's going to be probably what decides who wins and who loses in two years in the midterm. Sure is, you know, if how the economy is.
Doing well, the economy stupid.
And whether Republicans are you know, making all these changes including tax cuts and this and that, and whether the deficit continues to grow, well.
I think your first point is spot on. Is all it's going to be about the economy. Quite honestly, though, if the definite continues to grow, I think nine out of one hundred voters have even no idea what that's all about. That many, fortunately, unfortunately.
But conservatives are probably going to step aside at that point and say, you know what, I'm not willing to endorse this any longer.
And you were wondering earlier we were talking about again the reaction to the Trump speech, the role of the reaction to the Democrat reaction of the Trump's speech, which was all the buzz yesterday, will continue to be about how that seems to be a party that just doesn't know where they're going and didn't learn their lessons. Apparently they didn't. The DNC announcing the hiring of Roger Law
as executive director. This is a guy who's worked on campaigns for folks like Elizabeth Warren, a guy who signed onto a letter a couple of years ago that claimed the US is built on racism and genocide, and they've just hired him over the DNC as their executive director. So yeah, right, they're still clueless.
They're not catching on.
No, fired by me.