Happy South Carolina Day!

On June 28th, 2006 Jim DeMint, our Honorary Founding Chairman, gave the following remarks on floor of the U.S. Senate to commemorate the 230th anniversary of Carolina Day. 
How well do you know your South Carolina history?  In honor of South Carolina Day tomorrow, read on and test yourself! 

Honoring the 230^th Carolina Day

by U.S. Senator Jim DeMint
Delivered on June 28^th, 2006

      June 28 is a great day in the history of my State of South Carolina and in the formation of our great Nation. You see, it is on this date that we celebrate Carolina Day.

     Two hundred and thirty years ago today, a small but determined group of fewer than 1,200 South Carolina patriots held off a British force that was more than twice their size.

     The battle--which took place on Sullivan's Island, just outside the entrance to Charleston Harbor--became the first major American victory of the Revolutionary War.

Colonel William Moultrie, who commanded the colonial troops, had few resources at his disposal. So, he built a fort out of palmetto logs--a plentiful local resource.

Facing such make-shift opposition, the British commanders thought they would easily sweep into Charleston.

     But these amazing palmetto logs actually absorbed the impact of the British cannonballs. This strengthened the American defense and gave the brave colonists a critical advantage.

     The British were soundly defeated in a long, nine-hour battle. More than 200 of the British were killed or wounded, compared to only 35 of Colonel Moultrie's command.

Many historians consider this battle to be one of the greatest defeats in the entire history of the British navy.

     Many South Carolina heroes were made on that day.

     One such hero, Sergeant William Jasper, is recognized for saving the regiment's flag after it was shot down by British fire. Seeing that it had been hit, Jasper exclaimed, “Colonel, don't let us fight without our flag!”

     Sergeant Jasper then jumped into the face of enemy fire, walked the entire length of the fort--in full view of the British and cut the flag from its broken pole. He then added a new staff and replanted the flag back on the fort wall. Turning to the enemy, he gave three cheers and returned to his gun.

     That flag--a blue banner with a white crescent--represented the dream of real freedom to these patriots. And today, that historic banner still serves as a source of pride and inspiration, as part of South Carolina’s official State seal.

     The blue background and white crescent also serve as the basis of our beautiful State flag, which incorporates a tall, proud palmetto tree ... in recognition of the heroes of Fort Moultrie.

     The resounding American defense of the City of Charleston at Fort Moultrie gave our fledgling Nation hope in the possibility of ultimate victory. And less than one week later--on July 4, 1776--the Continental Congress forever changed the course of history, signing our Declaration of Independence. …

     As we celebrate Independence Day with friends and family, may we always remember the price that was paid for our freedom.

     And may we resolve that the sacrifice of our brave soldiers across the years--from Fort Moultrie, SC, to Kirkuk, Iraq--will never have been in vain.*

Man Down: Conservative Indiana Governor Caves to Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Demands

By Tim Caiello, Forum Summer Fellow

Over the last few months the Forum has been heavily focused on education issues like Read to Succeed and pushing back on Common Core’s federal overreach. 

But we’ve still been keeping an eye on what may be the biggest threat to state autonomy: Medicaid expansion.  As we shared in our Fast Fact sheet Top 10 Reasons Medicaid Expansion is Bad Medicine for South Carolina, expanding Medicaid to able-bodied adults would overwhelm an already broken program, harming the very people it was created to serve: poor children, the elderly and people with disabilities. 

(To see what happens when the government can’t handle health care responsibilities it already has, we don’t have to look any further than the recent news with the Veterans Administration – a perfect example of the well-intentioned dysfunction of government-rationed health care.)

Given the documented fact that Medicaid is not serving current recipients well (and according to Forum research is already the single largest driver of growth in South Carolina’s state budget even without expanding it), it seems to defy logic that conservative governors would fall into this unsustainable trap. 

Yet that’s exactly what we see happening…

Until now, twenty four states had refused to approve the Medicaid expansions. Well, make that twenty three. On Thursday, June 12, conservative Indiana Governor Mike Pence announced a plan that would expand Indiana’s Medicaid coverage through the “Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0” (HIP). The original HIP plan was applauded by free-market thinkers for introducing Health Savings Accounts (HSA) into the mix. The goal: encourage more fiscally responsible medical decisions by giving patients more control and incentivizing them to be shoppers and savers.

However, the Obama administration demanded big changes to this plan, claiming that it would create a gap that left some still uninsured.  So Governor Pence reworked HIP and announced the new HIP 2.0 version of the plan, which essentially amounts to a significant expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Indiana. This has caused significant confusion for many conservatives who originally supported the initial HSA-style HIP plan and count Governor Pence as a strong conservative ally.  In light of the commotion surrounding this Indiana decision, here are a couple helpful facts to keep in mind:

• The plan approved by Governor Pence is not the originally proposed HIP plan that featured a health savings account style approach.
• The plan approved by Governor Pence is a significant expansion of Medicaid along the lines of ObamaCare demands, meaning very limited state flexibility.
• The plan as approved by Governor Pence expands coverage to working age adults whether or not they have a full time job: contradicting the original intent to cover primarily working citizens.
• The state of Indiana anticipates having to divert $1.5 billion into the program to cover the increased costs incurred.

In sum, we find that unfortunately, despite Governor Pence’s solid conservative credentials, Indiana Medicaid expansion is yet another open ended entitlement program that leaves the state holding the bag (with minimal flexibility) when federal funding comes up short.

Here in the Palmetto State, we continue to see Medicaid grow as publicity around ObamaCare drives more currently eligible citizens to enroll.  And expansion supporters recently vowed that they weren’t giving up and would take their fight to the grassroots.  So the fight is far from over.

However, we were pleased to see the House sustain Governor Haley’s veto of funding for a commission to study expanding Medicaid that was slipped into the budget.   And we will continue to support all efforts to resist federal pressure to further expand Medicaid.  Like Governor Haley, we are confident that South Carolina is more than capable of providing the medical care its citizens need without expanding eligibility for a broken and unsustainable Medicaid program.

Tim Caiello is a 2014 graduate of Columbia International University.

Let's Put Parents in Charge

50 years of growing federal involvement in education has not led to better outcomes for students.  A recent Daily Signal article lays out the disturbing trend:

"According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term-trend assessment, 17-year-old students today perform no better in reading and  math than 17-year-olds did in the 1970s. According to the main NAEP assessment, often referred to as the nation’s “report card,” only 26 percent of 12th graders are proficient in math; just 38 percent of high school seniors are proficient in reading."

Right here in South Carolina, 51% of low income 4th grade students and 40% of all 4th grade students cannot read at even a basic level.

That is why the Forum is fighting to return education dollars and decision to parents.  And we will keep fighting until every parent in South Carolina has the choice of a high-quality education option for THEIR child, regardless of their income or zip code.

(Hat tip to the folk at The Daily Signal for laying out the facts in this infographic.)