Reorg Is Tonight

Apparently Jason Spencer has talked with Rick Beltram and has posted the following tweet.

Spbg GOP precinct reorg on for 7 p.m. Make-up meeting March 23 at Country Hearth Inn for those unable to go or find polling place closed

Be careful, but don’t be fooled.  If you can get to a precinct meeting and it is closed, place a note on the door and go to another business across from the location.  You must get your precincts organized!

SC State House Passes 10th Amendment Resolution

On February 26th, The SC State House passed H3509 which is a resolution to affirm the states rights guaranteed by the 9th and 10th amendments of the US Constitution.

Unfortunately, it appears the transparency bill doesn’t cover such resolutions.  We spoke with Dan Hamilton (House District 20) of Greenville, SC who shared with us that the vote was unanimous in favor of the bill.

Some of the Spartanburg County legislatures signed on to the bill.  They are as follows:

• Allison
• Parker
• Millwood
• Littlejohn

Be sure you call and thank them for signing on to this bill.  Those who failed to sign on as sponsors are below:

• Mitchell
• Cole
• Forrester
• Kelly

The bill has been referred to the Senate.  A similar version already exists, S424 in the State Senate, which the Spartanburg County Senators have already signed on as sponsors.

Rick Beltram – Who Does He Think He Is

Over the last year and a half, I have become heavily involved in politics.  I enjoy it and am looking forward to seeing our nation progress.  However, in the following set of articles, I will put at risk my reputation in the political world at the sake of the people of Spartanburg County.

Last week, in a conversation with Spartanburg County GOP Chairman Rick Beltram, was the first time I have ever felt like I was being extorted.  After sitting on this for a week, I have decided I should share what one individual plans to do if someone does not work with him.

Last week, I kindly shared with Rick Beltram that I would not be working on his campaign for State Chairman.  At this meeting (which was supposed to be confidential), he shared with me the following information concerning my withdrawal from his campaign.  I hate to break trust in confidential meetings but the people need to know what one will do to remain in power.

Beltram first told me a story about another individual who chose not to endorse him publicly.  Simply, a current county GOP official will no longer be serving, they are “disloyal”.

Beltram then said (paraphrased), if you remain neutral, you will not be the nominee for Vice Chairman – North.

OK, so what, you are not the nominee.  Here is the issue, Beltram insists on using a nominating committee that will present a slate of candidates that he approves of.  This is his way to guarantee he stays in power in the event he is not nominated from the floor.  In conventions past, some Convention Presidents have been known to close the nominations for a position immediately after the nominating committee shared their recommendations, preventing other individuals the opportunity to “run from the floor”.

In Stalin”esque” fashion, he has told two individuals either you are with me or you are out of the county party.  Doesn’t this sound a little like “pay to play” covered in the name of “loyalty”.  Do we have our very own “Rod Blagojevich” in Spartanburg, SC?

It gets better.  It is well known that I supported Ron Paul for his positions on the Constitution and sound money during the primaries.  I will admit that I did not agree with him 100% of the time,  but I felt he was the candidate who best fit my beliefs.

So, Beltram proceeded in telling me about conversations he had in one of his private team meetings the weekend before and how they were questioning my “loyalty”.

A point was raised to Rick by one of those members…”Does he realize how much you have defended him concerning his support of Ron Paul?”

Rick continued, I don’t know but I will let him know.  He then proceeded in telling me that you realize those Ron Paul supporters are seen as kooks and crazy (pointing his finger to his temple and rotating) people.

To further make his point, he began discussing Senator Jim DeMint and his 2010 campaign.  He told me that because Jim DeMint endorsed Kevin Hall, the Spartanburg County GOP will be sitting on its hands in 2010 if and when he asks for assistance.

Is this the leadership and deceitfulness we need in our party?

UPDATE:
Check out “Caught on Tape“.

SC State GOP Chairman’s Race

Well, the race for state chairman has now taken an interesting twist.  We have been hearing rumors for several weeks now (10 or so) that someone else may be entering the race, but that name just surfaced in the past 2 weeks.  Karen Floyd, the former Spartanburg County Council Chairwoman, officially announced on Saturday that she was entering the race.

Her, like Rick Beltram, announced after Katon Dawson made it official that he was not going to run again for the seat.

This sets up an interesting situation in good ole Sparkle City.  Beltram and Floyd are both from Spartanburg and have pretty good name recognition.  Beltram is experienced at precinct organization in the county and Floyd made a valiant effort to unseat Beltram in 2003 (Check my dates please), so it will be interesting to see which way the county will float.

However, Beltram may have his hands full as there are rumors of multiple individuals looking to run for his county chairman post.  On that list is Mike Dixon, Monica Hill, Ladonna Ryggs and Karen Floyd.  We have spoken with Monica and Ladonna and they have confirmed that they are not interested.  We have not been able to speak with Dixon or Floyd at the time of this publishing.

Kevin Hall is currently the third cog in the wheel for state chairman.  He has been actively working the state trying to build a base and has landed a few big time endorsements. He recently unveiled a nice campaign site that was designed by an out of state firm in an effort to keep him out of the SC Political Consultant mess.  That didn’t work to well as he has been the scapegoat for Dawson’s loss and others.

Here are the endorsements that we are aware as of 02/16/2009:

• Rick Beltram:
  • Samuel Harms (Greenville County GOP Chairman)
• Karen Floyd:
  • Glenn McCall (SC RNC National Committeeman)
• Kevin Hall:
  • Lindsey Graham (Senior Senator from SC)
  • Jim DeMint (Junior Senator from SC)

We hope to have an quick summary on Karen Floyd up in the next few weeks to go with our previous SC GOP Chairman story.  By the way, go over to The Palmetto Scoop and participate in their online poll.

As for endorsements and associations with campaigns (I need to know where to find political death certificates), I will not be working or endorsing any campaign for state chairman.  I am honored to have been asked to assist in these campaigns and wish the candidates the best of luck in their endeavors.

Where is Ron’s Army Now

Ron Paul proved to be an influential figure in some GOP Party politics across the nation.  He even got some recognition here in Spartanburg after GOP Chairman Rick Beltram shunned him after the May 2007 debates in Columbia, SC.

Since Congressman Ron Paul has dropped out of the race, his supporters in Spartanburg, SC have seemed to disappear and we haven’t heard much about his workings.  In most political circles, many just laugh at the mere mention of his name.  We won’t name names today.

Congressman Paul proved to be one of the few presidential candidates that knew what was going on in the economy.  He was harshly criticized for his stances on the economy and has since become a regular guest on CNN, FOXNews, etc after the meltdown in September.  A quick search  on YouTube (we know that Ron Paul supporters love YouTube) and you find a variety of interviews on the news outlets.  Here are a few.

• 10/23/2008 – FOX Business
• 10/24/2008 – CNN American Morning
• 11/04/2008 – CNN American Morning
• 11/18/2008 – FOX Business
• 01/21/2009 – CNN Glen Beck
• 01/27/2009 – CNN American Morning

So what is Congressman Paul up to?  As many of you may know, he has formed the Campaign For Liberty (C4L).  This organization’s mission:

to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.

As for the C4L in South Carolina.  It seems to be sparsely organized.  I have found reports where Rep. Nikki Haley spoke to a group in Lexington concerning the Roll Call Voting rules changes that she has been promoting and that Spartanburg County’s very own, Hal Grogan has been named interim coordinator of the state.

We know that several Ron Paul supporters were ousted from the Greenville County Executive Committee for supporting Democratic Senate Challenger Bob Conley, who was running as a Conservative Democrat.  He had little support from the state Democratic Party and claims to have been a Ron Paul ally.

All in all, it appears many of the army went different ways, supporting different candidates and getting involved in local parties.  Some have said “screw the GOP” and is afraid to touch them with a 10 foot pole.

To be absolutely honest, I am kind of disappointed that they have disappeared.  They tended to make the meetings around here, well, interesting and some would even say thought provoking.

My question to the boisterous army is…where are you now?

« Previous Page — Next Page »