Dear President Biden:
We in South Carolina welcome you to the shores of the Palmetto State, one of the most beautiful and free states in the union.
One can hardly blame you, Mr. President, and your family for visiting Kiawah Island, a barrier island with miles of pristine beach along the Atlantic, a maritime forest, and saltwater marshes. This unique place is just a half-hour drive from Charleston and has world-class accommodations, and golf and tennis that rival the best in the world.
Mr. Biden, you were soundly defeated by Donald Trump here, 55 percent to 43 percent, but you did win Charleston County, where you are vacationing, 56 percent to 43 percent, so you will have some supporters to visit.
We in South Carolina take freedom seriously. South Carolina was at the center of activity in the American Revolution with more than 200 battles and skirmishes fought. We still value our independence and freedom. We took a different path from you, President Biden, and your central planners on the issue of Covid-19. As Governor Henry McMaster boldly stated when the Omicron variant was in full force:
There is no need for a state of emergency in South Carolina to address the increase in Covid infections caused by the omicron virus. There is no need for us to shut down. We are not going to close schools. We haven’t and we will not close businesses. We will not impose mandates for face masks, vaccines or anything else.
Voters in South Carolina give McMaster high marks. According to a recent South Carolina Policy Council poll, he is at a strong 66 percent job approval among likely voters, while only 31 percent disapprove. Part of McMasters’s high ratings are based on strong reviews of his pandemic performance, including keeping South Carolina open for business. Voters in South Carolina also greatly approve of political leaders trying to defeat your tax-and-spend agenda. Sixty percent of voters see Senator Tim Scott favorably.
But fewer than four in ten South Carolina voters (39 percent) approve of the job you are doing, Mr. President. The rest of the country largely agrees, with your national job approval at right about 40 percent in the RealClearPolitics average.
Mr. President, it would have been better if you had not tried to push your recent $700 million tax-and-spend bill as the “Inflation Reduction Act.” South Carolinians are hardworking and wise people. We know paying people not to work, creating money out of thin air, and spending billions on green-energy scams causes inflation. And your inflation is walloping South Carolina citizens. Eighty-two percent of South Carolinians say inflation and the rising cost of goods have them concerned about paying their family’s bills. Their concerns are bipartisan. Ninety percent of self-identified GOP voters declare themselves concerned, along with 75 percent of Democrats and 74 percent of independents.
We are proud of our leaders for standing up against this nonsense coming from your administration. Senator Lindsey Graham and McMaster stood together to condemn your latest spending boondoggle on behalf of South Carolinians. Graham pointed to a new gas tax of 16.4 cents per barrel on imported oil at a time the nation is becoming more dependent on imported oil.
“This starts with pennies; it becomes dimes and eventually dollars,” Graham said. “So I’m adamantly opposed to any new gas taxes on the American consumer and the South Carolina driving public.” McMaster added, “There’s never a good time to raise taxes.”
Graham also criticized the plan to increase the size of the Internal Revenue Service by 87,000 employees — more new auditors than can fit in three-time national champion Clemson University’s football stadium. “So when you go to the football game this fall, just imagine everybody to your left and right being an IRS agent,” said Graham.
Mr. Biden could learn a thing or two from South Carolina about managing a budget. We in South Carolina don’t spend money we don’t have; and, of course, we can’t just print it. Instead of raising taxes, South Carolina is cutting them. South Carolina taxpayers will be receiving tax-refund checks by the end of the year after McMaster signed a historic tax-relief package that included slashing and simplifying our state income tax.
South Carolina also knows how to live within its means. While the federal government is printing money as fast as it can, South Carolina entered the current fiscal year with its largest-ever, multibillion-dollar budget surplus.
As you drive around, Mr. President, you’ll be seeing signs celebrating the South Carolina Gamecocks’ women’s basketball national championship.
We take our college sports seriously here, including our women’s sports, which we believe should be reserved just for women.
Earlier this year, Mr. President, you engaged in some dangerous demagoguery involved in states that were revamping voting procedures. At a speech in neighboring Georgia, you accused the Peach State, along with 19 other states looking at reforming election procedures, of wanting to “turn the will of the voters into a mere suggestion — something states can respect or ignore.”
Further, you accused these states of engaging in Jim Crow tactics, which is extremely toxic rhetoric from a U.S. president.
“Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion,” you said. “It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making it harder to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all.”
Questions of voting access and security are difficult and complicated. However, Republicans and Democrats in South Carolina joined together to pass historic, bipartisan voting-reform legislation that makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
The South Carolina Policy Council’s poll found that four out of five voters responded positively toward the new law, with 92 percent approval among Republicans and 59 percent approval among Democrats.
South Carolina’s wildly popular voter-I.D. requirements now apply to all voters, including those voting early, by mail, or dropping off a ballot. Auditing and counting procedures were clarified. In a compromise, Republicans agreed to add in-person early voting, while Democrats accepted limitations to mail voting and drop boxes.
Mr. Biden, you could learn something about actually bringing two sides together to solve difficult problems from us in South Carolina.
President Biden, enjoy your stay. But if the only thing you take back with your return to D.C. is a suntan, you have missed a great opportunity to learn some valuable lessons.
Dallas Woodhouse is the executive director of the South Carolina Policy Council.