Having been absent the past few day, I realized that I had quite a bit of reading to catch up on. Most notible among the missed posts is this ongoing discussion about "check this out," and a gentleman named Howard Rich.
Now, if you care to believe the likes of lee-cole, from said thread, Mr. Rich simply cares about SC Children enough to want to save the school system from burecrats that spend money like drunken sailors, but with no results. Before we continue, I am for both public schools and responsible spending in public schools. All too often I feel that vouchers are used as the panacea for fixing our public school system. We can debate the merits of vouchers in another thread. This thread will focus on just who Howard Rich is and why should we care about his level of concern when it comes to his interest in SC Schools.
First - a little about Mr. Rich.
Mr. Rich is a Libertarian. Nothing wrong with that - just need to use it as a point of reference for our ongoing discussion. His background is in Real Estate and Political Activism. Mr. Rich hails from the great state of New York.
If anything, I would expect Mr. Rich, coming from New York, more specifically, NYC, to advocate emulating NYC successful school system, testing, and gifted and talented programs. Gifted and talented programs/schools like The Bronx High School of Science, which has produced numerous Nobel Prize Winners in Physics as well as a famous writer many conservatives here should recognize: William Safire.
The Bronx High School of Science is a PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL ... one of the best in the nation for math and science.
(Source: http://www.bxscience.edu/history.jsp)
Instead, what we find from Mr. Rich is a libertarian advocate that believes in empowering the individual to choose the best school for their children via a voucher program. Seems pretty normal, right? Lets take a closer look at the man who "just wants to save our kids."
Start reading:
http://www.stophowardrichsc.blogspot.com/
Specifically, what I find interesting is Mr. Rich's ties locally to Anderson. In fact, you might recognize one of the folks on that website. That would be one Mr. Dan Harvell. More to the point, 74% of funding for Mr. Harvell's campaing for the House came from out-of-state interests, specifically, folks tied into Mr. Rich's network.
Take a closer look at Mr. Harvell's funding here:
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=87067
So SSHM, that was two years ago and one person in a failed bid to get to the State House. What does it matter, right?
Wrong - it matters a great deal.
Mr. Rich (and associates), for whom we should address as the Carpetbagger that he is, backed a SIZEABLE number of office holders all over the state. Lets look into the who's who of "bought and paid for by Mr. Rich," shall we:
Listing Winners and Losers
Brad Cain - District 1 (SC House - 2006) - 99% Funding
Michael Letts - District 79 (SC House - 2006) - 92% Funding
Roz Mir - District 137 (SC House - 2006) - 99% Funding
Rep. Don C. Bowen - District 8 (SC House - 2006) - 69% Funding
Rep. Michael A. Pitts - District 14 (SC House - 2006) - 54% Funding
Rep. Kit Spires - District 96 (SC House - 2006) - 58% Funding
Rep. Curtis Brantley - District 122 (SC House - 2006) - 84% Funding
The worst of all is our Governor, Mark Sanford. In 2006, Governor Sanford took in $24,500 in contributions from elements within the Mr. Rich network. Money donated in $3500 increments in an effort to exploit a campaign donation loophole that involve LLCs.
Going back to followthemoney.com, we can see where specifically 123 Lasalle Inc, based out of New York City, donated $3500 twice to the Sanford Campaign:
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor_details.phtml?c=87187&d=350763877
Ok SSHM, maybe Mr. Rich and his associates/network/web just really do care about righting the "education ship" in South Carolina, much like lee-cole eluded to in the original post, "check this out."
Sadly this is not the case. What we are looking at is a power grab that is being masked at a grassroots level; masked under the guise of helping our children achieve better in school.
Remember that 123 Lasalle Inc that gave money to Governor Sanford? Well, that same group out of New York City also gave to this campaign in Louisiana:
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=351768271
Going back to the original page, where a lot of this information is simply organized (http://www.stophowardrichsc.blogspot.com/), you'll see where Mr. Rich and crew are in hot water in other states:
1. In Oklahoma, Rich has spent over $1 million on initiatives championed by two local groups, Oklahomans in Action and Oklahomans for Good Government. The president of Oklahomans in Action, which received 97% of its funding from Rich's Americans for Limited Government, was indicted in October 2007 on two felony counts: conspiracy to defraud the state and filing a fraudulent initiative petition.
2. In Missouri, Rich funneled $2.9 million towards initiatives that were thrown off the ballot in 2006 for non-compliance with state law. Actual Missourians contributed only $150 to the ballot initiatives. Missourians In Charge, the group established to support the measures, was dissolved in early 2007.
3. In Montana, Rich’s initiatives were rejected from the ballot due to "pervasive fraud" in the signature gathering process. Montanans in Action, the group established to support the measures, has refused to disclose its funding and is currently under investigation by the Montana attorney general.
4. In Louisiana, Rich in 2007 established "Lousianans in Action," a political action committee used to direct money from his various LLC's to pro-voucher forces in that state. Like in South Carolina, these LLC's have been used to circumvent established individual campaign contribution limits.
So ... what does all of this mean? Where does it all go?
Read more here:
http://www.howierichexposed.com/
Then understand what TABOR is and why it is bad (and what it has done in Colorado):
http://www.cbpp.org/ssl-series.htm
In fact, in closing, it's SO important to understand what TABOR is, I'm going to post the first paragraph from the above link:
TABOR is a state tax and expenditure limit that includes the following elements: it is a constitutional amendment; it restricts revenue or expenditure growth to the sum of inflation plus population change; and it requires voter approval to override the revenue or spending limits. In Colorado, where the so-called “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” or TABOR was adopted in 1992, public services have deteriorated significantly. For example, between 1992 and 2001, Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the nation in K-12 spending as a share of personal income. Colorado now ranks 48th in higher education funding as a share of personal income— down from 35th in 1992. Between 1991 and 2004 — a period in which the percentage of children who are uninsured declined nationally — the proportion of low-income children who lack health insurance in Colorado doubled. Colorado now ranks last in the nation on this measure. In addition, between 1992 and 2002, Colorado declined from 23rd to 48th in the nation in access to prenatal care, a sign of funding shortages in local health clinics.
Now ... does TABOR sound familiar folks? Does this not sound like something Mr. Harvell et al are in favor of? Does this not sound like something Mr. Bryant et al are in favor of?
Let the discussion begin about the dangers of Mr. Rich and his kudzu-like influence into politics, from the local level and points beyond.
- SSHM
