When Senator Graham potential nominee for the Supreme Court I was proud as a Gilbert Peach. However, the pride soon faded into a realism that we would lose a great Senator to the nomination. Sure, the seat would have been filled by a capable individual but it just would not be the same because no one is like Sen. Graham, who is one in a million. He would make a good Justice, but he makes an even better Senator and enjoys the hand to hand combat of politics. He also likes finding solutions to America’s problems.
While proud that he may have received the nomination I am even more proud that he is a United States Senator. This pride comes from having watched him and understanding who this remarkable man is as an American. He loves his job as a Senator because as he said “I’m a kid in a candy store. You can play at every area of the government that intrigues you. They can’t deal you out of the game. And I’m loving my job,” he said to the Charlotte Observer in June 2005. I love this attitude, it absolutely shines. I wish there were more like him because than Washington would be a more pleasant place.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Saturday, November 12, 2005
American Dreams, American Values
Sen. Graham is an outstanding American whose story exemplifies what America is all about: hard work and fairness. He serves our country honorably and with pride. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and enthusiastic in the way he carries out his duties.
He learned his first lessons about hard work from being employed in his family's business, a restaurant/bar where he racked pool balls. The lessons followed through college, when he got into academic trouble but worked out of it and graduated. Then in law school he flourished. He was in the top 15% of his class and earned a place in the Order of the Wig and Robe. He was an honor graduate from law school, no easy feat.
He helped raise his younger sister after his parents passed away while he was in college. He assisted with finding out how to receive the Social Security Survivors' benefits that eventually helped put both Lindsey and his sister through college.
Integrity, Service, Excellence
Source: BartECopp
After law school he entered the Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He has served in this capacity for 24 years and sat on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals as a reserve judge.
He served a tour of duty in Europe during his six years in the active duty Air Force. He was also called up during the Gulf War. While performing the duty of preparing airmen for deployment he received a commendation.
In support of the Global War on Terrorism Senator Graham served a month long tour of duty in Afghanistan last August during the congressional recess and served a week in Iraq during this year's spring recess. While in Afghanistan he was helping to train the Afghan Lawyers in the rule of law and in Iraq he served as a Judge Advocate in office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.
Source: Air Force News Service
Civilian Service
He has served in many civilian positions as well. He started out as the city attorney for the Town of Central and assistant county attorney for Oconee County. During this time he also had a successful private practice. He served two years in the SC Statehouse.
Community Service
Sen. Graham also serves his community in many capacities, such as being a board member for the Rosa Clark Free Medical Center and was fund raising chair for the Oconee Chapter of the American Cancer Society.
Fairness
He has shown an ability to be fair in many instances. He keeps an open mind when thinking about issues and seems willing to change his mind when faced with evidence that his position may be wrong. He also questions people from either side critically during committee hearings.
Source: AP
The best example of this is the way he questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the Abu Ghraib hearings. He is opposed to the Medicare prescription drug package because it is too expensive.
It is not all about party favors for Lindsey, because he speaks out when he feels it is necessary, to the chagrin of party leaders. When he spoke to the Iowa Republicans he criticized his party for not reaching out to minority voters. This was not well received at the time because they fear his independence.
Conclusion
Those outlined above are just some reasons that I admire, trust and support Lindsey Graham. He represents the American Dream and is an outstanding American. He is proud of our country and wants nothing but the best for America. He is someone of which South Carolina and America should be proud that he is one of our one hundred Senators.
He learned his first lessons about hard work from being employed in his family's business, a restaurant/bar where he racked pool balls. The lessons followed through college, when he got into academic trouble but worked out of it and graduated. Then in law school he flourished. He was in the top 15% of his class and earned a place in the Order of the Wig and Robe. He was an honor graduate from law school, no easy feat.
He helped raise his younger sister after his parents passed away while he was in college. He assisted with finding out how to receive the Social Security Survivors' benefits that eventually helped put both Lindsey and his sister through college.
Integrity, Service, Excellence
Source: BartECopp
After law school he entered the Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He has served in this capacity for 24 years and sat on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals as a reserve judge.
He served a tour of duty in Europe during his six years in the active duty Air Force. He was also called up during the Gulf War. While performing the duty of preparing airmen for deployment he received a commendation.
In support of the Global War on Terrorism Senator Graham served a month long tour of duty in Afghanistan last August during the congressional recess and served a week in Iraq during this year's spring recess. While in Afghanistan he was helping to train the Afghan Lawyers in the rule of law and in Iraq he served as a Judge Advocate in office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.
Source: Air Force News Service
Civilian Service
He has served in many civilian positions as well. He started out as the city attorney for the Town of Central and assistant county attorney for Oconee County. During this time he also had a successful private practice. He served two years in the SC Statehouse.
Community Service
Sen. Graham also serves his community in many capacities, such as being a board member for the Rosa Clark Free Medical Center and was fund raising chair for the Oconee Chapter of the American Cancer Society.
Fairness
He has shown an ability to be fair in many instances. He keeps an open mind when thinking about issues and seems willing to change his mind when faced with evidence that his position may be wrong. He also questions people from either side critically during committee hearings.
Source: AP
The best example of this is the way he questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the Abu Ghraib hearings. He is opposed to the Medicare prescription drug package because it is too expensive.
It is not all about party favors for Lindsey, because he speaks out when he feels it is necessary, to the chagrin of party leaders. When he spoke to the Iowa Republicans he criticized his party for not reaching out to minority voters. This was not well received at the time because they fear his independence.
Conclusion
Those outlined above are just some reasons that I admire, trust and support Lindsey Graham. He represents the American Dream and is an outstanding American. He is proud of our country and wants nothing but the best for America. He is someone of which South Carolina and America should be proud that he is one of our one hundred Senators.
American Dreams, American Values
Sen. Graham is an outstanding American whose story exemplifies what America is all about: hard work and fairness. He serves our country honorably and with pride. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and enthusiastic in the way he carries out his duties.
He learned his first lessons about hard work from being employed in his family’s business, a restaurant/bar where he racked pool balls. The lessons followed through college, when he got into academic trouble but worked out of it and graduated. Then in law school he flourished. He was in the top 15% of his class and earned a place in the Order of the Wig and Robe. He was an honor graduate from law school, no easy feat.
He helped raise his younger sister after his parents passed away while he was in college. He assisted with finding out how to receive the Social Security Survivors’ benefits that eventually helped put both Lindsey and his sister through college.
Integrity, Service, Excellence
After law school he entered the Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He has served in this capacity for 24 years and sat on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals as a reserve judge.He now works in the Pentagon legal department.
He served a tour of duty in Europe during his six years in the active duty Air Force. He was also called up during the Gulf War. While performing the duty of preparing airmen for deployment he received a commendation.
Civilian Service
He has served in many civilian positions as well. He started out as the city attorney for the City of Central and assistant county attorney for Oconee County. During this time he also had a successful private practice. He served two years in the SC Statehouse.
Community Service
Sen. Graham also serves his community in many capacities, such as being a board member for the Rosa Clark Free Medical Center and was fundraising chair for the Oconee Chapter of the American Cancer Society.
Fairness
He has shown an ability to be fair in many instances. He keeps an open mind when thinking about issues and seems willing to change his mind when faced with evidence that his position may be wrong. He also questions people from either side critically during committee hearings. The best example of this is the way he questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the Abu Ghraib hearings. He is opposed to the Medicare prescription drug package because it is too expensive.
It is not all about party favors for Lindsey, because he speaks out when he feels it is necessary, to the chagrin of party leaders. When he spoke to the Iowa Republicans he criticized his party for not reaching out to minority voters. This was not well received at the time because they fear his independence.
Conclusion
Those outlined above are just some reasons that I admire, trust and support Lindsey Graham. He represents the American Dream and is an outstanding American. He is proud of our country and wants nothing but the best for America. He is someone of which South Carolina and America should be proud that he is one of our one hundred Senators.
Saturday, October 8, 2005
My Favorite Republican Senator
In dissent to Paul at PowerLineBlog and concurrence with smagar at RedState I must say why Lindsey Graham is my favorite Republican senator.
Background
Sen. Graham was elected in 2002 to serve the entire state of South Carolina by a 55-45 margin. He must represent the two Democratic districts (5 & 6) as well as those that are represented by Republicans. He is making a valiant effort to do so and we should be proud of his effort. The latest Survey USA tracking poll showed that Sen. Graham has a 57% approval rating which is up 3% from the poll taken on 11 July. Even 64% of South Carolina conservatives give their approval.
Sen. Graham is a hard-core conservative. The Republican Liberty Caucus classifies Graham as an Enterpriser, which means he advocates for a moderate amount of personal and economic liberty along with “good” government programs.
Background
Sen. Graham was elected in 2002 to serve the entire state of South Carolina by a 55-45 margin. He must represent the two Democratic districts (5 & 6) as well as those that are represented by Republicans. He is making a valiant effort to do so and we should be proud of his effort. The latest Survey USA tracking poll showed that Sen. Graham has a 57% approval rating which is up 3% from the poll taken on 11 July. Even 64% of South Carolina conservatives give their approval.
Sen. Graham is a hard-core conservative. The Republican Liberty Caucus classifies Graham as an Enterpriser, which means he advocates for a moderate amount of personal and economic liberty along with “good” government programs.
- American Conservative Union 91%, lifetime
- National Taxpayer’s Union B+
- Americans for Tax Reform 85%
- Citizens Against Government Waste 88%, lifetime
Friday, September 23, 2005
Paying for a Disaster; Take No Option Off the Table
The current debate within the Republican party is how to pay for Hurricane Katrina. Three options are spending cuts, tax increases and borrowing.
Spending cuts, especially of pork barrel projects like the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, are an appealing option. However, House Majority leader Tom DeLay (TX-22) claims that federal spending has been cut to the bone. On the other hand Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says there should be cuts in outlays across the board. The House Republican Study Committee has also released a list of spending cuts with the the beginning of “Operation Offset.”
Spending cuts, especially of pork barrel projects like the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, are an appealing option. However, House Majority leader Tom DeLay (TX-22) claims that federal spending has been cut to the bone. On the other hand Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says there should be cuts in outlays across the board. The House Republican Study Committee has also released a list of spending cuts with the the beginning of “Operation Offset.”
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Exciting and Frustrating Times
I have been following and supporting Sen. Graham for a year now. Things are both frustrating and exciting. Frustrating because Social Security reform seems to be permanently stalled. Exciting because when Senators Reid and Frist met the other day his name came up as a potential nominee for the United States Supreme Court.First, the Supreme Court. Sen. Graham's name was mentioned as one of four compromise nominees when senators Reid and Frist met about the Supreme Court. This is exciting, but also evokes mixed feelings. Excitement because I could be watching someone I admire getting confirmed as a Justice on the Supreme Court.
There are mixed feeling present because it would mean he leaves the Senate. I would be sad but proud if this were to happen. However, it is not likely because President nominates. It is likely we will get whatever he wants, although, I hope he advises the Senate of the nominee.
Now, the frustration over Social Security reform. This initiative seems to be permanently stalled. The Republicans are focused on private accounts and the Democrats refuse to consider these accounts. It is frustrating because all the focus has been on the accounts even though Sen. Graham has brought up the key issue: solvency. The bill he has cosponsored (S. 1302) does not address this. His bill (S. 1878) from the last congress did. It was a lot tougher than either of us imagined.
There are mixed feeling present because it would mean he leaves the Senate. I would be sad but proud if this were to happen. However, it is not likely because President nominates. It is likely we will get whatever he wants, although, I hope he advises the Senate of the nominee.
Now, the frustration over Social Security reform. This initiative seems to be permanently stalled. The Republicans are focused on private accounts and the Democrats refuse to consider these accounts. It is frustrating because all the focus has been on the accounts even though Sen. Graham has brought up the key issue: solvency. The bill he has cosponsored (S. 1302) does not address this. His bill (S. 1878) from the last congress did. It was a lot tougher than either of us imagined.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Graham’s Great Compromise: Nuclear Options and Judicial Filibusters
Last night Senator Lindsey Graham assisted 13 colleagues in brokering a compromise to move the Senate forward from the debate on judicial nominations and be able to do America’s business. He would have been a “yes” vote if the vote to change the rules occured. However, we have averted the vote for now.
This move by Sen. Graham infuriated groups like Focus on the Family and their affiliates. They wanted all the judges and no compromise. They called the compromise disaterous. However, Graham felt that it was important so we could get back to the business of the Senate. He acknowledged that people back home would be upset for a while and then would be happy about what gets done.
This move by Sen. Graham infuriated groups like Focus on the Family and their affiliates. They wanted all the judges and no compromise. They called the compromise disaterous. However, Graham felt that it was important so we could get back to the business of the Senate. He acknowledged that people back home would be upset for a while and then would be happy about what gets done.
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