Nô móney in SC budget to fund 2012 GOP primary

[Mkitty is pro kitty]

"No money in SC budget to fund 2012 GOP primary"

By JIM DAVENPORT, Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina will not fund the state GOP's first-in-the-South presidential primary in February, leaving officials scrambling to sort out who will pay for it.

The Republican Party insists the primary will go on, even if the GOP must come up with as much as $1.5 million to run it.

"In no way is this primary in jeopardy," said Matt Moore, the state GOP's executive director.

The party could go back to running the primary with paper ballots and volunteers, which is how it was done until 2008. That year, Republicans and Democrats pushed for and won state funding for the wide-open White House primaries and the state election commission started running them.

But Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, a conservative who has been making a name for herself nationally, insists that taxpayer funds be used only for what she calls core functions. She told lawmakers earlier this year that those functions don't include primaries.

"Political parties have sufficient fundraising ability to offset the costs of partisan presidential preference primaries, and in a budget year like this one, it is my ask that we do not dedicate taxpayer dollars to something I believe does not rise to the level of a core function of government," she wrote in a letter in March.

A measure that would have allowed the election commission to run the primaries and bill the GOP was axed last week during final budget negotiations.

[...]

www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3IKVx_wWDbZ7RfL32D2AXPXqxmQ?docId=d24f5a24205c4b358fb3b4bb284601d1

[cme1201]

Bravo Gov. Haley.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Why should there be? I mean seriously-- the DNC and the GOP should fund their own primaries. The DNC in particular hand-selects their nominee anyway, so why should they even be permitted a pretense of a vote at taxpayer's expense?

[ameiko]

Thumbs up! We need more fiscal conservatism like this! Let the politicians fund their own stuff!

Or we should follow the Obama model if he was honest to the principles he wants to force on the rest of the nation: divide up equally all of the contributions among all candidates, even across party lines! Viva Socialism!

[magichat]

They have no other elections going on at the same time? I don't ever remember voting for one office on a ballot.

[privateinvestor]

No money in SC budget to fund 2012 GOP primary

So what?? Don't you think the RNC will fund the GOP primary in addition to corporate and individual campaign contributions.

....Ron Paul has collected tons of cash in SC when he ran before for president...

[magichat]

Like I pointed out what if there are other elections at the same time. When I have vote in primaries in my area there are typically ballot issues, referendums and judge retainerships on the same ballot.