Writing A Defense Of Socialism ...

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In response to a letter published in the Pickens Sentinel ...

Dear Editor

I viewed with interest the letter published in your paper by Mr. Clarence C. Gibson, Jr. Since I was a boy, I have believed that Mr. was a title of respect, but I guess that liberals who do not know either the national or state constitutions have to resort to name calling in order to try to rebut some of the facts that have been presented.

Yes, the $400,000,000 of schools are nearly built. They are nice looking buildings that the state should have built out of the sales tax as voted on by the people in 1951 and in accordance with Article 11 section 3 of the state constitution. As the most astute of you know, the Conservatives of the Upstate presented that case to Governor Sanford before an earth mover ever moved a rock. He agreed with us and recommended that we present the information to our state Attorney General. But our Senator decided that he would block us by using a Senate rule that regular citizens like us couldn't go to the Attorney General on our own without the Senator's permission even though the Attorney General was our elected representative. We had three issues, but one of them that the payments on the lease/ purchase agreement were operational expense under law 388 and not bonded indebtedness.

Senator Martin sent me a letter saying that he had discussed these issues with the Attorney General himself and that McMaster said "there was no problem". In July of 2009 the State Supreme Court ruled that indeed the Conservatives of the Upstate were right and 7 school districts were awarded their schools by the state. Now us Pickenese have the privilege of paying not only for our $400,000.000 but part of the over a billion for the other school districts. So Clarence, how do the jobs in those other counties look now. As Perot said, " I hear a great sucking sound on our tax dollars" going down to Lexington, etc.

In my letter I talked about the illegal collection of taxes. I discovered this 30 years ago by auditing the county books. The school district owes the taxpayers over 40 million dollars for setting budgets at 95% collectable instead of 100% or more. If you do not pay your taxes in Pickens County, they take your property or you have to pay interest on the lateness. When we reassess, the county cannot set millage above a zero gain due to reassessment. The auditor set too much millage every time I checked except this past time when Brent Suddeth corrected it. More millions are owed to the taxpayers. Where is all this money? Look around you at the foreclosures. Look into the faces of those who have lost their homes, and call them old fogeys.

Are you suggesting that we teach our children how to change our great nation into a dictatorship like the one in Nazi Germany by ignoring the democracy of the people who voted 2 to 1 not to spend $197,000,000, only to be over ruled by a simple vote of a liberal school board. Where are those guys now? This county votes close to 75% Republican and most of those are conservative. If they deem a change in policy, they work and vote on it, not cram it down your throat. That is why we have Ben Trotter and Jimmy Gillespie on the school board: to see that this thing never happens again while they are there.

Remember that Europeans were promised jobs for everyone and so they did while teaching their children not to respect their older parents. Maybe you have taught as many Pickens County people in Industry(nearly 5000) and found out that buildings don't teach,but excellent teachers, and while we have some, it is not nearly enough. Conservatives emphasize excellency in education, hard work, 100% attendance and things like that. I have spent a lot more time volunteering to help the students than you, Clarence, have writing a defense of socialism.

Junius Smith
Conservatives Of The Upstate