Letter to President Obama from Candidate for Congress

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
FROM BRIAN “RYAN B” DOYLE for Congress

November 30, 2009

Hon. President Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20006

Fax and Mailed

RE: Suspending Payroll Taxes and Requiring Banks to make Loan to Small Business Owners

Hon. President Obama:

I am writing on behalf of the America people and small business owners across the country in need.

I am a candidate for Congress for the 3rd Congressional District of South Carolina. My district was hit hard due to the North American and Central Trade Agreements. We have lost thousands of jobs and small businesses are closing their doors. I believe it’s now time to review both agreements and make the necessary changes to save the few American jobs we have left in South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

As a democratic candidate I am asking you Mr. President to order our treasury Secretary, Hon. Timothy F. Geithner to suspend payroll taxes as of Dec 31, 2009 for six months to help Americans and small business owners.

I believe this will help bail-out the real people who are suffering the tax payers. This will help simulate our economy and help our GDP. I know that you have been working hard to fix our financial crisis that you inherited. We need your help and support now more than ever.

I remember my two radio interview with you as an syndicated radio talk show host and you said “we have to get American back on the right track”.

I am also asking the administration to require banks and leading institutions that received government assistance to start lending money to small business owners. I believe it would only be fair to audit and confirm that banks loan or make available at least 25% of the monies they received from the tax payers.

In order to move forward and out of this financial crisis we can no longer allow the banks to use tax payer’s money to provide lavish bonuses nor buy or merge with other failing companies. We must demand real growth into our economy. Banks have failed to earn their bailouts and live up to the expectations of the American people.

I am working hard to bring more jobs and better opportunity to the people of the 3rd congressional district of South Carolina. I believe truly in my heart you want the best for all Americans and not only for large corporations and rich bankers. Now is the time to bail-out the American people and small businesses.

Please help me help the people of South Carolina and Americans. Please suspend payroll taxes for six months and give Americans and small businesses a chance to get back on their feet. God Bless you, your family and the United States of America.

Best Regards,
Brian “Ryan B” Doyle for Congress

Brian Doyle,
Candidate for Congress
3rd Congressional District South Carolina

Senate confirms Tenenbaum

Saturday, Jun. 20, 2009

Senate confirms Tenenbaum

Former S.C. schools chief will lead Consumer Product Safety Commission

By JAMES ROSEN – jrosen@mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON – The Senate on Friday unanimously confirmed Inez Tenenbaum as chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in unusually swift action on a top nominee of President Barack Obama.

Tenenbaum, in her first public comments since Obama chose her last month, said her first major task will be overseeing implementation of a sweeping consumer-safety law Congress passed last year.

“I’m looking forward to being the consumer advocate for the people and for the children of the United States,” she said in an interview shortly after the Senate voice vote.

• Inez Tenenbaum

About the newly confirmed head of Consumer Product Safety Commission

Age: 58

Family: Husband, Sam Tenenbaum

Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Georgia; law degree, University of South Carolina

Professional experience: Attorney, McNair Law Firm; attorney, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd (1986-92)

Political experience: S.C. superintendent of education, 1998-2006; ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1994 and for U.S. Senate in 2004

The CPSC

About the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Headquarters: Agency operates out of Bethesda, Md., and has 430 employees

Duties: Oversees safety of 15,000 products, from toys and cribs to ATVs and toasters, focusing on products that pose fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard or can injure children

Authority: Can compel manufacturers to recall products that pose serious risk of injury or death

Outlook: President Obama is seeking $107 million for the agency in 2009-10 fiscal year, 3.4 percent more than current funding.

On deck

President Barack Obama has tapped two more appointees with South Carolina ties who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Mignon Clyburn, Federal Communications Commission

Clyburn, of Charleston, is a member of the state’s Public Service Commission. She is the daughter of U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat. If confirmed, Mignon Clyburn will be one of the commissioners of the federal agency that regulates mass media such as television and radio.

Charles Bolden, NASA

Bolden, a Columbia native and former astronaut who now lives in Houston, has been nominated to head the nation’s space agency. If confirmed, Bolden will be in charge of the $18 billion agency.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who defeated the then-South Carolina public schools superintendent in their 2004 U.S. Senate race, congratulated Tenenbaum.

“I’m confident she has the determination and skills to lead this important commission,” DeMint said. “I look forward to working with her to ensure our nation continues to have the safest products in the world.”

DeMint, a Greenville Republican, had introduced Tenenbaum to other members of the Senate Commerce Committee at her confirmation hearing Tuesday.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican, also applauded Tenenbaum.

“I know Inez and am confident she will hit the ground running,” Graham said. “She will look out for American consumers and provide the agency with the leadership it needs.”

Congressional and Obama administration sources said Tenenbaum could be sworn into office as early as next week to take the helm of a demoralized agency that saw its staff and budget cut under President George W. Bush.

Tenenbaum, 58, said Obama or Vice President Joe Biden likely would swear her into the post, which carries an annual salary of about $149,000.

Reached at the weekend – and eventual retirement – home she and her husband, Sam, have near Caesars Head State Park in the Upstate, Tenenbaum said she planned to leave for Washington early Monday to shop for furniture for her new home outside the nation’s capital.

The Senate confirmed Tenenbaum in near-record time, approving her scarcely a week after getting her formal nomination papers.

Among 166 Obama administration nominees to date that require Senate confirmation, only three others have been affirmed as quickly, congressional and Obama administration sources said.

“There are a great number of challenges facing the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but the good thing is that Congress voted last year to revitalize the agency in light of the surge of imports and the fact that we live in a global economy,” Tenenbaum said.

Two-thirds of the products the commission regulates come from overseas, most of them from China.

China’s communist government has drawn the ire of consumer advocates because of health and safety problems caused by toys with lead paint, defective drywall and other products.

“One of the important challenges is to address the issue of Chinese drywall to determine what it is that’s corroding electrical wiring within the walls and also causing considerable respiratory problems to people who live in homes that use the drywall,” Tenenbaum said Friday.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires tracking labels for all children’s toys and third-party certification of imported goods.

Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy Newspapers in South Carolina.

South Carolina Governor, missing since Thursday, reportedly located

Monday, Jun. 22, 2009

Sanford, missing since Thursday, reportedly located

By John O’Connor and Clif LeBlanc

The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford was unknown for nearly four days, and some state leaders question who was in charge of the executive office.

But Sanford’s office told the lieutenant governor’s office Monday afternoon that Sanford has been reached and he is fine, said Frank Adams, head of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer’s office on aging.

Neither the governor’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, had been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion Thursday in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but declined to be identified.

Sanford’s last known whereabouts had been near Atlanta because a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said. His office now knows where he is, Adams said.

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press earlier Monday her husband has been gone for several days and she did not know where.

She said she was not concerned.

The governor’s state and personal phones had been turned off and he had not responded to phone or text messages since at least the weekend, a source familiar with the situation said.

Most mobile phones cannot be tracked if they are turned off.

Jenny Sanford said the governor said he needed time away from their children to write something.

The governor’s office issued a statement Monday afternoon: “Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session, and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside. We are not going to discuss the specifics of his travel arrangements or his security arrangements.”

One official familiar with the situation said there was no indication that foul play might have been involved because Sanford occasionally makes trips without his security detail.

Knotts, a longtime Sanford critic, said he contacted SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd Saturday after he heard reports the governor could not be reached.

“Chief Lloyd confirmed that my information is legitimate,” Knotts said. “He shared my concerns” about succession of power in Sanford’s absence, the Lexington Republican said. Lloyd could not be reached immediately on Monday.

“I was recently made aware that Governor Sanford has frequently been eluding SLED agents and disappearing at odd times,” Knotts said. Previously, Sanford has not been out of all contact – including with his own office – for this long before, a source, who insisted on anonymity, said.

Knotts said the state’s chief executive should never be unreachable.

“As the head of our state, in the unfortunate event of a state of emergency or homeland security situation, Governor Sanford should be available at all times to the Chief of SLED,” the senator said.

“If for any reason, including the unknown whereabouts of the Governor, he is unable to perform the duties of his office the Constitution provides that the lieutenant governor assumes the position of governor.

“I want to know immediately ­ who is running the executive branch in the governor’s absence,” Knotts said.

The question of succession came just after Sanford became governor in 2003.

He joined the Air Force Reserve and was sent to Alabama for two week’s training with his unit, the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron based in Charleston. Sanford did not transfer power to Bauer at the time, saying he would be in regular contact with his office.

Sanford said then he would transfer authority in writing to the lieutenant governor only if he were called to active duty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Reach Clif LeBlanc at cleblanc@thestate.com and John O’Connor at joconnor@thestate.com

« Previous Page