US Senator Lindsey Graham speaks to Republicans at fairgrounds

US Senator Lindsey Graham greets the crowd at the Republican’s First Tuesday Club. Tronco’s at the fairgrounds served lunch to the local Republican’s First Tuesday Club, and their speaker was US Senator Lindsey Graham (R–SC). Graham thanked the crowd for their warm welcome, and he thanked them for electing him to the US Senate, something SC does maybe every 50 years, he noted.

Graham sits on four committees in the US Senate: Armed Services, Judiciary, Budget, and Veterans Affairs. His expertise and compassion were evident as he addressed the crowd in matters concerning all four committees.

His first job, said Graham, was to defend the US Constitution against all enemies, domestic and foreign. In that role, he talked about security.

On military security, Graham declared the US military the best in the world and the most prepared it has ever been. The outcome of the war on terror is fait accompli, a done deal. We will win. Till then, though, there are a few impediments.

One impediment is the unfairness to the Reserves and National Guard forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Almost half the US casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan are Reservists and Guardsmen. But they don’t get the medical coverage they deserve. And they average a monthly loss of $838, which is the difference between what they make as civilian workers and what they make as active military. Graham’s corrective action includes health care.

Graham advocates keeping the terrorists in Guantanamo, and he sponsors legislation strengthening President Bush’s and the military’s position over the inmates. There are 185 inmates in Gitmo, said Graham, with lawyers in federal court. The US Supreme Court granted habeas corpus to foreign terrorists. Graham wants Congress to vote to suspend habeas corpus for the foreign terrorists.

China’s military build–up worries Graham. The strong increases in military spending by a communist dictatorship are not Graham’s preference. As a South Carolinian, Graham is not happy with the job losses here due to Chinese gains in competing industries. He works for a greater revaluation of the Chinese yuan, something closer to a 40% increase instead of the recent 2.5% increase in value relative to the dollar.

Movies and music, two major American exports, have no intellectual property protection in China. Graham wants China to respect protections over there as Americans do here.

What Graham wants back home is a tax code that works in fairness of application and ease of collection, and he is yet to decide which is better. He is somewhat stuck between pushing for a flat tax and supporting a national sales tax. Both have to be superior to the American way of income taxation.

The elimination of the estate tax, popularly called the death tax, is another Graham pursuit. But to get there, maybe an interim measure has the best chance of success. Graham suggested a $4 million individual inheritance tax exemption and $8 million per couple.

Litigation is choking the US economy, Graham declared. There are too many law suits because it’s too easy to sue. He wants to see the loser pay. If the plaintiff wants to collect, files suit, drags the defendant through the always– expensive efforts to make a case not to pay, but the plaintiff loses in the end, the plaintiff should pay the defendant all the expenses and fees. Loser pays, as Graham put it, much to the appreciation of the audience of business leaders.

Speaking of the law, lawyer Graham reminded the crowd liberal US Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg was confirmed with 95 votes in the US Senate, and conservative Justice Scalia was confirmed with 98 votes. In other words, the US Senate can manage a smooth confirmation for either philosophy, but Graham was afraid the threats to challenge nominee Roberts were getting out of hand.

Graham’s closing theme covered the next phase for the SC Republican Party: inclusiveness. He said there were too few Republicans who also happened to show black faces. He urged his fellow party activists to reach out and to move forward. Stay grounded on principles, he begged, but diversify the party, he ordered.