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Guest Column in The State

Look who's bankrolling legislative races now

By ROSS SHEALY - Guest Columnist

Paul Farago ... does that name ring a bell?

Probably not.

Even if you consider yourself an authority on South Carolina politics, you probably don’t know who he is. But perhaps you should, because he’s trying to take over your government.

In 2006, Paul Farago was a Portland, Ore., acupuncturist. Alternative medicine must have been booming in the Pacific Northwest, because Farago spent the year sending $1,000 checks to S.C. House campaigns — a total of $16,000. He funded unsuccessful candidates such as Republican Sheri Few and Democrat Annie McDaniel, and successful candidates such as Republicans Jeff Duncan and Kit Spires.

That’s a lot of money, but I’m guessing I haven’t jogged your memory. You’re still not familiar with Paul Farago. Never read his name in the newspaper or seen his face on the nightly news.

This year Paul Farago upped the ante. He’s relocated to Asheville, N.C., and contributed, as far as we know, another $25,000 in maximum contributions to candidates around our state. He’s helped fund unsuccessful races such as Democratic House candidate Zina Manning (who?) and Republican Senate candidate Katrina Shealy. He’s also helped finance successful candidates, such as incumbent senators Kevin Bryant and Greg Ryberg. All told, Paul Farago has fired off $1,000 checks to more than 20 candidates in more than 20 counties this year.

If you still have no clue who Paul Farago is, and why he treats our state politics like his own personal World Series of Poker, don’t feel bad. The fact is, you aren’t supposed to know about Paul Farago, or that he’s going all in to shape our Legislature.

You aren’t supposed to know, but I’ll tell you anyway.

Farago is what I call a deputy for Howard Rich, the shadowy sheriff of the S.C. voucher lobby. Rich is the New York millionaire who has been exposed as the financier of South Carolinians for Responsible Government and other pro-voucher/tuition tax credit lobbying groups in our state. According to tax filings, Farago is a director of Americans for Limited Government, a national fund chaired by Rich.

Farago is one of several underlings whose money follows Mr. Rich’s own cash into the accounts of private school voucher candidates around the state.

There’s Joseph Stilwell of New York, a director of Howard Rich’s U.S. Term Limits. He contributed $36,000 in 2008, and $37,000 in 2006.

There’s Doug Levine of Miami, a former director of Rich’s Legislative Education Action Drive. He’s contributed $22,000 this year, and $34,000 in 2006.

These three gentlemen in Howard Rich’s inner circle of political associates have shelled out $170,000 since 2006.

And there are a few other deputies as well. Along with the 30 LLCs Howard Rich uses to get around our state’s contribution limits, this small but moneyed network has pumped more than $600,000 into S.C. races in 2008. By the time disclosures from last month’s general election are submitted, this figure likely will exceed $1 million.

These funders constitute the biggest special interest in the state — by far — leveraging their resources in an effort to build a Legislature that will pass vouchers.

In-state clearinghouses established by Rich recruit candidates and fund them almost entirely with this bundled out-of-state cash — targeting lawmakers who champion strong public schools.

As I discuss this threat with various civic groups, the question I am invariably asked is, “Why?”

Why does this network of Howard Rich associates spend so much to shape our government into one that will pass vouchers, against the will of most S.C. voters?

The answer is perhaps more unsettling than the funding scheme itself.

In addition to being a Howard Rich deputy, Paul Farago is a signatory of a peculiar pledge that reads: “I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education.”

It’s the pledge of the California-based Alliance for Separation of School and State. It’s the mantra of a school privatization ideology that is national in scope, yet focused like a laser beam on the Palmetto State. And it’s an oath adhered to by disciples of an ideology that considers public schools flawed by definition.

You won’t hear much about that from the voucher/tax credit groups in South Carolina. When they talk, they use words such as “parental choice” instead of “privatization,” and steer clear of phrases like “ending government involvement in education.”

But no matter how nicely it is packaged by in-state operatives, Howard Rich’s voucher and tax credit agenda is fueled by an ideology that views public education with contempt, and sees vouchers as a means to an end of school privatization.

That’s why you should know who Paul Farago is, even if you aren’t supposed to.

Mr. Shealy, who lives in Cayce with his wife and children, is the writer of the Web sites Barbecue & Politics and Buying South Carolina. He is also a consultant for the S.C. Association of School Administrators.

Scenes from UHSP 2008

Halloween

Pumpkins

State Fair

Big tree, little kids

Myrtle Beach Days

Signs pre-school is on summer break

Return of the Carolina Parakeet?

My little guy and I were looking out the back door today and saw this bird in our yard. It doesn't look like one of Cayce's native species.

Anybody missing a yellow bird?

Edisto River Canoe Trip

Easter 2008

Under the theory "better late than never":

Sweethearts

Return of the Lizard Man

Merry Christmas!

The Only Thing I Want for Christmas

The Lizard Man

Congaree National Park

Guest Column in The State

Wearing many masks

By ROSS SHEALY - Guest Columnist

Disguise is the hallmark of the Halloween holiday.

Masked villains appear in “don’t-go-in-there” late-night television movies that are unearthed in an annual Halloween ritual. Storefronts go from humdrum to haunted — decked out in skeletons, cobwebs and bats. And, most importantly, children go door to door dressed as pirates, superheroes and a seemingly endless roster of Disney-inspired princesses.

But when you have to do it year-round, disguising yourself isn’t nearly as easy. If you don’t believe it, ask libertarian real estate tycoon Howard Rich.

Last Halloween, as the November elections approached, Rich was busy funding South Carolina legislative candidates through various limited-liability companies based in his New York apartment. Like a trick-or-treater who changes his mask and knocks again and again, Rich was skirting our state’s contribution limits in an effort to build a Legislature that would pass his voucher bill.

Also at this time last year, Rich had a handful of “grassroots” groups in various states, hoping that with the right name and the right Web site, the groups would blend into the local political landscape and promote his ideology as if it were local sentiment.

So one Halloween later, how is the year-round costume party holding up?

Not so well, actually.

Despite an infusion of more than $160,000 from his LLC’s and other companies into the campaign accounts of several South Carolina candidates, Rich still didn’t have the numbers in the General Assembly to promote his voucher agenda in the Palmetto State. Once again, in 2007, his Put Parents in Charge bill was defeated in the Legislature. Further, the biggest financial beneficiary of his dodgy funding scheme, superitendent [sic] of education candidate Karen Floyd, came up short in her bid for statewide office — despite more than $50,000 in contributions associated with Rich.

Not only is the LLC funding scheme proving not so effective, it may be in its dying days. Around the country, states are getting wise to this method of circumventing contribution limits. Colorado closed its LLC loophole in July, after 25 LLC’s owned by just two businessmen each gave the maximum contribution to a candidate for governor last year. Earlier this month, a Baltimore businessman was slapped with a $119,000 fine by Maryland authorities for using 20 corporations for which he was the sole stockholder to pump more than $100,000 into statewide political campaigns.

But for all the trouble, cloaking political contributions under the names of various LLC’s still seems to be Howard Rich’s primary mode of operation. In the last few months, Rich has used at least seven of his LLC’s to inject $60,000 into legislative races in Louisiana, where his latest school voucher group has been established.

So what about the other aspect of Rich’s masquerade ball, the “grass-roots” groups he fields around the country?

In Missouri, the group was called “Missourians in Charge,” a name that might lead you to believe that the strings were pulled by, well, Missourians. In fact, Howard Rich funneled more than $2.3 million into the group through various national funds he controls, while actual Missourians donated only $150. Missourians in Charge was dissolved earlier this year, less than 12 months after its creation, after failing to petition two measures onto the Missouri ballot.

Oklahoma has been even less hospitable to its Rich-funded “grass-roots” organization, “Oklahomans in Action.” Last year, a national fund chaired by Rich paid 97 percent of the bills for Oklahomans in Action. But instead of putting actual Okies “in action” to gather signatures for its initiatives, the group used migrant out-of-state workers, contrary to state law. Earlier this month, the president of Oklahomans in Action was indicted on two felony counts — conspiracy to defraud the state and filing a fraudulent initiative petition.

And, in Montana, the state attorney general is investigating the finances of a group called “Montanans in Action,” after that group’s ballot initiatives were invalidated last year due to “pervasive fraud.” Most analysts, and even Montana’s governor, suspect Howard Rich is behind the group.

Here in South Carolina, Rich’s main affiliate, South Carolinians for Responsible Government, doesn’t seem to be doing much better than its counterparts around the country. While SCRG has spent millions trying to convince us that South Carolinians are bitterly divided about vouchers, a recent Furman report reveals that South Carolinians are largely united behind commonsense, real reforms in our schools, and that there is little support in the public at large for diverting public money to private schools through vouchers.

The upshot of all of this, I guess, is that it’s not easy to fake it. It’s hard work, even for a millionaire.

So this Halloween, whether you dress up as coach Steve Spurrier, the Lizard Man of Lee County or the latest Disney princess, go all out. Remember that the best costumes are made, not bought, and be thankful that whatever costume you choose, you only have to wear it one night a year.

Mr. Shealy is the writer of the Barbecue & Politics blog, http://scbarbecue.blogspot.com. He lives in Cayce with his wife and kids.

"Shealy Kids"

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South Carolina State Fair

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Kids at Hilton Head

IOP

Guest column in The State

Fishy grassroots work for vouchers

By ROSS SHEALY - Guest Columnist

Does it seem to you that there’s a ton of “grassroots” organizations vouching for the Put Parents in Charge private school tax credit plan lately?

There’s the “South Carolina Center for Grassroots and Community Alternatives.” Then there’s the “Southern Association of Black Independent Schools.” And there’s an entity calling itself “Clergy for Educational Options.”

Seems like an impressive array of independent, noticeably African-American groups, all in support of the latest iteration of Put Parents in Charge. Right?

It seems that way, but with the out-of-state voucher lobby, things are hardly ever what they seem.

It all sounded a little fishy from the get-go, these new groups emerging to promote a voucher scheme that most of South Carolina’s black leaders soundly reject. Only one member of the Legislative Black Caucus supported the latest private school tax credit plan, and his seat was practically purchased outright for that purpose. Rep. Curtis Brantley, D-Beaufort, received a stunning 84 percent of his campaign funds from out of state last year. He used this flood of voucher cash to win by fewer than 200 votes.

Sensing that something was awry, I decided to check out these new, seemingly independent voucher groups.

According to the S.C. Secretary of State Web site, C.E.O. and the Southern Association of Black Independent Schools registered as nonprofits in 2005. Both registered from the same address: 1620 Gervais Street, Suite B.

1620 Gervais, Suite B, must have been an awfully congested place to work in 2005. In addition to these two groups, the office was the address of the Center for Grassroots and Community Alternatives. It was also the address of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, the main proponent of the voucher agenda in South Carolina.

Four “independent” voucher groups all sharing the same office? That doesn’t seem very independent at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure under Utah law they’d be considered married.

But it wasn’t a lack of money that made 1620 Gervais, Suite B, as crowded as a clown car in 2005. According to tax records, more than $1 million was poured into SCRG — and almost a half million dollars more into the Center for Grassroots — in 2005.

So where’d all this voucher cash come from?

That’s the $1.5 million question.

At first blush, SCRG’s earliest tax filing, from 2004, seems to feature a glaring error. Although the organization’s address is accurate (1620 Gervais St, Suite B), the group’s phone number is listed as one in the 847 area code.

If you don’t recall “847” being a South Carolina area code, that’s because it isn’t. The phone number belonged to Howard Rich’s U.S. Term Limits organization, headquartered in Illinois.

Huh?

Millionaire real estate developer Howard Rich, as you may know, is a New York libertarian who almost singlehandedly bankrolls the voucher faction in South Carolina. Last year, Rich spent more than any other entity funding Palmetto State candidates.

Howard Rich spent $166,000 on legislative seats and statewide elections in 2006 — far more than Blue Cross Blue Shield, Bell South, the S.C. Truckers Association or any other company or trade group with actual ties to our state. Rich gets around our state’s contribution limits by funding candidates through various entities that he controls: Bayrich LLC, Bradford Management, Dayrich LLC, Ashborough Investors, Spooner LLC, Spinksville LLC — these are just a few of the corporations Rich uses to exploit our campaign finance law.

Three sitting legislators, Reps. Mick Mulvaney, Jim Harrison and Kit Spires, received at least $9,000 — many times the legal limit from one person — from these numerous LLC’s last year. Superintendent of education candidate Karen Floyd received more than $50,000 from this dodgy funding scheme.

These phenomenal figures don’t even include thousands in contributions from the pro-voucher “S.C. Club for Growth,” which Rich oversees as president of “Club for Growth State Action” (with the same 847 phone number).

All this brings us back to the voucher groups from Suite B. Are all of these groups actual “independent” voices for vouchers? Or does Howard Rich thinks he can outwit the average South Carolinian the same way he flaunts our state’s campaign laws, with a barrage of seemingly independent groups that are actually all part of the same hydra-headed creature?

It’s a question that probably answers itself, but here’s a hint: SCRG and the Center for Grass Roots have since moved across town, to a shared office at 3020 Devine St. — the same address as the S.C. Club for Growth.

The average voter doesn’t have the time or inclination to follow the breadcrumbs — the shared long-distance phone numbers, the shared offices, the bewildering funding scheme — to arrive at the true origin of the private school voucher lobbying groups.

But give us Sandlappers some credit. It’s easy to see that the only voices vouching for the Howard Rich’s school voucher agenda are those groups created to do just that.

Mr. Shealy publishes Barbecue & Politics, available online at http://scbarbecue.blogspot.com. He lives in Cayce with his wife and kids.

"Ryan's Bill" becomes law

Greenville News:

The state House stood and applauded today after voting 114-0 to override Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of a bill requiring insurance coverage for autistic children.

Earlier, the Senate voted to override as well, and advocates called it "a momentous day" for children with autism and their families…

"How often has there been a unanimous override in the House and the Senate?" said Dr. Desmond Kelly, medical director of developmental-behavioral pediatrics at Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital. "The legislators were clear in their support, and that's great."

Spartanburg Herald-Journal:

The Legislature also overrode Sanford's veto of a bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for children with autism. After the House overturned the veto by a 114-0 vote, Rep. Jimmy Bales, D-Eastover, looked at the tally board and with a grin said, "Now that's an override."

Happy Mother's Day!

Garden City, SC