Members of the SC Freedom Caucus on the portico of the State Capitol.

Following the recent General Election in November Republican SC State House Representatives comprised 88 of the 124 total members of the House. That is what is typically known as a ‘super-majority’. The SCGOP should be the envy of every political group in the country. And, this does not even include the fact that all state-wide offices are occupied by Republicans!

Any rational thinking person would probably figure that Republicans can get passed whatever they want to pass with not much opposition. BUT, welcome to South Carolina where Republicans are actually not all “red”, many are actually blue, or maybe purple. South Carolina has the distinction of being the most liberal, left leaning Republican state in the union.

Some may call that the “good ole boy” system! What it really means is that there is a pecking order of power in the SC House that precludes and dismisses the voice of less tenured members of the House who haven’t learned the art of compromise. In other words newer members—elected by the people—are in so many words told to ‘sit down and hush your mouth, we’ll tell you what to do, what to think’ and what you can say, by the more senior elected members of the same party!

That happened recently when the newly formed SC Freedom Caucus members were told to ‘sit down in the back of the bus and don’t get up ‘les we say so,’ by the SC House Republican Caucus “establishment” which they were attending. What?!

In some ways the Republican Caucus “establishment” appears to be using the same modus operandi as the mob might employ to control the thoughts, ideas and actions of people. The major problem with that is the people back home elected these representatives to have a voice in our government, not back slapping, glad-handing, go along to get along politics as usual. That’s why the new blood was elected, because the people were tired of the same ole same ole type shenanigans and back room deals, and not ever getting legislation they want passed, like real Constitutional Carry, real Pro-Life legislation, and real tax reform.

Case in point is what happened to former SC State House member Jonathan Hill, of Townville, SC. When Hill was Representative he was uncompromising on abortion and right to keep and bear arms through Constitutional Carry which are major platform planks of the Republican Party of SC. When he stood uncompromisingly for those issues and against compromise, he was ‘blackballed’ by the Republican Caucus “establishment” and thrown out of his own party’s caucus. This is the membership area of those elected to represent the folks back home, this is where they formulate strategy and get favor among those who are the “power leaders” of the House. What this means is that unless a member goes along so he can get along with the old guard, the Representative might not get his bill introduced, brought up in committee or ever voted on.

Hill wouldn’t go along to get along with the good ole boys. Hill was vilified because he stood his ground when representing his constituents. The ‘club’ accused him of being there to bring “attention” to himself or ”cause a scene”. Hill decided he had had enough and left the House of Representatives this last election cycle.

This happened after Republican Party operatives supposedly gave funding to his opponent and many believe put his opponent up to run against him. Hill was even recognized as the most conservative Republican in the SC House last year.

Ironically, this was part of the litmus test put forth through what SC based FitsNews coined as a “loyalty oath” to the Republican Party “establishment”. The Republican Party “establishment” was so insistent that “Freedom Caucus” members sign the loyalty oath that they were barred from entering a lunch meeting to discuss upcoming legislative business unless they had first signed on to the loyalty oath to the establishment caucus,  instead of being open, honest and straightforward with their constituents.

But, they’re Republicans!

Ronald Reagan said back in the 1980’s that the 11th Commandment of Republican politics was “Thou shalt not speak evil of fellow Republicans.” Yes, they’re Republicans, with a party platform that prescribes many noble tenets, but now days rarely followed by those who identify as Republicans. So, are the “establishment” real Republicans or make believe?

You might declare “we are the people and we elected” somebody to represent us in Columbia. You could do yourself a favor and look at the voting records of many of those people with an “R” behind their name. If you do, you might be surprised at what you see them voting for and against. And they know how to manipulate the system so that they appear to be casting the vote you desire, but in reality it’s a sham to make sure they keep control and do what they’re told by their real bosses who keep them up and reward them with scholarships, private memberships and perks that ‘guarantee’ reelection. This is all done behind closed doors, with “eyes only” commitments meaning they are sworn to secrecy outside their secret room meetings. These are the same people who control the SC State Legislature.

This was apparent last summer at the SC State GOP convention and how those leading the event changed established rules, manipulated the outcome quickly and opened the voting delegation to “attendees” not elected. And the executive committee members who traveled from around the state be damned! Another example was revealed on a December 12th broadcast of the “I’m Fired Up After Dark” podcast where host Chad Caton had on the program a GOP whistleblower.

But, the Constitution says…

That’s right, the Constitution may say, but the proverbial fox is in charge of the chicken coop, and they determine what will happen because they have the power and have been there for many years. Unless someone with big bucks and deep pockets can find a crack in their secret room and bring the facts out they determine what the Constitution says. They’ve worked hard to make sure no light escapes their private enclave.

That’s when the SC Freedom Caucus showed up. The Freedom Caucus is comprised of 20 hard core conservative State House Representatives, many just elected. They have been holding their own meetings on how to bust open the Republican “establishment” and get down to the people’s business. They were asked to sign a pledge to kowtow to the demands of the Republican “establishment”, the Freedom Caucus was told to go along to get along, and they refused, the members told them to kiss their big toe and now the game is on.

The Freedom Caucus say they were elected by their constituents to represent them and that’s what they intend to do. Freedom Caucus members align themselves with a more traditional and conservative Republican Party of less government, lower taxes, and with God’s help a better world. Thus, they are already making waves and inroads by publishing the member voting board in the Statehouse chamber for transparency, bringing an education whistleblower who exposed CRT in the classroom in SC after it was denied, standing their ground, and more to come.

Among the members of the Freedom Caucus are, Representatives: Adam Morgan, District 20, Chair; RJ May, District 88, Vice Chair; Josiah Magnuson, District 38; Mike Burns, District 17; Bill Chumley, District 35; Bobby Cox, District 21; Vic Dabney, District 52; Patrick Haddon, District 19; Stewart Jones, District 14; Steven Long, District 37; Ryan McCabe, District 96; Alan Morgan, District 18; Melissa Oremus, District 84; Ashley Trantham, District 28; April Cromer, District 6; Thomas Beach, District 10; Rob Harris, District 36; Joe White, District 40; Jordan Pace, District 117; David O’Neill, District 66; and; Jay Kilmartin, District 85.

We wish them God Speed on their mission to right the ship of state that seems to have lost its rudder.

This article has been edited 1-23-2023 2:10pm.

Michael Reed is Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online. TheStandardSC video media channel is being censored by dominant social media groups like YouTube. YouTube, owed by Alphabet (Google), removed and destroyed all of our video work without permission or remuneration. That has stopped all potential donations from our many supporters on that venue. If you want to continue to see independent thought and reports please “like”, comment, share with a friend, and donate to support The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.