Since 2001, Joe Wilson has been the South Carolina 2nd Congressional District U.S. House Representative and the state has been subject to the effects of his irresponsible decisions and regressive voting record. Normally South Carolina is a reliable area of victory for the Republican party but as dissatisfaction with both Trump and the GOP in general grows (in particular with women), the chances of Democrat victories across the state in November increase. It won’t be easy but with enough turnout from female voters and those in the 18-24 age group, it is very conceivable to imagine flipping at least 2 or 3 U.S. House Representative seats, if not more.

Sean Carrigan is one of the Democratic candidates running in the June 2018 primary election for the U.S. House Representative seat of South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional district. He was gracious enough to take some time and answer some questions about some subjects about which many potential voters may be concerned.

Public education in South Carolina

The latest national rankings just came out from US News and World Report; what is your view on current state of public education in South Carolina?

South Carolina’s K-12 school system does not meet the low standard of providing a minimally adequate education to our children. We can fix our education system if we make some adjustments. We must recognize that not all schools are equal, based on funding. Funding comes from local taxes collected on land value. Obviously, affluent areas will do better while poor areas will suffer due to lack of tax revenue to provide resources.

What has been the cause of and/or is causing the South Carolina low educational rankings?

Public education, to include the IDEA and wrap-around services, must be fully funded with an equitable distribution of resources. We must change the way we resource public schools so that all students have the tools necessary to learn and grow into productive citizens.

How do we address those root causes?

Focusing our students on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics will prepare our future leaders – today’s students – to perform on the world stage and achieve success in a global economy. We must remove ourselves from the chains of standardized testing and stop having our educators “teach to the test.” If we empower our teachers to create relevant curriculum, then our students will be better prepared for trade school, college, and/or the workforce.

What is your stance on public education versus charter schools? Should the federal government treat charter schools the same as public schools?

Private charter schools should never receive public funds for their programs. Attending a charter school is optional and the student and their family should pay for any associated expense.

Infrastructure in South Carolina

Back to the latest rankings, South Carolina is ranked 33rd in the nation with regard to infrastructure. What is your view of the current infrastructure in the 2nd Congressional District?

South Carolina has several infrastructure issues that must be addressed. South Carolinians have had to pay an average of $600 for car maintenance due to our neglected roads. Some folks don’t have $600 to spend on car repairs. We are leaving folks behind and having them suffer due to poor management of revenues at the state level. Citizens should not have to subsidize our state’s neglectful actions.

What would be your first improvement project if given the chance?

We are currently going through the VC Summer debacle. Our energy rates are among the highest in the nation. The answer is to switch to green technology. Columbia Mayor Steven Benjamin has initiated a plan to switch all of Columbia’s government to green technology. Following Mayor Benjamin’s lead will help us tremendously with not only our energy rates but will relieve much of the strain on our power grid, which will make it more reliable. Going green equals cost savings and more reliability.

Opportunities in industries for the labor force in South Carolina

Now to the rankings on opportunity, where South Carolina is ranked 39th. How would you describe the current state of income inequality in South Carolina?

There is a huge disparity in income inequality. There are several factors that contribute to this problem. This is a right-to-work state, which is devastating to organized labor. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a big push to break up the power of labor unions. Here in South Carolina, less than 3 percent of workers participate in a union. Our middle class started shrinking and our working poor class has grown across the United States as a result of union-busting.

What do you think has been the main cause driving it?

In order to attract business to our state, the government has given lavish tax breaks to companies like Boeing and BMW. Keep in mind, every tax dollar not collected from a business is a dollar that will be collected from a citizen or a dollar that a social service will not receive in funding.

Let’s be bold. Two of our greatest industries in South Carolina are tourism and agriculture. We can revitalize our agriculture and make Charleston the East Coast’s most important port. It will take strategic investment. South Carolina will become an emulated state in comparison to her peers. We have small towns throughout our great state that would benefit immensely from revitalization efforts. We can generate an estimated $500 million to $1 billion in tax revenue if we legalized gaming carefully to include horse racing. Our tourism will grow tremendously and our property values will climb. Still, we are leaving an estimated $200 million to $300 million dollars in advertising revenue on the table. We can rent advertising space on our school buses. We can take that money and inject it into our schools. Imagine doing all this, and we didn’t raise school taxes a nickel.

Raising all wages by $8 per hour – which would get our minimum wage to $15 an hour – would be a great way to stimulate our economy, stimulate business, generate tax revenue, and save taxpayer monies. That $15 per hour comes to $29,000 per year or just $6,000more than poverty wages. South Carolina’s District 2 alone would have an estimated $3 billion in economic growth. That is good for business. That is good for tax revenue. Fewer people will need government assistance. The reinvigorated economy with increased goods and services delivered will equate to more jobs! These will be good-paying jobs, livable-wage jobs!

Does the problem need to be addressed at the Federal, state or local level?

All levels of government should play a role helping their citizens.

What do you think about switchgrass and the biofuel industry in South Carolina?

Switchgrass and biofuels look very promising toward helping us with our climate. We should continue to develop and grow in the area of biofuels. I am all for anything that will help us divorce ourselves from the harmful fossil fuel industry. We must address climate change immediately.

The GOP tax cut is supposed to give the typical worker more money in their paycheck but so far, the ones who have benefited the most are those who already made over $50,000 per year. Are you going to fight to dismantle the tax cuts?

The GOP tax plan does not help the average citizen. I would invest the energy to reshape the tax code so it helps the average citizen. We can close loopholes for the rich, which will generate more tax revenue and shift some of the tax burden from the lower income to the upper income. The tax plan is heavy on incentives for big business. I am more interested in helping small businesses open and stay open. If we want to get serious about equality, we must invest in minority-run and women-run small business. We must set conditions that allow small business to be competitive with big business.

What do you think is a fair and feasible level of taxation?



A fair level of taxation is incredibly difficult to answer because I believe that we can do far more now without increasing taxes. For instance, if we decrease our prison population from 2.2 million down to 500,000 then we will save $32,000 times 1.7 million prisoners, which is more than $54 billion savings per year. That will also allow for 1.7 million people to produce an income, which will be taxed. If released prisoners make an average of $35,000 per year, then they will generate $60 billion per year in wages. That equates to about $3 billion dollars in federal tax revenue. This by itself is a net gain of $114 billion per year. We must address our criminal justice system.

I would rather focus on making our tax system lean by being careful stewards with the revenue collected. If we are good stewards, we can ensure that all citizens have a pathway to success that is equitable while not having to over-burden citizens’ budgets. The tax system needs to keep more money in the lower-wage earners’ pockets versus the upper-wage earners and should be appropriately tiered.

Gun control

We’ve seen a great deal of activism since the Parkland, FL shooting and many N.R.A.-sponsored politicians being exposed as putting money ahead of safety at schools. How do you think we should ensure safety at schools?

Here is my plan to make sure that mass shootings and other forms of gun violence will never happen again. The federal government should:

Commission and fund the Centers for Disease Control to study and report with transparency the effects of gun violence on our population at-large.

Substantially limit the capacity of magazines.

Implement universal background checks for any and all purchases of a firearm.

Close the gun show loophole by imposing mandatory waiting periods to buy a gun.

Ban gun kits that artificially modify the rate and speed of fire, such as “bump stocks.”

Require gun ranges to check all guns coming on and off the range for registration and modification.

Require standardized gun safety training.

Support Extreme Risk Protective Orders (ERPOs) at the federal level.

Implement a total and complete ban on assault weapons similar to the one that was in place until 2004.

Implement a ban on domestic abusers buying guns.

Require gun owners to purchase liability insurance for each firearm they own.

Require guns to be added to a national registry with regular renewal periods.

The safety of our citizens is not a partisan issue. I will work across the aisle in Congress to get these goals accomplished. I don’t need or want donations from the NRA, and I will do my best to get a “triple-F” rating from the NRA. What matters to me is that our kids can go to school, families can go to church, moviegoers can go to the theater, and our citizens at-large can go about their day without having to fear the threat of death at every turn.

Domestic violence

Although it seems quite some time ago, the White House is still under the shadow of continuing to employ Rob Porter, who was denied security clearance for allegations involving domestic violence with multiple victims. South Carolina ranked fifth among states with the highest rates of females killed by males last year and has been in the top ten for 20 years running. Why do you think domestic violence is so prevalent in South Carolina?

We must empower women to remove themselves safely from abusive situations. There are many forms of domestic abuse, including emotional, physical, and financial abuse.

What do you propose be done to address the issue of domestic violence?

I would like to focus on prevention by instituting a domestic violence registry similar to our sex offender registry. This will empower women to know who they are dating and if their partner has a criminal history of domestic violence. We must ensure that proper prudence is given by a judge prior to ordering an offender into the registry. Anyone in the registry may not own a firearm.

We must get rid of lengthy waiting periods to be granted a divorce. A 30-day, no-cost divorce should be available for women that can demonstrate a history of abuse. Grants must be available to women who need housing for themselves and their children while they transition out of an abusive situation.

We must not allow abuse or any derivative of abuse to be treated as a “pre-existing condition” when it comes to health insurance. Women should not be denied coverage nor charged a higher premium due to suffering from abuse.

Is domestic violence a Federal, state or local level problem?

I would like to classify domestic violence as domestic terrorism for the purposes of gaining federal dollars to support the victims’ ability to leave the situation.

Russian election interference

Joe Wilson has yet to admit that Russia interfered in the 2016 election even though many of the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies all concur that it did take place. As of today, Trump not only refuses to admit that Russia interfered but he will not authorize the necessary actions to combat future meddling in the 2018 elections. Do you believe that Russia interfered in the 2016 election?

I served in the military for 28 years. I have known many folks that work in intelligence agencies. I trust them. The known evidence is overwhelming that Russia interfered with our elections and impacted several races, including the presidential election.

What steps do you think need to be taken to prevent future interference?

We must do several things to increase the security of our elections:

Heavy, painful economic sanctions against Russia

Upgrade security of each state’s elections system, e. increased encryption and adding second, third, and perhaps fourth layers of security

Use a backup paper system for every vote cast

Invest heavily in cyber security.

Thank you very much for your time and the detailed responses. Good luck in the upcoming primary election.

Once again, I’d like to encourage everyone to do the research on the primary candidates in their district and make your decisions based on how you feel. But when the primaries are over, please support the winners in the November general election just as much. If you’re not registered to vote, go ahead and do it now. Look for more interviews with Congressional candidates in South Carolina over the upcoming weeks!

South Carolina Democratic Primary date: June 12, 2018

General election date: November 6, 2018

Sean Carrigan’s contact information:

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