Politics

The Associated Press plans to provide live streaming video of President Barack Obama's news conference scheduled at 11 a.m.

A news conference from San Bruno, Calif., about the deadly gas-line explosion in that town is scheduled at 11 a.m. and will be carried live on Channel 2, below.

Return Saturday for live coverage of 9/11 ceremonies at Ground Zero in New York on Saturday beginning at 7 a.m. Coverage will switch to 9:30 a.m. for the president's remarks from the Pentagon 9/11 memorial service.

One year ago today, an insult yelled at the president by a congressman on national TV turned U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson into an overnight conservative hero and made Rob Miller one of the Democrats’ best hopes for picking up a Republican seat in November.

Thanks to the Republican Wilson’s “You lie!” shout Sept. 9, 2009, as President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress, his re-election campaign is the nation’s richest race and among the most closely watched.

Wilson and Democratic challenger Miller, a former Marine Corps captain who served in Iraq, raised a combined $4.6 million through June 30, most of it from outside of South Carolina.

Miller, having brought in $2.5 million, is the only non-incumbent among the U.S. House’s Top 10 fundraisers. Wilson, with $4 million in total contributions, trails only three lawmakers, two of them his party’s U.S. House leaders in Reps. John Boehner and Eric Cantor. Both candidates have increased their fundraising this election cycle roughly four-fold compared to their 2008 race.

Leslie Minerd has never tried a legal case. She doesn't even hold a law degree.

Republican Alan Wilson contends the experience he gained in the courtroom and on the battlefield makes him the most qualified candidate to become South Carolina's top prosecutor.

South Carolina lawmakers began wrestling Thursday with providing rail access to a new $525 million port terminal as the state works to regain its competitive position among other East Coast ports.

Lawmakers were urged to develop a plan that doesn't jeopardize a $1 billion North Charleston urban renewal project or harm a predominantly black community nearby.

South Carolina has a "a unique, one-time opportunity" with larger ships that will call after the Panama Canal is widened in 2014, said State Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, and chairman of the Review and Oversight Commission on the South Carolina Ports Authority.

He said the state needs to be prepared or business will flow to other ports.

Charleston, once the second-largest container port on the East Coast, has in recent years fallen behind. Now it's fourth, behind New York-New Jersey, southeast Virginia and Savannah, Ga.

Democrat Rob Miller Thursday accused U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson of pocketing more than $38,000 of expense account money for his personal use.

The $38,000 per diem total is part of about $100,000 in travel expenses Wilson has billed taxpayers for since his election to Congress in 2001, making him the 29th highest spender among 435 U.S. House members.

Wilson, a Lexington Republican, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Most of his travel has been to Iraq and Afghanistan visiting U.S. troops. Wilson’s travel spending ranks 6th among the 70 members of the Armed Services committee

Wilson denies any wrongdoing.

Campaign Trail

There are 53 days left until the Nov. 2 general election. There are 23 days left to register to vote.

Sheheen ad introduces him to S.C.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Vincent Sheheen has released his first general election television ad, one that introduces him and ties his Republican opponent to outgoing Gov. Mark Sanford.

CLEVELAND -- Politically weakened but refusing to bend, President Barack Obama insisted Wednesday that Bush-era tax cuts be cut off for the wealthiest Americans, joining battle with Republicans, and some fellow Democrats, just two months before bruising midterm elections.

The West Ashley Democrats plan to throw a picnic this month and also plan to honor former Charleston City Councilwoman Hilda Hutchinson Jefferson and the late attorney and human rights activist Conni Valentine Ackerman.

Campaign Trail

Notes from Campaign 2010. There are 54 days left until the Nov. 2 general election. There are 24 days left to register to vote.

Butler seeks House 79 seat

Democrat Mia Butler has filed to become a candidate for House District 79, which spans Northeast Richland and southwest Kershaw county.

Gov. Mark Sanford objected Wednesday to a campaign proposal to scrap the detailed executive budgets that Sanford introduced when he took office in 2003.

Last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, a Sanford ally, said she would not produce a detailed executive budget, which were typically ignored because of the acrimony between Sanford and lawmakers. Instead, Haley said, she would set a small list of priorities and work with lawmakers during the process.

Haley is running against Democrat Vincent Sheheen and Green and United Citizens parties’ candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves. Voters will go to the polls Nov. 2 to elect a new governor to replace Sanford.

While governors are required to submit a budget proposal, past governors typically submitted a short list of policy priorities because the Legislature controls most of the budget-writing process. But Sanford and his staff drafted detailed plans off of which, they said, state government could run.

The South Carolina Republican congressman best known for shouting "You lie!" at President Barack Obama and the former Marine captain vying for his job are hitting each other with a new round of negative ads.

Rep. Joe Wilson and Democratic opponent Rob Miller's television advertisements take a decidedly toughened tone as the race for South Carolina's 2nd District enters a new phase.

In his new ad, a somber-faced Wilson faces the camera and his voice takes responsibility for the the message.

The screen turns to black and white, and a retired two-star Marine general criticizes Miller for taking campaign contributions from the liberal organization MoveOn.org. Maj. Gen. James Livingston says Miller should return the money, given MoveOn.org's 2007 ad that referred to the current U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus as "General Betray Us."

Wilson's communications director Brian DeRoy said the ad debuts Wednesday on television stations throughout the district, which stretches from Columbia to the southern coast. He declined to give a financial figure for the ad purchase, but said it would run in Columbia, Beaufort and Hilton Head.

Gov. Mark Sanford objected Wednesday to a campaign proposal to scrap the detailed executive budgets that Sanford introduced when he took office in 2003.

While governors are required to submit a budget proposal, past governor typically submitted a short list of policy priorities because the Legislature controls most of the budget-writing process. But Sanford and his staff drafted detailed plans off of which, they believed, state government could run.

Last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley said she would do away with detailed executive budgets, which were typically ignored due to the acrimony between Sanford and lawmakers. Instead, Haley said, she would set a small list of priorities and work with lawmakers during the process.

In a message sent to Sanford’s campaign e-mail list, the outgoing governor argued his successor should also draft a detailed budget.

“These Executive Budgets have been vital in creating a budget blue print that showed how we could fund core services of government without raising taxes,” Sanford wrote, encouraging recipients to read a Post and Courier editorial on the subject. “They were important in showing the savings that might come from restructuring and consolidating government.”

Gov. Mark Sanford objected Wednesday to a campaign proposal to scrap the detailed executive budgets that Sanford introduced when he took office in 2003.

While governors are required to submit a budget proposal, past governor typically submitted a short list of policy priorities because the Legislature controls most of the budget-writing process. But Sanford and his staff drafted detailed plans off of which, they believed, state government could run.

Last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley said she would do away with detailed executive budgets, which were typically ignored due to the acrimony between Sanford and lawmakers. Instead, Haley said, she would set a small list of priorities and work with lawmakers during the process.

In a message sent to Sanford’s campaign e-mail list, the outgoing governor argued his successor should also draft a detailed budget.

“These Executive Budgets have been vital in creating a budget blue print that showed how we could fund core services of government without raising taxes,” Sanford wrote, encouraging recipients to read a Post and Courier editorial on the subject. “They were important in showing the savings that might come from restructuring and consolidating government.”

The Associated Press is providing live video coverage of President Barack Obama as he pitches a trio of economic initiatives this afternoon and maintains unwavering opposition to Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen dropped by Waterfront Park on Tuesday to criticize his Republican opponent for not doing more to ensure that South Carolina gets $400,000 to deepen Charleston Harbor.

Republican Ken Ard and Democrat Ashley Cooper face off Nov. 2 in the race for lieutenant governor, a position that includes presiding over the Senate and overseeing the state's Office on Aging.

Last week, Joe Wilson's office assured The Post and Courier that the investigation of his taxpayer-funded travel expenses was limited to $12 worth of souvenir goblets.

WASHINGTON -- Republicans are heading into the final weeks of the midterm campaign with the political climate highly in their favor, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Americans are increasingly frustrated by a lack of economic progress, deeply dissatisfied with the federal government and critical of President Barack Obama's leadership.

There are 55 days left until the Nov. 2 general election. There are 25 days left to register to vote.

Haley ad introduces her to general audience

Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley’s new television ad introduces the Lexington state representative as a fiscal conservative ready to pare down state government.

Haley does not mention her opponent, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Vincent Sheheen, a Kershaw state senator in the 30-second ad.