Tea Party republicans in South Carolina favor Herman Cain for the GOP presidential nomination.

In a straw poll held yesterday afternoon in Columbia, Cain took 55 percent of the votes cast.

Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. House representative from Georgia, came in a distant second with 14.5 percent, while Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann took eight percent for third place.

The approximate 200 participants represented 25 Tea Party organizations in the state.

A straw poll at the recent Orangeburg County Fair was taken by Cain, too. Conducted Oct. 3 – 9 by that county’s Republican Party, and with a much larger pool of 6,520 voters, Cain won with 37.4 percent of the vote.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was a close second with 35.2 percent, and Mitt Romney was a distant third in the pool of 12 candidates, taking only 11.1 percent.

And Cain led in yet another recent poll of Republican voters statewide. Conducted Oct. 10 by American Research Group, Cain bested nine other GOP candidates, receiving 26 percent of the vote.

Romney took second with 25 percent and Perry won 15; 12 percent of the poll participants were undecided.

This marks notable improvement for Cain since ARG’s last South Carolina poll in July, when he placed fourth of 11 candidates with 10 percent. Romney remains unchanged with 25 percent.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani were removed from the slate; they received 16 and 6 percent, respectively, in ARG’s July poll.

“Cain is on fire here in S.C.,” said Brendan Steinhauser, an organizer with the FreedomWorks organization credited with helping to organize the Tea Party movement in the U.S.

Democrats in South Carolina respond positively to Cain’s rise in local popularity, though, as they regard him to be an easy opponent.

In fact, one group (SC Forward Progress) even produced a video welcoming improvement in local reception of the businessman known for operating Godfather’s Pizza.

In an average of recent polls, including ARG’s, Obama would easily win a general election with 45.6 percent vote to Cain’s 38.2.

Recent revelation of ties to the Koch brothers would dampen Cain’s chances further, local Democrats assume.

Associated Press reports today that Cain worked with Americans for Prosperity, an anti-regulation political advocacy group that is funded by the Koch Family Foundations. Cain’s campaign manager and some campaign aides worked for AFP, too.

“Initially, many people pictured Cain only as a successful entrepreneur,” says Deborah Mortellaro, executive committee member of the Dorchester County Democratic Party. “But this revelation of his association with (AFP) casts a completely different picture of him.

“He’s not who voters thought he was.  He’s just another Koch brothers’ pawn.”

AFP and FreedomWorks were created in 2004 by splitting the Citizens for a Sound Economy organization into two separate groups. CSE was directly created by the Koch brothers.

Included in its agenda, AFP opposes laws pertaining to environmental protection and health care, argues for lower taxes on wealth.

Cain also supports requirements of a photo voter ID, an issue passed into law earlier this year by South Carolina republicans and currently under review by the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Approximately 180,000 registered voters in the state are at risk of losing that right, and new voter registrants are being affected, as well.

On Oct. 7, Cain’s South Carolina campaign headquarters were opened in West Columbia.

The state’s republican presidential primary election takes place Jan. 21.

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Also see: 
Cain surge welcomed by So. Car. democrats

Potential loophole to Voter ID, but challenge still needed, says SC ProNet

Voter ID problems extend to new and returning residents

It’s an economic environment of exclusivity, a recent episode of Fault Lines depicts.

Only one percent of the population takes in more than 20 percent of all earnings in the United States, for example. Since the 1970’s, the income levels of the top 10 percent in wealth increased four-fold; the remaining 90 percent of the country has had no income growth, when accounting for inflation and other cost-of-living increases.

And the U.S. government – not any branch and neither side – is fully helping to stop this anti-Democratic, non-capitalist movement from ransacking our Democratic capitalist country. The movers and the makers are led by the money shakers.  And that’s probably never been more apparent than it is today.

“As both Democrats and Republicans gear up for the 2012 presidential elections, the race to raise money for campaign advertising is a driving force for both parties,” the reporter of this recent August 2 episode, titled “The Top 1%,” says.

The top wealth in the country and their corporations, who provide the most in campaign donations by far, get an unfair and disproportionate influence on government as a result.

Take U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, for example, who’s featured in the episode. Chair of the House Budget Committee, Ryan claims the only way to help our economy is by taking away healthcare benefits from the poor and elderly, cutting benefits from retirees … and lowering the tax rate on the top income bracket to only 25 percent.

Ryan’s top campaign donors are investment firms and insurance companies, as well as Koch Industries.

These politicians don’t want to answer up to the public about their proposals or policies, either.  Watch the young female reporter attempt to interview Ryan, having to dodge parking meters along the sidewalk as she tries to keep with the evasive Wisconsin Republican. (“Your questions are rude,” Ryan barked as he got into his SUV, closing the interview.)

And those who do answer questions about the policies they promote are quite blunt. Scott Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation, is asked if his conservative think tank only advocates on the behalf of wealth. “Yeah – you just can’t help it,” he replies. 

This is a 25-minute episode, which might be too long for some to watch. But if you only have a few minutes to spare, just slide the bar over to the 20:00 mark. You could even mute the volume. The next three-and-a-half minutes of the clip provides a rather vivid video grasp of the current economic situation in the U.S.

You’ll see the excitement and enthusiasm swarming the campus of Harvard University as it hosts an outdoor graduation ceremony, a rite of passage for the children of wealth to go on and score their own.

And then you’ll see the team of common Americans scouring the area after the ceremony, cleaning up all the trash those wealthy folks left lying on the campus grounds.

Right after that segment, put the volume back on to hear what’s probably the most succinct of summations on the subject.

According to Leo Hindery, a progressive political activist, “This degree of inequity will ultimately lead to social upheaval – it’s that acute.

“But the politicians aren’t listening (to the public),” Hindery says. “They’re listening to the lobbies. They’re listening to the wealthy people.

“We’ve got to disconnect.”

The Koch brothers make major contributions to Republican politicians and so-called "think tanks," which then turn around and tell the same lies over and over again.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont shows the series of slime in this video, which was produced by Brave New Foundation:

Here are the actual facts about Social Security (from KochBrothersExposed.com):

From The Other 98%  (and use that link to get a large, non-smeared version of the image). Download it and spread it around!