We’ve knocked on hundreds of your doors. I’ve called hundreds of your homes. I’m actually comforted to know that I’m not the only person frustrated with the direction our current batch of politicians are taking our state and our nation.

Too many of us feel that our elected officials are more concerned with the desires of special interests groups than the needs of South Carolina taxpayers. Unfortunately, I believe that perception is accurate, it’s not right and it must change.

I have a deep respect for our current Representative Herb Kirsh. I believe him to be a good man who has served our state and district honorably. You will never hear me say a negative word about Mr. Kirsh. I just honestly feel that our state needs a renewed commitment to the fundamental issues and the core responsibilities of government and I’m ready to do the hard work it takes to move us in the right direction.

I wish we could go straight to work on the major issues, but I believe that we must first reverse the course this state is on before we can move forward again. We are headed down the wrong road at an accelerated speed. We must stop the car, turn it around and start heading in a conservative direction that returns us to financial stability and our core functions of government. Only then can we fix our weakened education system, improve our crumbling infrastructure, decrease our violent crime rates and create the type of environment that provides the jobs that will propel us to economic success.

So how do we REVERSE OUR COURSE?

We can’t sit back while special interests run our state and ruin job creation. Government was created by the people for the people, not by the people for million dollar special interests. We must start by passing:

– Stronger transparency and accountability laws so that the citizens will truly see what occurs in Columbia and to make sure our money can no longer be spent in secret.

– Spending caps to limit the amount of money politicians can throw at special interest driven pork projects.

– Zero-based budgeting to force government to fund essential services like public education, safe roads, and public safety.

– Term limits and tougher ethics laws to reduce the power of lobbyists in Columbia.

Once we stop heading in the wrong direction, we can pass the conservative laws that will fix our state and move us in the right direction.

If you’d like to talk about these ideas with me, you can call my cell phone at 803-984-6616.

Right now we are activating our Get Out The Vote team. If you’d like to be part of the Pope Team, sign up by clicking here.

Thank you for your support,

Tommy