User:Tallguy68/Nikki Haley sandbox

Nikki Haley

Voting Record

Abortion Issues

Haley is pro-life and consistently votes for bills protecting unborn fetuses. She has also voted on bills that protect expecting mother's rights for extreme circumstances in which it might be necessary to get an abortion to protect the expecting mother's life. Several bills have been passed but other bills have been tabled, or killed. Some bills that Haley has voted on and that have gotten passed are the Penalties for Harming an Unborn Child/Fetus, Pre-Abortion Ultrasound, and the 24 Hour Waiting Period for Abortions. The Penalties for Harming an Unborn Child/Fetus says that any act of violence against the unborn fetus is like a criminal act against the mother. The Pre-abortion Ultrasound requires the woman considering an abortion to look at an ultrasound before making a decision in an attempt to prevent unnecessary abortion. In addition, the 24 Hour Waiting Period for Abortions requires the woman to wait one day from the time of the ultrasound before making a decision. Nikki Haley voted yes for all of these bills and all of them were passed at different times. However, some bills that were tabled or rejected include the Inclusion of Unborn Child/Fetus in Definition for Civil Suits Amendment, Prohibiting Employment Termination Due to Abortion Waiting Period, and Exempting Cases of Rape from Abortion Waiting Period. These bills focus more on the rights of the mother as well as the unborn fetus. The Exempting cases of Rape from Abortion Waiting Period would allow specific cases of women to not have to wait the mandatory 24 hours before having an abortion.

Taxation Issues

One of Haley's goals is to lower taxes through various bills that have been proposed. Just as with the abortion issue bills, some of these have been passed and others tabled or rejected. Haley has constantly voted against a bill that would override the governor's veto (when Mark Sanford was still in office) to place a surtax on every cigarette produced. The funds earned would be appropriated to smoking prevention programs and cancer research related to smoking. Haley actively fights wasteful spending in an attempt to lower taxes and work for the taxpayer. She voted yes for a bill that raised sales tax to six percent. The bill exempted sales tax on unprepared food such as canned goods etc. The same bill also exempts property tax on 'owner-occupied residential property' except for the taxes due from what is still owed on the property.

Immigration Issues

Nikki Haley, being the daughter of legal immigrants, believes the immigration laws should be enforced. She voted in favor of the law that aims to reform South Carolina's immigration policy. It requires employers to be able to prove that any newly hired employees are legal residents of the United States. The law has been adopted but is coming under attack. The United States sued South Carolina for its immigration law which also requires people to carry documentation proving that they are legally in the United States. The Federal Government says that the immigration law undermines their power and interferes with foreign relations. Rob Godfrey, a spokesman for Nikki Haley, said, "If the feds were doing their job, we wouldn't have had to address illegal immigration reform at the state level. But, until they do, we're going to keep fighting in South Carolina to be able to enforce our laws."

Education Policies

Nikki Haley has a conservative stance on education and how it should be done more effectively for the money that is being put into it (in South Carolina). One of her goals as governor is to stop the wasting of money and to redirect it to students and teachers. She believes that no community should be ignored and that every student should be offered the same opportunity for a quality education. She wants to see South Carolina move to the top of the charts in the United States, but to do that, the education in South Carolina needs reform. She has proposed a plan that would determine a teacher's salary not only based on the number and type of degree they have, but on performance as a teacher. Their performance would be determined by evaluations and reports from people directly involved withe the teacher, like the principal, students and parents. On her gubernatorial campaign, Haley said that she would be in favor of school choice and also wanted to see more charter schools develop. She wants charter schools to effectively be run by teachers and parents and to also shrink the South Carolina Department of Education. She believes that much of the wasteful spending happens because the money sits too long in the department before ever getting to students and teachers.

"Little girl" Incident

Following a trip to Europe to meet with potential companies that might invest in South Carolina and create jobs, Haley was criticized for the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on the trip. Over $127,000 was spent over the duration of the weeklong trip. She was criticized for spending the money on what seemed to some as unnecessary luxuries like five star hotels. A female reporter from The Post and Courier of Charleston asked Haley about an article that had criticized her trip and spending. On "The Laura Ingraham Show" Haley said, "God bless that little girl at The Post and Courier. I mean her job is to try and create conflict. My job is to create jobs. In the end I'm going to have jobs to show for it." Haley was then attacked by many for, what she later admitted were, her poor choice of words.