Haley, Sheheen, clash on health care reform

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley was in North Charleston Thursday with 1st Congressional District GOP candidate Tim Scott. Both are trying to make history in their races. If Haley is elected governor, she will become South Carolina’s first woman to hold that office. If Scott wins his seat, he will become South Carolina’s first black Republican congressman since Reconstruction.

Haley spoke about her campaigning with Scott.

We were basically having a press conference on how dangerous and how detrimental Obamacare is going to be for us. It’s going to cost South Carolina $900 million.

Haley said she wants to incentivize small businesses to carry healthcare and also pass tort reform that caps medical damages. Both spoke in front of a few hundred supporters.

Haley has often accused her opponent, Democrat Vincent Sheheen, of supporting the healthcare reform bill. After the press conference, Sheheen said that was not true. In an interview with SCRN, he said he opposes several parts of the law, such as unfunded mandates. He said he does want to ensure that children with pre-existing conditions are covered under their parents’ plans and that South Carolinians aren’t dropped when they get sick.

Sheheen said the next governor will have to work with federal lawmakers, rather than fight Congress.

The job of the governor is to make sure that we work with our congressional delegation and advocate on behalf of South Carolinians to let the federal government know, when they overstep their bounds, that South Carolina isn’t going to be able to pick up the price tag. 

He added that he thought Haley was trying to change the subject on personal problems dogging her campaign.

Clearly, this is a federal issue. Representative Haley seems to want to run for governor of the United States. 

Sheheen was also in Charleston Thursday for several campaign events.