SC1 Candidate Profile: Teddy Turner

Name: Teddy Turner

Town of Residence: Mount Pleasant

Current/Most Recent Job Title: High School Economics Teacher

Employer: Charleston Collegiate School

Previously Held Public Office: N/A

See what the other GOP candidates said here.

Biggest Issue Facing District 1: Out-of-Control spending in Washington.

Turner Solution: 

The debts created by unaccountable politicians in Washington now constitute the chief threat to our very way of life, and the future of America. I’ll address this by first teaching Congress a simple lesson: We cannot spend our way out of debt, and Americans cannot be taxed into prosperity. Next, I’ll propose to cut budgets at most departments and agencies by 10 percent each year for the next three years. However, unlike the sequester, which hurls arbitrary cuts at critical budgets like America’s Defense Budget, I’ll propose that department and agency chairs identify specifically what will be cut. This is how it’s done in the private-sector; when large companies cut their budgets, department chairs identify what they can do without. Finally, I’ll fight for accountability in Washington. In business, results matter more than intentions. We must apply this basic principle to the legislative process moving forward. For if we do not, Congress will continue spending our money like a teenager who’s been handed a credit card without a spending limit.

2nd Biggest Issue Facing District 1: The cumbersome regulatory environment that is crushing businesses, costing Americans jobs, and hampering our economic recovery.

Turner Solution: 

Our Founding Fathers were the staunchest advocates for limited government in the history of the world, and they would be appalled by the extents to which the federal government has made regulators such noticeable fixtures in our markets. My approach to addressing this issue will be twofold: In order to help kick-start our economy by creating an environment that favors business growth, I will fight for regulatory reforms — namely, the removal of legislation like the Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and Patient Protection and Affordable Care acts from the books. Meanwhile, I’ll spearhead an effort to impose a so-called “sunset clause” on every existing and proposed law. That way, when Congress passes a law like Obamacare without even taking time to read its contents, and it proves tantamount to dropping a bomb on our economy, such a law will either expire a few years later, or politicians will have to put their necks on the line to renew it. This is an important step in any effort to put accountability back on the table in Congress.

3rd Biggest Issue Facing District 1: Political gamesmanship that puts America’s Defense Budget in the crosshairs of an unaccountable Congress.

Turner Solution: 

The Department of Defense is not just a leading employer for residents of District 1; our military is the chief defender of the liberties that define our American way of life. Inasmuch as political gamesmanship is likely to result in massive, arbitrary Defense Budget cuts that will hurt our district’s economy and our state’s economy, playing political games with our Defense Budget is bad for our country on the whole. We must cut spending in Washington. And while there are no-doubt ways to cut some spending from the Defense Budget, the Defense Budget is the last place — not the first — Congress should look when exploring ways to reduce federal spending. For none of the goals put forth in the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States will be attainable unless the federal government succeeds in achieving its Constitutional mandate to provide for the common defense. Meanwhile, at the local level, according to Treasurer Loftis’ office, the sequester will result in the loss of as many as 30,000 jobs in South Carolina. To prevent things like this from happening again, I’ll fight for a strong military, and I’ll seek out a seat on the Armed Services Committee.

Why are you the best person to represent District 1 in Washington, DC?

My life experiences make me the best candidate for this office:  From the leadership training I underwent as a student at The Citadel, from which I graduated in 1985, to having lived in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, to having worked for large corporations, to having helped create a public company, to later chairing that public company and serving on the board of another, to creating successful small businesses, to helping launch and lead nonprofit organizations like the South Carolina Maritime Foundation, to serving on a large college board, to my new career developing and administering curriculums for high school economics and personal finance classes at Charleston Collegiate School on Johns Island, to mentoring troubled youth in the Lowcountry, to being a husband and a father of three who looks at Washington and sees trends that indicate politicians want to experiment with the same failed models we see in Europe, and knows there is little time to right our ship of state before it sinks. Of course, not all of my pursuits have been successful — but sometimes failure can be the best of all teachers. Ultimately, my life experiences have imbued me with an understanding of not just how the world works, or the important role America plays in our world, but also the importance of hard work, and the importance of being of service to my community and those who have not been as fortunate as me. It’s these life experiences that will help me understand just how best I can be of service to our district and our country, and improve the lives of Americans as a member of Congress.

Keep up with all of Patch's coverage of South Carolina politics by following us on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.