S.C. House members gave key approval Thursday to a state budget that would cut income taxes, give state employees a pay raise and provide health insurance to poor children.

Democrats tried unsuccessfully during three days of debate to remove a proposed $81 million income tax cut from the $7.3 billion budget. They argued the money would be better spent on health care or paving roads, but the Republican-controlled House easily defeated every suggestion.

Charlotte Observer

Doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me.

Here is my favorite part:

“Republicans are about cutting taxes — that’s what we do,” said Rep. Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont, chairman of the budget-writing committee.

I won’t know what to do with myself once I get there.  I mean…..  real Republicans?

UPDATE — BREAKING NEWS — UPDATE

Apparently, an official Draft Thompson 2008 PAC will be launched today and include several “prominent” names in the political world.

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It seems Bill Frist has really taken the Thompson Draft campaign to the next level. He has mailed out to his entire email list, he’s writing letters to the editor, and apparently talking him up at all his public events. I have to assume he’s also reaching out to his donor network too, which is not insubstantial. Today he posted on his blog again about the Draft Thompson effort:

1. I talked to Fred Thompson last night, really just to share with him the tremendous support that he has received from all of you who have blogged on the Volpac web site over the past 4 days. In your messages many of you have given specific suggestions, and I passed them on to him. If there are messages, or ideas that you’d like to get to Fred, write them below, to stimulate others with your ideas, and I will share them with Fred. Now is the time for big ideas … big, true conservative ideas that rise above the fray. Fred is listening. He will carefully consider running over the next several weeks. His public statements exactly reflect what he is thinking inside.

Our friend Karol over at Alarming News notes that some of us like Senator Fred Thompson and that we rarely like anyone. Well, Karol we like conservatives and no viable conservative candidate has thrown their hat in the ring, yet.