The Chief heard on the radio that SB-67 (see the immediate previous post) has been killed.
A good blow against Pierre’s tendency towards Nanny-stateism!
Category Archives: SD Politics
Pierre Nannyism Strikes Again!
When heard on the radio this morning driving to the school where the Chief currently teaches, there was a sudden need to focus on not driving off the road! Somebody up at Pierre needs a good sharp whack upside the head with a cluebat.
Nanny State alert: SB 67 – Mandatory applications for college
PP at Dakota War College has it all laid out for dissection, starting with this:
But now there’s been a bill doing just that – telling people what they HAVE to do – which has been submitted to the SD Legislature.
SB 67 is a brand new bill that will “require high school students to submit at least one application to a postsecondary educational institution.†(It’s so new, the text hasn’t been posted.)
UPDATE: The bill text is now HERE.
PP goes on with more comments on this one…which I COULD repeat…but go read his post, & consider my own point to be made.
THis is SOOOOOOOOOO far out of reality, further description would be futile.
Predictable Opposition to Refinery Emerges
Refinery proposal ignites battle for support
The predictable NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) reaction to Hyperion Energy’s proposed Union County, SD oil refinery is off and running.
Whatever. Typical NIMBY opposition to any form of serious economic development (unless it’s a project of your own).
This will be a long, drawn out argument…and hopefully the project will proceed. The country needs refineries, and the 1800 permanent jobs will be a strongly positive addition to the state.
SURPRISE! SD Donks Want Bigger Fed Program
Congress working on veto-proof SCHIP bill
Here’s a shocker: South dakota’s Donk Congresscritters (Herseth-Sandlin, & Johnson) both support the current scheme to expand the SCHIP – State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The nominal justification of this is to provide health care coverage for children in circumstances of poverty, yadda, yadda, yadda.
The current version of the law expires September 30th. The proposed replacement that the Donk Congresscritters are pushing for would massively, and expensively expand the coverage…with poverty afflicted children now being in families of up to $80,000 income.
The program, in concert with individual states, covers children in families earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. There are ongoing efforts in Congress to expand that to take in more children from higher income families and even adults who care for them. Democratic proposals range as high as $35 billion. It would make the total cost of the program about $60 billion within five years.
So, our own Donk Congressette Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin has admitted to be working a sort of political calculus: how to change the cost of the program to increase as much as possible to expand government dependency (Hey, she’s a Donk – that’s what they do!) while still able to reach enough votes to be veto-proof, since the Prez won’t accept the proposed expansion:
Bush considers that an incremental step toward socialized health care and threatens to torpedo such expansion. He wants to see the program grow by no more than $5 billion.
Herseth-Sandlin says Congress this week “is figuring the best way forward in light of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to call the administration’s bluff on that veto threat. “I know President Bush prefers an extension of the law. That’s an option on the table. But that misses an opportunity to expand coverage in a reasonable way that, in my opinion, is paid for,†she says.
SUBTEXT: How much trimming can we do to con enough Republicans into backing us so we can push this through and stick one to the President? Also note Ms. H-S describes this as expanding coverage “in a reasonable way”. Coverage for children up to $80K income? Also, this raises the ages of eligibility for “children” into their nid 20’s. Looks like her Donk colors are showing through, and the “blue dog” isn’t really very blue af all…shocking!
Bush considers that an incremental step toward socialized health care and threatens to torpedo such expansion. He wants to see the program grow by no more than $5 billion.
We surely should not be setting up this sort of new entitlement. It sure looks to the Chief like the President has the right idea for once, as does Sen. Thune (R-SD)
Sen. John Thune supports Bush’s position on the issue. “I strongly support continuing the SCHIP program, but I do not support the Democrat effort to radically change this successful program from its original intent,†he said.
Former Senator SD’s Terror Connection?
The Chief was catching up with some stuff and found this at MEMRI.
Abourezk on Hizbullah TV: The Arabs Involved in 9/11 Were Cooperating with the Zionists
Kind of breath-taking to find a noted if not notorious South Dakotan with unabashed sympathy for Islamoterr organizations and their agitprop memes. I suppose the former Senator felt like he just had to keep up with Kucinich on the TV.
You don’t have to take my word for this stuff…the video is also at MEMRI…so you can see this venting of anti-semetic and pro-Hezbollah propaganda for yourself.
The following are excerpts from an interview with former U.S. senator James Abourezk (D-SD), which aired on Al-Manar TV on August 30, 2007. To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1551.htm.
To start with:
Interviewer: “Mr. Abourezk, welcome to Al-Manar TV.”
James Abourezk: “Thank you very much.”
Interviewer: “It’s good to have you.”
James Abourezk: “Yes, I watch Al-Manar on one of the cable channels in America.”
Chief’s note: Al-Manar is the TV service of the Damascus-based, Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization. Supposedly Hezbollah is not supposed to have access to US cable access, and although this apparently is NOT enforced it doesn’t stop Abourezk from complaining about the non-enforced policy anyway. (Hmmmm. with Abourezk’s office in Rapid City, is the cable outfit there carrying this, or is Abourezk hanging our these days in D.C., or somewhere else?)
Interviewer: “Good, that’s excellent. Especially [considering] the fact that Al-Manar TV was banned in the U.S. Does that really show something which is like shooting the freedom of expression?”
James Abourezk: “Well, freedom of expression is free for those whom the government likes. If they don’t like them, freedom of expression goes out the window, apparently.”
Right, Senator…that’s why you have been arrested for seditious (if not treasonable) activity! NOTE: The constitutional definition of treason against the United States includes “…adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort…”.
Hezbollah is definitely an enemy of the United States. One can quibble about an enemy not existing without a formally stated declaration of war…but the Chief, in his simplicity, uses a simple reality check: “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck. Again. Hezbollah is an enemy force in the world.
After calling Harvard Law School’s Alan Dershowitz “a real snake” for fefusing to support an Islamofascist agenda, he moves on to another topic: Hezbollah terrorists are “resistance fighters”.
Interviewer: “You also called Hizbullah and Hamas ‘resistance fighters.'”
James Abourezk: “They are.”
Interviewer: “While the U.S. administration brands them as ‘terrorist organizations’…”
Maybe because they are noted for committing acts of terrorism.
James Abourezk: “That was done at the request of Israel. That name was done at the request of Israel – that the United States calls them terrorist organizations.”
Now we get down to it: the whole misunderstanding of the “resistance fighters” is due to the influence of the evil Jews. (All together now: Seig Heil!) After some further discussion of how the REAL terrorists of the world are Israel, it’s time to get back to one of the the current fave raves of the (Daily)Kos gang: 9-11 Conspiracy!
Interviewer: “Here I need to ask you something, which is growing and escalating in the Western world, and particularly in the U.S., which is this immense wave of anti-Arab, anti-Muslim sentiment, lumping all Arabs together as ‘terrorists.’ This was clearly manifested in movies and TV series, like 24. Why? Why now? Is it just after 9/11?”
James Abourezk: “No, it’s after the Soviet Union collapsed. The Zionists were looking around for another enemy to have, because to them the Soviet Union was an enemy because they wouldn’t allow Jewish emigration. So they used that as an organizing tool, basically, and when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was no more organizing about the Soviet Union. So they looked around, and they said: Well, the Muslims. Let’s find the Arabs and the Muslims, and make them the boogeyman. And that’s what they did.”
Interviewer: “But why did this sentiment of hatred increase after 9/11?”
James Abourezk: “Well, because the Arabs who were involved in 9/11 cooperated with the Zionists, actually. It was a cooperation. They gave them the perfect excuse to denounce all Arabs. It’s a racist sort of thing, really racist – you know, picking out these 19 or 20 terrorists – they were terrorists – and saying all the Arabs are like them. So, you know, people in America don’t really look at it that deeply, and they accept what the government and the press are saying.”
Of course the fact that approximately 3000 Americans were murdered by Islamoterrorists in the United States couldn’t have anything to do with it, could it? (Nooooo. It’s all a Jewish-Bushitlerian plot!)
With some discussion of US policies vis-avis Syria (Bad USA, good Syria!), he ends this with slavering adoration for the Hezbollah war on Israel.
Interviewer: “Sir, in 2001, you came all the way from the U.S. to Lebanon to congratulate Lebanon, the Lebanese, and the resistance for the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon. Now what do you say during this time, which is in remembrance a year of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the earthshaking victory of the resistance, supported by the people of Lebanon. What do you say to them?”
James Abourezk: “That was quite an extraordinary thing, I thought. I actually marveled at the Hizbullah resistance to Israel, how they did it. It was a marvel of organization, of courage and bravery. I thought it was quite something.”
Interviewer: “Do you think it’s only the courage and organization that made them do this?”
James Abourezk: “Yes, absolutely. They were highly organized, the resistance, and they were very brave. They didn’t turn and run, like some Arabs armies have done. They were defeated because of that. But this is something new for the Arab world. I said at the time: The Lebanese army should ask Hizbullah to come and organize it, to train them, you know. And all the Arab armies should have the Hizbullah come and do that.”
OK. So Hezbollah is the model for the whole Arab world. Ponder that one! ’nuff said.
Fortunately this interview came to an end before I became TOTALLY nauseous. F.E.T.E.
Senator Returns to Public Life
Johnson speech open to public
Senator to appear at Convention Center
U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota will speak Tuesday at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, his first public event since being stricken by a debilitating brain hemorrhage in December. The South Dakota Democrat will be accompanied by his wife, Barbara, three grown children and their spouses, and five grandchildren.
Best of wishes to SD’s senior Senator and his family as he returns to public activity.
That having been said, the Chief DOES reserve the right to continue to be very skeptical of the Senator’s political stance and actions.
Senator Still Missing in Action
Johnson won’t be attending re-election fundraiser
From Dave Krantz in the Argus:
An invitation to an upcoming fundraiser for Sen. Tim Johnson’s re-election leaves the impression with some that the senator, not seen in public since a brain hemorrhage in December, will attend the event.
That is simply not the case, says Julianne Fisher, Johnson’s press secretary. Fisher told me the two-term Democrat is not scheduled to be there.
With all the glowing and optimistic reports on the Senators recovery from Donk exSen Daschle and others, one MIGHT think that something would be heard from the Senator himself. One is sure that there are excellent reasons for this not happening yet, but then that might tend to make one think that the state of recovery is reported…reflecting a more optimistic rather than realistic view.
NRO Reviews SD Politics
Round and Rounds
Will South Dakota’s Sen. Johnson run again?
A pretty good snapshot summary of the current prospects for the Governor, Senate, and House contests coming up this election cycle.
A few high points were particularly interesting.
There is a throwaway note that Daschle might be interested in the Senate if Sen. Johnson opts not to run again. (The Chief just KNEW someone should have used a crucifix and oaken stake on him after he lost to Thune in ’04!) Of course Stephanie Sandlin is also mentioned, in connection with the Senate seat, as well as the Governor’s mansion, in addition to continuing to hold her House seat.
On the GOP side, the declared candidates are noted, as is Steve Kirby, who is leaving his options open. The Chief thinks that he could make a credible candidate, especially if Johnson opts out.
Overall, the situation remains unsettled.
Thune: Fairness Doctrine – NOT!
Reject Orwellian Calls for Broadcast ‘Fairness’
SD GOP Senator John Thune has rhetorically smacked one out of the park concerning the recent ongoing Republocratic Demmican discussions of the restoration of the so-called “Fairness Doctrine”.
From its birth, our nation has put a high value on independent thought and freedom of speech. Our Founding Fathers themselves saw their lot as conscientious insurrectionists seeking freedoms they believed were inalienable rights. They understood the importance of permitting freedom of conscience whether it be in the religious, political, or social sphere. Today we continue to fight to preserve these freedoms both here at home and in many dark corners around the world.
Unfortunately, some in Washington DC are reviving an old idea that the government can, and should, regulate the reporting of news, information and ideas. If we take them at their word, they are doing it in the name of “fairness.” But if we look deeper, we may see motives not nearly so noble.
From this excellent start, Sen. Thune goes on to trace the history and effects of the so-called Fairness Doctrine, before concluding:
Since 1987 we have seen even greater growth in how we get news and information including the rise of talk radio, internet news sites, and blogs, yet some critics on the left are calling for the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine. The efforts of these critics, who are especially offended by the success of conservative talk radio, should be rejected. Our support for freedom of conscience and freedom of speech means that we must support the rights granted to even those with whom we disagree. Giving power to a few to regulate fairness in the media is a recipe for disaster on the scale that George Orwell so aptly envisioned.
I for one will strongly oppose any efforts to bring back the Fairness Doctrine or other policies similar to it. I have introduced legislation that would prohibit the FCC from reinstituting these policies, which is a good first step. I know the hair stands up on the back of my neck when I hear government officials offering to regulate the news media and talk radio to ensure fairness. I think most Americans have the same reaction. That is why I will do my part to ensure speech remains free and that Americans can continue to debate the issues of the day through our diverse forms of media in a free and open manner.
Hear, hear!
Thune: Immigration Reform? Not this bill!
Thune Comments on Immigration Vote
This comment by SD Sen. John Thune was issued after yesterdays vote.
Senator John Thune made the following comments today after voting no on a procedural vote on the proposed immigration reform legislation:
“The immigration reform legislation before the Senate is a flawed bill and I cannot support it. This bill would grant immediate legal status to over 12 million illegal immigrants before a single border security measure is implemented. By not taking the necessary steps to secure America’s porous border, this bill seriously undermines the security of our nation and the rule of law.“In addition to this being a flawed bill, the process to amend the legislation has been equally flawed. This bill was written behind closed doors by a small group of Senators, rather than going through the open committee process. Dozens of amendments to strengthen the bill have been blocked and the time for debate has been cut short. This kind of closed process does not do justice to the American people or the seriousness of this issue.”
A strong, and clearly stated position.
The Chief STRONGLY concurs!
Oil Refinery Possible
An area north of Elk Point is poised to be the home of a future oil refinery and energy complex that would create up to 1,800 permanent jobs and thousands more to build it, Gov. Mike Rounds said Thursday. “It appears we are the leading site,” Rounds said at a news briefing at the Dakota Dunes Country Club. Rounds said he hopes South Dakota lands the refinery, planned by Dallas-based Hyperion Resources, adding that “they have my support for this project.”
If it is built, the $8 billion project would be the first oil refinery built in the United States since 1976. It would refine 400,000 barrels of oil into low-sulfur gasoline and diesel fuel each day. Workers would earn $20 to $30 per hour, officials have said.
While there would be multiple benefits of this project coming in (which IMHO far outweigh the negatives), predictably enough the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) partisans are already sniping – you just know that would happen.
The Chief thinks that the positives of this project FAR outweigh the negatives, for the state, and for the nation as a whole, hopefully to break the logjam in the construction of needed refining capacity.
GlowBull Warming With Sandlin-Herseth
The Chief was on a road trip when the big story of SanFran Nan and her arctic exploration expedition was getting a lot of attention. As a result it didn’t get my full attention…although my scientific sensibility was offended by the concept that ANYONE could fly into Greenland, spend a couple days looking around, and then proclaim that they now were SURE that GlowBull Warming was occurring, since they had actually seen some ice fall into the ocean.
It COULDN’T have had anything to do with the fact that since the Greenland ice cap is accumulating MORE ice due to colder inland temperatures, that the ice along the coasts is being pushed out from the pressure of the new interior ice. It also couldn’t have anything to do with the fact also that it is now SPRING in the northern hemisphere, and yes, some ice does melt in the spring, even in the arctic, whether or not there are SUV’s making CO2. (What a concept!)
Of course, Greenland is still a long way from its condition when the Vikings discovered it a millenium ago, and named it GREENLAND because the coastal areas at least were ice-free and GREEN!
Finally, the Chief got caught up enough to also discover that South Dakota’s own Donk Cong Stephanie Sandlin-Herseth was part of the Pelosi GlowBull warming posse, ooking out for South Dakota. Why if she wasn’t on the job, it might even warm up here, to where our temperature MIGHT make it into the 70’s for more than a couple days this summer. What an environmental catastrophe THAT would be, right Stephanie?
Your tax dollar$ at work!
Here’s the New Donk, Same as the old Donk!
Herseth is a mainstream Democrat
Please, no more talk about how independent Stephanie Herseth is. You Democrat operatives can keep up the spiel about how hard she works, what a good listener she is, how good she is at bringing home pork, and how much common sense she has, but please, quit pounding on the “she’s an independent voice for South Dakota” theme.
Last week’s vote on the Iraq resolution revealed Herseth for what she is: a garden-variety, toe-the-line, mainstream Democrat.
The Chief whole-heartedly concurs with Alan Aker writing in the RC Journal on this one!
Basic Government
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
Just a reflection on recently attending the annual township meeting for Moody County’s Fremont Township
A lot of people in Political Science in academia and elsewhere, have a tendency to praise the New England Town Meeting as being an example of the most fundamental form of democracy.
I haven’t noticed much comment on the township system and meeting that we have here…which are almost exactly the same thing, but which all too many seem to ignore.
It’s really rather awesome the relative amount of power that one has just by showing up and participating in these meetings…multiplied all the more by what all too often is low participation. The Chief has heard about township meetings attended by the board, and just a few other people. Guess who makes the decisions in those cases? One person present, one vote!
It’s the same thing with the county Republican and Democratic committees. I know SOME counties have a good turnout…others not. If not the default for organizing and directing the party organizations is up to whoever has enough gumption to get out of the Lazy-boy and go to the meetings.
And then we all too often complain about political outcomes that we don’t like.
These opportunities are just as important, and in many cases even more effective in an immediate way than is voting in general elections. In our, and other townships, the matters discussed directly and literally deal with what happens where the rubber meets the road – as snow is plowed, roads graveled, and then graded for maintenance.
It’s well worth a bit of time to participate, and the whole process is better for it, especially if as is claimed, all politics is local.
’nuff said.
Herseth’s Blue Dog Credentials Fading Towards Pink
Here comes the new boss…just like the old boss…don’t get fooled again!
This posting isn’t based on any one thing…but is inspired by several recent events concerning our own Donk Cong. Herseth, which tend to indicate that her dog may be more redish than blue any more.
Firstly…
Noted (with ref links) at SDWC is the Donk Cong’s support for the union check card system – removing the worker’s right to a private vote on matters of union affiliation. (The Soviets would have been right at home with this one!) We don’t need no pesky secret ballots!
Next, Herseth voted in support of the Donk iteration of a cut and run from Iraq bill:
Divided U.S. House approves Iraq withdrawal plan
Democrats today successfully pushed through the U.S. House a hard-line war spending bill that would pay for the current wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan but require combat troops to leave war-torn Iraq by August 2008, if not sooner, a direct challenge to President Bush’s Iraq policy.
So, where’s our own Donk Cong?
On a mostly party-line 218-212 vote, Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., and a majority of her House colleagues passed a $124 billion spending bill that carries a list of benchmarks that Iraqis would have to meet, including bolstering their own security forces.
If unmet, the bill would require U.S. combat troops to be pulled out of Iraq by December 2007. If the Iraqi government is able to step up control of its the country, the bill requires forces to withdraw from Iraq by March 1, 2008, finishing by the end of August 2008.
This is really a weasel act. In case no one noticed, (and the Donks apparently haven’t) our policy already IS to train the Iraqi’s and move towards an eventual withdrawal. The problem with setting any type of date certain is that the enemy just has to pull in their horns and wait out the deadline, before coming back out to pick up the pieces.
In other words, this is a GUARANTEED formula for defeat…not exactly what a so-called Blue Dog Donk would support.
So much for supporting the work and sacrifice of those from South Dakota and elsewhere who are out on the sharp end in the War on Islamofascism.
The previous noted attempt of the Donk Congs to get the vote for DC is another opportunity for Herseth to show her colors…and the Chief has no doubt she will do so…but that they will show affinity with the national Donk agenda, rather than being representative of South Dakota values and interests.
We need to remember in November!
A Blow Against the Nanny State!
Rounds vetoes booster seat law
Gov. Mike Rounds vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have required some older children to be in booster seats while riding in vehicles. Rounds said the bill “proposes to criminalize the failure to place children between 5 and 8 weighing less than 80 pounds in a booster seat.”
He said compliance with the law might be nearly impossible in some instances. “Parents with large families and neighbors dropping children off at school come immediately to mind,” Rounds wrote. “I will not force South Dakota citizens to weigh their passengers before deciding whether to transport them to the movies. How can a law enforcement officer enforce this law? Are we going to provide scales to law enforcement to weigh each child before writing a warning ticket? Are we going to require children to carry identification or a birth certificate to prove their age?”
Good for the Gov!
Blows Against the (Sioux) Empire
The Federal Railroad Administration said Monday that it denied a $2.3 billion loan request by the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Co., which has tried for some 10 years to finance a third rail line into Wyoming’s prolific Powder River Basin coal mining district.
This is NOT good for the development of South Dakota’s economy and its infrastructure. Score points for the luddites amongst us. The Chief has to hope that the DM & E can figure out another way to leverage the project.
Daschle: DM&E made ‘strategic mistakes’
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said today he thinks the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad made strategic mistakes and could have worked better with communities in the region. “I think the DM&E may have made some strategic mistakes with regard to their planning and their approach,” Daschle said, “but they have indicated that perhaps there are other ways to come back with another business plan and I’m sure they’ll attempt to do that.”
It’s worth noting that Daschle was appointed to the Board of Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic who vociferously opposed the project as an undue trespass on their private fiefdom in Rochester. He also was involved with their hiring former SD Governator and Congresscritter Janklow into their fold.
Thi$, after both Daschle and Janklow unre$ervedly $upported the D M & E project when they were in office in $outh Dakota. Well, now they are not in $outh Dakota office, and $o much for any $ense of re$idual loyalty to the voter$ of $outh Dakota who elected them repeatedly over the year$. I $uppo$e that no one $hould reali$tically expect anything el$e from the$e paragon$ of public $ervice – they are member$ of the legalocratic mercenary cla$$ after all, and demon$trably have $hifted their loyalty to the $ervice of other$ who were willing to pay for the be$t lawyer$ (and connection$) that their money could buy.
Asked what mistakes he was referring to, Daschle said “not working as effectively with local communities as they probably should have.”
How could they have “worked more effectively with local communities”? Presumably by hiring Daschle and Janklow to work for them.