Tag Archives: SD Politics

SD Politics

Legislative Wrap – Consolidation Edition, & More

First note would be the previously posted comment on HB1182 which the Chief has Officially Designated as the Small Schools Death Act, imposing a mimimum size limit of 195. This was sent to the hypothetical after-life of the much noted but non-existent 41st Legislative Day of the session.

Then comes HB1298, which would start the theoretical ball rolling towards shutting down one of the SD University campuses. There MAY be some merit to this, depending on how it was done. (Of course there’s still no need for a full campus at Sioux Falls where there are more people concentrated, but hey, what does THAT matter?)

…and now that the consolidation juggernaut is starting to roll for schools, why stop there? All those pesky COUNTIES could consolidate too, according to HJR1002. Of course only 43 counties would probably mean more virtual distance between the Legislooters and those they represent, and that would be a disadvantage…or would it…Hmmmm…from the Legislooter’s point of view, maybe it wouldn’t be a disadvantage at all.

In the never ending search for fresh blood more money comes SB171 to tax pipelines…er…to levy a fee to protect us against pipeline spills (which are SO everyday, aren’t they?).   This would set up a fee per unit of volume passing through the state.  Pretty slick, eh?  Historically, reminds the Chief of the ORIGINAL “robber barons”  in their castles on the hills dominating the Rhine River…where they could and did collect fees on everyone and everything that sailed past them on the river.

It’s even better than road use fees on truckers since the state doesn’t even have to build or maintain the pipelines.

It just goes to show, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Finally, after losing their attempt at ending term limits, they’ve brought it back from the grave, like a bad vampire movie or something:

A state Senate committee has recommended lengthening the term limits that apply to South Dakota lawmakers.

Current law provides that a Senate or House member can serve no more than eight consecutive years in a chamber, although a lawmaker can switch and run for another chamber after being term-limited in one.

The State Affairs Committee voted 5-4 Wednesday to endorse SJR3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend term limits to 12 consecutive years in a chamber. It also would change the current two-year terms in the Senate to four years.

Bringing this back indicates that they just don’t get it.

SD Politics

Legislative Wrap – Gambling Edition

It’s the high legislative season in South dakota, and the Chief has taken cognizance of some pithy items that have inspired some commentary:

Democrats push higher state cut of gambling

DISCLAIMER: The Chief is opposed to state-run lotteries or gambling to raise government money. Personally, the Chief considers lotteries and gambling a self-assessed voluntary tax on stupidity. You decide for yourself how stupid you are, and pay accordingly!

If something the government does is important enough to people, they they had darned well be willing to face the reality that things cost money, and somehow contrive to raise enough taxes to get the programs they want. If raising taxes to do this is too onerous, then it may be supposed that the programs maybe aren’t that important to people after all, and deserve to go away (or not get started as a means for Legislooters to bnbe the constituency for votes).

A group of Democratic legislators want state government to take a bigger cut of the South Dakota video lottery revenue.

Rep. Peggy Gibson, D-Huron, is prime sponsor of HB1290, which would give the state 60 percent of the net machine income from video lottery. The state currently takes 50 percent. The higher state cut would last only until July 1, 2010.

What else can be said, except to note that Legislooters do what Legislooters do…try to figure out how to extract rvrtmore money from us to give us stuff that we get to pay for, to impress us so we vote for them again.

(Am I REALLY that cynical about it? Yeah…maybe so.)

Senate panel endorses plan to block Iowa casino

A proposed constitutional amendment that could lead to a huge casino in Sioux Falls was approved Wednesday by a South Dakota Senate Committee.

The measure’s main sponsor, Senate Democratic Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls, said SJ1 is not aimed at building a Sioux Falls casino but is intended to be a threat to prevent construction of a casino in Larchwood, Iowa, only a few miles from Sioux Falls.

The mind is boggled by the prospect of amending the state constitution to allow more gambling…in order to prevent…more gambling! (Dang! More gambling Means Less Gambling! That fits right in with WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, etc. I had NO idea that George Orwell was still alive and had moved to Pierre!)

In the short term it might actually slow the wascally Iowegians in Larchwood, but you just KNOW if the authorization is written into the SD Constitution, somewhere down the line there will be an oh-so-vital need to exercise it.  Just put the two items together:  more money and more (potential) gambling…and then it’ll be Katie bar the door to stop S.F, Rapid City, etc. from getting a taste of being mini-Vegas.  What legislooter could resist the combination?

SD Politics

Killed: Small Schools Death Act

This occurred as the SD Legislature continues its annual session. It indicates to the Chief that there is evidence of at least some reason being present this year at the session.

Panel kills plan to raise minimum school size

A bill to make more small schools in South Dakota reorganize is premature, a House committee says.

The House Education Committee voted 12-3 on Wednesday to kill HB1182, a bill that would have required schools with fewer than 195 students to reorganize with other districts. Two years ago legislators passed the current law, which requires reorganization for schools with fewer than 100 students.

The Legislature should see how the current law works before raising the reorganization bar, opponents of the higher minimum size said.

This is a perennial proposal that bubbles up like an unpleasant gas released from the bottom of a slough while duck hunting. It doesn’t help in accomplishing anything, but just gives evidence that something (or someone, in this case) has gotten stirred up.

The given reason for this is of course (genuflect appropriately!) is to save money, which as a general principle is ALWAYS a laudable, if too rare, a thing for any governmental body to contemplate. In this case however, earlier testimony indicated that this would not be the result of this scheme.

State education officials testified earlier that reorganization wouldn’t necessarily save money because the state-aid formula is based on a per-student cost.

So, what’s the point then?

Given that there may be occasional cases of smaller districts being educationally deficient, in most cases this is not a problem, based on testing results. If local communities are willing to support their schools of whatever size, and the school district is able to work our a modus operandi that meets the needs of the students and community, then WHY IN THE HECK ARE SOME LEGISLATORS FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES SO BOUND AND DETERMINED TO IMPOSE THEIR IDEA ON THEIR FELLOW SOUTH DAKOTANS, WHEN THERE IS NO OBVIOUS GAIN IN DOING SO?

Maybe somebody knows, but the Chief sure can’t see the reason in it, so for that reason it is a good thing that H.R. 1138 seems to have met its doom, at least for another year, and community based schools like Rutland, Oldham-Ramona, and others will be able to continue serving the educational (and yes, also social) needs of their areas, just as do the schools of Brookings, Sioux Falls, Tea, Canton, or anywhere else.

SD Politics

Under the TARP

Senators switch stances on federal bailout

Three months after splitting their votes on the $700 billion bank bailout, South Dakota Sens. Tim Johnson and John Thune are poised to swap sides on whether to release the second $350 billion installment to the U.S. Treasury.

Thune, a Republican, originally voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) while Johnson, a Democrat, originally voted against it.

A couple of thoughts on this:
Firstly, Johnson won his re-election, so he can climb back on board the Obamanation juggernaut of state without fear of the consequences, in spite of the poor record racked up by the previous applications of “bail-out” funding.

Thune on the other hand is showing the possibility that he is educable…inclining at least in the direction of John Maynard Keynes observation about changing one’s mind when the facts change.

But after seeing how the Bush administration spent the first half, Thune said he’s leaning against letting President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration spend the rest.

Thune said he’s unhappy that President Bush loaned $17.4 billion from the fund to Chrysler and General Motors to help them avoid bankruptcy.

Others have complained that the TARP fund has been used to recapitalize financial institutions rather than buying their troubled assets as initially planned. Banks have used the money to bolster their bottom lines, not to make more loans.

Sen. Johnson is no doubt beyond hope, but the Chief hopes that Sen. Thune continues to move into the opposition to what IMHO has turned out to be corporate welfare on the grandest, and most abusive scale in the history of the Republic.

SD Politics

Gov. Surprised by Sudden Legislative Session?

A number of things in Governor Rounds’ budget message this year that at first glance seem to make sense…but…so sorry! No figures ready yet. Stay tuned until the 21st, which sort of leaves the legislature twiddling their thumbs as regards their most significant function.

Maybe Gov. Mike needs to get a Palm, or Blackberry or something, along with instructions on how to set reminder alarms. If this was a college paper, coming in 2 weeks late would earn an “F” grade.

Granted, in the current economic situation this job is harder than usual, but really, it’s not like the opening of the 2009 Legislative Session was a surprise…or was it?

SD Politics

Johnson Taking Conservative Role on Bailout!?!

The Senate bailout vote

Sen. Tim Johnson (Donk, SD) voted against the Great Gravy & Omnivorous Omnibus Bailout Bill (GGOOBB), while Rep. Sen John Thune voted in favor of it.

So who’s being more conservative these days?

Two probable factors involved here, in the Chief’s humble opinion.

(1) The DC Senate Donks KNEW there were PLENTY of votes to pass the GGOOBB and gave clearance with a wink and a nod to Johnson to vote no, in cognizance of his delicate condition as a Donk seeking re-election in SD, considered a solidly “Red” state (at least Presidentially).

(2) Sen. Thune has a LONG record of what was referred to in Naval Terminology as “brown-nosing” McCain, going back to the McCain-Feingold Political Speech Limitation & Incumbent Protection Act (otherwise known as campaign finance “reform”), and more recently, his EARLY heartfelt endorsement of McCain.

So, what’s new? Politics as usual?  Maybe it’s a bit more cmplicated at that…the tax aspects of this thing are causing a number of libDonks to oppose it, or at the least to wrinkle their noses, while the otehr earmarks have the same effect on the conservatives.  So who knows REALLY without reading the whole 400+ page GGOOBB.

Probably no one knows for sure, because no one has actually read the whole thing.

Culture Wars, SD Politics

McCain Loses It, Big Time.

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Treasury Could Begin Spending $1 Trillion on Bailout Without Congressional Approval, McCain Says

What’s the point anymore? If there isn’t any difference between the Republocratic and Demmican candidates, then what’s
the advantage of electing one party over the other?

Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, indicated on Tuesday that the Bush administration could simply bypass Congress, if necessary, to begin dealing with the nation’s financial crisis. “The Treasury has at its disposal about a trillion dollars that they could begin, without congressional authority, buying up some of these terrible mortgages and help stabilize the situation,” Sen. John McCain told Fox & Friends.

In other words, “Hey, we HAVE the money (or at least the printing press!), so who’s going to stop us from spending it? Screw teh will of Congress, who has the gall to actually listen to their constituents on this. What do THOSE bozos know anyway?”

At this point, as far as the Chief is concerned the ONLY two things that John McCainiac has going for him are
(a) National security issues, and
(b) Sarah Palin. (She would be an improvement if he were to die…she’s more conservative than he is by a long shot.)
IT’s not a

SD Politics

Thune Catches RINO-virus With anti-Drilling Bill

Senate “Gang” (Including Thune) Sells out to Donks on Drilling

Not-So-Slick Oil Bill

Intro to Article: Some GOP senators allied with Democrats are peddling a “drilling” bill that actually adds exploration restrictions, raises taxes and may even end up meaning no new domestic oil. Some Republicans never learn.

Does this ever nail it! It’s even worse than Charlie Brown trying to kick the football!

Whenever the nation is faced with a big problem that the people demand be solved, we can always be sure of one thing: A group of Republican senators will scramble away from their party’s principles to join Democrats in some grand “compromise” scheme.

This kind of stuff just drives me nuts! What’s wrong with showing some cojones for a change instead of falling for the false belief that a “Republican” compromise gesture gets us ANYTHING, except farther away from where we really need to be going.

Unfortunately SD’s lone GOP Senator John Thune has bought into (or been bought into) this display of political pusillanimity.  Or maybe the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) virus in in the CapitolHill water.

The bipartisan “Gang of 10,” led by Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Democrat Kent Conrad of North Dakota has grown into a “Gang of 16,” with GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and John Sununu of New Hampshire the newest misguided Republicans. A more apt nickname would be “The Gang That Couldn’t Think Straight.”

The “comprehensive” bill that these four, plus fellow Republicans Bob Corker of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and John Thune of South Dakota are joining with Democrats to push would exclude — permanently — the entire Pacific Coast from drilling. It would also limit a lot of the Atlantic Coast, and ban drilling anywhere within 50 miles of shore.(Emphasis added.)

Hey, Senator…if EVERY ACRE in the country was planted to ethanolic corn crops, it STILL wouldn’t be enough to maintain our fuel supplies…we need to drill wherever there’s oil – and the recent experience of the Gulf production platforms in the face of repeated hurricanes, shows that this can be done with extremely minimal environmental risk.

It’s almost enough to make a life-long (the Chief started his involvement with Youth for Goldwater before he could even vote) Republican activist give up on the once Grand Old Party…but for what alternative? Maybe it’s time to revive the Whigs or something, since The Libertarians, and other minor parties are fatally flawed at present by their hopelessly blind situational awareness concerning the national security problems we have with Islamofascism, and the resurgent Soviet Union Russia and Putin’s Cold War II.

SD Politics

Government vs. Government

Districts can’t pay to sue S.D.

School districts don’t have the authority to spend district money to support their lawsuit that challenges the state’s education funding system, a Pierre judge ruled Thursday. Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur also ruled that school districts don’t have the standing to sue the state to declare its education funding system unconstitutional.

This one leaves the Chief somewhat conflicted… like happening upon a rattlesnake fighting with a scorpion. Neither side in the argument makes you want to pick a winner.

It’s a fact that SD is at the bottom of the heap for teachers’ pay scales. (It’s also a fact that the Chief is teaching at a SD school district that is at the bottom of the SD heap.) More money would be good for this, but…

The Chief has also noted in SOME cases at least, that school boards, administrators are all too willing to spend money on their pet interests, and ignore (if not actually de facto denigrate) the teachers, and their needs and concerns.

On the other hand, there’s a REAL queasy feeling when one level of government starts spending tax money to sue another level of government about not getting enough of THEIR tax money passed down the line to them, which also requires the defendent side to spend even more tax money to counter the suit.

Sort of reminds the Chief of MAFIA fighting over the take of the protection/extortion rackets.

The final upshot? No matter how it turns out…the taxpayer takes it in the shorts, and the lawyers out to do good, end up doing right well for themselves!

Anyway, this decision doesn’t bode well for the school boards in this case.

SD Politics

Sen. Johnson Speechless in Debates

This has been out there today…and is still worth noting:

Sen. Tim Johnson says no to debates

Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson says he won’t take part in “traditional political debates” during his 2008 re-election campaign. Johnson suffered a brain hemorrhage in December 2006 and went through extensive rehabilitation, slowly learning to walk and speak again. The 61-year-old Johnson, whose speech is slurred, is still undergoing speech rehab.

“I have been open and honest about my recovery,” he said in a news release. “While my speech continues to improve, it is not yet 100 percent and I have not yet reached a point in my rehab where my participation in a debate would accurately reflect my capabilities. Therefore I will not participate in traditional political debates during this campaign.”

To notice the 500 lb gorilla in the corner on this one, the Chief would note the possibility that the point reached in his rehab WOULD accurately reflect his capabilities. Of course no one is supposed to actually say so, but it’s still sitting there anyway.

More surprising to the Chief is the following, from the Argus-Leader:

Update: Johnson repeatedly vowed to debate before today’s decision to back out

After initially vowing to participate in political debates, Sen. Tim Johnson said today he would not debate Republican challenger Joel Dykstra. When Johnson announced he planned to run for reelection, Dykstra said, “he was quoted early on as being committed to debating his opponent… We hoped his campaign staff would have let him complete that promise.”

Johnson’s past statements show that Friday’s announcement is an abrupt departure from what the senator and his campaign manager said previously:

The piece then goes on to cite the specific instances when the debate question was previously discussed:

• In December, Johnson said in a conference call with reporters that he will participate in debates if he is asked. “How many and where are put in reserve, but I will participate in debates,” he told the Associated Press.
• In March, Steve Jarding, who heads the Johnson campaign, told the Argus Leader there will be debates.
• In April, Johnson again told the AP that he expected to debate the winner of the Republican primary.

Jarding said Friday the senator was not talked out of debates by his staff. “It’s his decision. Tim’s his own guy. He knows himself best, and God knows with health issues that should be in his hands,” says Jarding. “Obviously the calculation the Johnson staff has made is they feel the cost of snubbing the Dakotafest debate (and subsequent debates later this fall) is lower than the cost of doing it.

What surprises the Chief on all this is that the Argus-Leader actually pointed out the change in Johnson’s willingness to openly debate.

Culture Wars, SD Politics

Gov. Continues to Push for SD Pre-school

Witness skeptical about preschool

Gov. Mike Rounds continues to push for preschool standards in South Dakota, but a Stanford educator says studies so far don’t support a “full-scale” program.

Erik Hanushek, a Stanford professor who is among expert witnesses for the state in a school-aid lawsuit, seems lukewarm about the value of preschool, which he admits is “complicated.” “There are some good but very small-scale studies showing positive effects of preschool,” Hanushek said in an e-mail exchange. “Most of the positive effects, however, are not educational improvements but reductions in crime and incarceration. These might well be good investments for society, but they do not solve the education problem.”

Rounds, in an address to school superintendents in Pierre on Tuesday, said, “Preschool is something that is very, very important.”

EuroSocialists, Lenin, Hitler, and Plato would all be in agreement with the Governor on this one. How so?

Mrs. Chief recently received some correspondence from Norwegian cousins who related that their first child was starting the (government mandated) kindergarten – at one-year of age!!

Plato’s Republic advocated that the training of children was too important to leave to the parents, and that to obtain good citizens of the polis, systematic removal from parents for training was the ideal to be implemented.

The above noted 20th-century devotees of the superior wisdom and knowledge of their respective states (of totalitarianism) also advocated, and implemented programs to reduce the influence of parents in the early childhood education of children, again, in the interest of getting more reliable citizens of their versions of a “new world order”.

While Governor Rounds obviously is NOT in the category of these stark practitioners of the superiority of the state in all that matters, his trend on this issue is clearly in the same direction: that the early education of children is too important to leave to parents…this proposition being a (possibly unintended) keystone in the development of more TOTALitarian (get it? TOTAL – as in state control of all aspects of life, including for example, child-rearing) relationships between the state and the people.

This path is NOT a good direction to start down.

SD Politics

Petition Does End-run around Gov, Senate RINOS

H/T to PP at Dakota War College on this one. He notes that he got it on an e-mail notice…the Chief is on the same mailing list, but can’t access that e-mail acct. at work, but am posting anyway based on the second-hand version.

Clean and Open government act makes the ballot

South Dakotans for Open and Clean Government ballot committee today announced that Secretary of State Chris Nelson has certified the more than 26,500 signatures collected to place the South Dakota Open and Clean Government Act on the November ballot.

“This is a great moment for South Dakotans who will finally have their voices heard that they want more transparency in their government. This time, the bureaucrats will have to listen,” said Jim Anderson, board member from Sioux Falls. “The fact that better than one out of 15 voters in South Dakota has already gone on record as strongly supporting this vital initiative clearly indicates that it will soon become the law of our state.”

After the veto, and the support of the veto by Knudson et al in the Senate of SB 1233, this is a good follow-up response.

The measure submitted includes the following:

* Taxpayer funds could not be used to lobby or campaign for partisan political agendas, including increased taxes.
* Legislators and their staff would be unable to use their legislative positions to secure a “golden-parachute”, state-contracted job.
* The “pay to play” system — where state contracts are traded for campaign donations — would be outlawed.
* A simple, searchable website with information on all state contracts over $500 (excluding employment contracts), would be launched so citizens can know how their money is being spent.

Sounds like a plan!

SD Politics

SD GOP Notes

Quad County Lincoln Day at Brookings

The Chief was in attendance at the combined Brookings – Duel – Grant – Moody County GOP Lincoln Day dinner Friday night at Brookings’ new Shamrock center.

As one might expect many of the legislative and congressional candidates were on hand, and had a chance to give a thumbnail presentation of their candidacy and views.

H/W is the Chief’s humble reaction to some of this:

7th District Senate Primary:

An interesting race in the Senate primary between incumbent Orv Smidt, and DAKOTA WAR COLLEGE blogger Pat Powers. Smidt first noted his extensive ties to the Pierre and Brookings movers and shakers, and, as an example of his effectiveness commented on progress for the Federal mandating of state sales tax collections. Sen. Smidt cited the currrent $2M/year the state receives from the semi-voluntary sales tax collection that in in force now, and contrasted the expected $24M/yr haul after the new rules are in place. (DOUBLETHINK ALERT!) He THEN stated that this was a very good thing for the state of South Dakota, since it would help to prevent future tax increases!

HUH????!!!! Time out for a logic check: (Think, think.) $2M/year now, vs $24M in the future. No tax increase. Uhhhh…OK, so where is the extra $22M coming from, except from reaching deeper into the taxpayers’ pockets? Hmmmmmm. Taking more money from the taxpayers sort of seems like a tax increase to the Chief however it’s described. (If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then hey, must be a duck!).

By the way, not a word on voting to upbold the veto of the state spending disclosure website. I guess that’s not worth commenting on.

His opponent, Pat Powers, a late entry in the race, also introduced himself, and noted his support for the disclosure measure.

Admittedly, since the Chief is in the 4th District, not the 7th, he doesn’t have a dog in that fight…but if he did…the nod would have to go to PP, based on both these issues.

District 7 House: Incumbants Carol Pitts and Larry Tidemann both look good to the Chief.

8th District Senate: Russell Olson, looking to move up from the house to go for the Senate seat presently held by Dan Sutton (no comment). Hopefully he will be able to move up. This sort of stretched out district includes Flandreau, and the southern part of Moody County, along with Lake, and Miner Counties.

District 4 House: Incumbant Val Rausch not able to make it, but Brookings dairyman Jim Gilkerson who has also filed for the House was present. He presented a very strong, and very good statement of the basic Republican principles that would be the basis for his actions if elected. The Chief has known him and his family for a number of years, and looks forward to helping his campaign in northern Moody County as needed. He’s a great candidate, and will make an excellent legislator!

US House: Chris Lien will make a strong run for Stephanie’s seat…if he runs a strong conservative campaign she should have vulnerabilities resulting from her de-facto alignments with left-lib Donks in Washington.

US Senate: Kephardt vs Dykstra

Both candidates presented well. Dykstra correctly noted the fundamental importance of teh 2008 election cycle, but the Chief was particularly impressed with Kephardt’s highlighting some of the recent financial instabilities on and around Wall Street. This is an issue of fundamental importance…every bit as vital as the war on Islamofascism…and IMHO the fact that he was the only one to mention this, is a point in his favor.

Hmmmm. This race is tough. Both look good. Will take further thought.

SD Politics

Pierre Nannyism Strikes Again!

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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.

SD Politics

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.

SD Politics

SURPRISE! SD Donks Want Bigger Fed Program

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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.

National Insecurity, SD Politics

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.

SD Politics

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.

SD Politics

Senator Still Missing in Action

1 Comment

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.

SD Politics

NRO Reviews SD Politics

1 Comment

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.

SD Politics

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!

SD Politics

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!

SD Politics

Oil Refinery Possible

1 Comment

S.D. site in the lead

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.

SD Politics

GlowBull Warming With Sandlin-Herseth

3 Comments

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!

SD Politics

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!

SD Politics

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.

National Insecurity, SD Politics

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!

Culture Wars, SD Politics

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!

SD Politics

Blows Against the (Sioux) Empire

Feds reject railroad loan

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.