Tag Archives: SD Politics

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S138 Tabled, Hopefully to R.I.P.

SB 138 is designed to implement something described as a method of selecting the President of the US by popular vote via a weirdly designed mechanism to by-pass amending  the Constitution.

The rationale for this is to be more “democratic”.   Humbug!

There were, and are sound reasons NOT to run our national system as a democracy.  I noted comments earlier on this from Madville Times, as well as on SD Politics, but was distracted from commenting byvarious  meteorological and mechanical events.  It is NOT fun to work on machines without a heated environment when the weather is what the weather was, but I digress.

My own feeling is that this sort of thing is not particularly of benefit.  The constitutional system was designed to be a non-democratic federal republic.  The stake-holders were the states, as well as the people.  The states had their place at the federal table by selecting the senators in the state legislators. (Personally, I think the 17th Amendment is well worth repealing, not that I expect to ever see it happen.)   The people had their input via the directly elected representatives.  The electoral college was a scheme to prevent the more populous states from automatically running rough-shod over the smaller states in the selection of the president.

The most frequently heard complaint about the current electoral college is that it can allow a failure in the Divine Commandment of Vox Populi, Vox Deus, as occurred most recently in 1980, and in a few cases before.  So what?  We survived the experience in good order.  The last time I checked last November the republic was still functional!

I have real trouble seeing how a popularization of the presidential vote can be of any benefit to small states.  I note that Cory cites an example of enabling concentration of funds in the large cities as being a possible GOP advantage, but frankly I don’t see it.  It doesn’t matter HOW much the GOP spends in L.A., Boston, New York, ‘Frisco, etc….they are probably not going to do very well, at least in the inner cities.  (The last time I visited the old home town of St. Louis, 24 of 28 city aldermen were of the Donkey persuasion.)  What would be more likely to happen with a popular vote scheme would be for the Donks to ignore the core cities, and rural areas, and pump THEIR funds into the suburbs to swing enough votes to make a difference.  The GOP would of necessity be forced into the same pattern to avoid being totally swamped.  In both cases, places like ND, SD, WY, MT, etc. would become virtually invisible in presidential elections if the prize automatically went to the pop-vote winner, which could be swung relatively easily by the larger urban areas.  (Farm vote?  We don’t need no steenkin’ farm vote!)

And the problem with that is…?  What is the guarantee to prevent a “democratic” majority for selecting an individual or party with a dedication to running rough over a minority’s interests, up to and including their right to do things like worship, or even live, to cite a couple of commonly denied things.  It behooves one who genuflects before the altar of democracy to recall that such luminaries of humanitarian civilization as Mussolini, Hitler, Ahmadinejad, or even Slobodan Milosevich were all elected!  Also, the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip more recently selected the wanna-be genocidalists of Hamas as their favored rulers.  But hey, that’s all OK if it’s “democratic”, right?

Wrong!  That’s why the designers of our republic’s constitution wisely (IMHO) hobbled the free-exercise of democracy.

(By the way, with the news as it’s been lately, it might be worth recalling just why they denied the vote to the District of Columbia.  It’s the same reason that D.C.’s street plot had all those circles with radiating streets:  cannon strategically placed could easily sweep the streets of rioters! (Look up the effects of the Roman and Byzantine mobs on their imperial politics.)

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The Taxman Cometh: Governor’s got the right idea, legislature not so hot!

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.
[1 Tucker 248 (N.Y. Surr., 1966)]

With a number of tax increase proposals on the table up at Pierre, one wonders whether they actually paid attention to the most notable trend in the last election: the widespread feeling that government at most levels is all too willing to meet any actual or perceived need and/or shortage with a tax increase to meet the self-defined necessity.

The Chief has a budget of his own. When there seems to be a limitation on the availability of disposable income, something’s got to change. Inevitably, what changes is the elimination of desired spending (since I don’t own a printing press like the Federal Reserve does, nor do I have the ability to arbitrarily raise income by a legislative action.

As a result, any number of additional needs, including (but not limited to) a new pickup, several fine firearms of various calibers, some much-needed improvement in the technical capabilities of my HAM radio station installation, just to name a few things. Unfortunately, the income to acquire these wonderful things doesn’t seem to be there, due to the circumstances and vicissitudes of life, so priorities come into play, and such mundane items as food, propane, electricity for example trump the new truck, etc. C’est la vie.

Far too long, the legislative branches of government at all levels have grown accustomed to the idea that the needs of the government deserve a priority in all things that they, in their infinite wisdom deem to be important (certainly things that are more important than the insignificant desires of the citizenry to presume to manage their own money. This attitude has pretty much directly led to the unspeakably obscene federal deficits and debt, as well as the near (and impending) bankruptcy of some state and local governments.

Fortunately, South Dakota is not in that sort of position yet. We have been blessed to have been spared the worst effects of the current, and, despite D.C. cheerleader propaganda to the contrary, continuing economic distress. With the national economic reality catching up to the state, the revenue stream to Pierre is down, and the legislature starts immediately moves to keep the budget in line by raising taxes, rather than cutting spending to keep a budgetary balance.

This is not to deny that budget cuts, deferred spending, or even (shudder) cancellation of wanted spending are pleasant, but when needs must, the devil drives.

South Dakota finds itself with two points of view regarding the prioritizations involved in government finance, and the underlying assumptions that often are present: like the one that assumes that the current structure and composition of governmental agencies of all types is absolutely essential to the continued existence of the state. It MUST be essential, right? Otherwise past legislatures would have never set them up the way they are, right? So shut up and smile while you pay your taxes!

Any honest observer of the last election cycle HAS to note the reaction to the assumption that government (at all levels) must continue to grow, can never be cut, and is morally entitled by legislative fiat to seize however much of the citizens’ wealth it deems necessary to accomplish their aims. In the current SD setting, there are apparently is a financial dichotomy forming between those in the legislature and elsewhere who seek to continue (to some extent at leat) spending as usual, and on the other hand the Governor.

Firstly, IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW GOOD THE STATE’S PROGRAMS, AGENCIES, ETC. (including Education at all levels) ARE…if the money isn’t there, it isn’t there, and can’t be spent. If there is a contingency fund (which there is), it should be left for some emergency need…and shouldn’t be used just to kick the legislative ball down the road for one more year…with the problem only postponed. Sort of like a sinner’s prayer: “Help me Lord to turn away from my sins, but not quite yet.” The stable, and more realistic solution is that of the governor, as reported:
Daugaard: We don’t have any money to give

Gov. Dennis Daugaard defended his proposed budget in a tour of South Dakota communities last week, saying he slashed expenses for every department because the state “can’t give money we don’t have.”

Daugaard sat down with the Enterprise last week prior to giving a speech in Brookings. The governor described in detail his plan to cover an estimated $127 million structural deficit in one year with a proposed 10 percent spending reduction throughout state government.

His budget proposal includes cuts in state aid to school districts and reimbursements to those who provide services to Medicaid patients, both of which would have a significant impact in Moody County [and elsewhere]

Daugaard says he won’t raise taxes and is opposed to using reserves for operating expenses. He’s also pledged to veto any budget this year that doesn’t eliminate the deficit.

On the other hand, legislators are talking about (so far) nine tax increase measures. Even temporary increases are problematic, since a later simple act all too often makes them permanent. With the declines in disposable income than many in the state are experiencing from inflation (check your HyVee receipts, and gasoline costs for examples), and increasing taxes (at all levels), it shouldn’t be too much to expect that the legislature would get the picture, and realize that it’s not time to be raising taxes to continue currently unaffordable spending.

“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything that you have. — Barry Goldwater

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GOP South Looks Sort of Like South Dakota

Democratic South finally falls

Once upon a time, the South was known as the “Solid South” for the Donkey Party and “yellow-dog Democrats” kept it that way. (The name came from a proudly stated determination that they would vote for a yellow dog, if it was on the Democratic ballot.)

Times have changed, and this report on the current situation shows a real similarity between what’s happening in the south and the current condition of party politics in SOUTH Dakota.

For Democrats in the South, the most ominous part of a disastrous year may not be what happened on Election Day but what has happened in the weeks since. After suffering a historic rout — in which nearly every white Deep South Democrat in the U.S. House was defeated and Republicans took over or gained seats in legislatures across the region — the party’s ranks in Dixie have thinned even further.

THe gory details of what’s happening in Dixie have some resemblance to events in SD:

In Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama, Democratic state legislators have become Republicans, concluding that there is no future in the party that once dominated the so-called Solid South.

Hmmm. Nygaard’s jump in the SD Senate comes readily to mind.

The realignment in the South has resulted in more similarity to SD – with the GOP in control of both houses of the legislatures…in many cases for the first time since the post-Civil War reconstruction ended in the 1870’s.

The losses and party switching, one former Southern Democratic governor noted, “leave us with little bench for upcoming and future elections. There’s little reason to be optimistic in my region,…We can opportunistically pick up statewides every now and then, but building a sustainable party program isn’t in the cards.

Looks like the situation of the SD Donkeys at this point. While the benefits of a vigorous “loyal opposition” certainly are worth talking about…there is no entitlement for any party to hold power, win elections, etc. At some point, a pattern of overwhelming defeat HAS to be a big clue that there is a lack of situational awareness, and that there is a major disconnect between the afflicted party and the voters.

If any party continues to advocate and stand for policies and principles that the sovereign voters decide they want no part of, then what else could be expected than a pattern of electoral defeat and political stagnation. In the here and now, as long as the Democratic Party continues, like a stubborn donkey to adhere to the failed liberal-progressive paradigm, they will continue their slide, and IMHO, will deserve nothing more.

Meanwhile, if the Republicans assume they now have a license to play “politics as usual” and turn away from principles, they can easily end up in the same political dust-bin as the Democrats. Time will tell.

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Party Switch in SD Senate

Wow! The SD Democrats can’t even win when they win.

South Dakota Democrat switches to GOP after being elected to Senate

The already large number of Republicans in the South Dakota Legislature got a little larger today with the announcement by Sen-elect Eldon Nygaard that he would be switching his party affiliation to Republican just weeks after being elected into the Senate as a Democrat.

Nygaard, who represents District 17 covering Clay and Turner counties, said in a statement he made the move because his philosophy regarding government’s role in society is more in line with the Republican Party.

That being said, Nygaard is certainly free to do whatever he thinks is right regarding party affiliation…just as say, ex-US Senator Spector in Pennsylvania, or in the past, the party change of Scott Heidepriem did. It’s also understandable that District 17 Democrats might feel a bit ruffled about it all. C’est la vie.

This additional evidence of the political dominance of the GOP in South Dakota politics, gives a heavier burden to the Elephant herd, to insure that the party doesn’t fall into the trap of the 90’s GOP Congresses that decided that now that they were in charge, they could do the same kinds of crap that the Donkey party does, and get away with it. (For that matter, this is the same caveat that the new House of Representatives needs to keep in mind…right, Kristi?)

The Chief seriously wonders where the SD Democrats go from here to regain some life…just as an intellectual exercise, mind you, not a shift in the vote.
We can take the SDGOP’s party dominance isn’t based on the type of machine politics and corruption that much of the urban Democratic dominance is rooted in elsewhere in the country. Also, the very real contest between SHS and Noem shows that sizable numbers of registered SD GOP-ers are willing and able to swing across party lines if the spirit so moves them. That thought, if nothing else, should help the GOP keep a good sense of political situational awareness.

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Ag Assessment Changes Revolting

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I find myself both in a state of near-total agreement with Cory in this posting over at Madville Times, and in a state of astonishment at this unusual occurrence.

This is really a very badly screwed up system…under it’s application in Moody County, some very high productivity land in the southern part of the county had their assessments reduced, while land in the NW part of the county, qualitatively rated as mediocre based both on soil types as well as actual production figures had increases in the range of +50%. Result overall: our smallish county ended up with the highest increased assessment under the new order.

We had the opportunity to visit with Sen. Peterson (D), as well as Sen. Knudsen (R) who were involved in drafting the bill. While both agreed that the implementation in our county was not at all what they thought was in the law, neither could offer any resolution beyond the normal appeal process through the Township Board and thence to the Board of Assessment (County Councilors with a different “hat”.) Beyond that, nothing. It WAS amusing to see my wife literally back Knudsen into a corner as he tried to escape after one of the Gov. candidate forums at Brookings, but it didn’t help any with the problem.

As far as the appeal process…after presenting eleven years of actual and exact production figures for each field, both the township and county were in agreement about the quality and accuracy of our records…and made a minor tweak to the assessment, and said, “Have a nice day!”

As far as the County Treasurer was concerned, she stated to us that her hands were tied by the new law…and that she HAD to make the 55% increase in assessment in one year, which directly contradicted the STATED intent of Peterson, Knudsen, and company in the new law.

So, where does that leave things? Hopefully not where Sen. Rhoden wants them to be. Time will tell…meanwhile we figuratively batten down the hatches and await the onslaught of next years tax bill based on the new assessment. It’s not a joyful prospect.

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A moment in the sun…

The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader has a moment in the sun of the Drudge Report:

Drudge Header: SDAkota’s rising star wins…
…which links to this article:
Wave carries Kristi Noem
Anger over economy helps Republican oust incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin

Republican challenger Kristi Noem, riding a wave of voter discontent with President Obama’s administration, defeated Democrat U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in Tuesday’s election.

With all precincts reporting results, Noem won by a margin of 48.1 percent to 45.9 percent. Shortly after midnight, Noem declared victory, saying “I will do my very best to represent every single South Dakotan.”

“Now make no mistake,” Noem told supporters. “I think we need a strong dose of fiscal conservatism in Washington, D.C.”

You get the picture…

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Post-Election Notes

SD Headers:
GOP SWEEPS STATEWIDE RACES
NOEM SPEEDS PAST SANDLIN! (heh heh heh!)
DEMS’ RANKS at PIERRE DEPLETED

Not a happy day for the Donkey Party in South Dakota when Cory looking for a bright spot notes the earthshaking event that Indy candidate Marking got more votes in Kristi’s home county than he did in Herseth-Sandlin’s. (Otherwise, his comments about Marking were pretty good, give credit where credit’s due!)

The turnout was good for a mid-termer…mostly 60-70% range or thereabouts, of course some lower and some higher…still, not too bad. I had occasion to look at the Missouri results for comparison…their turnout was in the 30-50% range mostly, and they also had some serious Congressional, and a Senatorial race. A good one for SD’s voters!

The one personal sour twinge was that the Chief would have liked to have seen dairyman Jim Gilkerson make it in District 4…have known him and his family for some time…he would have made a positive contribution in the legislature.

Nationally, the Donk’s consolation is our curse, that we still have to put up with Dingey Harry Reid, to go along with Barbara Boxhead…er…Boxer, and Patty “Lady in Tennis Shoes” Murray. I know–with the left coast being tilted so much that it’s now filled up with the loose nuts, Nevada is getting the overflow!

Another MAJOR benefit of the national outcome is less free Botox(r) commercials (otherwise known as Pelosi “pressers”) from the Capitol. That’s a major blessing in and of itself, above and beyond the obvious improvement in the composition of the House.

Now the heavy lifting starts, to start to repair the damage inflicted by almost two years of Obamunism (as well as from the RINO progressives).

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Essential Congressional Race

From the Rapid City Journal…this boils it down to the basics: SHS essentially has the traditional progressive attitude that government action is the best way to deal with problems; while Kristi Noem has expressed a more Jeffersonian view that government often is a fearful master, that bears close watching at all times, and like kudzu vines, needs to be ruthlessly chopped back to keep it from taking over everything.

Split over stimulus defines candidates

WHICH DIRECTION?: Challenger Noem seeks to rein in government while Herseth Sandlin sees benefit of action.

THAT’s the real, boiled down essence of the differences between them.

Chief’s call on this…tune in Tuesday night. I have a feeling that Noem will win…but it’s just that. (If you put $1 with it you can get a can of pop, and THAT’s for sure!)

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Pelosi, NRA & Herseth-Sandlin

Cory over at Madville Times, and on the KELO Blog is crowing about the NRA endorsing Stephanie’s re-election. It would be one thing if he thought that this was a positive thing, but the reality is somewhat less (or more, depending on viewpoint) than this.

I know it’s tough to make the leap, but really Cory, no one has given the NRA, or for that matter the GOP itself the right to confer an imprimatur of political orthodoxy for the conservative/libertarian movement. Therefore, exercising my own reformationist judgment, the NRA has proven itself unworthy of support and membership. With my membership up this fall, it will become a thing of the past, in favor of the Gun Owners of America, which is more consistent in it’s analysis of political ramifications, like the support that H-S has faithfully rendered for the Speakership Regime of SanFran Nan Pelosi. That, in and of itself is, IMHO, enough to render Herseth-Sandlin unsatisfactory as South Dakota’s sole Congressional member.

In spite of Cory’s crowing about the NRA endorsement (to attempt to give us a bad moment), and his moaning at other times about H-S making SOME votes that his progressive/liberal sensibility finds distasteful, note that in spite of such occasional discomfort, something, including presumably the prospect of continued support for Pelosi, leads Cory to continue to support H-S’s re-election, in spite of his expressed unhappiness.

For similar reasons, if one opposes the continuation of the Pelosi order of business in the House, then there is no reason to vote for H-S, no matter what occasional gestures she makes towards traditional South Dakota values.

So, Will You be Voting for Nancy Pelosi?

In light of all the recent news about Democrat candidates running as John Birchers, I felt is was finally time to call their bluff. We are in a very good position to take back the House, but there is some polling evidence that some of the red district blue dog frauds are still hanging in there. Keep in mind that there are 70 Dems in R rated districts. A handful of them are doing relatively well because they try to block out their party label, run against the liberal platform, attack their Republican opponent from the right, or tout endorsements from the NRA and Chamber of Commerce.

I think we need to start a campaign to call the offices of these clowns and demand that they go on record whether they would vote for Pelosi or Hoyer to be Speaker….We are sick of these frauds who trash Pelosi at home, but then vote for the liberal leadership, committee chairmen, and Democrat Rules Committee members who ensure passage of all the legislation that they claim to detest. However, if we can get them on record as declining to take a stand (that’s what most will do) we can help their opponents expose their fraudulent claims of being conservative.

From another source, this video shows H-S dodging this issue during an appearance. (H/T to South Dakota War College)

That above header hits the nail on the head. IMHO, that’s a key point to keep in mind when voting, whether early or on election day. Personally, I would no more vote for Pelosi than I would B.O., or for that matter, Herseth-Sandlin.

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“…for a mess of pottage?”

This one from the Argus Loser made it onto Drudge.

The right to vote freely is taken as one of the fundamental rights resulting from the fact of birth as a citizen. This is true even more so for those who are Native Americans…which makes this sort of report even sadder than it otherwise would be.

Pairing food, early-vote rallies raises legal risks

Democrats in South Dakota are holding three early-vote rallies on reservations this week that will feature “feeds” to attract potential voters.

That activity continues a long tradition of pairing food with voter rallies in areas of the state where Democrats garner as much as 95 percent of the vote.

The obvious inference is that the Rez vote is for sale for a meal (cheaper than buying other media access no doubt). Sort of brings to mind to mind the Biblical story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage.

UPDATE:
S.D. Republican Party asks for investigation into Democratic early-voting events

Lawyers for the South Dakota Republican Party have asked Attorney General Marty Jackley and U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson to investigate whether early-voting events sponsored by state Democrats on three Indian reservations violate state law.

At issue is whether the events, which includes “feeds,” break a state law that prohibits anyone from offering something of “value” in exchange for voting. Secretary of State Chris Nelson said this week that those events can be legal, if done in the right context.

Republican Chairman Bob Gray accused Democrats of playing “old tricks” to gin up votes. The executive director of the Democratic Party insists the events are not violating state law.

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D.C. Times Notes SD Race

GOP could take bite out of Blue Dogs

Across the country, Blue Dog Democrats — whose 54 members represent more than one-fifth of their party’s 255-seat majority and many of the country’s most contested swing districts — find themselves squarely in the cross hairs….

The Blue Dogs facing tough re-election fights include three of the coalition’s four-member leadership team: Mr. Shuler; Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, who is co-chairman for administration; and Rep. Baron P. Hill of Indiana, co-chairman for policy.

The fiscal conservatives, many of whom voted against health care reform and Mr. Obama’s $814 billion stimulus program, are running ads distancing themselves from unpopular national party figures, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the president.

Ads are one thing…the reality is that none have campaigned on a pledge to oppose the re-selection of House Squeaker San Fran Nan Pelosi, noted in the article as an issue being highlighted by Kristi Noem in her reace for South Dakota’s at-large seat:

Another top Blue Dog fighting for her job is South Dakota’s Mrs. Herseth Sandlin, who clings to a slim polling edge over Republican state lawmaker Kristi Noem for the state’s lone House seat after trailing all summer.

Mrs. Herseth Sandlin began pulling ahead of her Republican opponent after airing an ad touting her opposition to the health care legislation.

Ms. Noem does not even mention her opponent by name in many of her campaign spots but goes right after Mrs. Pelosi.

“Unlike my opponent,” she promises voters, “my first vote won’t be to make Nancy Pelosi speaker.”

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Rasmussen: Daugaard, Noem Still Ahead

Election 2010: South Dakota Governor

Support for Republican Dennis Daugaard has jumped to its highest level yet in South Dakota’s gubernatorial race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Daugaard, the current lieutenant governor, leading Heidepriem by better than two-to-one, 59% to 27%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and 10% are undecided.

Last month, Daugaard led Heidepriem 52% to 35%.
Daugaard in the lead is no big surprise…this margin…and the change since last month show that the Donkey Party candidate is failing to get any traction.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen also notes that GOP challenger Kristi Noem is running strongly against incumbent Stephanie Herseth:

Election 2010: South Dakota House of Representatives

Republican Kristi Noem again passes the 50% mark of support this month against incumbent Democrat Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin in the race for South Dakota’s only House seat.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Noem picking up 51% support against Herseth-Sandlin, who receives 42% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

One supposes that Stephanie won’t be bringing in House Squeeker Pelosi, or the Great Pretender himself to turn things around.

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Rasmussen SD Results on Races, Issues

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Election 2010: South Dakota Governor

South Dakota Governor: Daugaard (R) 53%, Heidepriem (D) 33%
Building on an already sizable advantage over the likely Democratic nominee, Republican Lieutenant Governor Dennis Daugaard now earns 53% support from likely voters in South Dakota’s gubernatorial race, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state.

Results are also listed for Knudsen and Howie, neither of which run as strongly as Daugaard.

According to the poll, there are additional single digit results for “Another candidate”, presumably Knuppe/Munstermann territory.

Also out are results concerning the Congressional race:

Election 2010: South Dakota House of Representatives

South Dakota House: Herseth Sandlin (D) 45%, Nelson (R) 41%

Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is still in a close race with her strongest Republican challenger but has gained support in match-ups with two other GOP hopefuls. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely South Dakota voters finds Herseth Sandlin earning just 45% support to 41% for Republican Chris Nelson. The challenger is South Dakota’s secretary of state.

Looks like Princess Stephanie isn’t able to get a good head of steam this time, which is a sign of danger to her re-election.

This is the third straight month in which the incumbent has earned just 44% or 45% support in a match-up against Nelson. Overall, this month’s numbers are little changed from a month ago or two months ago. Any incumbent at this stage of a campaign who earns less than 50% support is considered potentially vulnerable, but Herseth Sandlin seems stalled in the mid-40s for now in her match-up with Nelson, South Dakota’s secretary of state.

Rasmussen also reports some other interesting data on SD issues polling:

Regarding the Obamacare continuing debate:

Forty-one percent (41%) of all voters in the state favor the requirement in the health plan that every American must buy or obtain health insurance, while 54% oppose it. Forty-eight percent (48%) favor the lawsuit to stop the health care plan that challenges the constitutionality of the requirement. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose the suit.

Tea Time?

Forty-six percent (46%) of all voters in the state say their views on the issues of the day are closer to the views of the average Tea Party member than to those of President Obama. However, nearly as many (40%) say their views are closer to the president’s.

Drill Now!

Seventy-six percent (76%) in South Dakota favor offshore oil drilling, and 59% disagree with the president’s decision to keep the ban on offshore drilling in place off the coasts of New England and California. Voters are closely divided over whether states should have the right to ban drilling off their own coastlines: 39% say yes, while 37% say no.

(I guess this means that support may not be strong for drilling offshore at Lake Herman too – right CAH?)

And, on the economy in general:

Nine percent (9%) of South Dakota voters rate the economy as good, but 38% say it’s poor. Forty-four percent (44%) believe the economy is getting better. Thirty-one percent (31%) say it’s getting worse, and 20% think it’s staying about the same.

Constitution Watch, SD Politics

HB1277 / 1278 Statement sans Explanation

There has been a running discussion lately in the SD blogosphere relating to support or opposition to HB 1277 and HB 1278, which relate to “obtaining certain information from online content providers in slander and libel actions. ”

There have been thoughtful and thorough comments from various SD blogs. I particularly liked Ken’s comment on SD Politics hearkening back to the “ancient” (to borrow a descriptive designation from the SCOTUS decision bouncing McCain-Feingold) traditions of our early republic, and its lively, invective-filled, and often anonymous debates.

I started on a somewhat lengthy commentary from my own point of view…and finally decided that to address everything I thought about this idea, I would be writing a major thesis.  I have enough writing to do for the history master’s program I’m in, so have to pass on that one for now.

So, it’ll just have to be enough to say that these bills are NOT a good idea for a number of reasons, both technical and philosophical, many of which have been discussed elsewhere by others. The long and short of it is that I don’t see a benefit in extending the police power down to the levels that would be necessary to even attempt to enforce this.  Besides,  based on what I know of history, who would say that sometime in the future it might be considered libelous to criticise officeholders, etc.   This HAS already happened elsewhere, and elsewhen.

I know, “It can’t happen here!”  Wanna bet?  (I don’t!)

It may well be the proverbial cold day in hell since I agree with the ACLU …hmmm…the Saints won the Superbowl…maybe it really is cold down there!

SD Politics

Of Laws and Sausages

From kuchen to gas tax, state lawmakers represent “nook and cranny” ideas

Germany’s Otto von Bismarck (who evidently had a bunch of fans up in ND), observed that “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.”

This piece provides some of the details of the legislative side of the process as it takes place up at Pierre.

South Dakota legislators will face important matters of life and law among the 500 or so bills likely to be filed during the 2010 session.

They’ll also face issues that aren’t quite so earth shaking.

The 131 bills that had already been filed last week through the Legislative Research Council included proposals to authorize charter schools, raise the state gas tax and approve a building addition at Northern State University.

Also in the mix were ideas with less-clear impacts on the state — like honoring and supporting “Czech Days in Tabor” and the “Scotland Kuchen Feier on the occasion of its first annual event.”

It’s easy (and sometimes fun!) to throw figurative mud-balls at some of the proposals that float up through the process, but look at the bright side…concerns about community festivals and kuchen MAY distract from other things…like more iterations of nanny-stateism, tax increases, etc.

SD Politics

Candidate M.I.A.

George McGovern’s grandson decides against U.S. Senate run — this time

The grandson of former South Dakota Sen. George McGovern has decided not to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. At least, not yet.

Matt McGovern of Sioux Falls said Tuesday that he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Sen. John Thune.

The Chief is NOT a gambling man, but 5 will get you 10 that he’ll be going for the senatenext time out…like, can anyone imagine Johnson going for another term? There’s a lot better chance going for an open seat instead of trying to a likely futile round of butting heads with popular Sen. John Thune.

Meanwhile, the SD Donkey Party is looking for a sacrificial lamb candidate.

SD Politics

SF Tea Party on Black Friday

Sioux Falls was full to the seams with “black Friday” shoppers, as anyone who had to negotiate traffic around 41st & Louise (for example) can testify.  Not everyone was partaking of said holiday “cheer”(?).

A small but enthusiastic group of the local Tea Party group was out on a late notice event to show their colors along 57th street, just around the corner from Donkey Party Senator Tim’s Sioux Falls office.

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SD Politics

Thune Interview: Reid Vulnerable

1 Comment

Senate giant killer sees new victim: Reid
S. Dakota senator points to Nev. election

Interesting interview piece with SD Senator John Thune in the Sunday Washington Times

Sen. Thune points out similarities with Daschle v. Thune race, and the vulnerabilities of “Dusty” Harry Reid in this election cycle.

The Republican who ousted the Democratic leader of the Senate in 2004 says Harry Reid finds himself in a similar predicament of representing a conservative-leaning state but leading a liberal party.

Sen. John Thune made Senate history when he unseated Sen. Tom Daschle by exploiting the gap between Mr. Daschle’s interests in Washington and those of his home state of South Dakota. That’s exactly where Mr. Reid, the Senate majority leader, is now, he said.

“In the case of Senator Daschle, he was leading a left-of-center caucus and representing a right-of-center state — it was very difficult to reconcile those two,” Mr. Thune told The Washington Times. “I know that Senator Reid will work very hard over the course of the next several months to convince his voters in Nevada that he’s still very connected to them and in touch, but I think that the perception that he’s got to overcome is that he is leading a left-of-center caucus in Washington that’s trying to do all these things with which they disagree.”

Some other issues are also noted in the piece:

Mr. Thune, a former three-term House member, has earned a reputation as a rising GOP star among the upper chamber. The affable Midwesterner has been a fierce critic of government spending throughout President Obama’s first term — during the debate over the stimulus bill, he routinely noted that one could spend $1 million each day since the birth of Jesus and still not match the plan’s $787 billion price tag.

Also, the proposed interstate CCL legislation that almost slid though the Senate in spite of the Donkey Party majority…

He’s also taken the lead on gun rights, and says Second Amendment supporters remain a powerful force despite not winning every vote.

In June, Mr. Thune forced several Democrats to take a tough vote on a measure that would have required states to honor the concealed weapons licenses of out-of-state citizens, who would then be subject to the conceal-carry laws of the state in which they were traveling.

Mr. Thune’s amendment, which he tried to attach to the defense authorization bill, garnered 58 votes — two shy of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate for contentious legislation. The vote was a rare loss for the gun rights lobby, which earlier in the year had a significant win with Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn’s amendment allowing guns in some national parks.

“The issue I decided to take on was clearly the most controversial of all. It energized people on both sides of the Second Amendment debate, but I think that to say that you got 58 votes in the Senate — that somehow [the gun rights] movement is losing steam is just not reflective of reality,” said Mr. Thune, noting that he lost two Republicans but picked up the votes of 20 Democrats.

The Chief notes a realistic dose of realpolitik in his role as a GOP leader…sort of reminds one of Reagan’s approach to the more…moderate…portions of the GOP:

As the new head of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, Mr. Thune — who replaced Nevada Sen. John Ensign after Mr. Ensign disclosed an extramarital affair — hosts the party’s weekly policy lunch and helps shape the GOP legislative agenda. Though members of the conference may disagree in certain areas, he said it’s better for Republicans to have a wide tent that includes moderates who will vote with the party on core issues.

“It’s a question of whether you want to be an ideologically pure minority or a government majority. I think that you know you’re going to have places in the country where a Republican in Maine isn’t going to be the same as a Republican in Oklahoma; that’s just the way it is,” he said. “If you want to set the agenda, if you want to be the party that’s actually leading the country, you’re going to have to recognize that you’re going to have to have a party that includes a lot of people that you may not agree with on every issue.”

ON a less (or more, to some?) serious note, the Senator will have to be careful of a serious “killer” issue.

Mr. Thune, a native of Murdo, S.D., a small town in the central part of the state, said one of his early political lessons came during an appearance he made at a St. Patrick’s Day parade. An avid supporter of the Green Bay Packers, he sported a team sweatshirt at the event, underestimating the passions of a constituency dominated by Minnesota Vikings fans.

“It was bizarre. People were screaming stuff at me and it was just — never again,” he said. “I probably lost a thousand votes doing that.”

When it comes to the Vikings, the Chief admits to being a fan of the BYU Cougars. What’s the connection? It’s football, right?

SD Politics

Hey Guys & Gals: It’s OUR Money!

Hard-pressed leaders pass nuisance taxes

THEY’RE hard pressed?!?!?! What about US?

State and local governments are raising taxes and inventing new ones as they scramble to balance their budgets even as the nation’s economy begins to emerge from the deepest recession in seven decades.

State budgets typically take a year or two to reflect improvements in the national economy, the National Association of State Budget Officers and the National Governors Association explained in its latest fiscal survey of states. The report warned that “state fiscal conditions will remain weak in fiscal 2010 and likely into fiscal years 2011 and 2012.”

So, brace yourselves for a deluge of nuisance taxes, sin taxes and “fees,” limited only by the imagination of revenue-starved governors, mayors and legislators.

Wait! Here’s an alternative to try out: STOP SPENDING MONEY!

When us normal (come on, give me the benefit of the doubt!) folks get short on money.,.we have to cut back spending, and perhaps even do without something we would like. MAYBE our government at ALL LEVELS could try this out for a a change!?

What a concept!

Something to keep in mind when the next session up at Pierre opens up.

Glowbull Warming, SD Politics

Glowbull Warming Updates & Cap and Tax

(New York blogging!)

With B.O. and Congressional Donks pushing for the passage of the energy mega-tax bill, these items are either directly or indirectly related.

First Some of their political strategery…

Al Gore not coming to D.C.

Awwwwwwwww!

Former Vice President Al Gore canceled plans to fly to Washington for a news conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, and instead was working the phones from Tennessee to help push a landmark climate bill to passage.

Hopefully this next bit is wrong…but we’ll see what happens.

Friday’s vote on the measure is expected to be close, but multiple sources on both sides of the aisle say they’re confident that the bill will pass — with some Republican votes — following a deal between House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson.

Why is this a BAD idea: a number of issues are in play here:

The Cap and Tax Fiction

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday. It looks as if the Democrats will have to destroy the discipline of economics to get it done.

Despite House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman’s many payoffs to Members, rural and Blue Dog Democrats remain wary of voting for a bill that will impose crushing costs on their home-district businesses and consumers. The leadership’s solution to this problem is to simply claim the bill defies the laws of economics.

This will NOT be doing anything to help the economy, quite the contrary. (Are you paying any attention Congresscritter Herseth-Sandlin?)

The biggest doozy in the CBO analysis was its extraordinary decision to look only at the day-to-day costs of operating a trading program, rather than the wider consequences energy restriction would have on the economy. The CBO acknowledges this in a footnote: “The resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap.” [emphasis added]

The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.

So what else is new in the Glowbull Warming debate?

EPA Suppresses Internal Global Warming Study

Scientific findings at odds with the Obama Administration’s views on carbon dioxide and climate change are being suppressed as a result of political pressure, officials at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) charge.

“This suppression of valid science for political reasons is beyond belief,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman. “EPA’s conduct is even more outlandish because it flies in the face of the president’s widely-touted claim that ‘the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over.’”

The agency has never made the study public or included it in official reference materials, according to CEI. As part of a recently concluded EPA public comment period on a proposed rule, CEI submitted a set four EPA emails, dated March 12-17, 2009, as evidence that the suppressed study included a critique of the agency’s global warming position.
CEI has asked EPA to make the study public and to allow public comments on it. CEI has also asked that EPA to prevent any reprisals against the study’s author who has been employed with the agency for 35 years.

And then there’s this this bit of common sense:
Electric Cars Will Not Decrease Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Says Federal Study

The stimulus law enacted in February promoted the purchase of plug-in electric cars by the federal government and the broader market, but a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released this month says that the use of plug-in electric vehicles will not by itself decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

To do that, the report argues, the United States would have to switch from coal-burning plants to lower-emission sources to generate electricity such as nuclear power.

“If you are using coal fired power plants and half the country’s electricity comes from coal powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?”
Mark Gaffigan, co-author of the GAO report and a specialist in energy issues told CNSNews.com.

Well, DUH!

SD Politics

SD Judge Slaps Ed System, Sups.

Judge Sides With SD In Education Lawsuit

The judge in South Dakota’s education funding lawsuit has filed a preliminary decision and she’s sided with the state.

A group of parents and students sued the state, claiming it doesn’t do enough to adequately fund education in South Dakota. After a trial and months of deliberation, Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur ruled that the plaintiffs didn’t prove the education funding system is defective.

Dozens of families and around 70 school districts claimed that the state doesn’t do enough to support education, and the funding formula is flawed.

Some additional details of the decision are noted below:

Judge: Education not a right

South Dakota students aren’t guaranteed a quality education, a circuit judge ruled Wednesday, finding that the way the state pays for education does not violate the state constitution.

Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur’s decision follows a trial that saw six superintendents complain that a lack of money was hurting South Dakota’s students. An appeal to the state Supreme Court now is likely, according to the lawyer representing students and their families.

The state’s funding system has room for improvement, Wilbur acknowledged, but she also found that education is not a fundamental right; the state need not prepare students for college or “meaningful employment”; and the testimony of the superintendents was unreliable.

[B-SLAP!]  Superintendents testimony unreliable?!  That’s gotta hurt!  She basically called thgem a bunch of liars.

The judge said students receive adequate educational opportunities even without the “wish lists” various school superintendents presented at trial.

“Whether school districts, if given more money, could provide more programs or resources, or higher teacher pay, or build better facilities, is irrelevant if the constitutional minimum is being provided,” Wilbur wrote.

This following point is something the Chief CAN get behind.

She said that some policy options discussed at trial could improve education, but those decisions are for the legislature, not the judiciary.

If people are not concerned enough about the issues cited by the Superintendents during the trial to carry them to their legislators, then I guess they get the system that they are willing to accept, and pay for, and the students get the leftovers of the public trough.  Kind of harsh for the schools, but that’s life in a representative republic.

(Disclosure: the Chief is a public school educator currently at a small school district.)

Culture Wars, SD Politics

South Dakota: Free Indeed!

Are things perfect here? No – not by a long shot…but then again, compared to some other places…not too shabby at all!

Freedom in the 50 States: Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

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This paper presents the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. We develop and justify our ratings and aggregation procedure on explicitly normative criteria, defining individual freedom as the ability to dispose of one’s own life, liberty, and justly acquired property however one sees fit, so long as one does not coercively infringe on other individuals’ ability to do the same.

This study improves on prior attempts to score economic freedom for American states in three primary ways: 1) it includes measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, own and carry firearms, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure; 2) it includes far more variables, even on economic policies alone, than prior studies, and there are no missing data on any variable; 3) we adopt new, more accurate measurements of key variables, particularly state fiscal policies.

We find that the freest states in the country are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place. All three states feature low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism. New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Maryland. (Emphases added)

The Chief knew there were a number of reasons why he liked living in South Dakota. Many of them relate to the topics covered in this analysis. Check it out.

If you’re a South Dakota liberal, let not your heart be troubled…Minnesota is right next door and Eastbound I-90 will take you there easily.  Don’t let the door hit you in the — on the way out!

SD Politics

Legislative Notes du Jour

First – the quick thumb-nail snap reactions to some of the recent events up at Pierre:

Lawmaker says seat belt change means federal money

South Dakota could collect more than $5 million in federal money by passing a primary seat belt law, a state lawmaker says. Rep. Rich Engels, D-Hartford, testified on Wednesday for SB79. The House Judiciary Committee will take more testimony on the measure Monday.

“One of the primary reasons for making the change now is there is a federal law allowing us to receive $5.2 million, and that federal law expires July 1,” Engels told the committee. “When there’s federal money available, it always seems to prompt us to do something.”

Congress has that old Pavlov thing down pat…rustle some dollar bills, and the compliant legislators salivate, wag their tails, and roll over on command. Engles as much as admits that the only reason for doing this now is the federal bribery contribution.

The Chief knows that seatbelts are the smart thing to do…but hey, it’s not the role of the federal government to save everyone from their own unsafe behavior. If it was, then skiing, sky-diving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, motorcycle riding, or for that matter working on an Alaskan crab-fishing boat to name just a few examples, should all be banned as being criminally dangerous acts, as Engels wants to do for having the defiant and rebellious attitude of not wearing a seat belt.

House resurrects, passes license plate tax increase

On the final day that legislative bills could pass their house of origin, the South Dakota House resurrected, amended and passed a bill that would raise the cost of vehicle license plates. The bill, HB1007, needed a two-thirds majority. It failed by three votes on Monday but was reconsidered Tuesday night and passed 57-12 after an amendment raised license plate fees even more than the levels that emerged from the House Transportation Committee.

Hmmmm. This sort of makes it sound like it was initially rejected at a lower level, and later passed at a higher level. This increase may be justifiable on rational grounds…but just once, the Chief would like to see the legislooture cutback instead of instinctively going for more money to solve every situation. That’s what I have to do at home when money is tight. Why not the state?

Senate passes preschool planning bill

South Dakota should develop eligibility guidelines for preschool and find out how many children might participate in a program, the state Senate says. The Senate voted 20-15 on Tuesday to pass SB191, which would authorize the state Board of Education to develop eligibility guidelines for a state-supported pre-kindergarten. It would also give interested communities a way to develop a local plan that eventually might be funded by the Legislature.

Supporters of the bill say preschool is essential to help children from lower-income families reach kindergarten with age-appropriate learning skills. The bill would target 4-year-olds from families whose income is no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level.

Opponents say the community planning process and the state eligibility guidelines would put South Dakota on a path toward mandatory preschool for all youngsters.

You just HAVE to know that in the future it will go mandatory! Government knows no other way.

SD Politics, Uncategorized

Salary Salvage in the Dump, etc.

A few observations on the proceedings of our legislature:

Some Lawmakers Want ‘Salary Salvage’ Scrapped

Salary salvage: don’t fill job positions so the money can be spent elsewhere.

Sort of a way of doing an end run around what the legislature has actually voted to spend money on.

Not a good practice. This deserves to be dumped.

Senate approves change in school aid

Under this scheme, when state revenues are down, school aid will be down. When revenues are up, the aid will likewise go up. A big problem is that when state revenues are down, school expenses stay the same, regardless, something’s got to go.

As happened recently with Gettysburg, Rutland, and elsewhere, sometimes it’s teachers…who leave behind the same number of students to be taught, with a smaller faculty to carry on and do the job as best they can.

Another very real possibility is that later on, legislators may change the formula again if someone starts squawking that schools will get too much of an increase when the economy DOES finally start improving again.

No solution is perfect…maybe this one will ultimately help. Time will tell.

Misc. Ed. Bill Hearings Postponed

Hearings were scheduled for Wednesday on HB1234, the latest iteration of a Small Schools Kill Bill, HB1293 requiring school administrative consolidation (a defacto educational bureaucracy implementation act, and HB1198 allowing schools to charge activity fees for extracurriculars.

The Chief knows of a number of groups of concerned South Dakotans who had arranged their lives to be able to attend and offer comments to their Solons at work, but it seems said Solons decided not to cover those issues at that time…so those concerned could either rearrange their situation to go to Pierre on Friday, or forget the whole idea.

Perhaps I’m too cynical any more, but it does seem like a handy way to dodge slings, arrows, and mudballs from pesky constituents concerning these issues.

HB1254 and HB1293 both force centralization, and move things farther away from direct local control. HB1198? A mixed bag at best, which given the direction of things at Pierre, would eventually be used as a bludgeon to push for school aid cuts to districts who were unwilling to charge fees…thereby using other funds to support what the local communities felt was a positive (even if extracurricular) part of their school program.

Committee Sends Smoking Ban To SD House Floor

As a matter of principle relating to property rights, the Chief opposes this sort of thing in general.

If someone wants to have a smoking environment on their property, so be it. If you don’t like the smoke, take your custom elsewhere. This is NOT hard to figure out.

By the way, I do not smoke or use any tobacco products, and I do not especially like 2nd hand smoke, but property rights SHOULD BE property rights, irrespective of the irresistable urge of legislators to play nanny.

SD Politics

HB1278 – Carry Rights Protection On Target

House Wants Uniform Local Gun Laws

The South Dakota House says local governments should be barred from adopting ordinances restricting possession of firearms. The House voted 46-20 on Tuesday to pass HB1278, which prohibits townships, counties and cities from adopting general restrictions on firearms.

Supporters said the goal is to make laws dealing with carrying firearms uniform across the state. They said people with concealed weapons permits should be able to go from one community to another without fear of violating a local law.

On principle, anything that extends protection of one’s right to exercise the 2nd Amendment is a good thing as far as the Chief is concerned. Obviously all won’t agree…but then again, there’s lots of laws that the Chief doesn’t agree with. This isn’t one of them.

SD Politics

“Pay to Play” at Schools?

Bill Would Allow Student Fees For Activities

A bill in the South Dakota Legislature would give schools the option of charging students to participate in sports and other extra-curricular activities. Republican Representative Mark Kirkeby of Rapid City says his bill would give school districts a chance to spend more of their money in the classroom.

This idea may have some merit, but it would depend a lot on what the details were. If for example, football were REALLY that important in a community, then why wouldn’t the community be willing to support it? Or, many other activities.

The bill does not set guidelines for how much the fees would cost.

Ooops. What details? If Kirkeby and the legislature wants to go down this path seriously, they need to do the heavy lifting and really figure our pretty explicitly how it all would work. Of course, then they would have to take the heat if it DIDN’T work out well too. Maybe that’s biting off a bit more than they want to chew. The Chief would contend that community responsibility begins at Pierre, as far as setting up some sort of orderly framework for something like this is concerned.

Mary Stadick Smith in the state Education Department says extra curriculars are an extension of the classroom and should not be subject to extra fees.

This is another whole argument in itself. Certainly putting on a play, debate, declam, science fairs, bads, ag judging, etc are obviously an “extension of the classroom”. It’s less obvious to the Chief that this is the case in the case of team athletics, but the Chief is willing to bet that this is another aspect of the question that Kirkeby and Pierre are reluctant to tackle. It’s easy to throw this stuff into the legislative hopper like a drive-by shooting, but another thing all together to deal with it thoroughly and thoughtfully. For evidence of this, all one needs to do is look at the greatest irresponsible piece of drive-by legislation in history…the B.O. Bail-out Bill just approved by Congress.

SD Politics

SD County Roulette Killed

House panel rejects county consolidation plan

A South Dakota House committee has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have started the process of reducing the number of counties in the state.
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HJR1002 sought to amend the constitution to limit counties to no fewer than 25,000 residents or 5,000 square miles, whichever is less.

The Chief noted this in a previous post. If he was a betting man, his bet would have been that this bill was pretty much a no-go from the get-go, and that’s where it went.

SD Politics

Technophobes Dominant in Pierre

1 Comment

Panel kills plan for online public notices

South Dakota law should continue to require government public notices to be placed in newspapers, not on the Internet, a legislative committee says.

The House Local Government Committee voted 7-5 on Thursday to kill HB1135, which would have given state and local governments a choice of using newspapers or Internet web sites to publish minutes, bid offerings and other official notices.

OK. They don’t want ot put public notices on-line.

Supposedly this is so it’s more accessible to print in local newspapers, but how many people have on-line access virtually 24-7 at their home compared to taking the additional expense and hassle of either subscribing to a paper and/or making an extra trip to get one in the town where it is available…but which is off the beaten path, and NOT a normal destination point?

Of course a lot of the opposition to this comes from the dead-tree media, so what else could they say?

The bill would have allowed people to request that they receive government notices by mail, rather than through the Internet. That feature of the bill would increase public notice costs to local governments, said David Bordewyk of the South Dakota Newspaper Association.

“I would suggest you are creating quite a cost,” Bordewyk said.

IF anyone wanted a paper copy, it is one heck of a lot handier to jut print it from the computer than demand snail mail.

He also questioned whether digital records could be altered, either maliciously or unintentionally.

“Putting information online does not equate to ink on paper,” Bordewyk said.

Apparently no one at the newspaper association has ever heard of, or understands, or is willing to admit that they know how Acrobat PDF files are set up.

Rep. Darrell Solberg, D-Sioux Falls, questioned whether Internet postings would be accessible to as many people as are local newspapers.

“Readership on the Internet, in terms of legal notices, is meager,” Solberg said.

So he thinks that lengthy legalese notices, printed in a newspaper in microscopically small print is a hot item for readership? The Chief thinks it more likely that readership of legal notices in a newspaper, even among newspaper readers is “meager”.

Besides, if no one looks at stuff on the internet, why do ALL the newspapers have websites with their leading news coverage? Surely a lot of someones are looking at the sites, or else the newspapers themselves are themselves “creating quite a cost” to no good result.

Give me a break.

This just fits the trend of government at all levels dragging its feet at moving into the e-information age….If they did that, maybe they would even have to account more to the voters for what they do when most people aren’t looking over their shoulders.

SD Politics

Nanny-state Takes a Blow

Adelstein: Smoking ban faced “tremendous amount of pressure”

Sen. Stan Adelstein, R-Rapid City, said he’s disappointed the Senate failed to pass a statewide smoking ban this week. “There was a tremendous amount of pressure,” said Adelstein, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services committee.

The Senate voted 18-17 on Tuesday to kill SB83, which would have banned smoking in all indoor public spaces, including bars, restaurants, casinos, hotels, video lottery establishments and tobacco shops.

Disclosure: The Chief does NOT smoke or use tobacco products, and if asked, would discourage anyone from doing so, for both obvious and personal reasons.

Having said that, the state really has no business telling someone that they cannot engage in a legal (and taxed!) activity on private property, if that’s what the owners and customers are willing to accept. If someone doesn’t want to be around the tobacco use, then there is freedom to find somewhre else to take one’s business.

Somehow the Chief is not surprised that stealth Democrat RINO Sen. Adelstein has his paw prints all over this idea. It’s the old lib conceit that governmental meddling can engineer and force us into meeting someone else’s idea of more desirable activity.

Once one goes down this trail, where’s the stopping point? No tobacco? OK. What about no…hamburgers, sugared pop, unsugared pop, butter, steaks, beer, wine, coffee, tea, meat, leather, dairy herds, etc…the list is endless of something that some faction or group claims results in Bad Things happening to us, or being caused by us.

Forget the whole idea…allow folks to make up their own minds about such things. Otherwise, we could end up with a system so intrusive that it  would make “1984” look like a New England town meeting.

’nuff said.