Politics and Hypocrisy

Sour Grapes

I saw Mike Rounds on the news last night whining about Initiated Measure 5 which passed on November 7th. The measure requires that state aircraft be used only for state business.

Immediately after the passage, Rounds stated that he would just stop using the state planes and rent one on his own and have the state reimburse him, stating that it would end up costing taxpayers more.

Now he is using the scare tactic that it not only involves state aircraft but all state owned vehicles which could cause undue hardship on state employees and subject them to the same civil penalties under this new law.

Prefacing this with the fact that I am not a lawyer, it does though seem funny that this concern was never raised during campaign season nor did the ballot explanation from Larry Long express this newest concern. Current state law already had provisions preventing state employees from using state vehicles for personal business, with the notable exception of the governor, and this new law does nothing to change this provision.

Along these lines, Rounds’ favorite newspaper is also calling him out on the lastest rant calling it “a petty way of striking back at voters who approved the law - at the expense of state employees“.

Adding my 2 cents to the Argus beat down, I believe Rounds is just unhappy that he now has to follow the same rules that all other state employees have had to follow for years and if he doesn’t think that separating state business from personal business when traveling is something he can do than maybe he is in the wrong job.

Please just stop whining and get on with the job South Dakotans gave you…

Here Is An Idea, Enforce The Law

There has been a lot of debate lately about the weak campaign finance laws here in South Dakota especially in the wake of Roger Hunt’s anonymous $750,000 donor through his shell corporation to the “Yes on 6″ campaign.

Hunt at first failed to file a finance report saying he wasn’t required to and then when Secretary of State Chris Nelson disagreed, Hunt filed it but refused to identify the sole donor. It is now almost 2 weeks later and as of yet there has been no steps taken to resolve this.

If you thought that this was just an isolated incident you would be wrong. This morning’s Argus details numerous candidates that either filed their finance reports late or in a few cases, never filed at all.

The deadline for filing campaign finance reports for legislative candidates in contested June primaries was 5 p.m. on July 3. Secretary of State Chris Nelson says these candidates missed that deadline. After their names is the date they filed.

Sen. Gene Abdallah, R- Sioux Falls 7-6
Sen. Julie Bartling, D- Burke 7-20
Sen. J.P. Duniphan, R- Rapid City 7-18
Rep. Burt Elliott, D- Aberdeen 7-28
Steve Emery, McLaughlin, Democrat 8-2
Robert Gleich, Utica, Democrat 7-12
Richard Gourley, Sioux Falls, Republican, 7-13
John Graham, Mansfield, Democrat 7-19
Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark 7-5
Dale Gunderson, Rapid City, Republican 7-10
Rep. Jeff Haverly, R-Rapid City 7-5
Richard Henkle, Edgemont, Democrat 8-2
Paul Joseph, Wood, Democrat 7-28
Diane Kastner, Kennebec, Democrat 7-11
Rep. Ted Klaudt, R-Walker 7-7
Maurice LaRue, Sturgis, Republican 7-12
Gary Loudner, Black Hawk, Democrat 7-18
Leah Lutheran, Rapid City, Democrat 8-1
Sen. Garry Moore, D-Yankton, 8-7
Sen. Bill Napoli, R- Rapid City, 7-5
Paul Nielson, Sioux Falls, Democrat 7-24
Mahylen Niles, Chamberlain, Democrat 7-5
Kristi Noem, Castlewood, Republican 7-7
David Reis, Oacoma Democrat 7-20
John Simpson, Hamill, Democrat 7-10
Duane Spader, Sioux Falls, Democrat 7-24
Faith Spotted Eagle, Lake Andes, Democrat 9-8
Theresa Spry, Rapid City, Democrat 7-12
Sherman Wright, Mission, Democrat 8-21
Jessica Nathanson, Sioux Falls Democrat 7-31
Craig Steensland, Sioux Falls Democrat 7-10
Paula Long Fox, Rapid City, Democrat Not filed yet
Source: S.D. Secretary of State

Also mentioned was State Senator Garry Moore whom this past summer ran and eventually won his bid for the State House. Moore intentionally failed to file his finance report just to see what would happen.

“I wanted to see what would happen,” Moore said. “They never enforce that filing law. There are people from two years ago who haven’t filed yet. I did it on purpose.”

Many do believe that the laws we have in place are weak and most also think that the public needs to have access to these reports in order to know where the money is coming from. This includes Nelson.

“My observation is that there have been a large number of candidates who don’t take the deadline very seriously,” Nelson said. He said Moore told him about deliberately withholding his report.

“In order for the public to know where campaign finances are coming from, those deadlines need to be met,” Nelson said.

So it seems everyone is in agreement, we need this information. Considering this is the case, even though the misdemeanor charge that accompanies failing to file is just a slap on the wrist, why aren’t any of the numerous candidates that have broken the law been facing theses penalties?

The laws are weak and they need to be strengthened but why have a law on the books in the first place if no one is willing to enforce it?

End Of An Era?

“We lost a special designation,” said Bob Meister, Minnehaha County highway superintendent.

I’m not sure it was so special but South Dakota was the only state that still had an interstate the went from 4 lane concrete to a two lane gravel road. That distinction recently came to end when the northern end of I229 was paved but what is so special about that? Showing how backwoods our road system is?

Now if the state would stop chip-sealing many of our roads I might actually go longer than a month or two without getting another chip in my windshield. It might be good for the auto glass companies in our state but it sure sucks for those of us that have to get our windshields fixed or replaced several times a year.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

As if you needed more proof that the government shouldn’t be involved in morality based programs.

From a pamphlet distrubted by federally funded abstinence program.

an abstinence program distributed pamphlets that suggested that the HIV virus can pass through condoms because latex is porous.

And from a federally funded pregnancy center.

A report says there were three major topics of misinformation: first, the purported relationship between abortion and breast cancer; second, the purported relationship between abortion and infertility; and third, the purported relationship between abortion and mental illness.

According to the investigators, in one instance, a center compared the post-traumatic stress of an abortion to that seen in soldiers returning from Vietnam and said that it “is something that anyone who’s had an abortion is sure to suffer from.”

It’s not like the people seeking this advice don’t have enough to worry about already, they now have to deal with outright false information, all coming from programs American taxpayers are funding.

Must See TV

As some of you may or not know, I spent my formative years growing up in the heart of Buckeye country in Northern Ohio. Many of my friends attended "The Ohio State University" and I have been a diehard fan from the day I could sit up and see a television.

Tomorrow the Buckeyes face the hated Michigan Wolverines in what many are calling the game of the decade. For the first time in the 102 year history of the rivalry, these 2 undefeated teams meet ranked 1 and 2 with the winner securing their slot in Arizona for the national championship game.

So for anyone that is a college football fan, get that big screen fired up, a six pack of your favorite beverage in the refrigerator, and be prepared for the game of the year and after the Buckeyes whip the Wolverines you can start the debate on whom they will face in the National Championship game.

P.S. I couldn’t overlook the fact that the greatest coach in Michigan history passed away today. Goodbye Bo, you will be missed but now you and your mentor Woody Hayes can watch the game together.

Passing The Torch

Now that Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton is retiring, you might think that John Thune’s DM&E project would have smoother sailing, but you would be wrong. Minnesota’s other Senator is taking over where Dayton left off.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Norm Coleman said Thursday that he will oppose an expansion plan by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad unless the Department of Transportation comes up with a plan to address the concerns of the Mayo Clinic.

“I need to soon see a mitigation plan,” Coleman, R-Minn., said in a conference call with reporters. “If there isn’t a plan, then I’ll do everything in my prerogatives as senator to stop this project, either through the appropriation process or the legislation process.”

Coleman said he wants to see a plan by the end of the year.

On a related note South Dakota’s esteemed Senator, John Thune, who is leading the effort for the DM&E expansion project has been awarded the “Porker of the Month” award by Citizens Against Government Waste.

Washington, D.C. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) Porker of the Month for helping to secure a record $2.3 billion federal loan for a railroad company.

The loan guarantee from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would allow the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) to expand and improve a rail line that is used primarily to transport coal from Wyoming to Minnesota. In apparent anticipation of the loan, Sen. Thune was instrumental in increasing the FRA’s loan guarantee authority from $3.5 billion to $35 billion in the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act. DM&E paid Thune $220,000 in 2003 and 2004 to lobby for the loan before his election to the Senate.

Somehow I don’t think Senator Thune will be at the awards ceremony to pick up this “honor“.

(h/t - CCK)

To Wait Or Not To Wait

Some seem to think the Democrats are not aware of what they are getting themselves into because of South Dakota Senator Dan Sutton’s decision to resign his current seat and then assume his newly elected seat next January.

And I can’t tell you how much that the Democrats commenting in this matter have no idea how much they DON’T want to deal with it this next session. Why?

Because while the questions in the open session won’t be of the exact nature as the editorial cartoon I drew above - it will be ugly. The discussion will be lurid. The nature of the debate will be scandalous. And this will all be at the same time they’re trying to pass laws.

But, that’s the path that Senator Sutton has set them on. Good luck. You’re going to need it.

And this would be any different than the special session which was already set to be open to the public? This would be any different than last session when they spent way too much time debating issues such as abortion instead of what is should have been discussed?

If Sutton has done something so bad why has Larry Long had this matter on his desk since last winter without bringing any charges?

At worst all I can see coming out of this is Sutton being hit with rules violations which still could lead to his being kicked out of the Senate but his chances are much better in January than they would have been in November and why should his Democratic collegues be unhappy that this will be thrown in their laps? That is part of the job they asked for when they ran for the position in the first place.

Why has Sutton refused to not cave in? Well maybe he feels like he has done nothing wrong and if you go by Larry Long’s lack of action on the matter it would seem he is correct. If infact Sutton has broken the law why are we still waiting almost 10 months later for some criminal action towards Sutton?

It appears Sutton wants his day in the court of public opinion because it looks like he has nothing waiting for him in a court of law and whether it happens now or next session, he is set on it happening.

If South Dakotans want this issue to go away just urge Larry Long to come out and either charge Sutton or clear him. The voters in his district want him to get his day as they felt strongly enough about it to re-elect him even after these allegations came out so don’t blame Sutton for wanting to clear his name as in politics, it’s just about all you have.

Pelosi Loses Her First Fight Before Even Taking Power

It seems that Nancy Pelosi can’t even get a break from those in her own party as CNN is now reporting that the Democrats in the House have chose Steny Hoyer as the new House Majority Leader.

Pelosi, who is the women that Republicans “love to hate” isn’t getting any love on her side of the isle as her endorsed candidate for the job, John Murtha didn’t even come close in his bid for the 2nd in command in the House losing 149-86.

So much for party unity, is this a sign of how her leadership will be once the Democrats actually take power?

Posting And New Toys

Posting will be light for a few days as I am again on the road in Rapid City but I thought I would do a quick post regarding a new toy I just got.

Many I am sure have heard that Sony has just released their new Playstation 3 though they seem to be having a problem producing them in large enough numbers to meet the demand.

Along those same lines, my job requires me to spend many hours on the road and I had been patiently waiting for Sirius Radio’s new portable system to finally be released as it was also having production problems. The radio called the Stiletto is the company’s first self contained unit that allows you to listen to their offerings from just about anywhere.

To my surprise I noticed yesterday while in Watertown that the radio finally had come out. I plunked down my hard earned cash on the SL100 which includes 2 gigs of storage to allow you to save up to 100 hours of Sirius programming and to upload your own MP3’s and use it as an MP3 player. What’s also cool about the SL100 is that it is Wi-Fi capable which allows you to hook up to the Sirius service via the internet from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Well for the past 2 days I’ve had some time to play with it and I must say that I am now ready to dump my Ipod. The Wi-fi works like a charm as I was able to hook into the network at the Watertown airport while sitting in my truck out in the parking lot and this morning I converted all my Ipod files to MP3’s and loaded them on the unit and used it all the way to Rapid City today. As soon as I can get the home and car kit this unit makes regular radio a thing of the past.

Truly awesome!

Silly Me

I write about the procedures of the special session scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving, hit the road for work and when I get back I find out that there will no longer be one.

Dan Sutton pulled what can be termed a fast one this morning when he resigned from the Senate which made the special session no longer necessary. What was a bit sneaky was the fact that Sutton, who won re-election last week, only resigned from his current term and plans to keep newly won seat for the next session.

What this effectively means is that this issue will be put on hold until the next legislative session starts in January and when it convenes it will include 5 more Democrats than there would have been if it was held during the current lame duck Senate.

PP over at the South Dakota War College thinks this puts his fellow Democrats in a tough position but from Sutton’s point of view I believe this is his best chance at saving his political neck. Depending on what actually happened in that hotel room in Pierre , the 5 seat increase could mean the difference between a censure and expulsion.

One thing can be said of Sutton, he sure knows how to play the game of politics…