Badlands Blue

Yes, we are in this together -- even in Pierre!

2011-05-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

From the Capital Journal this evening:

The cost of the two 1 ½ mile-long levees on either side of the Missouri will cost the federal government millions of dollars but the levees are expected to help Pierre and Fort Pierre battle flooding.

The completion of the levees is set for 11 p.m. on June 2, shortly before the Oahe Dam’s next scheduled water release increase is. Morris Inc. will be working 24 hours a day on the levees.

The levees in Pierre will cost $1,750,480 and the levees in Fort Pierre will cost $2,465,000 in federal money.

Gee, thanks, Washington.

So, the question looms to our deficit hawks Rep Noem and Sen. Thune:

Really, do wealthy South Dakotans who just chose to build new McMansions on the floodway despite the risks really deserve a Federal bailout?

This question is brought forward as Gov. Rounds, Daugaard, and our Republicans in Washington are questioning our commitment to honor Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance -- BTW earned benefits that we pay into our entire working lives... and the value of our Federal employees that have dedicated their lives to public service ... these questions are worth asking.

Seriously, though, Governor Rounds and everyone else affected by the expected flooding along the Missouri are in our thoughts; and we will get through this together.

These are our neighbors, after all.

NOTE: Pierre residents and everyone else can track the Missouri water levels in Pierre up to the minute, thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey's realtime gage:
* Realtime graph
* Signup for Cell phone alerts

UPDATE: The Corps is warning releases will be even higher than the 110,000 cfs they were predicting because of recent rains. (Capital Journal)

UPDATE 2: If you can help, there are lots of ways to do so, up to and including filling sandbags in Yankton and Pierre.

This message brought to you by federal employees...

2011-05-24T05:09:00.001-07:00

Today, a reminder of how much we depend on the dedicated work of Federal and other public employees, both on our personal and economic lives. Whole industries depend directly on weather data (for example, Weather Underground, which passed on this NWS report), and for safety and recreation we benefit from real-time streamflow we can get by web and cell phone. South Dakota would be in a pretty pickle without Federal employees.

This is relevant to the current debate about Federal employees. As the baby boomers in the Federal workforce retire, we need to interest the best and the brightest in public service, and we need the old guard to stay around to pass their expertise on to them. The current right-wing rhetoric and threatened actions against Federal employees is dangerous for us in particular.

Democrats need to continue to stand up and tell the truth about how Republican rhetoric against public servants is very bad for all Americans, but especially for South Dakotans, who depend on Federal employees for our livelihood (and our very lives).

Statement as of 2:55 AM MDT on May 24, 2011

... Flood Watch remains in effect through late tonight...

The Flood Watch continues for

* portions of southwest South Dakota and west central South
Dakota... including the following areas... in southwest South
Dakota... Bennett... Custer co plains... Fall River... Hermosa
foot hills... Jackson... Shannon... southern Black Hills and
southern foot hills. In west central South Dakota... central
Black Hills... northern Black Hills... Pennington co plains...
Rapid City... southern Meade co plains and Sturgis/Piedmont
foot hills.

* Through late tonight

* one to two inches of rain with locally higher amounts is
expected through tonight. Runoff from the heavy rain on the
saturated ground may produce flooding of area creeks and low
lying areas.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A Flood Watch means that flooding is possible along rivers and
creeks in the watch area... but is not imminent. If you are in the
watch area... take time to move livestock... equipment... and other
property from low lying areas before flooding occurs. Monitor
NOAA Weather Radio and local media for updated forecasts and be
ready to quickly move to higher ground if rising water levels are
observed or a warning is issued.

Could West River Voting Districts Be Less Fair?

2011-05-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is a cross-post from Robbinsdale Radical that I think is worth sharing again here, as redistricting needs to be on our radar in the coming months

The Rapid City Journal reports on the upcoming effort to make Democrats even less able to elect anyone from West River (Lawmakers to take up redistricting this fall, April 3)

Talk about elections having consequences.

At a special session in October, lawmakers will approve new legislative districts drawn over the course of the year by a committee with a heavy West River contingent. Reps. David Lust, Brian Gosch and Mark Kirkeby, all Rapid City Republicans, will sit on the eight-member House redistricting committee. Sen. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, and Sen. Jim Bradford, D-Pine Ridge, are on the seven-member Senate committee.

Here's the money quote:

“There’s a balance you have to make between getting fair representation and over-packing a district so Native Americans have fair representation,” [Rep David] Lust said.

(Well, that's a no-brainer, we can't have that.)

The current districts are terribly gerrymandered to silence Native Americans (and other groups that lean Democratic) in Pennington County. For example, North Rapid has been split to dilute the vote to make perfectly sure that non-right-thinkers have absolutely we no voice west of the Missouri (off the Pine Ridge anyway). For example, District 32 includes a chunk of West Rapid just big enough to make sure registered Democrats are a permanent minority.

And don't get me started on 34, a case-study in how Republicans have ensured their near-monopoly on representing Rapid City for more than 25 years, despite a growing population of Democrats caused by (a) demographic changes and (b) frustration with Republican "leadership" from our legislators.

With the committee 6-1 Republican, and such heavy West River representation on the committee, we can hardly expect Dems to catch a break for fair representation, as 3/7 of the committee (Gosch, Lust, Kirkeby) depend on their gerrymandered districts for easy re-election.

The best we can hope for is they do (somehow) manage to make the situation even worse so we can have a court challenge to our unfair district boundaries.

Half of North Rapid is included in a add-on extension of District 34 (violet) to bury its Democratic vote under massive Republican majorities in West Rapid City and the western suburbs.

Thank you, Travis!

2011-05-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

As there will be a lot going on in this election year, I responded to Travis and he kindly agreed to set me up as an author on the site. So you'll be seeing at least a few posts from me here.

So, to paraphrase Mark Twain, "reports of Badlands Blue's death have been greatly exaggerated."

We will see a quite entertaining presidential primary and a lot of Republican backtracking from what they have done in 2011 -- so there will be things to talk about....

So thank you, Travis, for your longtime contribution keeping this blog alive; we all hope you may yet be able to chip in yet from time to time.

-- Curtis Price

Good Night and Good Luck

2011-05-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

I've come to the decision that this is going to be my last post here on Badlands and until someone else wants to take charge of it, the end of Badlands Blue.

I just don't have the time to post on here enough to make it worthwhile. I'll still join in on discussions from time to time and will be around, just not blogging.

No I am not running for office or helping anyone run for office - I just don't have the want to do this anymore on a regular basis (as seen in the lack of posts this past spring) and am too busy to even manage it.

So thanks for reading and if anyone is interested in taking this over, drop me a line and we'll talk.

Goodnight and Goodluck

Governor and Lt. Governor joke about cutting jobs and salaries of hard working people

2011-04-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the pleasure (sic) of listening to Lt. Governor Matt Michels and Governor Dennis Daugaard speak at the South Dakota Governor's Economic Development Conference.

What I heard was so offensive I can't believe I actually heard them do it.

Lt. Gov. Michels started out trying to be funny (and failing) by reading a text he got from Gov. Daugaard that due to budget problems, he was going to have to trim his beard by 10%.

Then Gov. Daugaard decided to also joke about cutting the budget.

This entire display was not only tactless, but absolutely a slap in the face to every single person that is being affected by the cuts that this administration decided to implement.

During the 2010 campaign, Dennis Daugaard refused to acknowledge that there was a budget problem facing our state and then once he was in office decided that instead of trying to raise more money, he was just going to cut the budgets of education and health care.

I understand having to be within a budget and I at least understand the idea of not wanting to raise income and instead just want to cut money out of the budget.

What I don't get is the fact that you would joke about it. Ask the 22 teachers in Yankton who are going to lose their jobs if its funny. Ask the state employees who have had their salaries frozen for the past 3 years if they think its funny. Ask the students who are going to have their programs cut or shortened if its funny.

Joking about cutting people's budgets, salaries and jobs is disrespectful, insulting and completely unprofessional. Gov. Daugaard and Lt. Gov. Michels should know better and should apologize for it. I expect more out of our leaders.

Rep. Crowley - Speechless

2011-04-15T06:14:00.001-07:00

A Meeting of the minds???

2011-04-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm out in Pierre at the State Capital building and I start thinking...wait, I wonder if Pat Powers is in at the SOS office? So, I stopped on down and had a good conversation with Pat about the state of politics, the dems and reps and how work was going.

The one thing about politics is that while it is easy to get nasty on-line and make comments about people, when we meet them face to face, its usually easy to find some common ground. I know Pat and I disagree on probably everything when it comes to politics, but I was glad I got the chance to meet him finally.

I would like to say that while being here, I am getting to see high schoolers debate various bills and resolutions that they wrote. It is safe to say that there is more intelligent debate going on today and tomorrow than during the entire session this past year. If you don't believe me, come down and find out!

Travis

Obama starts Presidential Campaign

2011-04-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

And so it begins...not that the 2012 campaign didn't start the day after the 2008 campaign ended, but that is the way politics works. However, it has "officially" begun with Obama's announcement that he is running. Here is the e-mail that was sent out:

Travis --

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.

We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.

As we take this step, I'd like to share a video that features some folks like you who are helping to lead the way on this journey.Please take a moment to watch:

In the coming days, supporters like you will begin forging a new organization that we'll build together in cities and towns across the country. And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before.

We'll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight.

This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate. But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together.

There will be much more to come as the race unfolds. Today, simply let us know you're in to help us begin, and then spread the word:
http://my.barackobama.com/2012

Thank you,

Barack

- I'll have more on this later, but just quickly - there are some things that have disappointed me about the Obama administration over the past few years - but I still feel that he is a better alternative than what is out there at the moment.

- Travis

Mission Accomplished? I thought we learned from that phrase!

2011-03-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

In 2003, President George W. Bush claimed that the mission in Iraq had been accomplished. We had won! Mission Accomplished! Oh how wrong he was. We are still in Iraq, still fighting insurgents and terrorists and it also created stability problems in Afghanistan and we have yet to capture Osama Bin Laden. Needless to say, it is viewed now as one of the bigger blunders.

The question is, is Governor Dennis Daugaard making the same mistake? Once the new budget was passed, he claimed that the mission was accomplished because he had balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unfortunately, two things are true:

1. He did not solve the structural deficit, just this years. Which means that next year we're going to face even more cuts - unless sales taxes shoot through the moon (wishfull thinking).

2. It is causing multiple other problems - cutting education and funding for medicaid creates problems. Those problems I feel are addressed pretty well by the SDDP's most recent press release they sent out (which I will add to this post at the end).

Hopefully people are going to realize what a mistake it is to cut an investment into education and cutting services for the people of South Dakota. Hopefully the legislators and Governor Daugaard also realize this and will actually work to truly fix the budget next year without hurting programs.

(press release from the SDDP)
Daugaard’s Defense of Extremist Budget Dishonest, Misleading
SIOUX FALLS (March 30, 2011) — Governor Daugaard’s dishonesty about the budget crisis and misleading comments about the impact his extremist budget will have on our children, schools, and local communities puts into question whether South Dakotans can trust his decisions, said Ben Nesselhuf, Chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party.
In a written response to a constituent concerned by Daugaard’s extremist budget, Daugaard’s statements offer deliberately misleading information about the impact of cuts to education and Medicaid and stand in stark contrast to candidate Daugaard.
Daugaard’s claims that education funding will only decrease 3.6% hide the true sustaining effect of the Governor’s extremist budget, Nesselhuf further noted.

“Claiming that the education cuts are only 3.6% when school districts across the state have already announced plans to increase class sizes, lay off teachers, rob maintenance funds, and raise local property taxes, seems totally out of touch with reality,” Nesselhuf contended.

Senate Bill 152, which freezes local property taxes despite lower state aid to education, cuts education funding by 8.6%. Since additional tax revenues – which in any other year would be included in the state aid education funding formula – are considered by the governor as “one-time funds,” 8.6% cuts will be the new norm school boards must use to create their budgets. Republicans in Pierre already froze state aid for education last year, and limited schools to 3% growth or less in preceding years.
Nesselhuf concluded, “Either Governor Daugaard doesn’t understand how his extremist budget will affect our children, schools, and local communities, or he prefers to ignore it. In either case, our children lose and our local communities bear the burden of the Governor’s budget cuts,”
Nesselhuf continued to point out that the candidate many South Dakotans voted for was not the governor they got. During the campaign, Lieutenant Governor Dennis Daugaard denied the existence of a budget crisis in South Dakota. Then, when asked whether he would cut funds for Medicaid, he flatly said cuts to Medicaid were “off the table” because of Federal matching dollars.
Once in office, however, Governor Daugaard said the budget crisis in South Dakota places a “gun at our head,” and immediately proposed to cut $30 million from Medicaid and forgo an additional $45 million in matching federal dollars for nursing homes and families in need.
“Daugaard misled South Dakotans about the dire fiscal straits he and Governor Rounds had forced South Dakota into through rapid overspending and policies that did not support economic growth,” stated Nesselhuf. “This letter shows that his denial of the budget crisis now extends to a blatant denial of the impact his cuts will have on our children, schools, and local communities.”
Background:
· 8.6% Education Cut: “According to Daugaard, the rule changes regarding local property tax levies for school districts and the $12.5 million in one-time funding lowered the 8.6 percent state-aid cut down to 6.6 percent…Schaefer disagreed with reports that the cut in state aid to education was actually lower than 8.6 percent. ‘A political spin was put on the numbers to make it look a lot less than the 8.6 (percent),’ Schaefer told the school board members. Schaefer said that school districts had to spend federal special-education money on special-education programs. K-12 capital-outlay money -- even with some recent loosening of restrictions -- is intended for repairs and improvements to buildings and grounds. Federal funding for school lunch programs has an earmark, requiring its use for student food service.” [Chuck Clement, Madison Daily Leader,

· Area Schools Now Walk a Money Tightrope: “Deep cuts in state aid forcing many schools to make painful choices.” Randy Dockendorf, Press & Dakotan, 3.19.2011 · Budget Crisis: “Given those polling numbers, it’s not surprising that the Democratic nominee is already on TV attacking – over seven months before the general election. But Scott Heidepriem has a problem – there is NO ‘budget crisis’ in South Dakota.” [Fundraising letter, 4.14.2010]

· Cuts to Medicaid: “Cuts to Medicaid would certainly be off the table. A cut of one dollar in state taxes for Medicaid purposes would lose two dollars roughly in federal funds, so that’s off the table.”[South Dakota Focus, May 20th, 2010, video: ]

· Governor’s Budget Recommendations: “The gun is at our head,” he said. “I’m tired of looking at death from a thousand paper cuts.” [Bob Mercer, Capitol Journal, 1.20.2011 ]

· Cuts to Judicial System: “The judicial system will reduce 5 percent, or about $1.75 million, from its budget by moving some of its general spending to a separate technology budget.” [Keloland.com, 2.2.2011, ]

The Legislature does something right! Thank you!!!

2011-03-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

I must say, I was pleasently surprised to see that the legislature actually did something good yesterday on Veto Day!

South Dakota legislators ended the session Monday by overriding Gov. Dennis Daugaard's veto of a measure to prevent insurance companies from offering policies that charge higher co-payments for visits to chiropractors than to primary care physicians.

The legislation takes effect July 1.
Some insurance companies were charging a $50 or $60 co-pay for a chiropractor labeled as a specialist and $20 to $25 co-pay for a family doctor. The average cost of a routine chiropractor visit is $40 in South Dakota, so patients were paying more for the co-pay than what the doctor would bill, said Dr. Josh Biberdorf, president of the South Dakota Chiropractors Association.

So, Governor Daugaard wanted to take away health care options for the citizens of South Dakota, but the legislature was smart enough to realize that what the Insurance Companies were doing was wrong and had to be addressed - so thank you!

The following individuals, along with Governor Daugaard, wanted to take away a health care option for you. They will try to argue that it was yet "another government mandate" yet they have no problem with a government mandate telling a woman what she can do with her body...ironies or agendas?

Senators:
Cutler, Fryslie, Garnos, Gray, Heineman, Holien, Hunhoff (Jean), Johnston, Peters, Vehle

Representatives:
Abdallah, Blake, Boomgarden, Cronin, Deelstra, Greenfield, Hawley, Hansen (Jon), Juhnke, Perry, Rausch, Russell, Tulson, Willadsen, Wismer

Next time I see my Senator, Joni Cutler, I'm going to be asking her why she voted to take away a health care option for me and my family. In this time of economic need for a lot of families, siding with insurance companies to let them charge more for co-pays then the actual visit would cost is unfathomable. Thankfully, there were enough legislators to overturn it. To those of you who did vote to over-ride this legislation: THANK YOU!

-Travis

Education is an investment - not an expense

2011-03-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long, long, long break everyone. I don't have much time or inclination right now to deal with politics, but I wanted to share something.

Here is just a short part from an article I wanted to share.

A world leader in education

The U.S. was the first country to offer every young person the opportunity to obtain a free public secondary education at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Century and reaped tremendous economic rewards for doing so.

By 1910 only nine percent of people in the U.S. had finished high school, and yet the U.S. was already ahead of all other nations in terms of post-elementary enrollment rates. The U.S. economy boomed during the early 20th Century “teen” years and the 1920s as a result. By 1935, 40 percent of U.S. citizens had finished high school, and less than a decade later the U.S. could boast having the best educated workforce in the world.

The U.S. also led the world in the number of people earning post-secondary college and university degrees after World War II, when the G.I. bill made it possible for thousands of returning veterans off to obtain a higher education, fueling yet another period of economic expansion in the U.S. in the 1950s and ’60s. The large cohort of U.S. Baby Boomers began going on to college as a matter of course in the late ’60s, and by the end of the 1970s a college degree was viewed by most people in the U.S. as the single most important factor in obtaining – not just a good job – but a career, and an economically secure life.

Now, in the high-tech, globally inter-connected world of the 21st Century, obtaining postsecondary education and training is quickly becoming even more essential for individual economic achievement, and to ensure the success of entire nations and economies. Jobs and investment capital in today’s markets flow to those countries that have the best educated people.

Read the rest of the article here.

This is the problem. When we invested in our education and educated our people, we became the dominate world leader in the world. What is happening now? Well, we look at education as an expense that we should spend less and less on. If you are curious as to why we are getting our butts handed to us when it comes to global competitiveness, this is the answer.

Stop viewing education as an expense, look at it as an investment in our future. Unless you just want to keep people dumb and un-educated so you can control them better, there is zero excuse for this lack of investment - NONE!

-More to come later....

Travis

National Republican Group calling for resignation of Rep. Manny Steele

2011-02-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

Got this sent my way - again, I wish I paid more attention to the state legislature, because apparently there are a lot of crazy things happening. Thoughts?

OFFICAL STATEMENT
National Hispanic Group Demands Apology from Rep. Manny Steele for His Use of Offensive Terms For

Immediate Release
Contact: 515-423-7312 9 February 2011 bob@somosrepublicans.com

Ankeny, Iowa – On Monday, February 7, 2011, Representative Manny Steele used the term “anchor babies” to describe children born on non-citizens during a hearing of the South Dakota legislature . This term is deeply offensive and should never be used to describe babies. Rep. Steele owes all babies and pro life Republicans an apology for his use of defamatory language. Rep. Steele recently introduced a birthright citizenship bill which would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. of immigrants including some legal immigrants, in clear violation of the U.S Constitution. Rep. Marc Feinstein also found the term offensive.

Steele is being intellectually dishonest to all Americans, and is choosing to use introduce laws that will most likely be challenged in the Courts, while costing tax payers millions of dollars to defend. Steele also took an oath of office wherein he swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the U.S. and to protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic. It appears that Steele has chosen to ignore his respective oath of office to uphold the Constitution. To the contrary, his support of this bill serves as a domestic attack on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court precedent decisions, and the codification of birthright citizenship as contained within the INA.

§301(a) of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA) and (8 U.S.C. §1401(a)) entitled “Nationals And Citizens of United States At Birth” reads as follows: “The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth: (a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. “ The U.S. Congress codified birth right citizenship within federal immigration law approximately 58 years ago. Birthright citizenship is the law of the land and not a “simple policy.”

As a result of Steele trampling on our Constitution, and attacking baby rights, we believe he should resign from political office to prevent further embarrassment of our Party and the image of Abraham Lincoln. Somos Republicans believes honoring oaths of office is a serious matter and is holding politicians accountable, and recently launched a recall effort of Arizona Senator Russell Pearce. Pearce is behind a similar birthright bill and introduced Arizona‟s infamous „papers please‟ law which Steele is also seeking to copy though a judge has already found that law is likely unconstitutional and enjoined it‟s enforcement.

About Somos Republicans:

Somos Republicans is a national watchdog group and the largest Hispanic Republican grassroots organization in the nation because of our leadership that is pro immigration reform. The Mission of Somos Republicans is to promote political education and information needed to make more informed political decisions. To inspire the Hispanic people to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their neighbors through collaborative political education, volunteer commitment and responsible participation in society. Our vision is to increase the Latino Republican voting block by 100% within two years. To increase voter registration, precinct committeemen recruitment, campaign volunteering, fundraising and events to reflect quality of future Latino leadership.

Craziness in the Legislature!!!!!!

2011-01-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, did everyone take one huge bottle of crazy pills before this legislative session or what? Honestly, I have not been keeping up with the legislature for the past couple of weeks and when I do some looking today, this is what I see:

1. Daugaard wants to keep a program that gives away millions of dollars to businesses - as Bob Mercer said, it is one of the reasons why South Dakota is in a structural deficit. That's okay I guess, we can just keep cutting the budgets of the schools and medical care, because those people apparently don't need it.

2. Daugaard wants to save some money though by ending the food-tax refunds to lower-income households. Food taxes are one of the worst taxes on those who can't afford it, but I guess if they die of starvation then they won't suck up our medicaid dollars or take up space in our schools - thanks.

3. And to prove a point, I'm going to point a gun at your head....and yours....and yours....and yours...

If you can't tell, this post is written with extreme sarcasm.

What a joke of a session.

Video from SDDP

2011-01-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

For your viewing enjoyment

Minnehaha County Democrats to Meet February 1st.

2011-01-31T04:39:00.000-08:00

If you are in town, come on down:

The Minnehaha County Democratic Party will hold its monthly Central Committee meeting Tuesday, February 1st at 7:00 PM in the Commissioners' Room on the 2nd Floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building in Sioux Falls.

In addition to its regular business, the Committee will discuss the implications of Governor Daugaard's proposed ten percent across the board cut to most public programs, including education and healthcare and the Democratic response to it.

Refreshments and snacks will be served immediately before and after the meeting. All interested Democrats are encouraged to attend and get involved in the Party's activities.
Contact: Sheldon Osborn 605 376-6852, e-mail sheldon1947@gmail.com

Republican Disdain for Education

2011-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

I've never understood why Education is considered a partisan issue. I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democrat, don't we all want our kids to have the best education possible and the best opportunities available to them? If you have a kid or grandkid in school would you rather have them go to a school with an oral interp program, band program, debate program, and athletic facilities available to them - or would you rather they have those programs cut, have them put into larger classrooms and have fewer opportunities available to them?

I guess if you are a Republican your answer is something like this that was heard in the corridors of the Senate this past week in regards to people contacting him about the education cuts:

"I just delete any e-mails about education"

I can hope that this is just one person's belief - but really, it seems to be the general disregard that quite a few people have in regards to education.

Women 4 Women Day

2011-01-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

Got this info sent along my way and wanted to share it with you all....enjoy!

Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C., will be the keynote speaker at the 7^th Annual Women 4 Women Day to be held January 31, 2011, at the State Capitol in Pierre.

Celinda Lake is one of the nation’s foremost experts on electing women candidates and on framing issues to women voters. Lake is one of the progressive’s leading pollsters and political strategists, and has worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, EMILY's List, The White House Project, Planned Parenthood, The Unmarried Women's Project, and the Women's Campaign Fund. Lake has frequently appeared as a guest commentator on MSNBC, FOX News, CNN, and NPR.

Lake co-authored the book, What Women Really Want, with Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway in 2005, examining how American women changing the political landscape in America. “They are not red or blue. Women are purple. Eighty percent of women agree on 80% of things,” concludes Lake.

A native of Livingston, Montana, Lake will give luncheon remarks, lead an afternoon workshop, and attend the Women 4 Women Day legislative reception. Lake will discuss demographic trends with women voters, the impact of the 2010 midterm elections, and how women activists and candidates can effectively communicate their concerns to policy makers and the public.

The public is welcome to attend by registering online for Women 4 Women Day or by emailing sdanwinfo@gmail.com. Free transportation to and from Pierre is provided from Sioux Falls, Brookings and Rapid City.

Super-Majority I believe is the term being used

2011-01-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

Wow. I knew that the Dems had a really bad election day, but to see it in print again is just depressing. From the Capital Journal:

Republicans will be in full control, with super-majorities in both the Senate and the House of Represenatives. The governor and lieutenant governor are Republicans.

and

In the House of Representatives, the speaker is Rep. Val Rausch, R-Big Stone City. He is the presiding officer for 50 Republicans, 19 Democrats and one independent.

and

The Senate has 30 Republicans and five Democrats.

The reason I point this out is two-fold:

Democrats: In case you forgot, we got our butts kicked in November and we need to get organized. I know that a lot of times in the months after an election, the anger dies down, the excitement dies down and we just sit back and wait until next year to start doing something - don't! We have to remember what it takes to be a viable party in this state - something we haven't been for a while!

Second, if there are any complaints about what the legislature does this session, it is 100% on the GOP - I don't want to hear a single complaint about what the Democrats did to cause this mess - it is solely the GOP's. In fact, the budgetary problems that we are currently in are the GOP's making - they have been in charge.

So, I plan on keeping tabs on the legislature and will keep you updated - let the games begin!!!

....And We're Back!

2011-01-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long delay, but I needed to take a self-imposed break for a while (like I actually said I was going to do a while ago).

With that said, we're ready to start looking at a few things like:

1. Congress and the budget

2. State legislature and their budget

3. Current events (like the Arizona shooting)

4. 2012 Presidential race that is off and running!

So, lots to cover.

Let's get started!

A historic day

2010-12-18T19:30:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure this would happen but it finally did. I wonder what Miranda at South Dakota Politics thinks (since we had a debate over this past summer).

In historic vote, Senate moves to end 'don't ask, don't tell'
Eight Republicans joined Democrats to vote for an end to the 1993 'don't ask, don't tell' law banning gay troops from serving openly. Proponents compare it to ending racial segregation in the military.

The Senate Saturday voted to end a longstanding ban on gay troops serving openly in the US armed services – a move Democrats compare to President Truman’s ending the ban on racial segregation in the military in 1948.

“It is time to close this chapter in our history,” said President Obama in a statement. “It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed. It is time to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country openly.”

Read the entire story here.

You know my thoughts - it is about time. I didn't think it could get passed, but a few GOP members put aside their "say no" strategy to everything and voted on their conscience.

Judge ruling on Health Care has ties to GOP, AG bringing case and other big donors

2010-12-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

Saw this on the Huffington Post and wanted to share it with you all.

The federal judge set to issue one of the first decisions on the Obama administration's health care law has financial ties to both the attorney general who is challenging the law and to a powerhouse conservative law firm whose clients include prominent Republican officials and critics of reform.

and

From2003 through 2008, Hudson has been receiving "dividends" from Campaign Solutions Inc., among other investments. In 2008, he reported income of between $5,000 and $15,000 from the firm. (Data from 2009 was not available at the Judicial Watch database.)

A powerhouse Republican online communications firm, Campaign Solutions, has done work for a host of prominent Republican clients and health care reform critics, including the RNC and NRCC (both of which have called, to varying degrees, for health care reform's repeal). The president of the firm, Becki Donatelli, is the wife of longtime GOP hand Frank Donatelli, and is an adviser toformer Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, among others.

Another firm client is Ken Cuccinelli, the Attorney General of Virginia and the man who is bringing the lawsuit in front of Hudson's court. In 2010, records show, Cuccinelli spent nearly $9,000 for Campaign Solutions services.

Campaign Solutions did not immediately return a request for information on the judge's relationship with the company.

The nexus between the chief lawyer and the judge spurs questions about judicial objectivity. At the very least, it shows how tightly connected the legal and political worlds can be and how difficult it is to remove the partisan threads from the heath care related lawsuits

Read the entire article here.

What are your thoughts? Campaign Solutions has responded and said that he is a passive investor and has no idea on the day to day operations. Does that make a difference, or should he recuse himself?

Pawlenty V Thune - this could be interesting

2010-12-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

Thune smiling: he knows he's better looking than Pawlenty

Big article on Politico today talking about John Thune and Tim Pawlenty and the prospects of them duking it out in Iowa.

Nevertheless, if he decides to run, the widespread assumption is that as the senator from neighboring South Dakota, he'll play well there. And that's a problem for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, another potential GOP contender from a neighboring state who's been the most aggressive of the 2012 contenders about laying Iowa groundwork, with a systematic approach that includes hiring top Iowa-savvy GOP operatives and campaigning for state-level Republican candidates.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46292.html#ixzz17xKdgGuo

The article isn't bad, but what I do find most interesting is that it makes the assumption that Thune has decided to run - now if he'd only stand up for South Dakotans instead of standing with the rest of his party to ensure that millionaires and billionaires can get their tax breaks. Then again, he also claims to be a deficit hawk, which I have yet to see...

Taxes, the Debt and Broken Promises

2010-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of talk lately on extending the Bush-era tax cuts, who should get it, who shouldn't, what impact it will have, etc.

Does anyone remember the 2010 election? Anyone remember what the GOP was campaigning on? Wasn't it spending, spending and more spending. We have to rein in spending by our Government because we're going broke - wasn't that the message? How soon we forget:

The deal, which sees Republicans giving the White House about $300 billion in stimulus in return for the White House giving Republicans about $130 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, laid bare some realities of how Washington works—and doesn’t work—right now. It’s worth going through them one by one.

No one really cares about the deficit—at least not yet. No sooner had Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles completed their work on a deficit-reduction package than Democrats and Republicans reached a bipartisan accord to add $900 billion to the debt. Republicans wanted their unpaid-for tax cuts for the rich; Democrats wanted their unpaid-for stimulus measures. And both sides wanted the unpaid-for tax cuts for incomes under $250,000. I think it’s appropriate to spend while the economy is weak and then repay when it’s strong, but then, I didn’t just get elected to Congress by promising to rein in spending.

Read the entire article here

Thank you - NO ONE REALLY CARES ABOUT THE DEFICIT! This is once again hypocrisy at its worst. The GOP campaigned on reigning in spending, labeling dems as the reckless party that is bringing up our debt. Guess what, neither party wants to make the tough call that we need to pay more in taxes if we want to close the deficit gap.

Here's the deal: yes I want to pay less in taxes, but I also want us to balance the budget. I have an idea, if we want to spend less in taxes, why not stop spending billions upon billions of dollars on the most hegemonic military the world has ever seen? How about actually raising the retirement age for Social Security? How about eliminating the cap on Social Security taxes (if you make more than $92,500 (I believe its around that amount) you don't have to pay another cent to Social Security)?

Tax policy is just the first of many issues that are so convoluted that politics just makes it worse. So, remember the next time Sen. Thune or any other GOP argues that we need to do more to address the budget deficit: they were the ones who absolutely refused to do something about it, by giving the wealthy an extended tax cut - one that which caused us to go from a budget surplus, to the biggest budget deficit in history. Thanks GOP.

While I agree with Rapid City Journal - let's not go overboard

2010-11-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

Got an e-mail about the Rapid City Journal's editorial on Sunday about Daugaard and his appointments that he has made to start the year. Here is just a snippet of it:

After voters gave Dennis Daugaard a resounding win in his recent race for governor, he undid their votes in another important race by appointing Public Utility Commission Chairman Dusty Johnson as his chief of staff.
Johnson can also take some of the blame for disenfranchising voters who recently elected him to serve another six-year term on the commission.
And Daugaard appointed Secretary of State Chris Nelson, who lost a recent bid for the U.S. House, to fill Johnson's empty seat. Nelson would have been looking for work come Jan. 1. Now he has been recycled into another state bureaucratic post. Voters won't get a chance to make their own choice for another two years.

Again - I agree with that information. I didn't like the posts and the way it was handled. I think Dusty Johnson, who had a great reputation and image, damaged it by taking a post right after being re-elected. Additionally, while Chris Nelson is a good man and good public servant, his minimal experience does concern me and makes me ask questions about favoritism.

However, what I do take issue with is the attacks on the family members that Rapid City Journal felt they needed to do. They are making implications of impropriety without any evidence of it. Yes it looks bad, but should we punish Chris Daugaard for getting a position just because his dad is the Governor-elect? Sadly Chris will have to deal with those expectations and thoughts on his qualifications as long as his dad is Governor. However, can we hold the attacks just a little bit?

Again, I think Daugaard has done a very poor job with his appointments and I do think a lot of it is the same crap that we've seen the past 8 years of favoritism and cronyism - however, it doesn't seem like South Dakotans care much anyway....however, let's take it easy on people who are hired for a position - even if their name is the same as the Governors.

Why I can't stand the media

2010-11-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

NBC started their morning show this morning talking about Prince William getting married - FOR 10 MINUTES!!!!!

Really - we need to talk about his upcoming wedding in April for 10 minutes.

They then spent 1 minute on North Korea attacking South Korea.

15 Seconds on another crisis (I missed it because I was typing and it was so quick).

15 seconds on something else that is probably important.

15 seconds on some economy thing that affects us all.

15 seconds on the stock markets and how they are doing.

Wow - thanks for keeping the populace informed on the important events happening around the world that are affecting us media - way to go!

No to Gov't health care - WAIT, WHERE'S MINE!!!

2010-11-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

I thought about starting a Hypocrisy watch here on Badlands for all the times that the new GOP led congress does something hypocritical, but I knew that the numbers would just get too high - here is an example:

A conservative Maryland physician elected to Congress on an anti-Obamacare platform surprised fellow freshmen at a Monday orientation session by demanding to know why his government-subsidized health care plan takes a month to kick in.
Republican Andy Harris, an anesthesiologist who defeated freshman Democrat Frank Kratovil on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, reacted incredulously when informed that federal law mandated that his government-subsidized health care policy would take effect on Feb. 1 – 28 days after his Jan. 3rd swearing-in.

Read the entire Politico article here.

Unbelievable! You campaign against government health care and then you get elected to congress and are mad that you don't get YOUR government health care right away.

New rule: All those who voted and campaigned AGAINST Health Care Reform will not be allowed to receive United States Government Health Care!

I think that would be fair don't you. If you think that government run health care is that bad, then you don't get to have it.

Glen Beck needs to get off the air

2010-11-19T05:12:00.001-08:00

Why you may ask? Well, for making stuff up and for being a lunatic.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

George Soros Plans to Overthrow America

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

Why Nancy Pelosi - WHY!!!!

2010-11-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Pelosi looking to beat someone...or just being excited...

Well, I guess the national dems really are that stupid:

Representative Nancy Pelosi was returned as the House Democratic leader on Wednesday on a vote that exposed clear unease among some colleagues about her remaining as the party’s most visible figure in the House after deep losses in the November elections.

It just goes to show that if you screw up big enough, you can still keep your job. So, for all of the F'up's out there, keep on keepin' on.

I will say this: yes you accomplished a lot - in fact, more than most congresses have. But you are the face of a narrative that the GOP used to defeat Democrats this year. Why would you remain their main target for 2012?

To me this is all about ego - Pelosi thinks that because she got so much accomplished (with a wide majority mind you) that she has the right to maintain power - just take a look at her quote:

After the vote, Ms. Pelosi spelled out why she thought her colleagues were willing to keep her at the top even after Republicans won at least 61 Democratic seats on Nov. 2

“Because I’m an effective leader, because we got the job done on health care and Wall Street reform and consumer protection — the list goes on,” she said. “Because they know that I’m the person that can attract the resources, both intellectual and otherwise, to take us to victory because I have done it before.”
This is what bothers me. Just because you did some things well, you are still the face of what people voted against. How many times did I have to see Nancy Pelosi on the TV this year - far too many (even though Herseth Sandlin didn't come close to her ideals).

For the good of the party - STEP DOWN!!! You are only going to be the continued face of the liberal wing of the party that the GOP can happily slap on any and all advertising to kill dems in 2012. Maybe there will be a revolt after a while - one can only hope I guess.....

Welcome to the Waffle House Mr. McConnell - what is your order

2010-11-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is what kills me about the GOP and the rhetoric about decreasing the deficit - they don't want to actually do anything about the budget, because they want to do two things:

1 - Expand tax cuts that turned a budget surplus into massive deficits
and
2 - Ensure money for their state projects

Of course, now Mitch McConnell says that congress is going to have a moratorium on all earmarks. As the NY Times states:

In leading his colleagues in a vote on Tuesday to ban the lawmaker-directed spending items known as earmarks, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader and consummate Congressional appropriator, averted a divisive clash within his caucus over the question of joining the new House Republican majority in enacting an earmark “moratorium” for the next Congress.

Let me first say that for the most part, I agree with this idea. Now I say idea because in practice, it might not be such a good idea. As all Senators and Representatives will argue - their projects are important. South Dakota is no different. Here are just some of the projects that are "earmarked" by our Senators:

Lewis & Clark Rural Water System
Water Programs for Reservations
Numerous Projects for Ellsworth Air Force Base

In fact, Senator Thune alone from 2008 to 2010 put in a total of 163 requests for a total of $539,411,378. But can you say that he was reckless? Don't we want clean water to drink from and roads to drive on and ensure the continuity of our Air Force base? I would say yes, but I am a liberal and apparently love (sic) spending tax dollars

While Thune's total may seem like a lot, it pales in comparison to the new leader of the GOP Mitch McConnell. His total earmark request from 2008 to 2010:

233 requests - totalling: $1,535,993,325!

So, the person who has suddenly found piety when it comes to spending wanted 1.5 Billion for projects for his state. Interesting. Waffle order up for Senator McConnell - Senator McConnell, you're waffle is ready!

Okay fine, let's say that you want to put a moratorium on earmarks - fine. But is that actually going to solve the problem? NO! In 2010, there were 15.9 Billion in earmarks - 19.9 Billion in 2009. The current yearly deficit is around 1.5 Trillion. So, if we stop all earmarks, then the deficit will be 1.48 Tillion - WOW - THANKS FOR THAT DEFICIT HAWK SAVINGS GOP!

I'm sorry to break this to you, but we really need to end some of the Bush era tax cuts - especially if you are a deficit hawk! If you truly want to close the gap of the deficit, yes we need to cut back on some of our spending, but don't think that we can NOT eliminate the tax cuts that Bush pushed through in 2001 and 2003.

By the way - the ONLY reason that Bush was able to get those tax cuts passed and use the numbers that he was using was to have them eliminated in 2010. Again, that was the ONLY reason that he got enough support for them to pass - because he claimed that it wouldn't hurt the deficit (sic) and that they would be done in 2010.

So, for all of those out there who claim to be deficit hawks, but refuse to look at increasing taxes or cutting spending I have a new diet for you: it's called the Ice Cream Sundae diet - you can eat all of the Ice Cream Sundaes that you can eat 24/7 and you will lose weight - its amazing!!!!

Goodbye Mr. Powers - and Hello to new writers!

2010-11-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

I see that Pat Powers is stepping down today as the writer for SDWC. Good luck in whatever you are doing PP, unless it is of course to try and defeat democrats - then, not so much.

As for this blog - I am also branching out and getting a couple of writers. Not that I am leaving, its just I am not nearly as prolific as PP ever was and want to keep things updated here.

The first of whom is a strong-minded registered Independent who I am sure will introduce himself to you all soon enough!

The changes are coming!

2010-11-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

As you can tell from the site, I've started making a few changes - and not to just the design!

Over the next couple of weeks you will see:

At least 3 additional authors - maybe more. I'll introduce them as we get things finalized around here.

Additionally, I have decided for no annonymous posting - you have to have some profile. I suppose if you want to make a fake google one you can, but it just means you'll have to either work hard to hide your name or you'll just have to deal with it and tell us who you are - I'm just tired of the annon crap out there!

Anyway - yes there is news happening (like Ben Nesselhuf and Mitch Fargen both running for state chair) and we'll start posting here soon enough - keep posted and thanks for reading!

Travis

Help Me Keep the Liberal Voices Going!

2010-11-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

It has been a lot of fun posting on here over the past year, but it has also been tough to keep up. I have my own business, I teach part-time, coach full-time (it seems like it anyway) and like to see my family as much as possible - this means I can't post as frequently as I'd like.

However, taking a page from PP over at SDWC, I am looking for some help!

Would you like to voice your opinion? Would you like to help point out all of the things that are happening in Congress and the State Legislature?

If so - join up with Badlands Blue!

Here is the deal:

1) You have to be able to use your name. While last year a few people used the moniker 'Badlands Blue Liberal' because of personal reasons, I want people who are willing to stand behind their statements. Trust me, it is not nearly as painful as you think it might be. Besides getting jabbed and prodded by PP at SDWC or Ken Blanchard at South Dakota Politics, it is quite painless

2) You need to be able to post semi-regularly. Does that mean every day? NO! At least once a week would be nice, especially if we can get a few people to spread out the work load.

3) You need to be smart - I don't want someone to just throw out arguments without any logic or evidence backing it up - its the debate coach in me.

So, if you've been thinking about getting active (and by the tone of the comments plenty of you have a lot to say) but have been reluctant to start your own blog (or have one, but it is struggling with readership) - then come on over. You can send me an e-mail and we'll get together and chat.

Thanks!

Travis

Analysis from some Democrats

2010-11-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

I've had some discussions over the past week with a variety of dems around the state and one of them asked if they would be able to post some of their thoughts here. He enjoyed seeing the discussion from my last post (as have I) but wanted to share his two cents without having to post about 3 different comments because of the length - this is the last post I will be sharing here under the old badlands blue. Like I said, we're going to have some changes and I'll be asking for your help.

So - here is their analysis - and sorry, I can't tell you who it is - those who know, know.

One of the best analytical political writers in South Dakota – without a doubt the best in the blogosphere – is Sam Hurst. Here’s his shot on The Dakota Day on the aftermath of the Noem victory as well as his response to the “what iffers” out there pondering what if Dr. Kevin Weiland allowed Hildebrand Strategies to deliver his petitions last spring at the Secretary of State’s office.

On balance, voters want government to protect them from unaccountable private greed. Voters recognize the failures of the state-sponsored corporate economy. Voters want the services that the federal government provides. But they do not want inefficient, bloated, big, permanent federal bureaucracy. Without ever speaking to the problems of health delivery in the real world, or in people's daily lives, Republicans simply invented the threat of a "government takeover" and rode it to the polls.

Only a health care professional like Kevin Weiland had a chance to talk voters off the cliff of conservative hysteria. Only a physician had the ability to explain to independent voters how destructive the current private insurance system is to the nation's health and economy. Only Weiland could challenge Republican hysteria that ObamaCare would put the government between the doctor and the patient.

Make no mistake. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin is smart, well-educated, and intellectually understands the policy issues of health care as well as anyone in Congress. She is a wonk in the best sense of the word. But she does not have a bit of empathy for real families struggling against the monopoly power of health insurance companies. Stephanie's constant triangulation of the health reform issue created the space for Kristi Noem to shout platitudes from the cliff. Against Weiland, Noem would have come across as a shrill, uninformed, simple-minded, know-nothing ideologue.

Family doctor against shrill ideologue...not a bad starting point for Weiland.

Please check out the rest of the article by clicking here.

My own “what if” takeaway on the Noem less-than-a-mandate win is that Stephanie unnecessarily killed off the activist enthusiasm that fueled her rocket ride to popularity and national stardom on a daily basis.

Every time a Democrat, who supported the public option or even the watered down version of health care reform that passed Congress, saw another TV ad where Stephanie cheerily proclaimed she voted against the health care bill, a little bit of the ardor died. Each time those ads aired, it was like another nonlethal injection of poison in every red-blooded Obama supporter in South Dakota. Ad after ad, day after day, week after week until Nov. 2.You can hold your nose and vote. But you can’t hold your nose for several months and write checks, put up signs, phone voters and hang lit door-to-door for someone who spends thousands upon thousands to kill your strongly held belief that health care reform was a huge victory for all South Dakotans.

If you’re Native American, the Indian health services portions of the bill were critically important and Stephanie’s statements left you no desire to choose between three House candidates who agreed that voting against the bill was a good thing.

A good friend told me he was disappointed Stephanie lined up the phone calls that pressured Dr. Weiland out of the primary because, in his words, “a primary election is where you have that kind of discussion between Democrats and you decide.” In other words, Democrats (and independents) could settle up and move on to the general election.

Unlike Mr. Hurst, I believe Stephanie would have won that primary campaign and the general. She wouldn’t have liked it and it would have cost money. But it would have been settled.

Instead, it was a massive mistake to have all those big celebrity D.C. Democrats phone Kevin and push him out of the race based on a pledge that Stephanie wouldn’t vote to repeal health care reform.

Did she and her campaign aides really think that all those calls from those big shots wouldn’t get into the press? And did she really think that details of her agreement wouldn’t seem desperate to voters and wouldn’t be used as a wedge argument by Noem to paint Stephanie as two-faced? C’mon!

The June primary for Republicans was a mild disaster. It could have been much worse if Democrats held a state primary. With a 36 percent turnout after all that Tea Party hoopla, an open governor’s seat and Stephanie’s perceived vulnerability at stake, this was an odd result compared to other GOP open governor’s seat primaries in the last half-century or more that have 45 or 55 percent turnouts. What kept all those Republicans at home last June in a year when there should have been a record turnout of Republicans for their primary?

But for the S.D. Democratic Party, the Weiland decision NOT to file petitions at literally the last minute was a setback and lost opportunity of even greater proportions.

During the 2008 cycle, the party’s leadership—seeing an historic opportunity – tried to open up the party’s rules to allow independents to participate in the magnificent and epic presidential primary in South Dakota. It was the Hillary Clinton supporters in the party’s central committee who stubbornly and unfortunately refused to allow independents to vote in the primary. Finally, the party last year opened up its rules to allow independents, making 2010 a potential historic primary election.

Think of the party building, the huge and multiple fundraising events and focus away from Tea Party goofiness that would have resulted from a Stephanie/Kevin primary campaign.

Centrist versus Liberal. Rising star versus budding rock star. Real discussion and inclusion in the debate.

And in the end, Stephanie’s star power would have prevailed. She would have won the primary.

Democrats would have faced the general election in a more united, better funded and reconciled fashion to fight for a better choice than a shrill ideologue like Noem. Independents, who would have been included in the 2010 primary election and shunned from the GOP primary, could have been groomed to vote Democrat in the House race as well as for Scott Heidepriem and the rest of the ticket.

Most importantly, Stephanie would have embraced the debate and settled it in June instead of trying to spin her health care position in tiny 30-second TV ad soundbites that depressed her support base this fall.

Instead, last winter and spring, Democrats watched nutty ideologues get press attention calling President Obama a Kenyan Nazi and defining health care reform as a job-killing socialist disaster. Short of trying to get letters to the editor published to refute the trash talk, Democrats in South Dakota had to sit on their hands and take it. And then they watched Stephanie’s TV ads remind them that she voted against the health care bill as well as climate change legislation. Still, enough Democrats voted for Stephanie to give her 46 percent of the vote.

When Kristi Noem gets elected with less than 49 percent and a no-name like Tom Marking takes away 18,000 votes from who knows who, this election should and could have been won by Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Except for some unfinished business with her support base.

We’ll never know.Plenty of you will certainly disagree. But when a campaign ended as closely as everybody expected last winter when we saw state Republicans disguised as the Tea Party movement hold events and make incendiary comments that got published and broadcasted without response from Democrats, ducking a family discussion among Democrats and reaching resolution in June was a fatal choice.

Certainly, there would have been some noses out of joint after a primary loss, but not Kevin Weiland’s.

He would have ardently supported a Blue Dog over a Mama Grizzly no matter what. And, I believe, so would the rest of us.

My Fellow Democrats

2010-11-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

A few things for you.

1. This is going to be my last post on here for a while - need to take a break. I'll be back, but it will be a bit different around here - I'll keep you posted.

2. I'm not going to bore you with analysis of the past year and the election - you'll see plenty of that. If you want, here is a summary - "we got our asses kicked."

3. This is the most important message I have:

Mark down last night as the night the South Dakota Democratic Party died....or was re-born.

It is our choice which one we pick. I know which one I have picked - are you coming with me?

Thoughts on the Election (including 2 Sioux Falls Districts)

2010-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

With only 2 days left to go before the election, here are some of my thoughts as to what is going to happen in this years election.

U.S. House - Herseth Sandlin 49% - Noem 48% - Marking 3%

The day that Herseth Sandlin voted against the health care bill I told my wife "Herseth just lost re-election." That original prediction might still come true. However, I think Herseth Sandlin might just pull this off. Recent polling puts Herseth even or one to two points ahead of Noem. While Marking has been polling a bit higher, when push comes to shove, third party candidates are just not viable and people tend to vote for someone who they think is going to win.

S. D. Governor - Heidepriem 49.7% - Daugaard 49.7%

This is going to be the closest governors race in history. While some on the GOP side are still claiming that Daugaard is going to win by 20 or 30 points, they are looking more at history than anything else. Polling has indicated that Daugaards support was tepid at best and he has been losing that support for the past two weeks. Those polls still indicate anywhere from a 2 to 5 point lead for Daugaard, so it still shows him winning. However, the reason that I think it will be this is the fact that the undecideds, when asked a further question on who they are leaning towards, favors Heidepriem. We might even have to have a re-count. When that happens, I think Scott pulls it out.

District 14 (my home district) - Senate - Cutler (R) - House - Feinstein (D) - Winters (D)

Joni Cutler will win this easy, the Dem on the ticket isn't campaigning and Cutler has a good reputation in the district. In the house races, Tornow has done almost nothing and should come in last even though he has name recognition. Rose has been campaigning, but the reason I think it will be a Dem sweep in the house is that Marc Feinstein is well liked and has been campaigning hard with Jeff Winters. Jeff will get a good bounce from that - and his support from the fire-fighters as well.

District 13 (working there) - Senate - Parker (D) - House - Blake (D) - Vavreck (D)

While PP at the SDWC thinks this is a cake walk for Heineman I am going to argue otherwise. Matt Parker is well known in the district and in the community. He is a business owner and has been active in the Sioux Falls chamber, so he actually has quite a bit of GOP support. Combine this with the fact that he has knocked on almost every door in the district and I think Matt pulls off the upset win here. In the house races, Blake is well known and liked in the district and Jesse Vavreck has been working his tail off and working with Suzy Blake. Combine that with two weak candidates on the GOP side and the dems should win (if you don't think they are weak, watch the Argus's forum of District 13 - Charlotte knows little and Liss makes stuff up).

A final thought on these predictions - I could be way off base. I am liberal and an eternal optimist. Because of this, I see things in rose colored glasses. Stephanie could lose, Scott could get crushed and some people I know and like could lose. But I'm hopeful - only two days to see how stupid I am or how smart I am.

Polling, Polling and more polling - no longer an anomaly

2010-10-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

Saw this on the KDLT website and find it intriguing. As you know, the Argus and the Daugaard campaign have said that the Daugaaard campaign is going to win by at least 20 - maybe even 30 points. However, as I pointed out earlier and as KDLT points out, the race is in a statistical dead heat now.

I say it is intriguing because this is not just one poll now - it is a couple of them. They are also the most recent polls that have been taken - after Scott's ads and 1/2 hour program have been airing on TV. So to me, this is not a statistical anomaly - this is the real deal.

With only 4 days to go - you have to ask, will Daugaard be able to hold onto his lead that seemed insurmountable only 30 days prior to the election? If nothing else, this is going to be one close race!

Jabba the Gant seeks felonies to convict … election law violators like Todd Schlekeway?

2010-10-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

Would Todd Schlekeway just be getting out of jail by now if secretary of state wannabe Jason Gant got his way?

If elected, Jabba the Gant promised to make election law violation penalties into felonies. Gee, Jason, that would put a lot of Republicans in South Dakota in jail a long time, wouldn’t it?

Actually, Gant’s bantering was his way of jumping on the voter feed fiasco involving Democratic Party events and early get-out-the-vote efforts on South Dakota’s tribal reservations.

So far, the GOP accusations still appear to be a hoax. Nobody has been charged. Nobody has been formally accused of wrongdoing or even of violating the spirit of state and federal laws forbidding gifts in exchange for votes. It’s just Attorney General Marty Jackley’s daily headline grabbing before the election saying he’s investigating a few Democratic chili feeds in Indian Country as bribes for Indian voters. (Really? A bowl of cheap chili is all it takes? Sounds like felony material to me!)

It’s just another way Republicans harass Native voters in South Dakota by using the heavy hand of the law to harass and keep Indians ducking low at election time. Jackley’s antics are more of the same. But back to Jabba the Gant’s statement that there’s lawlessness needing felonies.

"I will propose to the next Legislature that we enhance penalties related to offering bribes in exchange for votes," the Sioux Falls Republican said in a statement. "Election integrity is fundamental - we must have elections free from fraud and corruption."

Gant’s opponent Ben Nesselhuf was more than surprised at Gant’s conclusion before a formal investigation. Gant jumped to a conclusion about election bribes in South Dakota before he knew any facts, Nesselhuf said.

"I think it's inappropriate to make any sort of knee-jerk reaction before the facts are in," Nesselhuf said. "To make a statement like this before knowing the facts of the situation, I think it's disappointing ... I suspect it has more to do with the election next week than with the integrity of future elections."

Read it here in the Argus. Also read the letter sent this week to the Rapid City Journal by Rodney Bordeaux, President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, showing that reports from GOP sources about wrongdoing at the feeds were patently false. He also took a shot at dumb rednecks in the GOP when they bring these allegations up election after election:

When our people gather, for whatever reason, it is a long honored tradition to serve food to those who attend. It is the way we honor visitors, our elders, leaders, families and especially our children. It is an important part of our culture.

The allegations Republicans have made that Democrats are attempting to buy "Indian votes" are insulting and disrespectful of our heritage. Our votes are not for sale. Our votes will never be for sale.

Um, and then President Bordeaux offered this little stubborn fact:

Democratic candidates recently have taken the time to meet with us and visit with our people. They understand our traditions and respect them. I recall attending a free chili dinner sponsored by Republican candidates in a prior election.

As Lakota, we will continue our bipartisan practice of sharing a meal with those we honor. Please respect our Native American culture and heritage and assist to curtail the ignorance.

Gee, Marty, Republicans had a similar chili feed? Sic ‘em, boy! Now, back to some stubborn facts.

Question: When was the last real election scandal in South Dakota that resulted in convictions instead of a lot smoke by a GOP attorney general trying to stir up malarkey in the closing days of a campaign?

Answer: The year was 2004. Six Republican operatives working for the state Republican Party conspired to run illegal balloting schemes at South Dakota’s state universities.

How soon they forget! Here’s a snippet from the newspapers on Oct. 22, 2004. The scandal stunk so badly, one of the state GOP executive board members, Jan Nicolay, publicly resigned and walked away from having anything to do with the state GOP.

Six Republican notary publics face a misdemeanor charge in connection with absentee ballot applications filled out on South Dakota college campuses, but there's no evidence of voter fraud, Attorney General Larry Long said Friday.

Long and Secretary of State Chris Nelson outlined a two-week investigation in a document faxed to county auditors and state's attorneys. The document states "it is a near certainty that all absentee voters that had their application notarized by one of the six notaries" will be challenged in court.

"Lawyers who represent the Democrats have written to us and told us that," Long told reporters.Several attorneys have contacted him, he said. He, Chris Nelson, Minnehaha County State's Attorney Dave Nelson and Minnehaha County Auditor Sue Roust briefed reporters on the investigation.

Five of the Republican notaries were charged in Minnehaha County since the ballot applications were all processed in Sioux Falls, even though some were gathered elsewhere.

Those five are: Joseph Alick, 28; Nathan Mertz, 20; Todd Schlekeway, 27; Rachel Hoff, 22; and Eric Fahrendorf, 24. Another GOP worker, Jennifer Giannonatti, will be charged in Pennington County because of ballots collected in Rapid City, Long said.

Campuses included in the investigation include South Dakota State, University of South Dakota, Augustana College, Mount Marty College, Black Hills State, Dakota State, Northern State and the School of Mines & Technology.

Dave Nelson said the six are charged with improper use of a notary commission, a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to a month in jail and a $200 fine. They can also lose their notary licenses.

P.S. – State GOP GOTV director Larry Russell and Schlekeway then shipped off to finish up the 2004 election working for the Ohio Republican Party GOTV effort, which remains as one of the most scandalous GOTV efforts in America and which included harassment of minority voters and long lines stretching beyond polling place closures, resulting in thousands of Ohio citizens being cheated out of their right to vote. The scam kept Ohio from sliding to John Kerrey instead of George W. Bush.

It's interesting Gant brought this issue up right now. Schlekeway is running for the State Senate seat Gant currently holds. Do voters in District 11 know about this yet?

Jabba the Gant stirs up fake paranoia

2010-10-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Physically, he’s nearing Ted Klaudt proportions. Politically, he wants to be in charge of elections. Factually, Jason “Lumpy” Gant’s at war with a “national voter file,” a threat that is nearly as real as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Death Panels and the Tooth Fairy.

Thank God his opponent Ben Nesselhuf caught this stupid commercial before it stayed on the air long enough that people actually thought someone – anyone – in Washington was seriously considering such an idea.

Here’s the Nesselhuf press release:

October 25, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SIOUX FALLS – Secretary of State candidate Ben Nesselhuf said his Republican opponent is showing “extremely poor judgment” by making a fake national issue into a high priority for the 2010 campaign.

Nesselhuf pointed to a recent television ad by Jason Gant claiming that as South Dakota’s secretary of state, Gant would oppose a nationalized voter registration system. Nesselhuf said rumors about such a national system was started last winter by Wall Street Journal Editor John Fund who claimed two Democrats in Congress might introduce legislation to create a national voter file. The claim was proven to be false by one of the Democrats accused of drafting the legislation:

"This is how the right-wing echo chamber works,” Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said in a statement in the Jan. 14 issue of The Hill. "They begin with an absolute falsehood--John Fund’s claim that I plan to introduce universal voter legislation, a claim for which there is no basis whatsoever. It is not a misinterpretation, it is not a quote out of context, it is not a misunderstanding – it is a lie. Period."

“Gant’s decision to make this into a TV ad is stunning. It’s fiction. It’s flaky. It belongs in the list of the craziest lies coming from the extreme right wing in the last two years,” Nesselhuf said. “It calls into question whether Gant is fit to serve as secretary of state if he’s so willing to buy a lie hook, line and sinker and turn it into public policy.“How can he be trusted to run elections fairly and sensibly for all Republicans, Democrats and independents?”

In case you missed it, here’s the official news story from last January on this ridiculous rhubarb. For the record, Lumpy Gant is not only the widest person to run for Secretary of State, but also the dumbest. Here's Lumpy's new ad, a complete work of fiction:

Deer poacher Ted Nugent investigated in illegal pheasant hunt probe in South Dakota

2010-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

You may recall Kristi Noem’s pal Ted Nugent responded to taunts over his illegal baiting of deer while hunting in California by saying it was the ethical equivalent of using bait on a hook to catch fish.

Now it appears poacher Ted Nugent may have done some illegal pheasant hunting in South Dakota while he was campaigning for the Teabaggers in the Black Hills earlier this month. Here’s the story from today’s Rapid City Journal.

Noem was announced to share the stage with Nugent at the Oct. 16 Citizens for Liberty rally in Rapid City, but Noem backed out when draft-dodging, deer poaching Nugent’s crazy statements and actions were exposed on this blog and elsewhere. The illegal pheasant hunt was reported to have occurred shortly before the stage appearance.

Noem, who runs a family pay-to-hunt service, also had some poachin’ problems exposed this month when her brother in law who lives next door to Noem was convicted on five counts of illegal possession of big game. It involved two Texans who were guided on an illegal hunt in South Dakota a year ago.

Sign of the times: A little head stomping for the cause

2010-10-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Republican Party’s fake Teabagger Movement again showed what it’s really made of outside last night’s Senate debate in Kentucky. A woman was attacked in the clip above and tossed to the ground and a Teabagger stomped on her head. Her sin? Lauren Valle carried a MoveOn.org placard the goons supporting Rand Paul didn’t like at a public gathering.

This follows hired skinhead goons using force against news reporters at a public rally in a public school for Joe Miller, the Republican Senate candidate in Alaska, seen in the clip below.

Message here: We will silence those who are not one of us.

I suppose the goons who swarm the blogosphere will bite back and argue that Lauren must have had it coming. Women who are assaulted usually do, right? Anyone who disagrees with the Teabaggers must have it coming. Unarmed overweight reporters who ask questions of Republican candidates will be handcuffed and detained.

This is the natural progression of the Teabagger Movement which stokes hate and encourages weak-minded jerks to show up at rallies with loaded guns on their hips, carry hate signs, shout racial slurs and shout down elected officials. I predict that as we go to the next level of new GOP hate politics, head stomping and handcuffing by their skinhead goons will be the least of the atrocities.

Obama will campaign in 2012 on hope. The skinhead goons will campaign on giving you a black eye.

Races are getting tigher - there's hope yet!!!!

2010-10-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Just when I was starting to give up on the democratic party here in South Dakota (with a few exceptions - you know who you are) I have some new found hope!

Nielson brothers has put out a new poll and here are some of the results:

House: Noem - 40% Herseth Sandlin - 41.5%

Governor: Daugaard - 42.8% Heidepriem - 39.7%

This intrigues me to no end. I expected the house race to be this close, but the Governors race? Dauagaard continues to cite his polling that he was up 58 to 30. However, that poll was done a month ago, before Heidepriem started getting on the airwaves with his message. Over the past couple of weeks, Scott has hammered home the message that we need to change - and it looks like it is finally working!

Does this mean he's going to win? Not sure, but at least it gives me some hope for the final week of the campaign!

Scott is Charging! New Poll has him closing the gap!

2010-10-23T16:51:00.001-07:00

Got this in my inbox and needed to share it with you - this shows that the tide has turned for Scott in this race!

Heidepriem Pulls Within 6 Points

35-41 in New Poll

Daugaard Soft Support Turning to Heidepriem

Sioux Falls – Independent Democratic candidate Scott Heidepriem has pulled within 6 points, 35 to 41 of his Republican opponent Dennis Daugaard in the race for Governor here according to a scientific poll commissioned by the Heidepriem campaign conducted Thursday through Saturday. According to the poll, 18 percent of voters remained undecided.

These new numbers show a continuing shift of undecided and previous Daugaard supporters now indicating a preference for Heidepriem. In a poll commissioned almost two weeks ago, Heidepriem trailed Daugaard by 13 points, 32-45 percent with 22 percent undecided.

“Scott clearly has huge momentum as we enter into the final week of the campaign. Voters are responding overwhelmingly to his message that the Daugaard Administration has been asleep at the wheel while they annually ran up record deficits, blew the doors off spending in state government, squandered $300 million in federal stimulus money, and frittered money on frills for themselves.

“All of this while education funding plummeted from 39 to 31 percent of the state budget and while Mr. Daugaard took Medicaid money desperately needed by thousands of South Dakota senior citizens and children and put it into the state’s general fund to mask the record $107 million deficit instead of going to help these South Dakotans stay in their homes, put meals on the table and help them survive in this economy,” Heidepriem campaign manager Steve Jarding said.

The poll was conducted by RMA Research a division of Robinson & Muenster Associates, Inc. Voters were surveyed October 21 – 23

Kristi’s criminal record makes national splash – hopefully not at a crosswalk near your kids!

2010-10-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Want to get your money’s worth out of a single $18,000 TV buy? Campaign against a knucklehead like Kristi Noem and her incompetent campaign manager who’ve managed to send press releases to all points between Rapid City and Washington, D.C., flagging more and more public attention to a truthful and fair ad posted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Gee, Kristi, when the truth hurts, it really, really hurts. I love it ‘cause you really have this one coming!

Here’s a sample of the crybaby blubbering from Kristi's team on the KELO website:

Republican Party officials say a Democratic campaign committee has gone too far in running a TV ad that suggests GOP congressional candidate Kristi Noem's extensive record of traffic violations means she could kill children.

According to the clowns on the Noem campaign, Kristi’s 20 speeding tickets (including one for her driving more than 90 mph this year!), three stop sign violations, six blown court dates and two warrants for her arrest pose no threat to children … or teens … or moms and dads … or senior citizens. Must not have been any people on those highways all those times, right? Remember Randy Scott?

Apparently, Kristi and her sidekick want Stephanie to surrender this election and throw her support immediately for Noem. Every previous election for Kristi in her very rural and Republican district have been easy lay-ups. Now she’s got a real contest and she wants everybody to play by her rules – not unlike how she thinks she’s above the law. Having seen the shitty stuff Kristi and the Republican organizations have been throwing at Stephanie, Kristi is getting a very mild treatment here. She deserves a lot more.

Some unsolicited advice for Noem and her incompetent campaign manager: If your best defense is to publicly attack family members of your opponent as the defense for your own unlawfulness and blatant contempt for the law, don’t be shocked if you take one in the shorts in the closing days of the campaign … jerks.

More Republican Support for Surging Heidepriem!

2010-10-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Got this in my inbox today and wanted to share it with all of you:

Republican State Senator Endorses Scott Heidepriem

Rapid City- Republican State Senator Stan Adelstein, Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, Endorsed Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Scott Heidepriem. Read Senator Adelstein’s letter of endorsement below.

STANFORD M. ADELSTEIN

Senator Stan Adelstein Today Announces His Endorsement of

Scott Heidepriem for Governor

Despite a 20+ year warm and friendly relationship with Dennis Daugaard and a 10-year close political, and personal relationship with former Speaker Matt Michaels, I have decided that I must endorse the person, regardless of party, who can best govern the state of South Dakota. That person is Scott Heidepriem. Unfortunately, my party's candidate, whom every one recognizes as a nice and decent human being, continues to refuse or even discuss, let alone address, some solutions to the problems that everyone knows are drastic in our state budget. By contrast, Scott Heidepriem has been consistent in his call for a host of solutions to bring our budget crisis under control.

After serving both as a member of the Appropriations Committee, as well as that Committee's vice-chair, I realize that we have serious budgetary problems despite the Lt Governor's insistence that there are none! Because of this crisis, we legislators refused even a 1% increase in state aid to education. My friend Dennis absolutely will not support pre-K education, despite the long- range major impact on our economy, an impact that has been clearly proved. We refused funding for a doctoral program at SD Tech that is critical to South Dakota’s ability to capitalize upon opportunities from the Homestake Lab. We refused a million dollars for prenatal care that will cost children their health and will cost some their very lives. We cut nearly $2 million from our tech schools despite their increased enrollment and their vital role in building a stronger economy.

To claim there is no budget crisis in the face of such grim realities is just not reasonable.

I am also concerned that Lt Gov Daugaard will not rule out another attempt to ban abortion for victims of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother, despite the voters’ having definitively rejected such an extremist approach. He made it clear to me that he is unwilling to use the power of the Governor to block such a bill again. I know that we must prevent the Legislature from, once again, getting distracted on that extreme ban and focus their energy on jobs, the economy, the budget, and education.

It is clear to me that I must set aside partisan politics in favor of what is best for South Dakota in these trying times. Having dealt with every Republican Governor since 1960, I know how difficult that job is and how important it is that we have a Governor with the kind of experience, skill, and courage that Scott Heidepriem will bring to the job. I do so because I love this state that has been so good to my family for more than 100 years.

HYPOCRACY GONE WILD!!!!!

2010-10-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post this for a while now but have been way too busy.

Anyway, the GOP's arguments on the "Oats for Votes" is so filled with hypocracy it makes me sick! I can't believe the state GOP party would have the testicular fortitude to try and claim that this is such a huge violation and that they are so appaled by it. GIVE ME A FREAKIN' BREAK!

Let's take a look at the first one:

Kristi Noem and the GOP held early vote rallies with food a few weeks ago

KOTA, 9/22/2010

Pennington County Republicans rally to vote

Republican candidates spoke out to their constituency Wednesday to raise awareness about early voting.

As absentee ballots have been available for over a week now in Pennington County, candidates of all parties are encouraging people to vote.

Kristi Noem, Dennis Daugaard and other Republican candidates met with voters over food and drinks.

"You never know what's going to come up in your schedules and believe it or not some people actually forget to vote. So if we can get people to come and vote, it's a done deal," said Republican candidate for Dist. 33 House of Representatives Phil Jensen.

The deadline for voting is still two months away.http://www.kotatv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13202028

Hey, what do you know - Daugaard and Noem held a rally to get votes and had food there...HMMM - VERY INTERESTING...

Take Two:

John Thune held multiple campaign “pancake feeds” in 2004

* “Later, as several hundred people lined up for pancakes in Fort Pierre, [Thune] reminded the crowd that when he was South Dakota's lone member of the U.S. House in 1997-2003

‘I believe this election, like the one two years ago, is going to be decided by a handful of votes. It's going to be a close election, so every single vote is going to matter,’ Thune told the Fort Pierre crowd. He asked those eating pancakes to give his campaign the names of any voters still undecided in the race.” Aberdeen American News, 10/29/2004

* “For Mr. Thune, who is holding his own 'pancake feeds,’ the race is a referendum on the minority leader” New York Times, 10/25/2004
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E0D61F3AF937A15753C1A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

NO WAY! John Thune wouldn't do this would he - oh wait, he did....

Ron Volesky needs a campaign manager - a real one

2010-10-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Watching the SDDP debate today between Ron Volesky and Marty Jackley reminded me of something - that Ron Volesky is actually running for Attorney General. I say this because I had actually forgotten that he was running! This is sad. I say sad because I like Ron Volesky. He's a great guy, well spoken and has a great background.

The problem is that he doesn't engage in politics in the way it has to be done. You need money and an ability to go out and campaign to get anywhere these days. Sadly, Ron has not had a campaign team (or anyone really) who has helped him win. I'd like to say Ron would have a chance (and as a strong Democratic voice I know this is going to anger people) but if I can't remember the name of the Democratic candidate for Attorney General, how many other people are going to remember it?

I wish he would get a real manager and do some real campaigning! He's smart and so well spoken and could do great, but sadly, he is not a good politician, which means he will probably lose...

Ben Nesselhuf TV ad!

2010-10-11T09:35:00.001-07:00

This is pretty good - check it out:

My thoughts on the District 13 Forum

2010-10-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Watching the Argus Leader's District 13 forum today I have a few thoughts:

1. Brian Liss is making stuff up and has no idea what he is talking about.

Let's take one answer as an example: when talking about open government he said something about having criminals using open source to see which people had registered their guns so they could steal them. The Argus asked "Do you know of an instance when this happened?" And of course he didn't - but he was like "I'm sure that if I dug deep enough I could find one for you"

Sure you can Brian. Also, his "running the economy hot" comments are just idiotic. He continually gets tore apart by the Argus staff - watch and see, this person does not have the intelligence to hold public office - sorry, but he really doesn't.

2. Matt Parker is clearly the most knowledgeable of the candidates.

For someone who has not held office before Matt knew a lot of what happens with government and how it affects us everyday. I'm guessing that knowledge comes from being a small business owner and being on various boards that have had to deal with how government works. Phyllis knew her stuff and answered the questions fairly well, but I thought Matt's responses were much better. I think he might surprise a few people and take down Phyllis. I know PP says that it is a "strong republican" seat, but he doesn't live here in Sioux Falls and is seeing the campaign everyday.

3. Charlotte Landon Shaw wants to pull you over and check to see if you are an American.

So beware if you are not white - you might get pulled over because you might "look" like an illegal. Whereas Matt Parker's comment was "if the employer is doing their job" meaning that if an employer actually does their jobs in background checks (like he does) then the government doesn't have to do anything and it is unneeded.

4. Jesse Varveck has a chance.

I wasn't sure Jesse would have a chance in this race. He's pretty young, first time running and got into it a little late. However, he clearly has a better understanding of the issues than Brian Liss or Charlotte Landon Shaw.

5. Landon Shaw needs to do more homework.

I lost count the number of times Charlotte said "I don't know" or "I haven't looked at that" - really, really - do you know anything? What issues are you running on? You know you're going to be asked questions, why not do your homework and prepare! Again - I think Jesse's got a chance, especially if people watch this video and see what their options are.

6. Brian Liss is a douchebag

His final comment was "it will come from legislators like my friend Charlotte and not my liberal friends over here" - that was a major douchebag statement there! Wow. I'm thinking of going around door-to-door just to campaign against him because of his idiotic statements and his comments like that.

Overall I thought Phyllis did okay (not happy with some of her answers, but I didn't expect to) and she did much better than her house candidate team of Shaw & Liss. However, I think her time in the Senate has passed - its time to move on.

I thought Suzy Blake did okay. For a legislator I thought she'd be more eloquent, but that's not always the case with politicians (this is the speech coach person in me critiquing her).

The GOP house candidates are horrible. If anyone votes for Liss and Shaw because they are republican and not by looking at 1) their intelligence 2) their knowledge of the issues and 3) their focus as a legislator - then they need to stop! Actually look at who you are voting for and what they are going to do.

Matt Parker clearly is a smart person. Matt's knowledge of the issues and how he would approach things is clearly superior to everyone's in the room, which was surprising since there was a legislator and a former legislator in the room as well.

Take a look for yourself:

New Heidepriem Ad

2010-10-08T04:40:00.001-07:00

It looks like Scott Heidepriem's hitting the airwaves hard. After last nights 1/2 hour video, he's got a new 30 second ad coming out today - here it is:

Republican Mailers have turned Nasty - and I mean Nasty

2010-10-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

Saw this in my mailbox two days ago and was a bit shocked by the negativity of it. It is a full page - front to back. I am showing one side. On the other, the ABORTION! and MONEY! are swapped.

I expect this kind of thing from some of the family values groups (even though something like this is hardly "family values") or an outside group coming in spending money - but from the South Dakota Republican Party? Really? If you are a member of the SD Republican Party do you condone this type of mailer? If you do, you have your priorities screwed up.

You may not agree with Herseth Sandlin on the issue of Abortion - but this is the type of attack that just gets people to move away from politics. Let's raise the level of debate, not lower it even further.

New Heidepriem Preview

2010-10-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

While I didn't like the original "trailer" for the 1/2 hour documentary that Scott Heidepriem is going to be showing, I like this one a lot - I am very interested to see this now.

What do you think?

See it now: Gov. Dennis Daugaard's first State of the State Address

2010-09-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

No doubt you’ve seen Dennis Daugaard’s hokey new commercial saying after eight years of Rounds/Daugaard, South Dakota has arrived at economic prosperity and balanced the budget without raising taxes. It’s pure bullshit. Even Republicans throughout South Dakota are gagging at it.

Seems the left hand and right hand don’t communicate in the Governor’s office. Didn’t Mike Rounds just announced a 10 percent cutback because of the state budget crisis? Didn’t Rounds balance a second consecutive budget this year with bailout money from Obama’s stimulus money?

Daugaard must be dumber than Rounds, and certainly thinks South Dakotans are dumber than Rounds does.

What if that myopic twit were elected Governor on Nov. 2? Based on his new ad, no doubt his first State of the State Address will look a lot like the clip below:

Kristi has slob hunter problems while Stephanie earns NRA endorsement again

2010-09-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Kristi Noem declared open season on her opponent’s family members as her defense of her lengthy criminal record, so it’s only fair to let folks know that her family member was among nine men convicted recently in an interstate big game poaching ring, as reported by the S.D. Department of Game, Fish & Parks. Wesley Grantham, married to Noem’s sister, lives at Hayti near Noem’s so-called “ranch” in Hamlin County. Click here to read the details from the state game department.

Here’s a tidbit: The hunters were involved in "party hunting," lending hunting licenses, harvesting antelope without licenses, violating the Federal Lacey Act, illegal possession of game, and other wildlife crimes on public land or Walk-In areas in Butte and Harding counties.

Doesn’t Kristi Noem run a pay-to-hunt operation in Hamlin County? Is “party hunting” one of the benefits that’s offered to clients who plop down big bucks to shoot big bucks, pheasants and other critters with Kristi’s pay-to-hunt service? Hmmmm.

This news arrives at the same time Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin got the official endorsement of the National Rifle Association, the controversial, deeply conservative and effective pro-gun lobby that big game hunters in South Dakota subscribe to. But typically, cheap shot artist Noem countered the news of a real endorsement by claiming she was endorsed by an instate group of hunters – a fake NRA. Actually, it’s a list of no-names tagged at the end of a letter and reproduced for a cheap headline from Noem’s campaign website.

Frankly, I can’t think of a clearer contrast between Noem and the incumbent Congresswoman. The Congresswoman was rewarded for her loyalty to gun owners and hunters with the endorsement of the most effective national gun owners lobby. Noem, clawing to counter the real endorsement, proudly clutched a hasty endorsement by a fake two-bit organization she invented.

But, more to the point, let’s look at Noem’s slob hunter support. There’s the brother-in-law, of course. And then there’s Ted Nugent, who is still advertized to campaign onstage with Noem on Oct. 16 in Rapid City, sponsored by the Teabaggers group Citizens for Liberty. Nugent was convicted in late August for poaching deer in California, based on one of Nugent’s “hunting” videos. See the news story by clicking here, but here’s a tidbit on deer poachin’ Ted Nugent:

Two game wardens saw the show when it aired for the first time in February, and one of them "just about fell out of his chair" when he saw what transpired, said California Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy. On the show, Nugent killed a deer with bow and arrow.

But the wardens could see it was a "spike" buck, meaning its antlers had not yet forked, Foy said. It is illegal in California to kill such a young deer.

The wardens also noticed something had been spread on the ground that the deer appeared to be eating before it was killed. A subsequent investigation revealed this to be a commercial bait product called "C'mere Deer." It is illegal to bait wildlife in California. The deer was killed in El Dorado County. Nugent was hunting with a cameraman and guide from Yuba County, which is where the charges were eventually filed.

It didn’t take long to scope out Nugent’s slob hunter philosophy on You Tube. Check out the clip at the bottom of this post. Ted says he hates hunting ethics and laws that reflect local sentiments about hunting and fishing. Ted says baiting deer is no worse than using a worm to bait your fish hook. Do you agree?

I hope Nugent brings some of that slob hunter philosophy onstage Oct. 16 with his pal Kristi Noem. South Dakotans hate slob hunters.

Here’s the deal. Money and public hunting rarely mix without greed getting in the way. I’m a lifelong hunter and fisher and I believe the most valuable and unique benefit of citizenship in South Dakota is the public’s access and freedom in the outdoors. That freedom, however, gets marginalized when pay-to-hunt operators block off section after section of land because the operators want to make money from non-residents who have big bank accounts.

I’ve known and am friends with pay-to-hunt operators and employees, but hunting for pay (other than a friendly, generous tip to a host farmer) quickly leads to problems. That’s sad, and when you read about poaching rings here in South Dakota pandering for payoffs from out-of-state slob hunters, like Ted Nugent and his deer baiting guided hunts, it’s clear that our freedom to hunt here in South Dakota is far more threatened by greedy locals than by any flaky paranoid fantasies about gun control laws.

Despite lengthy criminal record, Kristi smears Stephanie’s husband

2010-09-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

When a candidate can’t get traction by smearing an opponent’s father (who is not on the ballot), why not smear the opponent’s husband (also not on the ballot)? I mean, if you’re going to lose because of your own criminal record, including TWO arrest warrants, you might as well resort to lower tactics until Election Day mercifully comes and passes.

Here’s Snooki Noem’s latest gouge on the Congresswoman’s family.

Two problems here for Snooki. First, as mentioned, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s husband is not on the ballot. Second, it seems to slip Snooki’s attention that Republican Sen. John Thune was a lobbyist until he won against Sen. Tom Daschle, whose wife is a lobbyist. (Snooki, you remember Daschle, right? He’s the socialist liberal who got you that appointment to the state FSA board while you were filling your pockets with nearly $3 million in federal farm aid and he took you on a junket to one of his leadership getaways in the Black Hills.)

If having a lobbyist in the family is a problem, where was Snooki on the Gov. Mike Rounds family when she had a chance to prove something in Pierre? What about Rounds family members in state jobs, or spouses of legislators who worked in state jobs or as lobbyists? She did nothing about it when she had the state representative job.

This leaves Snooki Noem only three more family smear options before Election Day: Stephanie’s mother Joyce, her brother Todd Herseth or baby Zach.

By the way, Snooki likes to pander to crowds and capitalize on her father’s death as the “real” reason why she failed to finish college. She uses it to illustrate how terrible the federal estate tax (a.k.a. death tax) was to her wealthy family. The Daily Kos shed a little truthiness on this. Also, in her family’s case, what was more costly, the state estate tax (its repeal was led by Sen. Frank Kloucek) or the federal tax? I think there’s a legitimate news story here.

Kristi's In a Hurry

2010-09-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

Found this video and had to post it! Hilarious.

Gant Misses Debate - Then Lies About It

2010-09-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last week, there was suppose to be a Secretary of State debate out at the Western Dakota Tech. As Madville Times points out, Ben Nesselhuf was there - Jason Gant was not.

Now, if you read Mt. Blogmore, Kevin Wooster did a report on Ben and in the comments someone asked about the debate and Mr. Wooster stated that there was a scheduling mis-hap and Gant didn't make it to the debate.

However, Gant decides to use the power of Twitter to tell us what he's really like. Gant apparently decided to go around Western Dakota Tech and say that he was there and that Ben was not. Here is a screen shot of his twee (and if you go to his site, it was posted on the 17th - the day AFTER the forum was suppose to happen)t:

In case you are wondering, here is the flyer that says the debate was on the 16th - NOT the 17th, as Gant tries to claim.

So - you miss the debate (or as Corey put it, he probably intentionally didn't want to debate since he got crushed in the Corn Palace debate against Ben) and then you lie about the fact that you were there and Ben was not.

I'm not quite sure which is worse, dodging your responsibilities or lying about it. Actually, they are both wrong. I don't care which political party you are - I actually don't think D or R should matter when it comes to SOS - if you dodge your responsibilities and then lie about it, you should not be trusted for a leadership position. If any of you out there are supporting Gant, think about who you are supporting: someone who doesn't want to hold to his obligations, and then lies about it.

I think I know who I'm going to be voting for in November.

Support for Noem????

2010-09-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Fundraising is an important part of politics - almost more important than a lot of things. You need money to get onto the air, get information out, show that you are someone who is running a serious campaign. So, to see the seriousness of a certain campaign, you look at the who is contributing to it.

Here's the thing - I haven't head much from state leaders in South Dakota who are supporting Kristi Noem. Looking at the FEC reports from June, there are a total of 5 legislators who are supporting Noem. Only 5.

Has there been any talk about leaders in the GOP who are supporting Noem? Doing fund-raisers? Anything supporting her at all?

Shouldn't this be a concern for people. The fact that even the leadership in the GOP doesn't want to support Noem.

I haven't seen any recent ones since the June reports, so maybe its changed, but who knows.

If you do know more, I'd love to hear about it. So please, let me know. Are they hosting fundraisers, writing letters to the editors, anything - let us know.

Which Party would you choose?

2010-09-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a quiz for you to take - which one would you choose?

Economy
Jobs: Since 1960, each of the A Party administrations has delivered higher rates of jobs creation than any of the B Party administrations.
Deficit: Since 1960, the deficit each of the A Party administrations has passed to its successor was lower than the one it inherited, while each of the B Party administrations has increased the deficit. The average yearly deficit under the B Party administrations was 277 percent higher than the average deficit under the A Party.
Productivity: The gross state product of the 20 states that voted for the A Party candidate at least 5 times out of the last 8 elections (let's call them the A states) is 15 percent higher than the other states (the B states).
Household income: The median household income in the A states is 16 percent higher than in the B states.
Poverty: The percentage of persons below the poverty level in the A states is 21 percent lower than in the B states.
Health insurance: The percentage of people without health insurance in the A states is 25 percent lower than in the B states.
Advantage: Party A

Family values

Divorce: The divorce rate of the 20 states who voted for the C Party candidate at least 5 times out of the of last 8 elections (let's call them the C states) is 19 percent lower than the other states (the D states).
Birth to teenagers: The teenage birth rate in the C states is 38 percent lower than in the D states.
Birth to unmarried women: The unmarried women birth rate in the C states is 7 percent lower than in the D states.
Infant mortality: Children born in C states are 24 percent less likely to die before their first birthday than children in D states.
Murder: The murder rate in the C states is 17 percent lower than in the D states.
Rape: The forcible rape rate in the C states is 20 percent lower than in the D states.
Aggravated assault: The aggravated assault rate in the C states is 18 percent lower than in the D states.
Robbery: The robbery rate in the C states is 10 percent higher than in the D states (This is the one exception).
High school dropouts: The dropout rate in the C states is 16 percent lower than in the D states.
College: The college graduation rate in the C states is 16 percent higher than in the D states.
Advantage: Party C

The answers

A - The Democratic Party
B - The Republican Party
C - The Democratic Party
D - The Republican Party

Does Noem agree with Nugent? Assassinate Obama, molest Hillary with Ted’s machine guns

2010-09-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Kristi Noem! Why does your pal Ted Nugent want the President to suck his machine gun and Hillary Clinton to “ride” his machine gun? Do you approve?

Kristi Noem might be backing away from appearing with crazy gun toting Ted Nugent in Rapid City on Oct. 16. The Teabagger support group Citizens for Liberty announced Nugent campaigning with Kristi at the Rushmore Civic Plaza. Here’s a good reason why Kristi should run away from the Nugent/Noem event in the clip above, and the transcript below:

I was in Chicago, I said, ‘Hey Obama, you might wanna suck on one of these you punk.' ... Obama, he's a piece of shit, I told him to suck on my machine gun. Lets hear it! [crowd cheers] I was in New York, I said, ‘Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.' ... She might want to suck on my machine gun.

Nugent ending his speech by holding up two machine guns and yelling, "Freeeeedom!," gives a good idea what freedom means to him. Assassinating Barack Obama and using his machine gun to molest Hillary Clinton.

Question for news reporters for Kristi:

1. Do you agree with your pal Ted Nugent that Obama should suck his machine gun and Hillary should “ride” it?

2. Do agree with your pal Nugent that our President is “a piece of shit” and Hillary is a “worthless bitch,” and is that a reflection of your own character?

3. What will you direct Nugent to say about your opponent?

Kristi blows court dates and stop signs, but has a date with Nugent. Does Kristi endorse Ted's “pigs and killin’” rant?

2010-09-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Desperately seeking friends and still reeling from her reckless reputation of blowing stop signs, blowing court dates and earning 20 speeding tickets and two warrants for her arrest, Kristi Noem is jumping back on the Teabagger stage, this time with Ted Nugent in Rapid City.

Just saw the announcement today from the Rapid City Journal, Mt. Blogmore and South Dakota War College. You might remember Nugent recently for his brilliant remarks on killing pigs and referring to federal employees who work in health agencies and people who seek health care reform as “pigs” who need to be killed. Watch it here on his Fox News interview:

Three questions for Kristi from any real news reporters who might still work in South Dakota:

1. Kristi, do you think people who support health care reform are “pigs,” and if not, why are you appearing onstage with Ted Nugent who is headlining your next Teabagger rally to help your sagging campaign?

2. Kristi, should they kill these “pigs” as Ted said, and do you support that kind of language, and if not, why are you appearing with the celebrity who said them on a national news interview?

3. Kristi, do you endorse Nugent’s statement about President Obama that “This is a Communist Mao Che agenda of the Communist Mao-Che fans in the White House. They’re pigs!” and do you agree with Nugent that President Obama is a “pig?” If not, why are you and Ted Nugent holding a rally to support your campaign?

Here’s the transcript, but listen to the video because Nugent's intelligence is so impressive especially when he squeals like a pig:

Nugent: But, I am Ted Nugent, governor of pigland. so I am the expert on the healthcare bill because I kill pigs. And, I just shot a monster big here in Texas.

And, seeing as how this is a pig bill created by pig bureaucrats to help out American pigs, as I approach this huge pig that looked like a beached sperm whale I was expecting George Costanza to come out of the bushes and extract a Titlelist number 3 ball from his blowhole.

But, as I was about to put a 10mm slug in this pig’s head, the last thing he said was [mimics squealing pig], which is pig for “where is my healthcare?” They’re pigs Neal. We gotta kill the pig. And, in November we gotta vote the pigs out of office, because this is a redistribution of wealth. This is the Communist-Mao-Che agenda of the Communist-Mao-Che fans in the White House. They’re pigs Neal!

Cavuto: Alright, So I’ll put you down as a no on healthcare.

What is a public servant?

2010-09-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Being a public servant means doing what is needed to help the public. For example, yesterday at the President's Bowl games there were a lot of politicians out campaigning. They were there shaking hands, handing out fliers and trying to get some votes. However, two candidates were being public servants trying to help the public schools (if you don't know what the President's bowl is, it raises a ton of money for all three public schools).

Matt Parker (running for state Senate in district 13) and Ben Arndt (Lt. Governor candidate) were both out selling raffle tickets to the public. Ben was out for about an hour helping out and Matt was helping for almost 4 hours. That is dedication to public service.

So, if you live in district 13, think of this difference: Phyllis Heineman, campaigning and handing out fliers versus Matt Parker, not even wearing a name-tag, working hard to raise money for the public schools (he even sold tickets to Phyllis). Good luck Matt - we'd be lucky to have such a public servant in office.

Kristi blows stops signs. Kristi blows court dates. Now Kristi blows lead.

2010-09-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Even the cooked data from Karl Rove’s $165 million boiler room pals, a.k.a., Rasmussen Reports, shows Teabagger Taliban fave Snooki Noem falling behind incumbent Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin by a slim, slim, slim 47-45 percent.

Tip o’ the hat to Bob Mercer’s excellent Pure Pierre Politics blog for breaking the news online. Bob’s take is the Noem freefall from her previous Rasmussen Reports score of 51-42 ahead of Stephanie comes “in the wake of revelations about Noem’s driving record.”

The Democratic inhouse survey last week shows Stephanie shattering Snooki 50-39 percent.

Ohio’s got talent! South Dakota's got Snooki Noem!

2010-09-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect reason for the local Republican Party committeess to hold their candidate selection meetings behind closed doors.

Alas, there are a lot of these Phil Davisons out there on the campaign trail in South Dakota this year, cultured by the brainiacs in the state’s all too shallow Teabagger Movement. His performance reminds me of Chris Farley’s SNL sketches as Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker.

I wonder if Davison’s voter registration lists his address in Stark County, Ohio, as “in a van down by the river.”

Republican Mouthpiece using innuendo to try and imply impropriety

2010-09-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the statements, rumor-mills and innuendo that the Republican mouthpiece over at Dakota War College uses. The latest example - his not so subtle attempt at trying to show some impropriety by Mayor Huether.

PP uses the headline "Democrat Sioux Fall Mayor fires Republican legislative candidate." I'm sorry, but the only reason you use that headline is to try and imply that there was some wrong-doing by Huether. Not-surprisingly, the commentors cleared up this mis-information campaign by PP. Everyone pretty much agreed that this was a long time coming and that it really should have been done a while ago.

However, this is not the only instance that PP has used rumors to try and promote the conservative agenda that he is the main spokesman for here in South Dakota. Take his "How did that straw poll turn out?" post a couple of days earlier. He gets a note from someone suggesting that the Farmer's Union had their annual straw poll pulled because Stephanie was getting beat so badly. Instead of doing actual reporting and investigate it, the GOP mouthpiece of course wants to try and promote this story in the hopes that the mainstream media will pick it up. Again, the commentors (nice work by the way) point out that in fact the SDFU hasn't been doing their straw poll for a few years now.

I usually don't take PP to task on stuff. We've agreed on a few things (the idiocy of the "Annonymous Commenter" proposed law, the sadness of Dems not having a candidate against Thune) but I just couldn't let these last couple of posts go by.

I know its getting close to election time and we all want to try and boost the people we support as much as we can, but lets try to actually use legitimate information and not rumor mills, innuendo and mis-information to try and promote our causes - it only hurts the process.

With that being said, I wish I had more time to post (only 7 since August 1st - really! - sad) but I've been waaaaaay to busy. Not an excuse, just saying. While there are going to be more posts from me, here are some quick notes on what I've seen in the past two months:

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has finally stepped up and thrown down in the debates.

Kristin Noem has shown that she is not ready for prime-time in the debates. Get her off of her talking points and she is lost (more on this later).

The Heidepriem/Daugaard race is going to be a lot closer than what some of the talking heads are currently hoping for.

There are going to be some surprise winners come Nov. 5th on the local level.

I'll get into more of those later, but those are just my random thoughts that I have time for now. Until then - enjoy.

--Travis

Terry Jones is the newest evolution of America’s Teabagger Taliban

2010-09-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

A sociopath named Terry Jones is going to give a demonstration of his fake rage that could push American service men and women into World War III and set the Middle East into flames. Jones’ action is the logical next step of our nation’s Teabagger Movement, which has fanned the flames of racism and hatred and created a culture of tolerance for their absolute intolerance of any agendas or leaders that don’t identify with their extreme views.

Oh yes, the Teabaggers’ talking heads are now running away from Jones but only after they constructed the stage and built the audience in front of whom he is expected to perform his sick rhapsody on Saturday. Just as Glenn Beck has done, Terry Jones plans to milk the international tragedy of 9/11 for all that he thinks it’s worth.

He’s only following the path that has already been blazed by others. Extremism (in the name of God and flag) is no vice as long as it entertains and psyches up the mob mentality of Teabaggers. This has been the philosophy (no matter how sketchy or thin) of the mobs, nationally orchestrated by Fox News and funded by Rubert Murdoch, the Koch brothers and their pals in the drug, oil, coal and multi-national corporation lobby.

Terry Jones is their poster boy. Calling attention to himself. Propping up a phony religious ideal fueled by his hatred of liberals, moderates and people who are not fundamentalist crazed Christians. Terry Jones is doing what the mainly white, middle-aged, well-to-do goon squads in the Teabagger rallies have been doing for the last 18 months, except bigger, better and louder. His gimmick is to burn a Koran in public.

Fred Phelps is their poster boy. He fans hatred of people who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender and of people who support a free, open and accepting society called the United States of America. His gimmick is to picket the funerals of heroes who died in war by dragging the flag on the ground outside the service and carrying signs with violent slurs against the character of freedom loving people.

Glenn Beck is their poster boy. Beck rants, raves, sobs and screams his outrages on Fox each night, fanning hatred and suspicion and summoning weak-minded fools to hit the streets with their hate signs and angry voices. Stop the government. Stop Congress. Stop Obama. That’s his gimmick. It’s working and our nation’s economy keeps circling the drain.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is their poster girl. She talks about gangs of Mexicans overrunning the borders and drug wars and beheadings. She fans racism talking about beheadings and then experiences a brain fart on television when she realizes she has no idea what she is talking about. Whatever it takes to win an election by stoking the fears of white folk who are getting outnumbered by people with colored skin. That’s her gimmick.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is another poster girl. She makes outrageous statements. Stirs hatred against (fill in the blank). She brands as socialism any attempt to clean up the mess she and Bush/Cheney/Rove et al left behind. When her lies, gaffes and tactics are exposed, she plays the victim. That’s her gimmick.

These are people who have no solutions to the mess they helped to create and maintain. They want the President to fail. They want Congress rendered impotent. They want America to fail. They want trouble to stay stirred. They want Americans to get angry and to stay angry. They don’t care what it takes, even it means starting another illegitimate war in the Middle East. Burning a Koran in front of news cameras is just another twist of the same knife to achieve the same goal.

Terry Jones is just the newest wet dream of America’s Teabagger Taliban. Nobody should be at all surprised that it's become this bad.

Ta ta Kristi! A new poll is out

2010-09-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

The GOP grip on the 2010 election is slipping. Chances are it never really had much of a hold. Unlike the Republican National Committtee’s inhouse pollster Rasmussen Reports, the inhouse polling by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (at least they’re honest about the source!) shows incumbent Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin defeating her Republican opponent Kristi Noem 50 to 39 percent. Here’s the stats on the South Dakota race from the Daily Koz today:

House race polls conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner on behalf of the DCCC. Conducted on differing dates between August 23 and September 2. Likely voters. MoE 4.9%

AL-02: Rep. Bobby Bright (D) 52%, Martha Roby (R) 43%
NY-24: Rep. Michael Arcuri (D) 50%, Richard Hanna (R) 37%
NC-08: Rep. Larry Kissell (D) 48%, Harold Johnson (R) 36%*
SD-AL: Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D) 50%, Kristi Noem (R) 39%*
VA-05: Rob Hurt (R) 44%, Rep. Tom Perriello (D) 42%*

(*)--Indicates third-party candidate drawing 4-6% of the vote.

Again, having worked several years for a reputable polling firm, the Rasmussen Reports “results” for South Dakota defy logic and instate polling history. Rasmussen routinely oversamples white, well-to-do, older respondents with landlines (can we say Republicans, boys and girls?) and the "results" of an unknown legislator in South Dakota beating a popular female incumbent have been highly unlikely. The DCCC results sound much closer to reality for normal polling results in South Dakota, despite Stephanie’s problems with liberal activists in her party.

"Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has always put South Dakota first and her record proves it," said Gabby Adler, Midwestern Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "South Dakotans value Stephanie's centrist approach and voters are once again standing with Stephanie because she is on the right side of the issues. While Kristi Noem supports extreme policies that hurt middle class families, Stephanie continues to focus on the common sense solutions South Dakotans expect and deserve from their lone voice in the U.S. House."

Marking’s secret weapon: Withdraw to win!

2010-09-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today’s breaking news on the U.S. House race in South Dakota (yawn!) is the announcement that one of the three candidates will disappear for two and a half weeks. This may be the key strategy to a stealthy victory. And it may be the only and last time we’ll see independent candidate Thomas Marking at the top of the news at 10 and on your daily newspaper’s front page.

Marking, whose most renown contribution to the House race to date has been deferring his time and passing on questions in debates, said he’s suspending his campaign for a half-month while he attends FEMA training to better prepare him for disaster response. Yes, suspending a campaign proved disastrous for GOP Presidential candidate John McCain and his yapping lapdog Sarah Palin to respond to Bush’s Great Recession and the Wall Street bailout in 2008, but maybe this is the key for Marking to win.

Consider that the only force helping Kristi Noem in her quest to defeat Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has been cynicism driven by Noem’s key support base, the Gordon Howie faction of the state Republican Party known as Tea Party Republicans. Otherwise polling numbers for an unknown like Noem don’t make sense (other than the obvious that the Rasmussen Reports stats are cooked).

What better way for cynics to show their contempt by voting for the candidate who walked away from campaigning for a half-month during the campaign’s final stretch?

Don’t care who wins except for incumbents because you’re mad? Go crazy and make your mark for Marking!

Consider also that Gov. Marion M. Rounds failed to run a primary campaign in 2002 and won because the other two candidates spent millions hammering away at each other. It worked so well he won the general election. See? Doing nothing or next to it just might pay off in South Dakota politics!

Therefore, an announcement that Marking will suspend his campaign until Nov. 2 might prove to be both unique and ultimately successful.

Snooki Noem’s criminal record stands, despite attempts to point fingers at others

2010-09-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

True to the bedwetter mewling that makes it so distinctive among political blogs, we see War College now demanding a crueler justice against the incumbent Congresswoman’s chief of staff than the court-ordered fine and employer-ordered job suspension she received for her June 2010 DUI conviction. The mewling is the latest botched attempt to cloak Snooki Noem’s unexplainable record of 20 speeding tickets, three blown stop signs, six failures to appear in court and two warrants for her arrest.

War College’s Mewler-in-Chief cited the conviction of a drunk driver whose actions killed children a year ago, adding it was “a sobering reminder from the Rapid City Journal why Herseth Sandlin’s 2-week suspension for her CoS driving drunk at over twice the legal limit (.193) is a light sentence indeed.” You can read the straight news version about the CoS in today’s Argus Leader.

Now to the next level.

The mewling spurred Cory Heidelberger of Madville Times to respond with “an arresting reminder from KELO-TV why Kristi Noem’s $48.50 fine for her blowing a stop sign is a light sentence indeed.” Cory produced last night’s clip of how a driver running a stop sign outside White killed two people, including a 25-year-old mother.

Later this morning, Dave Newquist at Northern Valley Beacon reported a 28-year-old staffer at Sen. John Thune’s Aberdeen office also got nabbed for DUI. Well, well, well. Did Noem just throw Thune under the bus?

Absurd counterpoints are well taken in context with the first absurd point. But let’s move on from the tit-for-tat involving one person whose name is on the 2010 ballot for Congress and two people whose names are not on the ballot, even though their bosses’ names are.

Here’s the deal. Noem is a candidate for Congress with a serious problem behind the wheel speeding over 90 mph and running through stop signs and thumbing her nose at requirements to show her arrogant snoot in court. Or as SDSU professor Bob Burns told the Mitchell Daily Republic: “The troubling thing about it was there were warrants and nonappearance coupled with multiple offenses.”

Noem’s opponent has only one driving offense on her own record, but her chief of staff has a DUI conviction and Stephanie’s dad has 17 driving offenses, according to Noem’s attacks. Neither the CoS nor Lars Herseth are on the ballot.

Nobody disagrees that it’s deplorable that a congressional chief of staff would get behind the wheel after becoming so seriously drunk. Ringing the chimes with a blood alcohol level of .193 is bad. Unlike Snooki, however, she didn’t thumb her nose at the court system and fail to appear. She took her medicine and didn’t mewl. She went to court and got the same punishment as other offenders with her charge get in Brookings County. When she got back to work, she got punished there as well with a suspension without pay.

Matter handled.

[IMPORTANT NOTE: If the Mewler-in-Chief has a bone to pick, he should roll across town and mewl in front of the Brookings County State’s Attorney and the Judge to demand crucifixion, electrocution, hanging, decapitation or whatever will appeal to his temporary sense of self-righteousness -- and to make sure the punishment is applied equally to all first offense DUI violators. Or he could demand his failed governor candidate and now a lowly state House candidate to write a law demanding most painful, harsh punishments for first offense DUI violators. And if any favoritism was shown in Brookings or Aberdeen toward Thune's or Herseth Sandlin's employees, the Mewler-in-Chief should produce the evidence.]

Snooki Noem’s criminal past gets a blast from ex-GOP Chairman Joel

2010-08-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

Governor Bill Janklow’s #1 pick for Chairman of the S.D. Republican Party was Joel Rosenthal of Sioux Falls because Joel is smart and has great political insight. Even if you disagree on issues.

Word from Joel to Snooki Noem and her 20 speeding tickets, six failed court appearances, three blown stop signs and two warrants for Noem’s arrest: When you’re in a hole, stop digging, and get back on message.

State capitol reporter Bob Mercer said much the same thing when he reminded Snooki that Lars Herseth is not on the 2010 ballot after Snooki ripped into Congresswoman Stephanie’s dad’s driving record.

Another fascinating insight comes from retired SDSU poly/sci prof Bob Burns, who is quoted in today’s Mitchell Daily Republic story by Tom Lawrence:

“I think it’s very difficult to tell what the South Dakota voter makes out of it,” Burns said. “The troubling thing about it was there were warrants and nonappearance coupled with multiple offenses.”

For grins, check out the special website created by the S.D. Democratic Party, called http://www.kristiabovethelaw.com/.

And from her pals here at Badlands Blue, a piece of helpful advice for Snooki Noem: Please ignore Cory Heidelberger’s advice. Please retain the excellent employment of your brilliant campaign manager Josh Sheilds. This guy is a total campaign genius. We love him!

Josh made sure South Dakota War College flagged attention to Snooki’s criminal record loooooong before it ended up on Keloland. Josh made sure all eyeballs were scouring the news websites to see what bombshell was coming. Josh harped on Keloland for doing its job via SDWC. Josh kept the story running multiple days by having your staff work the blogs defending your criminal past, including multiple responses to this blog, and Josh lashed out at Stephanie for having only one ticket and at Stephanie’s family members and then her staff, seeking some venomous blogosphere justice by pointing out that other people violate the law, too. Just like you, Snooki, except for the arrest warrants.

Josh Sheilds is such a campaign genius that he will be the first politico in American history to disprove the adage that when you’re in a hole, stop digging. He might match PP's finesse at botching campaigns. Josh, keep workin’ the shovel and prove ‘em all wrong! You’re gonna hit China!

Snooki Noem defends her criminal past by attacking Stephanie’s daddy

2010-08-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Snooki Noem’s criminal defense now is to attack her opponent’s daddy. Just in from the very excellent Pure Pierre Politics blog, reporter Bob Mercer says Noem issued a statement ripping into Lars Herseth for producing 17 speeding tickets in more than 20 years. Lars’ most recent traffic violation was more than five years ago, compared to Snooki’s 100 mph blast on the interstate this year.

Oooooh Snooki. You so hot.

“I didn’t know Lars was running for public office this year,” Mercer said in his blog, adding, “Here’s the real question: Why would the Noem campaign think this is relevant?”

Thump.

Personally I never met Stephanie’s dad. Don’t know why I would want to. He ran for Governor when I was seven (in 1986). Despite Lars’ advanced years, this is the new standard for winning elections according to Snooki Noem: If your opponent is pure, rip into the relatives.

For your entertainment, I found this photo of Snooki (the more famous and more talented Snooki) being arrested, and it’s posted in honor of Noem’s six failures to appear in court and – count ‘em – two warrants for Noem’s arrest. And for attacking Stephanie’s daddy. Bad girl. Baaaaaaaaad girl!

Attacking the family is not a good strategy, Snooki. It's crazy and invites all kinds of unintended consequences from people whom you never counted upon as a problem. What you've now done is to encourage liberals and moderates ticked off with Stephanie's record in Congress to re-elect her as an act of revenge if for no other reason. Today is Monday, August 30, 2010, and the Noem Campaign has officially begun its circling of the drain …

Snooki Noem's criminal record makes more national news

2010-08-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Snooki Noem’s criminal record made another national splash, this time with the Washington insider online news publication Politics Daily. The article by Capitol Hill Bureau Chief Patricia Murphy described Noem’s meteoric rise in the South Dakota and D.C. media, and now the sudden and startling crash of the GOP candidate, who has faced two arrest warrants:

According to local news reports, Noem's lifetime driving record includes 20 speeding tickets, three stop sign violations, two seat belt violations, and a citation for failing to carry her driver's license. She has also received six notices for failing to appear in court and two arrest warrants for failing to pay fines related to her tickets. She was stopped by police earlier this year for driving 94 mph.

The Politics Daily news item continues with why Noem’s newest scandal plays so strongly against her with South Dakota voters who remember the last Republican elected to South Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat:

South Dakota has a sad history of elected officials with troubled driving records. In 2003, Bill Janklow, the state's congressman and former four-term governor, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter after he was involved in a fatal collision in rural South Dakota. Police said the congressman was driving more than 65 mph when failed to stop at a stop sign, hitting a motorcyclist, who died instantly. Janklow had 12 speeding tickets before that accident.

Noem’s lawlessness easily double’s Janklow’s driving record prior to the tragic collision at the rural Trent intersection. So, where are the activists for Mothers Against Drunk Driving these days? Whether propelled and intoxicated by alcohol or hubris, a ton of metal hurtling down the highway at 100 miles per hour is just as deadly to innocent law-abiding drivers. Apparently, Snooki just doesn’t get it. She has expressed her concern only after she was caught.

Wonder what Blake Curd or Chris Nelson … or the biggest chicken of 2010 Dusty Johnson and his silly orange barn signs … are thinking these days. Yeah, boys, you coulda been the contender. You coulda been the contender.

Fewer Jobs, Larger Deficits if Republicans Were in Charge

2010-08-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

I've done a couple of posts about how hypocritical the GOP is when it comes to spending money and how they are using the current environment to get political points, but not solve the problems. I saw this and wanted to highlight it.

Newsweek notes that nothing is apparently more important to Republican politicians these days than jobs and the budget deficit, but there's a problem with their message: "So far, the things that Republicans have said they want to do won't actually boost employment or reduce deficits. In fact, much the opposite. By combing through a variety of studies and projections from nonpartisan economic sources, we here at Gaggle headquarters have found that if Republicans were in charge from January 2009 onward -- and if they were now given carte blanche to enact the proposals they want to -- the projected 2010-2020 deficits would be larger than they are under Obama, and fewer people would probably be employed.

No surprise here - the fact that the GOP would increase the budget deficit and fewer people would be employed.

Don't buy garbage that the GOP is trying to sell you - that they can rein in spending, cut taxes, increase the number of jobs and win the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - they are full of crap! Sorry, but they are.

Snooki Noem’s criminal record makes national news

2010-08-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Turn out the lights, the party’s over for Snooki Noem and her Teabagger Express in South Dakota. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader slacked off and failed to place the story today, but Keloland ran the story. In fact, it's becoming a national story, despite the protests of a certain egocentric GOP twerp’s protests that it’s some kind of liberal conspiracy.

Sorry Pat. This isn’t about you or liberals. It’s about Snooki’s contempt for the law, her personal reputation and her addiction to putting the innocent public at risk with her lead foot.

Ask Bob Mercer. And check out The Hill, which features this headline – “‘Please pull over’: GOP candidate has 26 traffic violations.” Snooki's made the national headlines, and I'm sure there will be more.

It just makes you wonder. Does she think she’s invisible? Obviously. Rather than apologize and hold a press conference to explain why she dodged court appearances and racked up so many violations, Snooki's first response was to issue an offensive press release to attack Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin with the completely dumb angle that Stephanie would have more than one ticket if she spent more time living day to day in South Dakota rather than doing her job in Congress. Of course, Pat ran that press release too.

With a lengthy criminal record like this and two bench warrants for her arrest, why was Snooki so foolish to ignore the outstanding arrest warrants and take care of them? Why didn’t she do one of two smart things:

1) pay the fines and admit her problem breaking traffic laws when she began her campaign last winter, or

2) stay out of the 2010 race, stop putting the public at risk with her foolish lead foot and wait another year or four to run a high profile statewide race?

Does Snooki think there’s one set of rules for you and me and a different set of rules for herself? It makes you wonder what other skeletons will fall out of her closet. And, yes, Travis, she would be in big trouble with ethics violations if she were going to return to the House in Pierre. She won’t be going to any House in Pierre or D.C. After November, Noem will stay home.

Noem In Violation of Code of Ethics?

2010-08-27T08:52:00.001-07:00

Corey over at Madville Times makes a great point this morning.

When it comes to Kristi Noem's 2 warrants and 6 failures to appear, does she violate the code of ethics for state legislators? Here's part of that code:

1B-1. Maintenance of ethical standards. The people of South Dakota require that their legislators maintain the highest of moral and ethical standards as such standards are essential to assure the trust, respect and confidence of our citizens. Legislators have a solemn responsibility to avoid improper behavior and refrain from conduct that is unbecoming to the Legislature or that is inconsistent with the Legislature’s ability to maintain the respect and trust of the people it serves. While it is not possible to write rules to cover every circumstance, each legislator must do everything in his or her power to deal honorably with the public and with his or her colleagues and must promote an atmosphere in which ethical behavior is readily recognized as a priority and is practiced continually, without fail.

Was Noem doing everything in "her power to deal honorably with the public" when she blew off court dates and her repeated disregard for the law forced judges to issue warrants for her arrest?

Two Arrest Warrants for Kristi Noem, Long History of Disregarding the Law

2010-08-27T05:07:00.001-07:00

Huge story out last night on KELO news detailing Kristi Noem’s extensive rap sheet for numerous violations – including, amazingly, a couple of warrants for her arrest and multiple "failure to appear" charges.

You can watch the story here: Noem Not Proud of Driving Record

You can access Noem's significant list of violations and fines here.

All I can say is….wow. That’s a lot of violations and tickets. But as bad as that is to me, the most troubling is how she simply ignores the punishment she receives, to the point where twice, they had to serve her with a warrant for her arrest.

To me, that means she not only has a problem with obeying the law once she gets behind the wheel, but that she just doesn’t care enough to own up to her mistakes when she gets caught.

Most people, if they get a speeding ticket or two, they change how they drive. Not Kristi Noem. You sort of have to wonder how many times she is speeding where she doesn’t get caught. And how fast she drives then.

Most recently, she was going 94 in a 75, just last February while she was still in session as a member of the State Legislature.

Is this the kind of judgment and accountability we want from someone who’s asking to be sent to Congress?

Did Tea Party ruin SDGOP 2010 turnout? And why is GOP shunning Glenn Beck’s 8/28 hate fest?

2010-08-26T05:58:00.000-07:00

Check out the GOP turnout figures now available on South Dakota’s official election statistic’s website. They’re quite provocative.

Secretary of State Chris Nelson has updated and improved his office’s website, adding available election data now going back to statehood in 1889. Yes, the reality is the new data are Acrobat file photos of the Official Election Returns for South Dakota booklets that were published after each election. The next step is data inputting the results from 1986 back to 1889, but at least you don’t have to run to an official repository library to get the data. Check them out.

It’s very curious that mainstream news reporters have virtually ignored the biggest news stories of the 2010 election – the historically lousy Republican primary turnout in 2010 and what it means for June 8 and in November 2010. It deserves research and analysis and not just by an openly partisan blog like this one. Or Blanchard's.

In South Dakota, home of one party rule since 1979 (gee, why doesn’t John Thune carp about that when he carps about how terrible one party rule is in Washington?), the governor primary during an open seat year is a big event. It’s like Kentucky Derby Day. Real South Dakota Republicans turn out in droves.

These open seat Republican gubernatorial primaries are widely considered the general election for political control in Pierre, going back to 1889.

So why only 36.2 percent turnout? Let’s compare June 2010 to:

2002 – Post Janklow II open seat primary. The bloody rip ‘em and slash ‘em primary TV wars between former Lt. Gov. Steve Kirby of Sioux Falls vs. Attorney General Mark Barnett of Sioux Falls ended with the surprise win by a relative nobody, Pierre’s Mike Rounds of Pierre, hence the widely used monicker, The Accidental Governor. GOP turnout 50.7 percent.

1994 – Governor Walter Dale Miller of, who took office in the crisis after the tragic death of Gov. George S. Mickelson, gets a shocker challenge from two-term former Governor Bill Janklow. GOP turnout 52.1 percent.

1986 – Post-Janklow I open seat primary between former Speaker of the House Mickelson of Brookings, former Congressman Clint “Marlboro Man” Clint Roberts of Presho, Lt. Gov Lowell Hansen III of Sioux Falls and Secretary of State Alice Kundert of Mound City. GOP turnout 57.4 percent.

1978 – Post-Dick Kneip open seat primary between Attorney Bill Janklow of Flandreau, opera singer and legislator LeRoy Hoffman of Eureka and Clint Roberts. GOP turnout 49 percent.

1974 – Democrat incumbent Gov. Kneip is in a primary with Lt. Gov. Bill Dougherty and an innerparty fight over whether Kneip is running for a second or third term (based on two-year terms from 1970 and 1972. The 1974 event was the first election for four-year gubernatorial terms). GOP turnout 50.2 percent.

In 2010, Republicans in South Dakota are voting with their butts.

They kept them parked during the primary election and stayed home in droves in an open seat governor year. How does that portend for the general election?

And did the Tea Party events in South Dakota and nationally, with their angry demonstrations, inspire rank-and-file Republicans? Or did they suppress GOP turnout by turning off South Dakota voters? The Tea Party Republicans even had their own governor candidate on the GOP ballot, state Sen. Gordon Howie of Rapid City, and he got drilled with only 12.4 percent while the uninspiring, budget-busting status quo GOP candidate, Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard got 50.4 percent in a field of four candidates.

Does this mean the Tea Party never took root among Republicans in South Dakota? If so, is it dead, in limbo or did it never really exist outside Howie's and Alan Unruh's ridiculous egos?

Is there a mainstream reporter capable of analysis out there? Somewhere? I think you’ve got a story here.

Non-reporters should turn to this delicious Washington Post article on how national GOPers are seemingly distancing themselves from Glenn Beck’s mockery of Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech … on August 28 … on the spot where Dr. King delivered his famous speech. I’ll bet Beck makes a lot more money on Aug. 28 than Dr. King did back then.

Snooki Noem resolves astrology creates global warming

2010-08-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

No explanation makes sense. It resulted in a national disgrace. It still makes the 2010 South Dakota House of Representatives look like a complete farce.

The resolution was only one page long. It sat in front of Assistant Majority Leader Kristi Noem’s face when she voted for it. The GOP caucus discussed it before the House session started. Noem helped lead the fight that passed it 36 to 30. And then she voted for it: Global warming is caused by astrology.

Snooki whines that the federal health care reform bill was 1,400 pages long and nobody could understand it. Okay, if 1,400 pages is too long to read a bill before Snooki can read it or understand it, how long is too long? Five hundred pages? One hundred pages? Ten pages? How about one page?

Here’s the bill, HCR 1009, that Snooki voted yes to. It’s got some other crazy stuff in it like Erik the Red farming on Greenland (which was a red flag for a crackpot piece of legislation), but here’s the clincher: That there are a variety of climatological, meteorological, astrological, thermological, cosmological, and ecological dynamics that can effect world weather phenomena …

Here are some questions for Snooki Noem:

Did you read the bill before you voted?

At what point did you realize this one-page bill had several serious flaws? And what, if anything, did you do about it BEFORE you voted to pass it? How about afterward?

Were you asleep, taking medication, talking with the fellows in the next row, texting, painting your nails, Facebooking, Twittering, hung over, playing Hangman with your neighbor, making another hair appointment or chatting on your cell phone when the bill came up in front of your nose?

Did you listen to any of the debate on the floor before you voted?

Did you read the bill before you voted?

Is a one-page too long for a bill? How about a half-page, is that too long?

Do you believe that all members of Congress must read the legislation before they vote on it, and do you think that also applies to the S.D. House of Representatives where you were Assistant Majority Leader when you voted for the bill?

Snooki, did you read the damn bill before you voted?

You voted to state that global warming is caused by astrology. You voted that teachers should teach astrology causes global warming in our public schools.

Noem: She's a made-for-Fox News star in her own right.

2010-08-23T07:28:00.000-07:00


Noem & Herseth debate - photo from Washington Post

Dear Liberal Democrats: Read this article! If this doesn't knock some sense into you then you are hopeless. I know that Stephanie is driving you nuts in a lot of ways. However, here is your choice - Herseth, who sometimes aggravates you or the next Sarah Palin who is a "made-for-Fox News star."

If you don't understand the importance of this race and get active in helping Stephanie win then I don't want to hear any complaining when Noem decides to:

- Cut funding for programs like education and health care
- Decide that it is the governments job to enforce her brand of morality - not yours - but hers and those like her
- Continue to repress the rights of gays and lesbians by supporting bigotry-laced legislation

I'm serious - I don't want to hear any liberals bitch when this happens. I am a liberal through and through. Stephanie has driven me nuts. But if you honestly are going to fight against her this year then you have no idea of the importance of this election. Stop working against progressive ideas and start helping. This race is too important to get bogged down in one or two issues that have upset you. We need to unite and get Stephanie re-elected. Once we do that - then organize to get her to change her stance on those issues that are bothering you. At least then you'll have a chance to have your voice heard - which won't be the case if we elect Noem.

World Leader Pretend

2010-08-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite song from R.E.M. and one of my favorite songs of all time. Found this video and wanted to share it. (H/T Crooks & Liars)

Enjoy - and have a great weekend everyone!

Hey, who’s the new teacher? Teabaggers?

2010-08-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

It’s not unusual for high school government class teachers to invite a spokesperson for the Republican Party and a spokesperson for the Democratic Party to explain their organization’s views, discuss campaigns and encourage kids to register to vote when they’re 18. But in Rapid City, scandal-tainted former KOTA anchor and now self-appointed Teabagger media guru Shane Olson wants to take the Teabagger extremist views on the U.S. Constitution and major issues into the classroom too.

Here’s the story in today’s Rapid City Journal, on Olson’s Teabagger classroom offerings. From the Journal:

"More and more, we realize public and private schools alike face difficult challenges in meeting the educational needs of our students," Olson said in a news release. "It is our hope that the ‘Constitution Challenge' will offer a fun and informative opportunity for students to expand their understanding of America's unique system of government and the unparalleled freedoms it guarantees."

Mark this as step 2 of the Gordon Howie/Don Kopp strategy to pollute our public schools with Teabagger extremism and nonsense. Step 1 was passage of Kopp’s resolution in the 2010 legislature to demand public schools teach “both sides” of climate change science. You might remember Kopp’s the guy who passed the resolution in the House that said students must learn that climate change and global warming are caused by astrology.

Now with step 2, we know who their teachers are: Protesters who carry the signs with racial slurs, who hate our nation’s government, hate health care reform, hate clean energy, who call Democrats in Congress Nazis and socialists, and who want to ruin the American economy all over again. Oh, and I forgot, they support tax dodgers like their hero failed candidate Gordon Howie, the self-proclaimed Tea Party Candidate for Governor.

Step 3? Look for a campaign assault on school boards to follow the legislature’s directive to preach the Teabagger view of climate change in our schools. Kopp thinks they can teach the side that is supported by 97 percent of the respected climate science community, but they must also teach the side that is bankrolled and promoted by Big Oil corporations. Again from the Journal:

"It would be our hope that school leaders across South Dakota would embrace this effort to give our children a renewed understanding of America's best and proudest traditions," Olson said. "The South Dakota Tea Party Alliance is very interested in developing practical ways of applying our love for country to the problems facing our nation. Education is key to maintaining an informed citizenry capable of preserving the freedoms that are steadily being eroded in America."

Maybe we’ll get lucky and our kids can be taught by the Lyndon LaRouche crackpots too. They can explain how our freedoms are being steadily eroded by the Tri-Lateral Commission and Prince Phillip.

A Clear Choice on Privatizing Social Security and Medicare

2010-08-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been on here much, but I wanted to get this item out here because I think it is very important. It is the link from a video today, where a group of South Dakota seniors led by former state legislator John McIntyre presented the House candidates with a pledge to oppose efforts to privatize Social Secuirty and Medicare, including the Ryan budget. I'll let John explain, as he says it best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a0sMK8S_AQ

I see that Rep. Herseth Sandlin has promptly signed the pledge.

Radio silence from Noem, who apparently is trying to change the subject by signing her own homemade pledge, which doesn't even mention the Paul Ryan budget. But why would she sign a pledge opposing the Ryan plan to privatize Social Security and Medicare? She thinks that the Ryan Plan is the "right direction for our country," after all.

Somehow I don't think South Dakota seniors will agree.

Protecting rapists’ rights for Big Oil? Senator John Thune’s price is $521,046

2010-08-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Another tip o’ my black Stetson to Dr. Cory Heidelberger’s reporting on Madville Times and Sen. John Thune’s penchant for taking dirty energy money. Thune took $521,046, according to DirtyEnergyMoney.com, which is nearly twice the amount given combined to both Sen. Tim Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

The good news is Thune took only half as much as Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell who worked successfully this month in stopping any kind of energy reform or oil spill legislation from being heard on the U.S. Senate floor.

Thune’s been quite the little buddy to Big Oil and Sleazy Coal in the last couple years. You remember he was among 30 male Republican U.S. Senators who bailed out Halliburton’s rapists’ rights program, which circumvented the civil rights of women employees who were gang raped on projects while overseas and told to shut up. Then, we watched Thune lead the charge against climate change and clean energy legislation, saying he would “fight it with every fiber of my being.” Thanks loads, Thune. Now we’ve got to wait at least another year before South Dakota can begin achieving its wind energy potential and the world can start turning around the massive calamities created by climate change.

Of course, all this sleaze makes Sen. Thune even more eligible for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Presidency so he can complete the destruction of our economy started by Bush, Cheney and Rove, and finish giving away the store to Dirty Energy Corporations and the big money lobbyists at 101 Con. As President, Thune can again make the world freer for corporate-sanctioned gang rape and provide totally lame excuses as he does in this video.

John Thune: Soft on rape victims' rights, but stands up like a strongman for bigger oil corporation profits.

Snooki’s clock cleaned. Marking marked time. Stephanie shined.

2010-08-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

Watched the Argus website at the first House debate and, yes I’m biased toward making sure a Teabagger like Snooki Noem won’t get elected, it’s clear that Stephanie cleaned their clocks. Neither B. Thomas Marking nor Snooki could touch the firmness and ease which marked Stephanie’s thorough handling of facts, names, places, details and accurate contexts of the issues.

Marking, who reminded me of a plumper Les Nesman of WKRP fame, marked his performance by giving up his time for rebuttal and wearing a black dress shirt with his tie draped oddly around his shoulders. Snooki’s delivery was a purely automaton spew of boiler room hackneyed talking points, showing she was capable of running for the State Senate in Hamlin and Kingsbury counties but not nearly ready for prime time as a desirable spokesperson for the entire state of South Dakota.

I agree with another Badlands Liberal author who recently called Snooki a newbie. It shows. She’s out of her class and flat-footed. I’ll take that a step further and say that she is at best a C-List candidate for Congress who pales poorly when sitting next to a charismatic and far more versatile speaker who knows her job inside and out. Stephanie shines, even when she’s sweltering in the August heat.

Stephanie caught Snooki with some zingers that struck home. One was that Snooki would support privatizing medicare and sell out senior citizens to greedy insurance companies and hospital administrators. Another was Stephanie's vote yesterday to fund states for shortfalls in education and health care, saying she chose to invest in seniors and children instead of greedy corporate special interests. And then, in response to the anti-Nancy Pelosi riff we see on the righty-tighty wingnut blogs, Stephanie said she’s upset Pelosi several times voting across party lines for what was best for South Dakota and that Republican Leader John Boehner supports privatizing medicare, just like Snooki, and stood against renewable fuels and the farm bill. Ssssssnap!

[Snooki should remember the farm bills. Without the farm bills, she wouldn’t have received $3 million-plus in federal payments. Of course she likes farm bills.]

Also, it was good to see Rasmussen Reports exposed for the pro-GOP fraud sideshow that it is here and in other states this election and in 2008.

Purely laughable and insanely enjoyable is the mewling (that’s right, MEWLING!) on War College over whether or not the Argus intentionally cut off Snooki’s closing statement. PP said it is a case of the Argus’ liberal bias, which is silly and once again the little Republican bully played it all up that he and his Teabagger pals are the victims under his headline "Just a little liberal bias at the Argus today?":

Coincidence that they may have cut off Noem’s closing? Maybe. Maybe not. Given their track record on how they treat Republicans, it isn’t looking good.

Mewl. Mewl.

Rasmussen Reports rong, rong, rong.

2010-08-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Now I’m really pissed. With the media in South Dakota who are helping Rasmussen Reports, Kristi Noem and Karl Rove in their disinformation project to brainwash people into thinking this year is a big Republican surge year. Worse, they are trying to brainwash folks into thinking an unknown candidate like Noem is ahead of Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

It’s just plain ridiculous and every news reporter in South Dakota really ought to know better!

I’m pleased that Madville Times’ Cory Heidelberger followed up on a link and a hunch to provide an important clue as to what Rasmussen Reports and Rove have been doing in South Dakota and throughout the nation. Long story short, Cory checked out a link from a GOP fake-rager that showed Nancy Pelosi had a 35 percent approval rating. Cory also found that Rasmussen reported the GOP minority leader John Boehner had a 23 percent approval rating. Funny the fake-rager didn’t report this.

Having had direct experience in public opinion survey work drafting and interpreting professional polls for commercial, political, government and non-profit clients throughout the nation, I take great issue with Rasmussen. Rasmussen uses automated operators, not real people. That’s a major problem.

Survey work is becoming more and more challenging these days with increasing costs of personnel to conduct competent polls. Rasmussen’s choice is to offer cheaper rates to clients by using machines, and if you have ever listened in on a real person conducting a survey and a machine, there is no comparison. The quality of the responses are starkly different, starting with whether you have the respondent you want on the phone or the respondent’s 16-year-old kid having fun.

Another factor that’s critically important to authentic research is the Great Recession. Middle class and lower income families are losing jobs and homes and, at the very least, falling behind on payments. When people fall behind, they are less likely to pick up a phone when it rings after 5 p.m. They would be even more unlikely to hang on and wait for prompts from a computer-generated call without a “live” operator because they think it’s the bank, the insurance company, the cable company or some scam.

One more factor is the dramatic increase in the use of cell phones over land lines. Cell phone numbers are difficult to get, and they change much more frequently than land lines. Your cell phone tells you who is calling and if it says it’s an 800 number or “caller unknown,” are you going to answer it? Really? Cell phones, statistically, are also used by a greater share of minorities than Caucasian voters, which creates another statistical divide.

All this adds up, but the worst factor is the lack of a real person conducting the interviews. Accountability flies right out the window. The net effect of Rasmussen’s methodology is they are oversampling people with landlines who are financially secure and don’t mind telling a machine how they plan to vote. Kids, can we say “oversampled wealthy white people?” Hmmm, they might be oversampling Republicans. What do you think? How would you know?

Now for the one factor that seems to be missing from what I’m reading from our pals in the press. Name identification and reality. Namely, Noem’s.

Statistically, a tiny minority of most-likely voters in South Dakota know who their legislators are. Usually, less than 6 percent of voters can accurately name all three of their state legislators. Normally, less than 15 percent of chronic voters can accurately name one of their three state legislators.

And here’s another odd statistic. Kristi Noem won a three-way primary with only a 35 percent Republican turnout last June. She entered the race late, which means her exposure to the public was minimal with less TV exposure than her opponents. So, how does that translate into Rasmussen Report’s allegation that Stephanie is losing to an unknown? It’s possible but, c’mon, extremely unlikely.

Further, if less than 15 percent of voters can name a single state legislator, how does Kristi Noem end up a statistical front-runner in the general election contest after a 35-percent primary turnout without running a general election ad on TV?

Stephanie’s name identification is, authentically, over 90 percent among most-likely voters in South Dakota. How does a little-known first time statewide candidate from a small town and a rural district compete with 90 percent name ID overnight?

This does not add up. I smell a big fraud. Any sensible veteran news reporter should know better.

There’s one other group of people who really piss me off more so. It’s Democrats who say they won’t vote for Stephanie in the next election. They’re upset that Stephanie didn’t vote for two or three things like they wanted. Waa. Get over it.

You people are being played. You have fallen for Rove’s and Rasmussen’s trick. Rasmussen Report has been over-reporting for Republicans in nearly every poll for the last few years. They were busted in 2008 by the Obama campaign and recently on fivethirtyeight.com.

Your enemy is not Stephanie. It’s not even the neophyte Noem. It’s Rove and Rasmussen. And if you doubt that, then ask yourself this. How did a newbie statewide candidate with no name ID suddenly get front-runner status after a lousy 35 percent primary turnout against a likeable and popular incumbent who has 90 percent name ID? Get real. Stop being a chump. Defeat Rove's and Rasmussen's gimmick.

Kids for Nesselhuf

2010-08-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

While the house race and the Governor's race is getting all the press, there are other races out there. This includes the Secretary of State's race. Ben Nesselhuf has a new ad up that I thought you would enjoy. Check it out and start paying attention to the race won't you!

Argus Leader Embarrasses Itself, Prints Lies

2010-08-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Argus Leader embarrassed itself recently by giving voice to a smear campaign targeting Rep. Herseth Sandlin. They printed this letter to the editor from Ken M. Scott which includes the flat-out lie that Stephanie Herseth Sandlin lives in Texas. It's one thing that Kristi Noem and her supporters are pushing out this deceitful campaign of lies, but it's another that the Argus Leader would print something that is so wrong, and so easily refutable.

Much like John Thune, Stephanie owns a home in South Dakota (her house is in Brookings), and rents an apartment in Washington when she's there representing us in Congress. Make no mistake - this is an orchestrated smear campaign from the Noem campaign...but the Argus took the bait and printed the letter. Whether out of laziness or bias, it doesn't matter. It seems to me that the state's largest newspaper should want its pages to be filled with the truth.

Shame on the Argus Leader and on Noem's campaign.

BP: Still not as bad as Saddam Hussein!

2010-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

“We’re not as bad as Saddam Hussein!” should be British Petroleum’s new catch phrase. In case you’re wondering how the latest global oil disaster did compared to the other record holders, here you go:

Still #1 with a bullet. The Gulf War 1991 – 360,000,000 gallons intentionally spilled into the Persian Gulf. Iraqi forces opened the valves of several oil tankers in order to slow the invasion of American troops. The oil slick was four inches thick and covered 4,000 square miles of ocean.

The new #2. BP’s 2010 disaster – 171,000,000 gallons in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Reports indicate oil rig alarms were intentionally disabled and decisions made to operate cheaply, not safely, and then, whoops, BOOM! Five miles below the surface, machinery was clumsily fitted, failed and refitted until a temporary cap was placed. They hope to have it permanently stopped yet this summer.

#3. The Ixtoc I disaster of 1980 - 138,000,000 gallons in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast Mexico. An accident caused an explosion which then caused the well to collapse. The well remained open, spilling 30,000 gallons a day into the ocean for a full year.

#4. The Atlantic Empress collision of 1979 – 90,000,000 gallons dumped into the southern Caribbean during a tropical storm off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago. The Greek oil tanker collided with another ship, the Aegean Captain, and lost nearly its entire cargo.

#5. The Kolva River (Russia) oil disaster in 1994 – 84,000,000 gallons spilled from a pipeline just south of the Arctic Circle which started leaking in February 1994 but was contained in a dike until the dike collapsed in October 1994. The oil surged up the Kolva River onto the Siberian tundra.

#6. The Norwruz Oil Field disaster of 1983 – 80 million gallons drained into the Persian Gulf after a tanker collided with a drilling platform which, eventually, collapsed into the sea. The well continued to spill oil into the ocean for seven months before it was repaired. The cleaning operations took many years to complete and some marine life populations were decimated forever.

Depending on fossil fuels as the building block of an industrialized economy is now a much crazier game of Russian roulette. It’s just a matter of time, and not much time, before the next global-scale disaster because oil is getting harder and riskier to produce. And much more costly.

Back to Record Setter #2. The 171 million gallons BP spilled into the Gulf amounted to 2 million gallons per day on average. That’s the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez oil spill every five and a half days. As of mid-July, BP had already spent about $4 billion on the response. At the effort's peak, more than 45,000 people and 7,000 boats were involved in the effort to contain the spill. The clean up will take years.

A third of federal Gulf waters was closed to fishing from June 1 through July 22. As of early August, one-fourth of the Gulf is still closed to fishing. The fishing industry supports over 200,000 jobs in the region. Tourism, one of the region’s biggest industries supporting 2 million jobs and yielding $100 billion annually, suffered greatly with widespread hotel, resort and expedition cancellations along the coast.

The fun doesn’t stop there. Forecasters believe the 2010 hurricane season will follow the trend of bizarre and violent weather patterns seen globally. The 2010 season stands to be one of the most active ever and that will certainly further spread the oil deeper into the coastal region, contaminating communities, shoreline and habitat.

It’s like Jackie Savitz of the group Oceana is quoted: "The oil industry, which is arguably one of the most profitable industries in the game, took away major assets that belonged to others. Lives, jobs, livelihoods, food, and a healthy ecosystem. Whether or not it's 'the end' or 'doomsday' isn't the issue and it never has been.”

Too many members of Congress, from both parties, think the fossil fuel corporations need to be rewarded after the BP blunder. Maybe it's time the people of this nation ran Capitol Hill instead of the oil and coal lobby.

Thune Running For President

2010-07-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've thought he is probably going to run at some point, but I thought 2012 would be too soon - I figured he'd go for it in 2016. However, the environment might be perfect for him to try and see if he is conservative enough to get the GOP nomination from the grips of Sarah Palin.

Anyway, the reason I say he is running is a piece from the widely known Political Wire:

A Political Wire reader says Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told congressional interns at a closed meeting this week that Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was "the member of my caucus most likely to run" for president in 2012.

Gotta love interns! They always spill the beans to reporters. Now, it doesn't say he is going to run, but he is the one most likely to run out of the GOP Senators.

I still think he isn't going to, but, there have been a lot of rumblings lately speculating about him and it wouldn't surprise me if on Wednesday November 3rd, Thune announces his intent to run - just saying.

From my Inbox: Nesselhuf Urges Senate to Pass Disclose Act

2010-07-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

While the House and Gov's race get most of the attention, Ben Nesselhuf has some important info to share - so here you go:

Vermillion – On Wednesday State Senator Ben Nesselhuf (D-Vermillion) expressed his disappointment that the US Senate has stalled the DISCLOSE Act and encouraged the Senate to stop playing politics and to pass this important piece of legislation.

Nesselhuf said, “This bill has one purpose, to shine a light on campaign contributions from corporations. That is something that is necessary for our democracy and something the American people have a right to know.” Nesselhuf, a candidate for Secretary of State, has been a strong advocate for disclosure reform in his ten years in the Legislature and is a strong supporter of this bill.

The bill comes in response to a Supreme Court ruling in January that allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited money on election activities. “We cannot overturn the Court’s decision with legislation, but we must be able to follow the money” said Nesselhuf. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

The DISCLOSE Act passed the House in June and the President said he would sign it if it gets to his desk. The bill would strengthen reporting requirements for corporations and also prevent government contractors with contracts over $10 million and TARP money recipients from using taxpayer dollars on elections. Government reform groups, including Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters and Public Citizen have all come out in support of this measure.

“Exxon Mobil recorded $80 billion in profits during the 2008 election cycle and if they spent 1 percent of that ($840 million) on political speech, they would have spent more than all 435 winning House candidates combined. We have to be able to see where this money is going to guarantee fair elections.” Nesselhuf said. “If disclosure is not required by the federal government, as Secretary of State I will work with the legislature next session to take action on the state level.”

Ben Nesselhuf is in his 3^rd Senate term after serving 2 terms in the South Dakota House representing Clay and Turner Counties. He is the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State.

Don't Hold Your Breath

2010-07-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Rapid City Journal reports today that Kristi Noem still won’t answer the question about whether or not she’d join the Tea Party caucus. What would Allen Unruh, Bob Ellis and Gordon Howie say (feel free to comment guys)? Kind of a slap in the face to her most ardent supporters who helped her win the primary?

Seems to me like it's a typical move for a politician - pander to the far right base to get through the primary, then act as if you never sought their support, never advocated for their positions, never received their endorsement. Makes me wonder if you can trust what she says.

Oil is our friend.

2010-07-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

From my mailbox to your eyeballs:

The worst oil spill in Midwestern U.S. history started this morning when 840,000 gallons dropped into the Kalamazoo River at Battle Creek, Mich. Isn’t that where Frosted Flakes come from?

The oil is reported to come from a local pipeline. Of course, this is yet another oil spill disaster that corporate bosses would say couldn’t happen. Just like they say the thinner-gauge pipe on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline couldn’t possibly break, and if it did, they’d know about it before any significant amounts spewed aquifers which serve huge populations of Midwesterners.

Can you imagine what 1 million gallons of oil would do to the wells that supply Sioux Falls drinking water or to the Ogallala Aquifer that provides life-sustaining water for the region stretching from South Dakota to Texas?

Okay, let’s say it together: Oil is irreplaceable. Clean energy is just a pipe dream. Carbon pollution comes from astrology. And greed is good.

From my inbox: Noem Turning on Her Supporters

2010-07-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

What - a conservative placates to the right to win the nomination and then tries to distance themselves...never:

SDDP Press Release:

Why won’t Noem Commit to Joining the House Tea Party Caucus?

Despite Tea Party appearances and endorsements from across South Dakota, Kristi Noem is refusing to answer a very simple question: Will she commit to joining the newly-formed Tea Party Caucus in the House if elected? When asked by the Rapid City Journal, her campaign manager didn’t address the question, and attempted to change the subject. Is she turning her back on her supporters?

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/app/blogs/politicalblog/?p=5852

“Kristi Noem can't have it both ways. During the primary, she accepted the Rapid City Tea Party Citizens for Liberty endorsement. She asked the Glenn Beck 9-12 Project in Sioux Falls to support her. She considers the name 'South Dakota's Sarah Palin' to be a compliment. But now she's trying to cover up her far-right positions by refusing to say whether she supports the Tea Party or would join the Tea Party Caucus,” Erin McCarrick, Executive Director of the South Dakota State Democratic Party said. “South Dakota voters deserve a straight answer and she owes that to her supporters."

Last Sunday, Kristi Noem appeared on Fox News Channel along with the founder of the Tea Party Caucus, Michele Bachmann. The story featured Tea Party leader, Sarah Palin, and candidates that Palin had endorsed.

A few of the Tea Party events Kristi Noem attended during the primary:

Kristi Noem speaks to the Sioux Falls 9-12 Project May Meeting, May 21^st, 2010

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=119111874795597&index=1

Potluck Meet and Greet with founder of Citizens for Liberty and the Tea Party endorsed candidate for Governor, Gordon Howie, May 22^nd, 2010

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=118802324824309&index=1

Kristi Noem’s Endorsement from the Citizens for Liberty

http://www.sdcitizens.com/news/cfl-candidate-endorsements/

Kristi Noem attends a Meet and Greet hosted by Dr. Allen Unruh with the Sioux Falls Tea Party Group, May 27^th, 2010

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=120448181328202&index=1

When asked about being compared to Sarah Palin

“I certainly admire her…I appreciate that. I will consider that as a good compliment.” KWAT Radio, 5/2/2010

Issue # 2: Energy and Environment

2010-07-22T13:04:00.001-07:00

The Energy we use each and every day and how it impacts our environment is very important - especially in a state that relies on tourists dollars, hunters bombarding the state each year and the high healthy standard of living that we are used to. With that, let's talk about the pipeline going through South Dakota.

The Heidepriem campaign sent out a press release earlier today that got me thinking about this topic - here is just a small portion:

“We had major concerns about the safety of the pipeline which crosses several rivers and aquifers including the Ogallala aquifer which supplies South Dakota water, so we sponsored legislation to enact a two cent a barrel fee to create a cleanup fund should there be a disastrous break in the pipeline. The Daugaard Administration opposed it,” Senator Scott Heidepriem said today. “We had major concerns that we were funding too much of the pipeline by giving unnecessary tax breaks in the tens of millions of dollars to TransCanada, so we sponsored legislation to stop this waste of tax dollars. The Daugaard Administration opposed it,” Heidepriem said.
Of course the Daugaard administration will try to say that the safety studies will prove that there won't be a problem....well, as the press release points out and as Corey also shows - the EPA is showing how much of a problem this pipeline will be. I know conservatives will try to scream 'crazy environmentalists' are going to destroy businesses - and they couldn't be more wrong on this issue. I like to have access to drinking water, and would rather not have the Ogallala aquifer poisoned with tarsands oil!

Why would the Daugaard administration be opposed to the safety of South Dakotans and give them tax breaks and fight against ensuring there is a clean-up fund in case something bad should happen? Money it seems is the answer. It appears that there are four registered lobbyists in South Dakota who lobby for TransCanada who between them have given $7,400 to Daugaard since 2008. Perhaps this is why Dennis Daugaard has supported giving TransCanada tens of millions of tax dollars and a free pass on a clean up fund even though they are now in the spotlight for potential problems with their pipelines - I'm sorry, but its time to change Pierre!

Oh, by the way, it also appears that TransCanada whose environmental record is now under such scrutiny, also have ties to British Petroleum. That's right the same BP whose shortcuts in their Gulf pipleline safety have given America the worst environmental disaster in history, appear to be working with TransCanada. God help us if the same shortcuts BP used in the Gulf have been implemented in the oil pipelines running beneath South Dakota. And God help the Ogallala Aquifer should shoddy construction of the pipeline under South Dakota cause a disaster that contaminates that vital lifeline to South Dakota and its people.

Denny Loses Composure at Springfield Debate

2010-07-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Daugaard Tries to Justify Poor Wind Energy Record by Saying South Dakotans Have “Cheaper” Electric Rates – Ignoring Huge New Rate Increases, Then Makes Irritated Closing Statement After Being Constantly Challenged During Debate.

Lieutenant Governor Dennis Daugaard, turned in a poor showing at a gubernatorial debate Saturday night in Springfield with Scott Heidepriem first by ignoring recent utility rate increases and then by losing his composure and lashing out at Heidepriem and even his staff and son. (See video clips attached) By contrast, Heidepriem was on top of his game at the Farm Bureau sponsored debate.

After repeatedly being challenged as to the poor economic record of his Administration, Daugaard attempted to justify his Administration’s lack of commitment to wind energy by ignoring recent gigantic rate increases and saying that South Dakota electric rates are “cheaper” today than when he took office eight years ago. Well, Lt. Governor Daugaard, ask the ratepayers particularly in the Black Hills if they agree with you that electric rates are just fine!

Then, in his closing remarks, Daugaard broke from his usual “it’s all about me” remarks and in an annoyed if not bizarre hurt puppy façade attacked everything from Time Magazine to Heidepriem’s staffers and son who were sitting in the back of the room.

Unfortunately, both postures from Daugaard, “it’s all about me” and “Denny in Denial” are refrains South Dakotans have seen before.

The “it’s all about me” presentation is a constant from Daugaard from his ads to his ad nauseum speeches. And the “Denny in Denial” rose colored glasses routine was best illustrated in the weeks leading up to the June 8 Republican Primary when Daugaard was attacked repeatedly by all of his Republican opponents for his Administration’s record $107 million deficit, only to tell South Dakotans “there is NO ‘budget crisis’ in South Dakota.”

It’s clearly time for these guys to go. Mr. “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Ignore All Evil” Daugaard clearly doesn’t understand that when he leaves us with a record $100 million deficit, on top of a 53 percent increase in spending, a new state employee every 48 hours, and seven of eight budgets in deficit, it hurts working South Dakotans.

But couple this with the Daugaard’s mini-rant in his closing statement and we see a side of Denny Daugaard that ought to give everyone pause. Clearly, Daugaard’s inability to defend his Administration’s poor economic record, his poor record on wind power, ethanol, and Game Fish and Parks, among other issues throughout the debate, took a toll on Daugaard who during his closing statement seemed to lose his composure and launched into an attack on Heidepriem’s charges and sources of information including a Time Magazine cover story that Heidepriem had alluded to which indicated that South Dakota’s state government is in serious financial trouble.

Then, Daugaard, in a kind of Macaca Moment ala former US Senator George Allen losing his cool and his race in Virginia’s 2006 US Senate campaign, raised his voice and pointed to Heidepriem’s son and two campaign staffers, one of whom was video-taping the debate in the back of the room, and announced to the crowd that the staffers were taping the debate before telling the audience, “It makes me sad” that the debate was being taped. The debate was open to the public and had at least four radio and newspaper reporters from the Springfield area who were recording the debate in some fashion.

All in all, not a good day for Denny in Denial.

Debate Video # 1

Debate Video # 2

Debate Video # 3

Debate Video # 4

Debate Video # 5

General Petraeus' chief of logistics explains why America needs clean energy-climate legislation passed now

2010-07-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Just got the video reference and this in the mailbox ...

America clinging to the old fossil fuel economy in the 21st Century is a fool’s gambit. It’s putting one foot over the grave and the other on a banana peel. Scalping the landscape and boiling the dirt to squeeze oil out of tar sands is creating a sickening scar on the prairies of Alberta. On the other end of the Mississippi/Missouri watershed, they’re hoping the cap holds on the worst oil disaster in American history. Additionally, to feed our nation’s addiction to oil, Americans fork out $1 billion each day for foreign oil, $100 million of which each day enriches Iran and the violent fantasies of its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Fossil fuel is NOT cheap. It comes at a growing price and risk to acquire it, and it's creating a growing price that will burden our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with climate change and a world disfigured and altered by freakish weather patterns, rising sea levels and global misery.

Here’s Brigadier General Steven Anderson (Ret.), Chief of Logistics in Iraq under General David Petraeus, to explain why America’s disastrous relationship with oil puts our nation and our economy at a tragic and unnecessary risk.

There is a solution if we start now: Transitioning to a clean energy economy. There is legislation in the Senate to start turning our nation on a less costly and responsible path. Congress has just one more chance this summer to do what several recent polls have said it should do, pass clean energy-climate change legislation now. Time is critical.

Happy 88th George! Relieved you landed safely

2010-07-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today's Senator George McGovern's 88th birthday and the World War II heroic pilot started the day doing something he avoided piloting 35 bombing missions above German guns across enemy lines -- he parachuted.

Inspired by jumps by his friend President George H.W. Bush, another WWII pilot who wasn't so lucky in the Pacific Theater, McGovern did a tandem jump over Titusville, Fla. Bush has made three jumps. McGovern dedicated his jump to the cause of ending world hunger.

As he told the Argus Leader's Steve Young after the jump: “It was a great thrill. I found it as thrilling as anything I’ve ever done. ... and a little bit scary, but not bad.”

[Photo from Florida Today.]

Issue # 1: Fraud - Someone's doing something about it

2010-07-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

While PP over at SDWC tries to slander someone who is doing good in this world, maybe we should look at the issue of Fraud. This is especially true with the Wall Street Journal's recent report on fraud increasing:

Cuts in spending and staffing in the public sector are likely to lead to a pickup in public-sector fraud in the next few years, business services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said in a report published Monday. and

"Our experience tells us that economic pressures have a direct effect on people's ability to rationalize fraudulent actions," said Ian Elliott a partner at PwC.
Public-sector fraud can take many forms, including stealing, false accounting, and bribery. According to the PWC survey, the second of these may become more common when workers are under increased pressure to meet targets.
"Linking pay to performance is also likely to be a possible driver of fraudulent activity," PwC said. "Organizations therefore need to be aware of the correlation between compensation structures and a heightened fraud risk."

Also, there is a survey that shows a lot of companies have been victims of fraud:

About 32% of the respondents across the globe said that their organizations have undergone an economic crime in the last 12 months. These figures were almost double in case of the UK respondents, where 52% of them said the same.
Richard Neave, Forensics Director for PWC in Scotland, said, “Over the last few years, we have clearly seen the direct effect of economic pressures on peoples’ ability to rationalize fraudulent actions – neither the private nor the public sectors are immune. With cuts threatening the pace of recovery in Scotland and a looming public sector recession we cannot ignore the fact these pressures will be felt sharply in the coming years”.

So, when we are facing increasing instances of crime - wouldn't it be great if someone would step up and try to help people out - maybe use some of their first hand experience to train businesses and individuals on avoiding fraud. Wait, wait - I have someone! The same person that Pat Powers is trying to smear and attack Scott Heidepriem at the same time - Jerome Mayne.

If you haven't read anything beyond what PP put up, let me help:

I am Jerome Mayne. I work with organizations who want their people to make the right
decisions, when the right decisions aren’t easy, and stay out of prison. I will help
your people with my keynotes and workshops. I address the consequences of fraud and
importance of doing the right thing.

To be honest, I don’t deal much with the mechanics of preventing fraud. I care about the
people, their attitudes and what works to make sure ethics in the workplace prevail in
corporate America. An ethical attitude is one of the biggest ingredients in preventing fraud.

Motivating your people with a dynamic presentation, sprinkled with humor, will be truly life
changing.

and

Mayne’s story educates students and professionals alike on the importance of ethics in the business world. Mayne illustrates how seemingly small ethical compromises as a young professional can easily turn into illegal activity that will devastate your career and your life. He demonstrates that the “grey area” in business ethics is not very grey at all.

So - maybe instead of making snide remarks and trying to smear someone - maybe we should look at this issue and say - hey, this is a guy who wants to help people and companies PREVENT fraud. This is one of those issues that I was talking about in my last post. Instead of trying to be smarmy, lets look at the issues and talk about them - let's try to raise the debate - I'll start - can you follow?

Are you F'ing kidding me - how about we discuss actual issues

2010-07-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

I try to let the boys of Badlands Blue Liberal take on Pat over at SDWC when he does something - I'd usually rather not get into it - however, one of his latest posts is so over the top stupid I had to say something.

He attacks one of the actors that was used for one of his ads. Really. Really. This is a guy who is actually going around trying to convince people to NOT make the same mistakes that he did.

So you are going to attack someone who made a mistake - paid his debt to society - and is now giving back even more to society by trying to convince people that fraud is wrong.

How is this even close to an issue that people should care one iota about! I'd like to see some comparisons about the issues and how it will affect regular people in South Dakota. How about that Pat. Let's look at some ways in which we can solve this budget crisis instead of trying to raise hay on crap things like this.

Keep making hay out of nothing - the 1%'s who read these blogs and comment on them love it. The 99% of the rest of the population doesn't care - won't care - and shouldn't care.

Iowa Teabaggers cover up their blunder

2010-07-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

It’s far from the first time we’ve seen Republicans compare Hitler to President Obama and it’ll be far from the last. I detested it when lefties were doing it during the Bush/Cheney/Rove regime because it’s dumb. It still stinks. Sensible people stop listening or caring the second someone uses Hitler as an insult to score a cheap political point. So, what’s interesting is the messed up spin used by the North Iowa Tea Party to explain why their billboard, seen here, was posted yesterday and papered over today, as reported to Radio Iowa. Below is a pic of the gaffe being covered up.

"It'd be great to have a billboard that's really actually helpful, that's not demonstrating fear but demonstrating freedom and that we have solutions and goals," Ryan Rhodes, chairman of the Iowa Tea Party movement, told Radio Iowa. "Our message is rising above that. It's not what we are. I think the fact that it's down today is a testament that the movement is going to go further."

And I think the fact that it went up at all is a testament that the NITP could be a pack of nitwits. Imagine. The Teabaggers think they're ready to run our nation.