Representative Hunhoff called Doogard out on his bullshit today;
Democratic legislative leaders on Thursday criticized South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s plan to continue giving refunds on construction taxes to large industrial projects.
House Democratic Leader Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton said the Republican governor’s proposal could cost $15 million a year at a time when the money should instead be used to soften budget cuts in education and health care for poor people.
What amazes me  is that during these down times we cut education but think it is okay to give refunds to out of state corporations? South Dakota’s motto, “Big business first, citizens last.”
Daugaard and the Democrats have agreed the state should no longer give tax breaks to projects such as the TransCanada Keystone crude oil pipelines that would be built across South Dakota regardless of any tax refund.
Duh! Why did we to begin with? TransCanada HAS NO CHOICE they have to come thru South Dakota, what freaking incentive do they need? North Dakota and Nebraska didn’t give them squat.
It grates me when Daugaard says we all need to sacrifice. His cuts are in education and medicaid. Who is sacrificing? Students, teachers, the elderly, the very young and at-risk, special needs citizens. Education and the vulnerable. Aren’t these groups we want to invest in and protect?
Shelly, you are so right.
If South Dakota ended its corporate subsidies and closed its tax loopholes and favorable treatment for corporations, then SD would nearly balance its budget. The republicant system is to take from the poor and give to the well off.
It amazes me that people have to pay a 6% tax on a loaf of bread, but a multi-national, multi-millionaire company (like Transcanada which has no choice but to come thru our state) gets refunds.
So Costner, this is why I fucking hate a food tax. Canadian oil companies should have to pay their fair share.
Use to live in Iowa long time ago, and there was no tax on food items. Don’t know if it is still like that, but was kind of nice. Although there was a State Income Tax at the time. So I am sure one balanced out the other.
A food tax has nothing to do with the oil pipeline and you won’t find me defending that tax break in the first place. However I also don’t know the whole story about the pipeline – maybe there was some tax break up front due to the amount of residual income later or some other justification that differs out situation from North Dakota or Nebraska.
Shelly – you’re being a little dishonest to suggest Daugaard is cutting education and medicaid alone. He proposed an across the board 10% cut… so that means EVERYTHING thatis part of the budget. Had he cut education alone you might have a point, but if we are going to debate the issues lets at least base the discussion upon facts.
“A food tax has nothing to do with the oil pipeline ”
It has a lot to do with it. Instead of charging a slew of people $.12 on a loaf of bread, why not tax a Canadian oil company $26 million for construction costs.
Guess which one is fair? I’ll give you two chances.
Costner- After re-reading my comment, I see that I should have been clearer. Of course, education and medicare aren’t the only areas being cut, but since they are the largest portions of the budget, they are taking the biggest hit. Historically, education has been underfunded in SD. Education has already sacrified enough. I stand by my statement that we are expecting our children and vulnerable citizens to take the brunt of this. This does NOT have to be done in one year and there are other ways to take care of the budget. For starte
(cont’d) For starters, how about a corporate income tax?
I always ask the question; “What do we pay taxes for?”
In other words, there must be results.
Shelly: “but since they are the largest portions of the budget, they are taking the biggest hit.”
Well that is true, but also sort of a silly way to look at it. When the budget is growing they are also the largest and thus generally reap the most rewards.
This reminds me of the argument that if Congress enacts a 1% income tax reduction across the board that it isn’t fair because the wealthy would get so much more back than the poor. Lets all agree that percentages are what matter and although it is possible spin the numbers any direction you wish, at the end of the day a percentage never lies.
As far as “expecting our children and vulnerable citizens to take the brunt of this”, who do you think will suffer if the state is left with massive deficits and needs to borrow money in order to stay in the black? The current taxpayers aren’t the ones saddled with future debt… so our children, and other vlunerable citizens are the hardest hit anytime you speak of the money it takes for debt service.
There might be an argument to be made that certain areas should take more of a hit than others… but everyone has their opinion and there is more than one person who can defend every dollar in the budget if given the chance. At least Daugaard wasn’t playing favorites – he was suggesting a plan that for the most part distributed the burden across everyone and he added the statement about additional cuts to specific areas in addition to that, so for all we know education might end up being better off than transportation or any number of other areas.
You write too much Costner.
Damn right I do. Someday I might use that ability to actually produce something worthwhile… but not today.
You should start writing poetry, I will post it. Start your own ‘Ugly Table’.
Did you know in 5th grade I won a statewide Haiku competition? It really made me happy.
Express yourself, Madonna.