This is what it looks like to win Scrabble at 4 AM in the morning, get used to it, punk
l3wis 
December 2009
Heidi Scott rolls out his budget reform ideas on his Facebook page
The reforms include:
Capping state spending at 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, something Heidepriem has long pushed for in Pierre. Â Heidepriem contends that South Dakota cannot sustain its current average growth of 5.5 percent over the past eight years.
The implementation of across the board cuts in every agency and department of state government. Â The extent of the cuts will be predicated on the depth of the financial hole the state faces.
Cutting state full-time employee growth dramatically to levels South Dakota had prior to the Rounds\Daugaard Administration. Â Heidepriem notes that the current Administration has added approximately 1,500 new state employees during the eight years of the Rounds\Daugaard Administration even though the state’s population has remained relatively static.
Create smaller state government with the consolidation of State Departments particularly combining the offices of State Treasurer and the Commissioner of School and Public Lands. Heidepriem contends that it may have made sense in 1889, the year South Dakota became a state, to have two separate offices
for these functions but with modern technology, the functions of the two offices can easily be consolidated.Eliminate the practice of the State granting millions of dollars in “no-bid†contracts which stifle competition and create a culture of cronyism in which State contracts too often are awarded to political friends potentially at inflated amounts of state tax dollars.
End the practice of “Pay to Play†in which South Dakota’s top political appointments turn around and contribute significant campaign funds to South Dakota’s Governor and Lt. Governor.
Undertake a complete audit of State Government with the goal of eliminating frivolous and unneeded State spending.  As a couple of examples of this wasteful spending, Heidepriem notes that the state does not need 10 airplanes and he intends to sell all but the absolute essential planes.  He also will eliminate the $200,000 a year federal lobbyists – a position Heidepriem considers “already filled†by South Dakota’s Congressional Delegation of Senators Tim Johnson and John Thune and Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.
Eliminate the controversial and secret “Governor’s Fund†which is nothing more than a hushed political slush fund that opens the door to undue influence over the Governor with no public accountability.
Implement Regulatory Authority Reform making it illegal for departments like the Public Utilities Commission to raise funds from the very companies they regulate in order to finance PUC conventions and workshops.
“These reforms are extensive and long overdue.  They will put South Dakota’s economy on a strong footing and will restore confidence with the people of South Dakota that their government is fiscally sound and responsible while it is more open and honest in the way it does business,†Heidepriem said.
Ending pay to play and having too many FTE’s would save us millions.
Book Signing and Such
I have written about Jeff before, this is a must attend. I have to work late that night, but hope to catch up to the group later. Please convince him to come down to Touch of Europe to jam.
A Rounds tradition; rewarding friends and family
Like this is some sort of surprise;
Gov. Mike Rounds has appointed Kristin Conzet, the daughter of a business partner of his, to replace Republican state Rep. Brian Dreyer of Rapid City, who resigned earlier this fall because of his pending deployment with the National Guard to Afghanistan.
Because, you know, #1 it would be virtually impossible to find some other Republican in that district that is qualified, and #2 and someone who will do Mike’s bidding.
Conzet said she requested that Rounds not highlight the relationship when he announced her appointment.
Oh really? I can’t imagine why? Maybe because you know it is unethical? Oh, that’s right, Republicans only talk ethics and morals, they don’t practice them.
Conzet also feels she has no conflict of interest in voting on legislation that could affect Fischer Rounds. Heidepreim agrees, since Conzet is not involved in the partnership.
Come on Scott! You gotta be kidding?! Yeah, it’s only her father’s company, and she was appointed by her father’s partner. If she was written out of the will, I would agree, but I doubt it.
Once again, Rounds proves he has no shame, and the Democrats let him walk all over them.
UPDATE; South Dacola Restaurant Review w/ Angry Guy
Angry Guy I just couldn’t resist to bring this back to the front of the line, there has been some new comments that make me laugh balls;
I made the snap decision to have lunch at Senor Wiener earlier this week. I would have written my review earlier, but the chili dog I had left me with a case of the lingering trots.
Let’s start with the obvious. Penis jokes are funny for about the first 2 minutes you are there, and then it becomes apparent that this tired entendre is all that this place has going for it. I will admit that the service was prompt and enthusiastic, but only 6 seats were filled with butts when we walked in, so no shocker there. Â I should also note that I had to wipe my table off before we sat down, since it still hadn’t been cleaned since the last pseudo rush they had experienced. Lazy.
Not wanting to task the Wiener Staffers too greatly, I ordered the beef chili cheese dog on a wheat bun. The dog itself was MAYBE 10 degrees above room temp, despite sitting in the warming tray for god knows how long. The bun had been sitting around long enough to take on a strange rubber-like quality that resisted the flimsy plastic utensils. The paper sheet on the bottom of the basket, once soaked with the copious amounts of Hormel-esque chili and ‘Not-So-Nacho’ cheese, conveniently shredded into small bite size fragments to supplement my fiber intake for the day. The Waffle fries had also taken on the same ‘warming tray qualities’ as the wheat bun. Not a huge surprise, but would it kill them to make the fries to order once the lunch rush has died down? Seriously.
Here are a few pointers that will help keep your doors open an extra few months while you look for jobs next year:
- If your food isn’t at the required temperature, you’re going to FAIL FAIL FAIL! Get it right!
- Make your own chili. It might cost a little more, but a decent chili dog might up your street ‘cred’.  You need all the help you can get.
- Get a better Nacho cheese. Your SISCO brand cheese sauce is disgusting.
- Lose the paper liner in your baskets. Seriously gross.
- Don’t use the word “Chicago†ANYWHERE on your menu. Too many people have had a real one, which yours ain’t. (so I’ve heard)
- Cook your fries to order after the rush, and toss your old ones more frequently. Nobody minds waiting 3 minutes for hot fries, especially if they are going to slather them with your second-rate chili.
- Wipe your tables down! I shouldn’t have to do it myself. BIG F on that one.
- Store your bread products in a manner that makes them more edible than bouncy.
- Get a real garbage can, and then change it when it needs to be. Your tiny Wal-Mart kitchen can is weak and is a sign of how much time and effort you put into this inevitably failed venture.
- Before you think about opening a second location over by the new Target, maybe you should get this one right first.
I’m going to end this with a prediction. Senor Wiener won’t be in business for another year. If it is we’ll have a South Dacola New Year’s Sausage Fest 2010 there, my treat.