[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcR7hr4LLQg[/youtube]
Ellis’ editorial column was fantastic this week;
“The second night,” he said, “we borrowed my dad’s van, and we drove to Minneapolis. We didn’t have the money for another motel night, so we slept in the van. And it wasn’t one of those camper vans either. So I’ve lived frugally as a matter of necessity. So I see things that can be done in some areas where people think, ‘Oh, it can’t be done,’ just because they’ve never had to do it. So I don’t deny I’m a fiscal conservative, and I think it’s something South Dakota needs right now.”
Yet, his cabinet is staying at the Plaza. It’s funny how Rounds and now Doogard wants us all to eat dog food while they eat Filet.
I challenge Doogard to work for a reduced salary, or better yet, for FREE. Many politicians from Alexander Hamilton to even NY’s Mayor Bloomberg have sacrificed pay for the betterment of society. Apparently, Dennis wants us to sacrifice instead, while he expands his office.
Typical of the SD GOP.
Uh, last I checked, staying in a van on your honeymoon hasn’t got anything to do with fiscal conservativism so much as is has with being a broke-ass doofus.
Oh, Minnesota is going to love this story.
As someone who knows Dennis personally I must say he is as honest as they come. He means well and is a stand up guy. My opinion of him as a person is that he is the kindest and most sincere politician I’ve ever met.
I didn’t like Rounds and I’m kind of unsure about Thune. Noem is a little dissapointing right now as she seems to be SHS on most issues but I really respect Daugaard. Only thing I wish he’d have done differently is can Dusty Johnson.
Sorry, I’m not going to eat his shit sandwiches. During the campaign he said the state was in great financial shape because of Rounds. Now all of a sudden, since he has been elected, it’s doom and gloom, slash, slash, slash. The same ol’ incumbent switheroo SD Republicans pull every election in SD, and South Dakotans continue to fall for it.
Honest? Yeah right.
I don’t recally Daugaard proclaiming the state was in great financial shape – he just didn’t claim it was about to go bankrupt as Hiediscott tried to do.
In fact, Daugaard spoke more about optimism than anything… using phrases to the effect of he knows we can get out of his if we work hard. Truth be told, I never even saw him defend the Rounds record, but it is clear he doesn’t want to leave a mess for the next guy.
Give the guy a chance. At least he is making an effort to slash the budget when nobody else will. He isn’t suggesting we protect any specific area or pet projects which tells you if someone financed his campaign, they aren’t getting a very good return on their investment, and he surely isn’t protecting their projects or expanding them.
You (and I) will never agree with everything a politician does, but sometimes they are simply doing what they feel is best when we disagree. Not everyone has ulterior motives, and so far Daugaard seems to be blazing his own path without a care in the world what his party thinks of him.
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snapper,
You wouldn’t happen to be married to Governor Daugaard, would you?
Costner – Agree, 100%, but I am suspicious of someone who says one thing on Nov 1 and another on Nov 3, which Dennis has. That, and I don’t approve of defunding education. At all costs, we should actually increase education funding during a down economy. There are many quick fixes that we could make permanent without a lot of pain to Joe-Six Pack:
1) Tax advertising
2) Luxury taxes, or at least the same tax rate on an RV as on a loaf of bread
3) Increase our take of VL to 80%
No pain. Easy to do.
But Lewis – that would require changing more than just one number at a time!!!
That reminds me Linda is perhaps the best first lady this state has ever had… I do mean that.
Seriously though whom ever was going to become Governor was going to have to make cuts. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a D or an R it just has to happen.
I happen to know Dennis and he is 100times different than Marion Michael Rounds. Daugaard is a very nice guy who will do what he says. If you think he is lying that you probably talked to Dusty Johnson instead of Dennis Daugaard. Talk to Dennis yourself. He is a great person.
Oh yeah the other day at an event in Pierre Dennis and Linda stayed to put away chairs. How many Governor’s in the USA are doing that. I think it shows he isn’t above anything. He will do what has to be done and even when I dissagree with him I respect him because I know he is doing what he feels is best for SD.
Now if you want to talk about political expediency lets talk about Kristi Noem. She will do or say anything to get ahead. I bet she has already forgotten about SD and is looking for a full-time Fox News gig with Megan Kelly. HOT!!!
“Oh yeah the other day at an event in Pierre Dennis and Linda stayed to put away chairs.”
in some states he would be jailed for doing union work.
Dennis is a politician and I don’t believe a word he says. I didn’t believe it during his campaign when he was saying how they built their house a little at a time, as they could afford it, especially the add where he mentioned a stove in that list of things they waited for. What did they do, eat out all the time? I do agree I think his wife is the most down to earth first lady the state has had for years.
dennis said they couldn’t afford a stove or a floor, so i’m guessing they built a fire in the kitchen on the dirt floor, and ate rabbit and squirrels that he killed with his bare hands because he couldn’t afford a gun. he also hitch hiked ten miles into town to do his lawyering.
Yeah, that bullshit cracks me up. He said that crap to appeal to his largest voting bloc; Old people.
Best first lady ever? Who thte he’ll cares about the governor’s wife?
Someone had to hold the nails while Dennis was pounding them in with a rock while building their house.
Have you people never heard of using your old appliances when you build a new house? So they couldn’t afford a NEW stove to put in the NEW house… so they kept the old one until they could pay cash for it.
I hate to make the statement that “I know a guy who knows Dennis”, but I did hear he wasn’t lying when he said he built his own house. Obviously he sub-contracted out some of the work, but he did much of it by hand as they could afford it and they skipped some non-essentials until later (like new appliances). Even today their home is very modest in comparison to what you might expect. Any middle class family in the state would be very comfortable there, so it is far from a McMansion as some previous governors live in.
Bottom line: Daugaard said there was no financial crisis in the state when he was campaigning. Now he wants to pull the rug out from under education and medicaide. Evidently he was not being honest.
i don’t believe dennis said “we couldn’t afford a NEW stove”, he said “we couldn’t afford A stove” or “A floor”. had dennis specified NEW, people would’ve said, “so what, neither can we”.
My family is so poor we eat our supper off one plate at the pizza ranch.
Scott – I don’t remember the exact wording of his commercial, but if someone thought he built a house without a floor they are just idiots and shouldn’t be voting anyway.
I swear people find the lamest excuses to complain about others it simply amazes me.
Shelly – does suggesting cutting the budget 10% somehow automatically mean it is a crisis? I don’t think so… in fact it probably should have been done years ago. I don’t think Daugaard is in “crisis mode”, he is in “I told people I was going to do it, and now I am trying” mode.
Spending has been rising at unsustainable levels for years. The first time someone comes in and suggests across the board cuts you have people come out of the woodwork and complain about it. Is it any wonder why our budget deficits continue to grow and grow when a politician who suggests spending cuts is tossed to the wolves?
Time to spread the pain around a bit. I find it humorous that everyone points to education and how they cannot possibly handle a 10% cut when it was just a few months ago Sioux Falls was handing out 10% raises to all of their administrators.
Nothing says I love you like an overnight in a van in the twin cities.
Someone should have told him you don’t resort to car sex until the kids are about 8.
Hope his dad was hard of smelling, too.
Give me a break already. You should have seen the ramshackled house I lived in on the farm. Wood stove, no heat upstairs, POS! When politicians like to talk about roughing it, give me a break. I thought it was a treat to sleep in the hog barn while sows were farrowing because it had gas heat and was warmer.
Building your own house isn’t some hard task, I have had family members and friends do it, Dennis acts like he is parting the red sea.
Two close friends of mine spent a night of their honeymoon in a tent, in a friends backyard during the Black Hills fires. Big fucking deal.
As Shelly points out Costner, Dennis says one thing and does another. Platitudes make me want to throw up. Tell us what you will do to fix the budget, I don’t give a shit about your van.
Instead he is on a ‘budget tour’ WTF is that? Get back to your office, get out your calculator, and start cutting.
Wait, what was the #6 comment about dog food?
Dennis never suggested he was dirt poor, he just told it like it is and everyone jumps all over him.
Anyone who has met him and knows him personally says his nice-guy persona isn’t even remotely an act, and he is a genuine down-to-earth hard working and fiscally conservative guy. He might not be flashy, he might not be a seasoned politician, but if nothing else he is sincere.
At this point it seems several of you are just flinging mud and making up excuses to complain about him for no other reason than he is a Republican. Say what you will, but name another governor or state politician who has had the balls to stand up and say we need at least a 10% cut across the board? None of them dare because it might hurt their chances for reelection.
Instead everyone complains about deficit spending but nobody offers any solutions. A $10M cut here or there isn’t going to made a dent. The state budget is roughly $4B a year, so at a minimum Daugaard is suggesting we slash $400M from that amount.
Sure you can cherry pick a program or two that you personally don’t like and maybe you will save $30 or 40M… but you would still have another $360M to go to equal 10%.
So where do we start? Everyone complains about cutting education so if we leave that alone who has to make up the difference? What programs would you eliminate and are you prepared to accept the long-term ramifications? Do you think there is a single program that doesn’t have at least a few backers in Pierre?
Daugaard is doing exactly what he said he would do… I don’t see where you are getting this “say one thing, do another” idea.
What is frustrating is that they are making cuts (to services) yet not cutting our taxes. A real fiscal conservative would find a way to do both. I don’t understand how year after year they want to make these cuts to services yet their tax collection increases. My guess is that Mr. Rounds expanded government without justification.