I have often scratched my head when Republican lawmakers in this state say they are against Amendment V because of transparency. They feel voters have a right to know what party a candidate belongs to, but it seems many of them don’t want you to know what they do for a living, or more specifically the name of their business. Let’s talk transparency. I want to know what profession or previous profession (many are retired) a lawmaker is. It is important to my decision making. As an independent, I mostly lean left, but do vote for Republicans on occasion, if I feel they are the best candidate. Their life experience in their employment is very important to me.

Out of the 6 districts the Argus Leader media surveyed only ONE Democrat, John Koch listed his employment as ‘Salesman’. The rest of the Democrats either revealed who they work for, what they do, the name of their business, or that they are retired (and they even listed their employment before retirement).

On the other hand, most of the Republicans were very vague as to what they do or who they work for. One of them even went so far to call herself a career politician, Jenna Haggar listed the State Legislature as employment (A 40 day out of the year job).

This is why Amendment V is important, it will give voters the opportunity to research candidates beyond their party label.

Image/information: Argus Leader Media

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15 Thoughts on “Hey Republicans, let’s talk ‘Transparency’

  1. I would prefer they put all that stuff on the ballot vs nothing….while it all sounds good we all know people don’t do the research ahead of time….and I really don’t like the limiting choice aspect to only 2….no Independents will ever get to the general election under this crazy system. I was just at a forum and the general consensus of the room was it went too far and would be hard to change if people didn’t like it….limiting it to just the legislature would have been better not statewide office holders also.

  2. looks like a lot of these people are unemployed and living with their parents.

  3. The D@ily Spin on October 28, 2016 at 9:05 am said:

    If I’m Indy, many items do not appear on my ballot. Do I have to change to Republican so I can vote yes on amendment V? In one election, there were 5 items but only one on my ballot.

  4. Reliable Voter on October 28, 2016 at 10:11 am said:

    Have you noticed the placement of Republican yard signs are primarily at businesses? If not for Mike Bender properties, his wife and the other R’s would have very few sign locations.

  5. Republicans don’t really believe in transparency, rather they believe in allowing the “market” to do that work for them….Or at least that is their excuse……???

  6. RV, I often do notice that. I live in District 13, you know a district that used to be about 50/50 Dem/Republican in representation until Bolin and the gerrymandering crew made changes. I’ve been trying to figure out who this Jack Kolbeck guy is, who came out of nowhere with signs on every corner up the wazzuu. Finally figured out he works for Arch Beal. That’s all we need, another beer salesman in Pierre there to protect their own self interests.

  7. That wasnt rocket science like these two will vote for the worker.

  8. But Bolin claims we don’t have any gerrymandering in South Dakota. Apparently, District 15 was a creation which can only be matched by immaculate conception.

    You have to wonder if people like Beal and Jamison would even be running if they had to run in competitive legislative races…probably not.

    Gerrymandering is not only a manipulative art form of the political sorts for partisans, but it is also a means to guarantee an outcome for a class of people who wish to rule instead of govern or lead….

  9. I did not list my employer. Not because I want to hide who I work for, or what I do. I do not want my employer dragged into a political debate.

    If you ask me directly I will tell you, who I work for and exactly what I do.

  10. First off, MC, which I assume is Michael Clark, but not sure, because you couldn’t even use your real name while commenting here, further proving my argument. Besides talking to your family, you should talk to your employer before deciding to run, and get their approval. If they did give you that approval, I would assume they would not care if you listed them as an employer. I don’t think anyone is going to hold it against your employer if they don’t like your politics. That argument is just as ridiculous as the transparency argument Repugs have against V.

  11. You assume correctly. I try to use the same ID Across all the blogs I comment on. I don’t need their approval per SDCL § 2-4-1.1. However, they are very much aware that I am running. Out of respect I try to keep the campaign out of their business and their business out the campaign.

  12. matt johnson on October 28, 2016 at 4:47 pm said:

    I may be naive but I looked at the map for Heidelberger’s district- a rectangular shape with a few bumpouts; looks abit like 13 flipped on its side – the bumpouts in 13 appear to be in the north and east of the district- hardly pockets of affluence Denny Pierson stated on the radio that district 13 was plus 2000 republicans last time he ran

  13. How can it be a “political debate” that you fear, if you are proud of who you work for and your employer can justly defend their business and its mission?

  14. Warren on October 28, 2016 at 5:58 pm said:

    I know jack kolbeck. I guess you dont really know someone til you see their philosophy on life. The ten ballot measures are a good barometer of just that. Out of the ten, jack and I agree on only one, Marsy’s Law. He is all for the predatory lending practices of two measures. He is all for the koch brothers and their dark money influencing elections in SD. He also thinks SD does not have a problem with redistricting. But we really do. We have 70 state representatives. 82% of them are republicans. 41% of the 112,000 registered voters in Minnehaha County are republican. Yet, 11 of the 14 state reps from SF are republican? These same percentages hold true for the 35 state senate seats. Do the math jack.

  15. MC, you are right, you don’t have to tell your employer, it is more of a courtesy thing. But I would think that your employer would support you enough by not shying away from the fact that they are proud of the fact that one of their employees would want to serve.

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