The SD ‘Guns & Abortion’ session has begun
l3wis 
economy
Is Rounds an uncultured elitist? Duh!
Cavemen practiced art without funding from the government – why can’t SD be like the cavemen? Wait . . .
A great article on the arts funding in SD;
Now let’s be clear. South Dakota is in an economic free fall, and unlike the federal government there’s no constitutional option for deficit spending or printing money. Governor Rounds lives in a world of hard choices. With his decision to end funding for the South Dakota Arts Council the Governor gave an obligatory nod to the importance of culture for our “quality of life”, but golly gee, “…we simply don’t have the money to provide for them.” There is a veil of objectivity in the Governor’s attitude. He didn’t want to do it. He had to do it.
The Governor is disingenuous. He knows better. Every study on tourism in the last twenty years has confirmed the importance of arts and culture as multipliers of the regional economy. Every study on education tells us that art and music improve the ability of young students to grasp math and language. These studies are well known. Our economic dependence on art is easily understood. Something else must be going on. What is it?
The problem is not that art is unimportant to civilization. The problem is that art is unimportant to Governor Rounds. We are saddled with his narrow view of what is important in life. We are saddled with his indifference. There is a slight of hand going on. Art is not a part of Governor Rounds’ life, so it is not essential to the economy. Now we come to a critical problem.
House Republicans doing what they do best, acting like a bunch of babies
Image; Driftglass
Though I didn’t support all the aspects of the stimulous plan, there was some good things in it;
Herseth Sandlin said South Dakota would be eligible for about $236 million in total infrastructure investment. She said it also would creates a tax credit of up to $500 per worker and $1,000 per family for 2009 and 2010.Â
But Republicans can’t help to play politics if they don’t get what they want, permanent tax cuts to the rich and no money for social programs. Not sure if you forgot about the election in 2006 and 2008, but yah lost.
SF City Councilors now have to Read the Business Journal in order to get the financial report from the city
“As long as people keep eating out, we will skate thru this recession, no problem.”
Like I said in a previous post, this week has been rather odd at city hall, to say the least. As you know on Monday at the informational meeting, city finance director, Eugene ‘Montgomery Burns’ Rowenhorst forgone his financial report, because ‘He just did not have time to get it prepared’ because he was too busy trying to scare our petition drive. He said the council and public MAY get the report Wednesday or next Monday. So it was a little surprising when I opened the SF Business Journal (Argus Leader) and saw the city’s financial report.
So our local newspaper has dibs on the report before the City Council, City Clerk’s office and the public?! Obvious the story could not have been written later than Tuesday.
On Monday, Eugene said the report is rather good and everyone will be pleaseantly surprised when it is released;
Sioux Falls’ sales tax revenue grew at about one-fourth its normal pace last year.
The revenue increased 1.7 percent for the general fund and 1.6 percent for the capital improvement fund, City Finance Director Gene Rowenhorst said. For nearly 20 years, Sioux Falls averaged between 6.5 percent and 7 percent growth in sales tax revenue from one year to the next.
That’s good news?! Is Munson requiring everyone to wear his rose-colored glasses now?!
Eugene justifies his ‘Good News’ because everyone is still ‘Dining out.’
Rowenhorst said one interesting fact is that revenue from the city’s 1 percent entertainment tax on food and beverages increased 7.3 percent in 2008 – above the city’s anticipated growth rate.
“People must still be going out to the restaurants, enjoying a meal out,†he said. “It’s kind of a phenomenon we find interesting.â€
Holy Mackeral! I can’t believe people would be eating out in a town of over 400 restaurants! Must be all those people who are going to the food pantry and asking that their kids eat for free at school! “Yeah, we gots money to eat out, because we pay nothing for food at home! Now if we can just get the Pantry to carry beer and cigs!”
The Argus also had another interesting tidbit to share with us;
Economists expected the state’s unemployment rate to rise to 3.9 percent by late this year, Rounds told lawmakers last week. But a new report shows it hit 3.9 percent in December, at least a half-year earlier than anticipated, he said. That’s well above the 2.9 percent recorded in the same month a year earlier.
But as long as people are still eating out, WHO CARES!!!!
