Rounds

We’ll just take his word on it

Once again, KELO-TV just let’s Mike say whatever he wants without questioning his sources;

Governor Mike Rounds says many South Dakotans have told him they support his proposed cuts to the state budget.

The second-term governor says he has gotten many phone calls and e-mails from people who understand that cuts are needed to balance the budget.

Many? How many and from whom? Once again KELO proves to be apologists for Governor Rounds. We can trust him on his word, he has such a good track record.

Gov. Mike ‘Pants on Fire’ Rounds backpeddling again;

My friend Joy Crane wrote an interesting letter to the editor today about the ‘actual’ costs and revenue of tourism in our state;

A subsection under Goal 1 includes Progress Indicators, which list the actual monthly tourism and Deadwood gaming tax revenues collected from April 2007 to April 2008. A footnote states that these monthly deposits of revenue are used to fund the South Dakota Office of Tourism. The total 13-month tax revenue added up to $9,228,592.

The Jan. 11 Argus Leader article about South Dakotans feeling the money pinch in regard to Gov. Mike Rounds’ new budget contained the following: “Heidepriem, though, suggests there are notable savings to be realized. While the state Constitution ‘doesn’t say a word about tourism, we are spending $12 million this year promoting tourism in a no-bid contract with Lawrence and Schiller. Is it more important to fund K-12 education or tourism? I know what the founders tell us,’ he says.”

It appears Rounds is spending more on the annual Lawrence and Schiller no-bid contract than the total annual tourism and Deadwood gaming tax revenues collected to fund the Office of Tourism.

Well it seems Lousy & Shister are at it again, sucking off the taxpayer tit.

The Mitchell Daily Republic also did a story about it, I would have a direct link, but their site is having issues today.

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.

Less talk and more action

Rounds hard at work fixing another dilemma

I guess the recession came out of nowhere, according to Rounds;

Like the rest of the nation, South Dakota is in a recession. Governor Mike Rounds says the dramatic drop in state revenue linked to sales tax is unlike anything he’s ever witnessed. He says this current recession is the largest since the great depression.

This has been taking shape for over 13 months, and when a entire country, heck even world, go into a global tailspin, you take action, fast. Nope, not Mike’s style. Let’s wait until the entire bottom drops out before we take action. When would have been a good time? Well if I was Mike I would have started making cuts this summer when gas prices went through the roof. I think if the governor would have at least made an attempt to cut back across the board 7-8 months ago we wouldn’t be in such a pickle right now.

It tells me something I have known about Mike, for a very long time;

He is an incompetent leader that is more concerned about paying back his contributors in no-bid contracts than helping the hardworking citizens of this state. It think it is grounds for impeachment leaving the taxpayers of this state holding the (empty) bag. Sad. Very sad.

“It doesn’t mean that we’re done. Next year, this same legislative body will be back here for our budget proposal for the next year which is 2011. It’s not that far away. They will begin with a structural deficit of $30 million,” the governor said.

And now I am wondering when Mayor Munson is going to wakeup from his deep sleep and take action. It’s no secret a big chunk of that budget comes from Sioux Falls so what is Northside Davey gonna do? Keep borrowing and spending on projects that are either unneeded or would have been paid for by the Feds? It seems Dave would prefer to hand his financial irresponsibility and massive debt service over to the next mayor and council.

Big government Republicans – scary stuff.