Sioux Falls

Sales Tax increase; Pretty Ridiculous

I found this letter to the Editor of the Argus Leader right on;

Representatives of developers, construction companies and other groups such as the Chamber of Commerce took more than two hours to argue the need for such development in promoting the growth of the city.

This was ridiculous. Nobody was opposing the development of these arterial roads or seeking to stall the city’s growth.

I found if complete BS that the mayor let the proponents (developers) speak first. I also found it ironic that not a single individual citizen (not representing a group or business) came forth for this tax increase, and equally ironic that not a single individual came forth (representing a business) to oppose this tax increase. This really was about special interests vs. citizens. And 4 councilors (who are knee deep in special interests) and the mayor voted against the citizens.

The opposition to the tax increase might well have orchestrated another two hours of testimony from representatives of agencies and organizations that know only too well the struggles of a sizeable segment of the city’s population:

Yes, but by the time we got to take the podium it was 10:30 at night (3 1/2 hours after the meeting started, and we got to listen to councilor Knudson whine about being tired (maybe she was tired of reading closed captioning for that long).

I will be interviewed late this afternoon for Jon Micheals Sunday talk show that airs on KELO radio talking about the petition drive.

Temper, Temper Now Dave

I did not have a chance to look at the agenda before Monday night’s Sioux Falls city council meeting, so when this came up in the video, I had to rewind and watch again. Apparently the mayor added an appropriation after the council already approved it (which some councilors viewed as ILLEGAL). Kermit thanks the clerk’s office for catching it, then Kermit catches Hell from the Mayor. And of course the Mayor’s attorney, ah, I mean, the city attorney backs him up and takes the blame for it (one more reason why I have serious concerns about Dave’s political appointees). Attorney Amundson says that Dave did not direct him to do it (you’ll have to turn up the volume in this part of the video). Yeahhhhh Right Robert.

One of the reasons that Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest presidents was because he didn’t appoint his friends to his cabinet. You would think a good Republican(?) like Munson would know better.

Hardy, Harr, Harr.

Here’s the video;

INTRODUCTION AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES
A motion was made by Council Member Costello and seconded by Council Member Beninga to amend Ordinance 117-08 by adding:  “Section 3: In the event that any condition or provision contained in this ordinance is found to be invalid, unenforceable, or unauthorized, in whole or in part, for any reason, then the remaining provisions of this ordinance shall not be affected and shall remain in full force and effect to the maximum extent permitted by law”.  
 
Vote to amend: Roll Call: Yeses, Jamison, Knudson, Litz, Staggers, Anderson Jr., Beninga, Brown, Costello, 8. Noes, 0.   Motion Passed.

Post of the Living Dead (ZW minus 3)

Free beer once the music starts!

It is my understanding that the undead population is being discriminated against here in Sioux Falls. The MSM outlets are refusing to give voice to the FACT that there is an impending zombie invasion. For too long we have been under the foot of the MAN. This Saturday we should rise up, give a moan in support of undead rights and gather in retaliation. Let our stinking corpses fill the streets in protest of the oppression brought down upon us by the “air breathers”. We’ll have a rountable discussion about these issues and many more Saturday night around 11PM.
Did I mention FREE BEER?

Health of the Mother

John McCain’s Debate explanation when Obama explian’s his voting record on abortion.

“Health of the Mother… this has been stretched by the pro-abortion movement to mean almost anything.”

Sound Familiar? Vote Yes For Life has been trying this angle once again, in claiming the exceptions for the health of the mother are clearly defined within Initiated Measure 11. They are really hoping you won’t read the fine print (or understand it).

But it seems clear to the lawyers for Sanford Health:

“The health-of-the-mother exception imposes a standard that is not clearly defined. Medical facilities and providers have learned, through the malpractice arena, that whether a physician’s clinical judgment comports with ‘accepted standards of medical practice’ can be a matter of debate. Initiated Measure 11 borrows the civil litigation standards, which can be ambiguous and subject to different interpretations, and attaches criminal penalties for failing to comply with the potentially vague, undefined standards. As a result, for those instances where a pregnant woman faces uncertain, but potentially very serious health risks, Initiated Measure 11 will require a physician to choose between possibly committing a felony or subjecting a pregnant woman to a higher degree of medical risk that what would otherwise be clinically desired.

Mr. McCain, with all due respect, no one is pro abortion. We all would like to see abortion to be limited, but until those trying to stop it (VYFL) do not do it in a truthful manner, and to contradict themselves in saying “All life is precious”, yet are flip about “the health of the mother”, you My Friend, are selling us lipstick on a pig.

The MSM’s FEAR of the Advertising Tax

The MSM pretty much sucks all over our country. I often find myself watching BBC news in the middle of the night just so I know what’s going on in the world (and in our country). Ever wonder why 80% of Europeans support Obama over McCain? Because they are INFORMED! Don’t get me wrong, Obama ain’t no savior but he’s a Hell of a lot smarter then Mr. 890th or something in their graduating class compared to Obama’s Editor of the Harvard Law Review under his belt.
Now to my point. The media, especially our local jokalists pander to advertisers, whenever they have a chance, and if it seems like they are endorsing a position that is not in line with those advertisers they squash the speculation. It’s been called advertorial writing. Disguising advertising as news.

Some magazines don’t have a problem admitting that’s what they are, for example ETC. and SF Woman. Their main objective is to kiss ass and sell advertising. Duh. But what about our local TV news and our only daily newspaper? Isn’t the Fourth Estate supposed to be watching out for us? The citizens? To often they are looking out for their bottom line.
My involvement with the petition drive for the sales tax decrease has reared the Sioux Falls MSM’s ugly head. It all started when I emailed KELO-TV shortly after they ran an episode of Inside Keloland about the sales tax increase. The program featured only one opponent, Councilor Staggers, and no citizens. I told the news director that was wrong. Nothing happened. Recently I posted some stuff on my KELO political blog link about the petition drive. KELO deleted the posts saying I can’t post that stuff because I was directly involved and it makes it look like KELO is endorsing my endeavor.

Bologna.

First off it says right at the top of the political blog page “The views and opinions expressed on this page are strictly those of the blog author. “ on top of that, I have noticed other contributors to the page on both sides of the aisle have consistently promoted their political agendas. They haven’t been deleted.
What do I think the reason KELO-TV deleted my posts and why our daily rag endorsed the sales tax increase?
1) I’m sure someone cried to the station and paper, I’m sure it was an advertiser or a developer, or some other corporate welfare recipient in our town that takes our tax dollars in the form of handouts and tax incentives.
2) The media loves sales taxes because it keeps them from paying taxes on advertising. See, advertising isn’t taxed in South Dakota, because if it was, it would cut into how much profit they could make from an advertiser on a budget. The Fourth Estate doesn’t have a problem with old ladies on fixed incomes paying taxes on food to help pave our streets, build Jr. football fields and putting historically correct million dollar windows in the Pavilion, just as long as it is not coming out of their bottom line.
The MSM in Sioux Falls supports growth, just as long as they don’t have to pay for it. F’ing hypocrites.