More stats that everything isn’t so peachy in South Dakota
l3wis 
South Dakotans
Mike ‘Jello Biafro’ Rounds solution to fixing the state budget; Kill the Poor
Ah, just kidding;
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgpa7wEAz7I[/youtube]
Gov. Mike Rounds said Monday he will propose a state budget that focuses nearly all spending increases on providing medical services to residents who have lost their jobs during the recession.
The governor said he will ask the South Dakota Legislature to approve $52 million in additional spending in state general funds, with nearly all of it for the state-federal Medicaid program that pays the medical expenses of poor people.
What?! I thought Republican rule was bringing us all kinds of economic development to our state, how could people be struggling?
“We’re taking care of the very basic needs of people who really are down and out because of the national recession,” he said.
A recession that was caused by that jackass GW Dush and continued to get worse under Obama’s appointment of Geithner.
More than 22,000 people are now unemployed in South Dakota, while 110,000 people are in the Medicaid program, he said.
Rounds said since he became governor in 2003, 51 percent of increased spending has gone to Medicaid and other programs that care for the needy.
You heard right, almost 1 in 7 people in South Dakota are on Medicaid. Pathetic. This is the kind of leadership we have come to expect out of the Republicans, yet we continue to re-elect them to the Governor’s office. Unfcknblvable.
Mama said knock you out!
One of my pet peeves I have with Democrats is that they never go for the jugular. Why go half-way?
Sen. Scott Heidepriem blamed years of irresponsible spending for the current hole in the state budget, saying South Dakota has not been governed by fiscal conservatives in the last seven years.
Okay, he is right – but go in for the kill, and explain to the voters what that ‘irresponsible’ spending is (campaign contributor no-bid contracts, unneeded FTE’s, airplane fleets, etc.) What do you have to lose? You haven’t held the governor’s mansion in almost 30 years, obviously your pussy foot approach is not working. Tell the voters of SD straight up – Republicans suck and they are bleeding the working class of this state and getting rich from it. Take the freaking gloves off already!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7l250E5uM4[/youtube]
The first thing Republicants need to figure out is that our country was founded on democratic secular principles
What is the best way to ask God to unseat God?
While I find nothing surprising coming out of this forum, this little tidbit threw me for a loop;
The three were civil and restrained from attacking one another. The common theme was defeating Herseth Sandlin.
The event started with the reading of a verse from Psalm 109: “Let his days be few, and let another take his office,” a verse directed at Herseth Sandlin and President Obama.
WTF? There is something Republicants need to learn before they can start bringing people into their fold again; tolerance. Using bible verses as justification to unseat Herseth and Obama is not only ridiculous it proves how desperate they really are. God doesn’t solve your (assumed) problems for you, God gave you a brain to solve your own problems, use it.
State doesn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out
Were broke? Get outta here!
Revenue to the state treasury is falling and more people are enrolling in Medicaid, triggering significant demands on the entitlement program. Although the state has federal stimulus money to shore up finances in the 2011 budget, which starts July 1, 2010, the federal money won’t be enough to backfill the budget unless there is a major turnaround in the economy.
Well, that’s what you get when you don’t attract young workers to our state to help pay for the program, that, and we think taxing food is a good way to fund government.
The five major revenue sources to the state are down in the first three months of the current fiscal year that started July 1. Combined, they represent 90 percent of the state’s general fund revenues. The most important – sales tax – was down $33 million or 5.2 percent.
It’s time the state implemented an income tax, got rid of retail taxes and reduced property taxes. We’ll see what solutions are offered;
Bernie Hunhoff, the Democratic minority leader in the House, said his party will have ideas about what to do. “Democrats are here to work with the governor and with the Republicans to get South Dakota out of this,” Hunhoff said. “It’s not one party’s problem; it’s South Dakota’s problem.” The slowdown in state revenues reflects the pain felt on family farms and main street, Hunhoff said. The situation could call for across-the-board cuts. “Unless we really see an immediate rebound in revenues, the hole is getting so deep that everybody is going to have to share in the pain and sacrifice,” he said.
That’s why an income tax makes sense, it makes everyone share that sacrifice fairly. Abdallah wants to touch the sacred cow, better be careful, or King Rounds will cut your fingers off.
Republican Sen. Gene Abdallah said he wants a thorough accounting of how much money is in each of the state’s reserve funds, including some of the more obscure funds, before he’ll be ready to consider more cuts.
I agree it is time to dip into the reserves, that’s what they are there for, a rainy day.