South Dakotans

BREAKING: Legislative Goals 2009

This kind of advertising will soon be a no-no

AFP (American Freedom Press) reporter, Chipp Ed Theethe interviews  state legislators about some of their upcoming goals in the 2009 legislative session.

Theethe, “Stan (Adelstein), you had an interesting race this year. Anything you learned from it?”

Adelstein, “Yeah, Republicans posing as independents make crappy cookies.”

Theethe, “Interesting. Any goals this session?”

Adelstein, “Not sure. I haven’t spoken with Heidepriem yet . . . I mean Knudson.”

Chipp was able to catch up with representative Krebs.

Theethe, “What are your goals this session Shantel?”

Krebs, “Not sure. Roger Hunt and Mike Rounds haven’t emailed them to me yet.”

Chipp was also able to track down Gene Abdallah.

Theethe, “Gene, how do you (cough, cough) feel about the proposed (cough, cough) smoking ban in South Dakota, (cough, cough) excuse me (cough, cough)?

Abdallah, “I think it is a bunch of F***** Bulls***.”

Stephens, “Um. Okay. So I would assume you would vote it down?”

Abdallah, “Whadda you F****** think, McFly? By the way, can I bum a smoke, or two, or three?”

Chipp was also able to track down some Democrats.

Theethe, “Mr. Heidepriem, assuming you are still in a leadership position this year in Pierre, what are your goals.”

Heidepriem, “First I need to figure out who is a Democrat, who is a Republican and who pretended to be an independent to undermine other candidates campaigns.”

Theethe, “How long do you think that will take?”

Heidepriem, “It will probably milk up all our time. Think of it as the abortion issue of 2009.”

Theethe, “So will you get anything accomplished when it comes to education funding?”

Heidepriem, “Yeah, we’ll probably dick around with it back and forth, send a useless funding bill to the governor’s desk only to watch him veto it and make us send him a chopped up piece of legislation the next day.”

Theethe, “So you remain optimistic?”

Heidepriem, “Sure. Nothing says optimism like spending January in a hotel room in Pierre.”

Chipp found one of Scott’s fellow Democratic representatives in rural Tea trying to tear a banner off of a building.

Theethe, “Sandy, is this a bad time to ask you about your legislative goals?”

Jerstad, “Not at all, in fact it is a perfect time. I plan to introduce legislation that will make anything phallic shaped in our state illegal.”

Theethe, “Where would farmers store silage?”

Jerstad, “They’ll have to dig holes in the ground. I’m okay with HOLES and Medicade.”

Bye-Bye feed storage.

Lastly Chipp wanted to see if he could clear up the riff in District 15 between Vanderlinde and Kirshman.

Theethe, “Martha, are you willing to work with Pat on the issues, considering you are both in the state house, the same party and the same district?”

Vanderlinde, “Well, that would make sense, wouldn’t it Chipp? I don’t see a problem with it as long as I can get him to leave the Bishop’s house long enough to strategize our legislative goals.”

Pat seemed confused about Martha’s position in the House.

Theethe, “Martha says she is willing to work with you in Pierre.”

Kirshman, “Who?”

Theethe, “Martha Vanderlinde. The other House representative in your district.”

Kirshman, “Oh that lady. Sure! She can pick up my drycleaning and clean my hotel room while I’m working on more divisive abortion legislation during the day at the capital.”

So there you have it. Looks like another productive year in Pierre!

(FOR THE RECORD: Most of this stuff will probably never happen – unless Representative Frank Kloucek has his way.)

 

More taxpayer money wasted on consultants

I have often wondered if I am in the wrong line of business – I think I want to become a consultant in our state.

“We have quite a few communities on board, with commitments so far totaling around $130,000,”

The coalition, which includes representatives from Watertown to Elk Point, hopes to raise $200,000 for its study.

One I-29 community that has committed financial support is Madison, which has pledged $25,000 from the city and the local economic development corporation,

He also is asking the state of South Dakota to contribute $50,000 toward the study.

I do think the study is a worthy cause, but I wonder why it can’t be done by city and state employees or contracted through both of our universites that already get state money. It seems we are quick to hire outsiders all the time.

Fire up the government burn barrel.

The State is at it again; Skimming the till

The state has this great idea to control the internet licensing renewals even though each county already handles it themselves. They just can’t figure out why the counties wouldn’t want them to help out;

Hillmer said she knows some county officials are worried, but those concerns are unfounded.

“We’re trying to provide consumers with a mechanism to do online renewals, and to do it efficiently,” she said.

“I guess I’m miffed that somebody would complain that we’re doing something of this nature,” she added.

Um. Well where do I begin? You F’ckd up the software to begin with. You blamed the counties for the F’ck up, you have been cashing in on the late fees and now you want to skim the till a little more. Miffed? I think the counties have a right to miffed.

Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson said she has one full-time staffer and a half-time person devoted to handling the county’s online renewals. She questions whether the state will have to add staff to handle the duties, which would cost taxpayers more money.

“In the end, it’s going to take money away from counties, and it’s going to cost people more money,” Nelson said. “That’s what I care about.”

And that’s what Pierre loves about it, making government bigger, more expensive and less effective.

 

I’m Shocked! 50th Again!

From KELO-TV News;

South Dakota 50th In Integrity Ranking

When it comes to government integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group says South Dakota is at the bottom of the list.

South Dakota is ranked 50th in the study by the Better Government Association. It ranked states based on government transparency, accountability, whistleblower protections, open records and campaign finance laws.

New Jersey was the top-ranked state. The bottom five after South Dakota were Vermont, Alabama, Tennessee and Montana.

The Better Government Association says its mission is to fight waste, fraud and corruption in government.

Told you we didn’t need Measure 10 . . . ahem.