My reporter friends at the Aberdeen American News labor under strict prohibitions on political activity, like not being able to sign petitions.
Yet their statewide political reporter (whom they share with several other South Dakota papers) can crank out articles on the profusion of scandals rocking Pierre and throw in a column advocating a dramatic reform of South Dakota’s economic development policy without jeopardizing his journalistic credibility.
In his latest weekend column, Bob Mercer suggests an omnibus plan for creating jobs on our Indian reservations:
How can the jobs get there?
Start with four-lane highways, technical institutes, distance education degrees, more support for existing colleges and universities serving reservations, prisoner-built housing, more nursing and medical training programs, transit buses, 100-year and 500-year leases, a state development authority, investors and people who want to sell goods and services [Bob Mercer, “SD Needs More Jobs in the Right Places,” Aberdeen American News, 2015.10.31].
Mercer says South Dakota should create a state development authority focused on the reservations, somewhat like the economic development authority we created to focus on nothing but keeping the military-industrial complex in Rapid City. And Mercer says fund it by rectifying one of South Dakota’s scandal-ridden programs, the EB-5 visa investment program:
During the past decade, partly because it was semi-secret, no one used the immigrant investment program for projects in South Dakota reservation areas.
EB-5 investments are a device for someone from another nation to buy permanent residency in the United States. The residency applies to the investor’s immediate family.
EB-5 was used to help turkey processing at Huron, open a Deadwood casino and hotel, finish the beef plant at Aberdeen and build electricity projects in several counties.
Currently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency wants to kick South Dakota out of the EB-5 program because of past problems. Run right, EB-5 could have an important second life [Mercer, 2015.10.31].
Mercer is endorsing an idea that Steve Hickey inspired last year. As demonstrated by our Governor’s Office of Economic Development and scandalous behavior in other states, EB-5 is prone to abuse. The whole business of letting wealthy foreigners jump the immigration queue by buying their green cards is morally suspect. But if we allow EB-5 to continue (Hey, Senator Rounds! Have you decided yet?), and if the feds give us the second chance for which Dennis Daugaard’s lawyers are begging, we should do some penance and carry out the program the way it was intended, directing foreign investment to areas in the greatest need of jobs. Aberdeen, Huron, and Deadwood aren’t suffering unemployment. Pine Ridge, Eagle Butte, and Agency Village are. Having lost our competitive edge as early EB-5 adopters, we could freshly distinguish ourselves by offering foreign investors a chance to make a difference in our American Indian communities.
South Dakota could go from national embarrassment to national beacon by making EB-5 a tool for American Indian job creation.
And this idea comes from Bob Mercer, a reporter who also sees himself as a citizen participating in civic debate. Yes, reporters, you can do that.
I’d like to read the Mercer article but the Aberdeen firewall is not to be penetrated.
Will it eventually be picked up by another paper?
Just checked Rapid City, Pierre, Yankton and Mitchell. Not in any of them yet.
A pipe dream that will never happen.
The Blindman
It’s a pipe dream that shouldn’t happen. Our small town needs employees so badly the economic development corporation is paying for language lessons for Spanish speakers who can’t communicate with our employers. There are jobs in South Dakota. People have to be willing to go where the jobs are, change their life and be pulled by natural demand market forces. In a healthy way we are all slaves to markets. Accepting that is economic freedom.
Mercer’s tongue seems wedged into his cheek:
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/columnists/local/bob-mercer/mercer-eb–could-help-sd-reservations/article_d9faeb20-748e-5939-8c42-21b71cf858f6.html
State officials can’t blame a live,warm body. It might talk back. iowa’s pheasant season just opened Saturday and there are birds and plenty of handy trees around. Just saying.
There are unintended consequences to messing with markets even if the ideas come from a good heart. Obamacare is one example. A new BCBS compliant policy in South Dakota is $670 a month or $8,000 a year for an adult 50 year old. One person. It would be interesting for Cory to follow up on health care in the state. My understanding it is working in places like New Mexico, but here people take out the policy, get expensive services, then drop it my salesperson said. BCBS and Dakotacare are not even putting their ACA policies on the exchange. Probably so lower income people in poor health can’t afford to initially buy the policies. It’s a bad situation. The saying be careful what you wish for often applies.
Okay already, Daugaard has gone on record to pit regular working poor against regular Natives that utilize the IHS. Remember, Daugaard is an equal opportunity hater of all that is beneath him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d3nASKtGas Maybe this will help remind us all about the disservice the republican party of South Dakota has given us in addition to corruption. Fix the working poor and then lets deal with the rich immigrants.
happy, You do a good job of lip service to your masters.
I will tell you this. The problem with those rates have nothing to do with Obamacare, they have everything to do with Cromnibus and corporate welfare. Secion 227 of the omnibus bill prevents the HHS from making the payments,that congress originally set in place to offset large claims through the risk corridor. Clearly you have been bamboozled by your insurance company and its agents to blame this on usage of the plans. Congress removed that risk corridor to transfer it to you happycamper and all who think the republican party gives a s— about you.
If you are single and have not married your partner, and you make less than $60,000.00 a year, it would make good sense for you to look at a subsidized plan offered on the exchange. The plans being offered this year are from Avera and Sanford. Take a look at them if you qualify. If you are making more than that amount, still take a look as Wellmark is to damn high.
so hc, when the mcdonald’s kid says the mcchicken went up to $1.50 because “obamacare,” do you believe him/her?
Now back to the EB-5 and its potential on the reservations. I would like to think that by making transportation available on the reservations is key to the start of anything meaningful there. With that, education can be accomplished in a much better way of delivery for the schools and higher education programs that presently exist. If there were ever to be anything like those kinds of developments, then the good people there would be the ones who would need to be consulted on a nation to nation development. The United States enters those trade agreements all the time with those that only seek to take jobs away from the shores, why not have an agreement of trade and resources funded by wealthy immigrants that would actually put the resources into making whatever it is workable. No cattle confinements or any other poison should be considered. Maybe do some kinds of developments like the Lakota Fund does for smaller enterprises. What do Ms. Livermont and an equally respected Roger have to say as voices from the CRST and Pine Ridge.
New Mexico has a better relationships with the tribes and pueblos than South Dakota does and offers public transit to outlying communities. Why NM has a vigorous two-party legislature and SD sucks.
Tribal nations are counties in a non-contiguous 51st State and should have their own EB-5 authority independent of Pierre.
I would not be averse to such a scheme, as long as it is not done with no thought to the possible physical damage that can be done. There is currently a rage in the country for uranium development, in spite of the fact that interest in nuclear power has subsided somewhat since the debacle in Japan, post-tsunami. And South Dakota’s western Indian reservations are ripe with uranium as well as nuclear waste left from past uranium mining.
While I love the idea, I have a few reservations
1) How do we keep the State from skimming even more investment money off the top or doing any of their other corrupt games with the money?
2) How do we get reliable, smart, and non-exploitative support/consulting to determine what industries to build on the reservations?
3) How do we keep infrastructure and economic development tied together? One without the other will easily lead to failure. It seems that the federal government has invested in infrastructure previously, but it has not followed with economic development.
4) How do we develop in a way that is culturally compatible and recognizes the differing values systems?
Unless we develop a concrete plan to address these issues, I suspect that any plan to devote EB-5 money to reservations will result in disaster. Like many previous attempts at improving things on the reservations, the state government’s continued collective hate will result in further marginalization. The only way I could see this happening without significant corruption would be if we had a completely different government in Pierre and a few years work at improving State-Tribal relations.
i wouldn’t say disaster, but good points. tribes (oh, porter, can i say that?) have been asking these questions ad nauseum.
Jerry, thanks for your invitation to comment, you probably knew I couldn’t resist.
First of all we need to clear the air about tribal economic development, for decades the federal and state governments have convinced tribes that economic development on reservation is unique.
That is so far from the truth, towns and villages throughout the reservation want the same things that small towns and villages off the reservation want, the political system is rigged to make that nearly impossible to attain.
Good roads, great schools, affordable rental property and home ownership, public transportation, etc. Now, tell me how that maybe different from an economically depressed community off reservation community.
When whiney republicans cry foul because of all the free “Indian money” they don’t bother to look where it goes,
from Washington, D.C. to the Aberdeen Area Office and finally BIA and tribal offices on the reservation the money simply disappears, in most cases to highly useless and unproductive government workers, white and Indian.
Indians don’t line up the first of the month to get a “help me check” from the great white father, that money is gone.
I agree with Larry, Lanny, Jerry, and MD on the strong points they make. Larry in particular makes the point of totally eliminating the state and have a nation to nation EB-5 program, the state does not need to skim any money from tribes as they have done with GEAR UP and other programs. The state has proven a poor track for the management of any and all federal funds, how could tribes be any worse?
Most people in South Dakota think that when we talk about economic development we need to expand the ag industry, tourism, or manufacturing. This is a misconception, also included in our economic development and infrastructure are the presence of non-profits that exist in all phases of our lives, whether we work for one or use their services, most use them and they are vital to our economic growth.
Roger C or any knowledgeable person-is there a recent documentary that showcases the lives of Natives on the Rez and the conditions they live under? I have watched some movie footage of the country and while it looks bleak and dried out,there is a lot of beauty to be seen in that land.
Roger, in my view Mr. Mercer does a great service by bring up the transportation issue. The four lane highway would need to have maintenance as another way of economic development. Larry brings in the great idea of public transportation with light rail and for further economic development, spurs that would be off reservation for goods to be shipped. Renewable energy products like solar panels and cells would be a good and needed product. The highways would last longer and be in much better shape without heavy truck traffic, rail could make the difference.
In my opinion, all of our peoples, no matter what hue of skin nor what or who we believe in, want the same thing that we have all wanted since there were days, we all want to have the means necessary to build our lives for our children’s children. Simple stuff that can be achieved with a government to government dialogue. The icing on the cake would be that it is funded by wealthy foreigners.
Mike, who is from Iowa, does not understand the beauty of places like the Piney Ridge. It is not “bleak and dry” in the geographical sense, and I do not think anybody wants to change the scenery. It is the socioeconomic things that need changing. It’s a garden spot, it just needs more jobs and money and education and opportunities. Mr. Mike, grudznick thinks it is a garden spot and grudznick is probably not alone.
Very good comments. I was raised on rosebud rez, lived around the country n worked on several SD rez also. I was one of those people Roger talks about, being an ineffective bureaucrat. Done with that.
Been engaged in lot of programs good and bad.
No easy answers. Tribes across the country are each unique with their circumstances. But west River tribes of Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Eagle Butte and Standing Rock do have common ground, culture n relationships.
My brilliant daughter talks of sustainable agricultural economic sovereignty.
There are more and more college programs across the country regarding tribal government, tribal economics, art, culture, etc. tribal colleges are also amazing. They provide true opportunity, catalyst for change n pride.
Ranching is big business on the rez. I always called it the stepchild because it never got the attention it deserves. Tourism is always touted and from the states view its “go look at the indians” then spend your money in the black hills n interstate corridors. Hard fact.
Lots of brilliant natives around. It’s just hard to see immediate results.
Lots of info out there people. Lots . Lots of urban indians in SD too.
I know some people/organizations that COULD run with EB-5 investment. But Daugaard just a couple weeks ago had the nerve to say “unstable government hurts the rez” Ha. Considering what’s been going in Pierre that the Frickin pot calling the kettle black.
I have worked on some state funded things on the rez..It can be done but it will never be done on the scale we seek here. State does not want the rez’s to be successful. I believe that.
MIke from Iowa..your a good man. Just google around you tube. You will see amazing things about the rez’s. . Some tough n some wonderfully unique and beautiful.
We are all related for sure.
In lakota language there is no word for goodbye…
it’s doksha..see you later.
Jerry, the solar panels idea is an excellent one. At the time of the publicity of the 9 teen suicides on the Pine Ridge, I sent an email to President Obama, who had just announced a federal program to make solar panels and they were thinking about employing veterans to do the work. I suggested that it would be a great source of economic development for a people who had no hope, because they had no jobs. I was disappointed that I never heard a response. I am probably naive, but there has to be a way to spur that type of economic development.
Rather than EB-5, I would rather see someone come up with the idea, and then make a proposal to the Shakopee tribe in Minneapolis. They would I am sure lend the money and possibly even make some sort of a grant. They are known for their largesse to fellow tribes.
lanny-jodie from srst is on obama’s staff
sorry leslie, srst?
standing rock
Hey, Happy, just to clarify: are you saying that we shouldn’t do EB-5, or are you arguing more broadly that the state should remove itself entirely from the economic development game?
(Jerry, I know Happy. I don’t think he has any masters, at least not in terms of expressing political views.)
On Jerry’s point about transportation being key: is the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe better off economically with I-29 running through its territory than Pine Ridge and Rosebud are with I-90 missing them?
Would Larry’s suggestion of a separate EB-5 authority for the tribes (the tribes could do that!) take care of the skimming concerns that MD raises? Or would a tribally run EB-5 attract its own Bollens, Bendas, and Sveens? But even if the corruption were equal, consider Roger’s contention that the state doesn’t want the reservations to succeed, and we might conclude that a corrupt tribally run program will inevitably do more good for the reservation than a corrupt state-run program. (I still want to expose and quash all corruption, but I’m just trying to be a realist for a moment.)
To your point Cory, the SWO, has three casinos, two on I-29 and one less than 5 miles off. None of the other Nations have a casino anywhere close to an interstate. Not to say that casinos are the end all to economic development, but they were offered as a way to make the tribes prosper, with jobs et al. Suppose for a minute, that instead of the State prospering from the casino at Deadwood, that one of the tribes put one on I-90, or is there even any reservation land on I-90?
Nope—I-90 misses the northeastern corner of Pine Ridge by a few miles.
Lanny and Cory, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (Kul Wicasa) wants to put a casino on tribal trust land in Oacoma. The 80+ acres is just off the westbound I90 exit to the west of the stop sign/light. Oacoma city fathers have been fighting this for years. The casino/truck stop/hotel would pay no sales tax being it is on trust land. Gov. Daugaard would have to sign off on the proposal. Here is an opportunity for the governor to walk the walk concerning Indian economic development.
My best guess is your state would heal quicker if you put the guilty parties in federal work camps for a nice long session of re-habbing their lack of morals.
My Master is The Market. Sure, there has to be regulation for safety, but incentives are a mistake. People follow the money and leave as soon as it dries up. Better for there to be honest demand in the same way we should drop affirmative action. The movement of jobs is still to the cities which means we have to change and adapt. We are a slave to these huge shifts and just have to flow with it. Young people from rural areas of South Dakota better themselves by moving to where the jobs are just that simple. Many leave the state. It’s not the governments responsibility to create jobs in any certain area but the responsibility of people to be of economic value to others. That doesn’t make me a Republican. Just means this Libbie is starting to appreciate some Libertarian concepts. Some of this, some of that. John Stossel (on Fox no less) does a good job of showing how stupid some Conservative Republican positions are in Libertarians vs Conservatives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMSRYnvywaU
Here is a map that has the Pine Ridge borders, it is the Big White to the north, short of the I by a few miles. The Rosebud actually doesnt make it to the Big White, but they hold almost all that river land in trust. https://www.google.com/search?client=tablet-android-samsung&hl=en-US&oe=utf-8&safe=images&q=pine+ridge+reservation+boundaries&source=android-browser-type&qsubts=1446557186325#imgrc=tFBaHRMpHDPgVM%3A
The Blindman
If Daugaard weren’t such a twit, he would have considered, allowing a consortium of the tribes, to build a casino at the I-90 I-29 junction, as suggested by two Governor candidates in the early going of the 2010 gubernatorial election, Knutson and Heidepreim. That would have kept most of the money flowing from SF and the surrounding area to the Larchwood IA casino, helped the tribes, and given the State some revenue to be used for education.
Paul, why do the city fathers oppose the Oacoma casino? Do they think it will take business away from Al’s Oasis?
Lanny, that would have been an interesting investment in tribal economic development. Would the tribes have employed lots of Indians at that location?
By the way, Knudson voted against the constitutional amendment Heidepriem brought to make possible such a 29-90 casino (see 2009 SJR 1). Abdallah worked with Heidepriem. Did Knudson change his mind later?
Happy, can I meet you halfway? Yes, the government should step back from its intrusions in the marketplace. It should end corporate welfare. It should get our of much of its economic development business and let the market work wherever possible.
However, does the market work on the reservations? Is it possible that we have populations caught in a geography and history that make it practically impossible for market forces to come over the ridge and work their magic? Is it possible that government assistance to promote businesses is justified, but simply needs to be set to a higher criterion where reasonably healthy towns like Aberdeen, Brookings, and Sioux Falls get zilch but genuine economic disaster areas like Pine Ridge get some help?
Cory, historically the city fathers in Chamberlain and Oacoma are also the businessmen in these two towns. Why allow new competition into town. Besides the casino in Oacoma the Lower Brule tribe also proposes to have a hotel and a truck stop. Being on trust land they would not pay sales tax to the state or city.
These two cities were more than happy to allow the GFP to build a marina right next to the Cedar Shore Resort when it was built. Some of our legislators were heavily invested in the Cedar Shore Resort when it was built. Any conflict of interest here? But God forbid giving a tribe any sort of similar breaks.
No Cory, markets “work” everywhere. Always present. Always communicating. You just don’t like what they’re sayin. Today I went to the library and read the article on the LAIC (local economic development corporation) covering the cost of language lessons. In my book either the employee or employer should pay that entirely since it’s essentially employee training, but it’s especially obvious when we as a state are importing employees (from other countries even) that people within South Dakota boarders will have to follow that demand. Today a friend was telling me about Jacky’s Restaurant in Sioux Falls. A Guatemalan woman moved there, worked a job while opening her restaurant, moved her family and is about to open a second location. Hard working people are making a life for themselves in this state and thriving. You go to the jobs. You go where there is demand and adapt.
https://www.facebook.com/jackysrestaurantsf
well said paul.
hc-as always I disagree, dropping affirmative action before its goals are accomplished is partisan politics. white privilege exists, race and ethnicity are valid, and go write a Michael Jackson song if you feel so strongly about it.
an Indian country EB5 regional center could easily work serving those needs, within USCIS existing rules, perhaps, as do individual tribes administer FWS, Reclamation, NPS buffalo preserves, EPA and DENR functions, waste disposal ect., WITHOUT THE STATE GETTING a cut and without the tribes giving up sovereignty or land. USCIS needs to rethink MCEC going into Regents hands, without a house cleaning. OLC rather than NSU can staff up and do a competent job, unlike the state.
of course tres amigos will bitch and daugaard will be obstructionist, but Joop and Westerhuis have forced the rounds/daugaard/jackley cartel to its knees.
Libertarians do a good job of explaining why welfare programs and mandates are counterproductive. Affirmative action allows unprepared students in to schools and lead to high failure rates. Success rates were higher before the mandates. Equal opportunity is not the same as equal outcomes. Minority unemployment rates were lower before welfare and the failed war on drugs keeps people selling drugs rather than seeking employment. They are equally hard on Conservative Republicans who want to dictate behaviors, go to war, occupy countries, etc.
Milton Friedman on Minorities and Government: https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIChCDpW7hoATRYsnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjBzZmhtBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDNg–?p=milton+friedman+welfare+free+market&vid=2944201a6d630655c75601344f7e144d&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.2%252bCa6trw5Cz05tofRQYJyg%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D204%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Deg4fxUpRzj8&tit=Milton+Friedman+-+Minorities+and+Government&c=5&h=204&w=300&l=360&sigr=11bbl0gms&sigt=11bm8qm8h&sigi=12ngvmv0c&age=1266823894&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&tt=b
Uncle Milty. Seriously, Uncle Milty.. Ask the good people of Chile about Uncle Milty and his economic ways. Any place the Chicago boys touched it turned to dictatorship.
Here is what Hawaii is doing regarding solar. Here we are the Sunshine State, http://kiuc.coopwebbuilder2.com/sites/kiuc/files/PDF/pr2015-1102-Anaholadedication.pdf
Roger is correct http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-south-dakota-state-agency-discrimination-against-native-american-job
The state of South Dakota wants Natives to fail at everything, including survival. The EB-5 would have to be government to government between Homeland Security and the original Homeland Security.
Without equal opportunity, corruption reigns. Libertarians know this and support this. So how are they any different than right wing republicans? All seem to support projects and plans that benefit them and them only, kind of like capitalism itself and the fake line of competition is what makes it work. The only way that works is if you control the market. By having light production on the reservations via EB-5 funding, this is what you would have. Controlled capitalism for national security. If we do not get a grip on our energy consumption and control C02 immersions, it will not matter if you are a Libertarian, republican or Democrat, we will have destroyed ourselves. Let the South Dakota Native’s help lead the way.
Isn’t White Clay, Nebraska where the store is that sells millions of cans of beer every year to Natives on Pine Ridge Agency?
HC-welfare programs for the needy are counter-productive to wingnuts et al,because they keep valuable resources(moola) from getting to its rightful owners-the koch bros. Nothing more,nothing less.
The world is inherently unfair but equally unfair to try and mandate outcomes. We all have to evaluate and pursue our own economic risks. If you control a market (like a job market) and there’s no risk there’s also no true worth. That’s not meaningful employment but further dependence on government, a most unfavorable history for Native Americans and astounding anyone would want to look there. Time to look inside, not outside. Encourage people to make their own way.
Endeavor to persevere, what a crock. Easy to say while we enjoy the fruits of governments invention like this very internet. Pray tell, how can we pursue our own economic risks without seeking borrowed money? How would the highways system work if we did it one shovel full at a time to repair miles of damaged roads? Made whole when the livestock herd has been lost to a devastating blizzard?
M f I: Short term relief is a different thing. Or for the disabled. But unintended consequences like 5th generation welfare is good for nobody.
There are always going to be shared responsibilities, but if you borrow money that’s still your risk of the consequences if you don’t pay it back, and for the lender if your endeavor fails. After the internet invention business expanded it. We need to invest in infrastructure. Certain things are societal.
President Obama is committed to tribal sovereignty and to compensating the nations for the theft and rape of the Black Hills.
The South Dakota Democratic Party should urge President Obama to dissolve the Black Hills National Forest, move management of the land from the US Department of Agriculture into the Department of Interior; and, in cooperation with Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Forestry and Wildfire Management, rename it Okawita Paha National Monument eventually becoming part of the Greater Missouri Basin National Wildlife Refuge. Mato Paha (Bear Butte), the associated national grasslands and the Sioux Ranger District of the Custer/Gallatin National Forest should be included in the move.
It’s time for the State of South Dakota to abandon Bear Butte State Park that it claimed through colonization and remand it to the tribes for governance so they can restore its name to Mato Paha and for the US Park Service to add the name Mahto Tipila to Devils Tower National Monument.
Didn’t I read the tribes met with Obama? So the compensation issue has gone to the Supreme Court. The settlement is there interest accruing. What else is possible?
There are at least 266 abandoned uranium mines plus hundreds of other contaminated sites in the Black Hills region. There is a huge outcry in Arizona after Saudi Arabia bought up land to grow hay for export pumping billions of gallons of fossil water.
Tribal lands sustained part of some 50 million bison and their hunters for thousands of years. Rewilding that system is the best answer for Indian Country and President Obama gets that.
Happy Camper, you wrote, “The world is inherently unfair but equally unfair to try and mandate outcomes.” So what were the government and the “christian” churches doing with boarding schools, and forced dropping of native languages and traditions to say nothing of religion?
Actually, I guess I make your point. But then isn’t there some sort of responsibility to reverse the harm that was/is being done?
The EB-5 would not be any form of welfare. It would be investment for disadvantaged areas. The actual purpose of the Eb-5 program. Let the government to government dialogue begin. The state of South Dakota could still see monies coming in from sales tax and use tax, so the state will reap profits.
Yes, a big mistake was made, but it’s gone to the Supreme Court and monetarily a settlement was made. Thus far the tribes have refused it. What more realistically could be done, and be truly helpful. And yes, more mistakes were made culturally, could we say similar to African Americans. Walter Williams position on welfare as a black economist is after abolition, they should have been given an apology, said we won’t do that again, now go lead your lives: Period end of story. Have liberty. His contention is blacks made aggressive strives before LBJ’s war on poverty which financially enabled a multiple of unintended social problems. For Native Americans all these years of government intervention/involvement have not brought prosperity. Look at how things are. How can it possibly be believed that further intervention would be different now. The federal government still thinks they did the right thing going in to Iraq, etc to create regime changes. Leave people alone. We’ve created ISIS. We need to get out of other people’s business.
Cannabis in South Dakota, rewilding through expanding bison range, fire being used to reduce ponderosa pine overgrowth restoring aspen habitat, tribal nations being recognized as counties in a non-contiguous 51st State, raising awareness of Republican failures in protecting watersheds, shining flashlights into GOP recta, pulse crops instead of corn, restoring Lakota names to geographical features and teaching American Indian languages in public schools have taken decades of effort by a team of thought leaders advancing a progressive agenda for a red moocher state.
We need Democratic butts in every county chair, we need to raise money, we need candidates in local elections like city council, county commission and mayor, we need to talk more about the things that we want and do not have like protecting women’s rights, reversing the horrors of the Janklow/Rounds/Daugaard years, and raising the revenue to make South Dakotans’ lives better.
5th generation welfatre is jake with korporate amerika and billionaires like the Waltons,koch bros and I’ll bet even Buffet gets his share.
http://venusproject.org/health/forbes-fat-cats-billionaires-collect-taxpayer-funded-farm-subsidies.html
Equating the theft of Native American lands to the slavery that African Americans were bonded to, is wayyyyyyy to much of a stretch happycamper, even for you.
Well, Williams describes the loss of liberty, including slavery, in terms of property rights. You have the right to your labor which is immoral to be taken from you for the benefit of another. Either as slavery or taxation for welfare (which is taking the labor of one for another).
So what does Williams say about the EB-5 and the utilization of funding on the reservations? I know what Williams would say https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Williams
Walter Williams is a different dude. He doesn’t go for incentives or reparations: https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=walter+williams+tax+incentives&vid=9f91afbcf4e29e579ce12bdc5233e97a&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.xtR5sE%252bfc9hIRCpmlGLtfQ%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtgnrUz8lAiQ&tit=Walter+E+Williams+-+The+Wisdom+Of+Williams&c=19&h=168&w=300&l=894&sigr=11b12ree8&sigt=11a19ehk1&sigi=12nfmq69i&ct=p&age=1341589426&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&tt=b
Happy, you’re right, I don’t like what the market says. The market often makes pronouncements contrary to human dignity. In such situations, we need to swat the market on the nose and tell it “No!”
[We just got a new puppy.]
The market acts everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it “works.” The market would sell pot, meth, and sex to many willing buyers, but we don’t let the market do that work because it would do great harm. The market acts by deeming the reservations to be crappy places, not worth starting businesses in.
Adam Smith himself accepted the notion that the market can fail. Markets don’t provide free universal education. Markets don’t build armies. Markets don’t build parks or roads. But we need those things, and we do what the market fails to do.
I understand there is an absolutist Libertarian argument that says government should not touch the market. I understand there is a crony capitalist argument that has South Dakota government picking its friends as winners all the time. I stake a position between them: end the anti-free-market handouts to all the rich corporations who can get along fine on their own, let most of those businesses sink or swim by their own efforts, but provide some help to places like the Rez that are beat up not just by market forces but by generations of colonialism and racism.
In a state where American Indian children are abducted by the Daugaard administration, the wife of South Dakota’s governor is pimping for an industry that is a defendant in at least one lawsuit:
Laura Sullivan @LauraSullivaNPR 2h: “DOJ sues S.D. social services for hiring only white social workers. Explains high rate of native kids in foster care”
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-south-dakota-state-agency-discrimination-against-native-american-job
And Jerry does well to remind us how EB-5 works. It’s not welfare checks; it’s the feds incentivizing commercial investment. I’m open to a debate about the merits of EB-5 itself. Thinking like Happy, I could argue (I have argued!) that circumventing the usual market forces by tempting investors with green cards allows risky businesses that would not withstand normal market analysis to get investment that they really don’t deserve on the merits of their own business plans. Investors buying green cards aren’t going to exercise as much scrutiny over their investments as investors whose entire interest lies in the ongoing performance of the businesses they invest in.
But if we accept that government has a role in economic development, and if we accept that EB-5 visa investment is an acceptable tool for economic development, then we ought to focus EB-5 investment on the areas that need assistance most, and in South Dakota, that’s the reservations.
Here’s one way EB-5 could help Indian Country and protect public lands. The Oglala Lakota Nation had been pursuing an abattoir as an economic development opportunity according to Tim Huether writing in the Bennett County Booster:
Happy, if it helps there are a lot of indians that feel the very same way you do.
I’ve asked this before but never got an answer. Why aren’t you asking all the very successful natives how they did it? You have human templates and still your talking to people that dont know how to succeed about what they want, why?
I know a lot of these families and if you aren’t talking to them, your only getting part of the reservation story. Every one of these people will tell you its about hard work, long hours, and staying home when everybody else is at the bar. They will also tell you that they took advantage of every native perk to grow their business along with common sense decision making.
Folks it doesnt make any difference what color your skin is, for me it never has been. If you want to succeed in life it takes a lot of hard work.
The Blindman
Unless you change the business climate, as well as the fickle tendencies and corrupt nature of native gov’t, I don’t foresee much economic development coming from just pumping money into the problem. Anyone outside the rez doesn’t have a foot to stand on when they are situated on the rez. An employee complaint by a relative to an elder can close you up overnight even if it is completely unfounded. Tribal judges can do as they please. Not worth the hassle for an outsider to come in and setup shop. Find something they can call their own otherwise it will fail.
There are already success stories happening on the reservations but I think capital is short if they wish to expand. People are working on solar power projects and there is some work being done on hempcrete. I feel that the development of the use of hemp has huge potential and that the reservations is where this could best be accomplished as the Feds are backing off questioning of the legality of the raising of hemp. I think that most of us would agree that the state of South Dakota will be one of that last states to legalize the growing of hemp. With a little availability of outside capital I feel that the tribes will move forward on developing markets for hemp.
I tend to agree with Daniel Buresh that outside investors are leery to invest on the reservations because of the differences in the judicial systems. Maybe the use of the EB-5 program on the reservations would overcome some of this lack of local capital investment.
I see by the way of open government here in South Dakota, investors were protected against their catastrophic losses. Unless your tongue was planted firmly in cheek, there is probably a better chance of recovery dealing with government to government deals between tribes and Eb-5. How the Eb-5 works is that the presentation would be made to the investors on what the target would be. It could be a multitude of things ranging from the transportation that Mr. Mercer speaks of as starters. Given that those kinds of transportation items could be set up like a toll road for both the interstate highway and the light rail that would traverse the reservations. The EB-5 investors would pony up the money for their part of the deal and other capital would need to be acquired to fulfill the plan. That money could come from Federal government involvement as they have done so many other times on infrastructure projects. The tribes would maintain the projects when completed with the operating monies they have collected.
Rail travel through some of the most beautiful areas of South Dakota would be spectacular. Take a look at the travelers that spend time in the Badlands, they stay there for some days touring and taking in the beauty. The public transportation that would be now accessed, would also be a much needed way for all to get around and into the towns and cities for needed special goods and services. Foreign investors would actually be able to be a part of something that they can see progress. Mr. Mercer is a man of vision that does not fear the Indian and sees and equal in the business of improving depressed areas like the program is designed for. There would be a huge increase in employment and more opportunities to make improvements.
For The Blindman Nothin Can Change the Shape of Things to Come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhMCV47dkts
Steve Goodman has my back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0JgqoF2W4
I appreciate all the comments Cory.
Good thoughts and some obvious knowledge here.
Happy camper one reality is some people will stay on rez no matter the opportunity elsewhere. There are many successful n dedicated people that recognize that and return to try to help.
Daniel you are right n wrong. ..lol. like we all are.
Rosebud has qualified judges, a supreme court of lawyers n attorneys. Yet there are of course issues.
Hey Costello, yes “that Costello” built a very large apartment complex in Mission on the Rosebud. And everybody won.
A real source of complexity is the infamous “checkerboard” of land ownership. Fee title, trust title held in tribal members names , trust title in tribes names. FEE title owned by tribal members AND fee title owned by tribes.
Lots of good thoughts here.
I know the billion dollars bothers you HC. And I appreciate that. But it just won’t ever be accepted. We genuinely don’t feel the initial compensation was enough.
Heck yes capitol is short.
Housing development by HUD has been a disaster. Private investment in housing by developer and buyers does not come near the need. Infrastructure to support that development is not there.
Pine Ridge is opening a nursing home complex in White Clay, the tribe has 640 acres of trust land there (Not where the liquor is sold). That construction was completed by a variety of entities n is to be managed by Ron Ross, whom manages many across nebraska and ran Nebraska state department of social services at one time!
Most construction on the reservations involves outside rez and in state engineering companies, construction companies, vendors, etc etc.
Lots of the money spent on development, both public funds and private development goes to the outlying area.
Happy help me out, free market…BUT EB-5 money for Deadwood Mountain Grand? I know it’s complex but looking at it from the rez, yuck. Rez Casinos I know about were all built by private investment money. That to my knowledge was not funneled thru any state program.
Healthcare could be much a greater of a private driven resource on the rez than currently. Millions are spent at regional health, Sanford and Avera that could create careers and better health.
And don’t forget those colleges on the rez. Key.
I would give 10 horses to capture all of you for 4 days and gather this brainstorming session. WOW There’s some knowledge here.
Where can our tribes bid on that $400 dollar original SD flag? I think we would be willing to pay a little more than that?
Jackey stated the value? Innocent Misdemeanor? and I read on here that we have poor legal systems? If that isn’t politics in law what is? Just kidding.
My friend Albert White Hat said “Take life seriously but laugh all the way through” He was a wise wonderful man.
Spike, here is something for the Little White River, some of the bluest waters I have ever seen, catch and release fishing. http://bighornangler.com/lodging/ On the Crow in Montana, here is called the Yankee Stadium of fly fishing. It is catch and release for non members of the Crow Tribe, but last I knew, Crow members could catch these to eat. These fishermen come from all over the world now to fish these waters. Yep, even this cold, the trout still hit those little flies. They stay in these places on the reservation as well so it brings good economic business to the area. When I hear that no one wants to do anything with the good folks on the reservation, it makes me wonder why. As long as there are no hog farms and cattle confinements or those damn turkey dumps as well, we should be able to get investor help from the EB-5.
Mr. Spike, that was a thought provoking post, and it sounds like your friend Albert was indeed a wise man.
I like your thoughts, Spike. Great idea with the flag. Let’s put the darn thing on eBay where we can all put a value on it.
Tim Giago: the Custer State Park buffalo roundup is Ki-Yi on steroids:
http://www.indianz.com/News/2015/019445.asp
Bottom line government programs are too easily corruptible. The irony is Cory keeps exposing them yet coming back to them as solutions. A man killed himself (EB5) and another his entire family (Gearup). A corrupt state government is not the problem, but the nature of welfare and power structures to lead to malfeasance.
In fact this is how I met Cory. He’s the only one who would rattle the cages!!! Enjoy the puppy. I must check out for a while to get back to projects. See The Libertarian Light!!!
Hap, sure, life is full of irony. South Dakota government is corrupt, but I maintain that we can root out corruption and use South Dakota government to solve problems. I toyed with Libertarian thinking for the first phase of my adult, politically conscious life, but I quickly realized that some problems don’t solve themselves. To get out of the ditch, we’ve got to turn the wheel.
Jerry, the Rosebud tribe has an excellent GFPs department with biologists on staff that know what they are doing. I’ve spent more then a few hours in their Hummer talking about what they have done to improve fishing there. While you can catch almost every species of fish that swim in the state, trout would never survive that water. First its just not cold enough for them, and then there is this. If you follow the Little White you can see thousands of acres of very expensive farm ground on either side. Look on Google Earth.
I wrote this back in 2011 over at Madville.
Bill Dithmer
2011.11.17 AT 19:21
Possibly the best post that you have ever had here. I can remember clearly at that time wondering what in the world acid rain was. South Dakota was insulated from the problems that the rest of the country had, or so we thought. Unfortunately forty years haven’t changed the attitudes of the state much.
Those attitudes include, if you cant see it that means its not really there. Its never happened before and it isn’t happening now. My folks didn’t use to have to dispose of these things this way and nothing ever happened to them. And the ever popular, we hate change and we aint a gonna do it.
From coal fired plants to fracking the future is now and like it or not the health of our planet has been thrown in the big pot at the center of the poker table with no limits. The burning question at this time is, do we continue to play the game with those interest or do we stop playing and start to heal what has already been broken. The EPA doesn’t limit job growth. Look at it like a vaccination, if we use it now it will give us the opportunity to grow our way out of a dirty situation. If we get rid of it we will surly die a long slow death.
My life lessen in the environment came in the late eighties. At that time there was a small hydro electric dam on the Little White River just west of the town of White River. This dam had been in operation for over sixty years and at one time supplied the electricity for the town before the rural electric came along.
At that time I used to spend a lot of time at White River because I had friends that I coon hunted with and that meant three or four days a week that I would be there. It was during one of those times that I learned what chemical mud was.
The dam was owned by an engineer from California but run by the Littaus, the same family I hunted with, so I got to spend a lot of time looking around there. One day I got a call from Otto, the man in charge , that they were going to blow the dam to get rid of all the mud that had built up during the year to make room for more water and in turn make more electricity. Having never seen anything like this of course I wanted to see it.
When I got there the Littaus were in the process of taking out the first plank and so I stepped down to give them a hand. I think there were ten in all but I really cant remember. We would take a plank out and let the water get down to that level and then so on and so on.
When we got to the last three or four planks there was just to much mud pressing against them to pull them out so we set a small charge and blew the final part of the dam that was holding back thousands of tons of mud and other things. In truth I was warned not to get to close but I just couldn’t help myself I just had to see what was going through that dam.
First it was alright, just mud and water. Then it turned into the most beautiful rainbow colors that you have ever seen, and then the bubbles came. When that happened I was standing right above the dam and I just about didn’t make it back along the runway. Tight chest, hard time breathing, fast heartbeat, and more then my usual trouble seeing.
I turned to Otto and asked him what had just happened and he told me that what we were seeing and smelling was the accumulation of a hundred years of things being poured or farmed or dumped into what looked on the surface to be a pristine little river.
That is the day that I started to think differently about the water that we drink and the air that we breath. That toxic mud went from that dam to where the Little White runs into the Big White. From there it goes into the Missouri River, and from there to the Mississippi then down to the delta and on to the Gulf.
It was just one little river but it did start here in South Dakota. How many more are there? Its hard to say but how many would it take? I know I’m a different person now then I was before that day. If I hadn’t seen and smelled it I would have never believed what had happened. All I could think about for a long time was that I swam in that water whenever I wanted to.
We cant take responsibility for what happened a hundred years ago but we can start to clean up the mess and that’s where EPA comes in. Without that agency it could and would happen again and again. Without EPA the process called fracking and the toxic mud from the tar sands would continue to do what that chemical brew in the Little White was doing. Shit, mud, water, and chemicals all run down hill. Kristi slip into that two piece and tie that hair back and come on out for a swim. Ladies first!
The EPA will never be able to fix all the environmental problems, but it can stop other problems from becoming the next Little White River if it is given a chance.
The Blindman
The Blindman….
Otto Littlau n Phyllis were wonderful people.
We must have crossed paths Bill.
Rosebud is full of beauty, wonderful fishing, hunting .
Kevin Woster talks about when he used to go down n fish n hunt doves. If you choose to go there to hunt or fish u can be guided by tribal members knowledgeable and proud.
Thanks Bill for the story.
Good reminder that we are paying a price for convenience n ” progress”
Google Catalina island buffalo n Rosebud sioux tribe to see some great stories and pictures about buffalo adopted by the tribe that were overstocked on Catalina Island.
Bill D.-EPA can still certainly delegate power of management and regulation to every tribal DNR as a matter of sovereignty and economic development, can’t they? That takes care of most of the Missouri River Basin in Dakota Territory and some of Montana.