The corruption in Pierre is so bad—
—How bad is it?!—
—it’s so bad that even the local paper in this government town has to admit that the Department of Education’s Mid-Central/GEAR UP scandal and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development’s reawakened EB-5 scandal show that Mike Rounds and Dennis Daugaard have not done their jobs right:
Our editorial board at the Capital Journal sees common ground in these two scandals in that there seems to be a pattern: Those responsible for overseeing these programs did not take their duties seriously. Some on our board also find it troubling that the Daugaard administration has appeared reluctant over the past two years to want to pursue all of the unanswered questions about what went on with these programs starting during the administration of Daugaard’s old boss, former Gov. Mike Rounds [editorial, “South Dakota Still needs Answers on EB-5 and GEAR UP,” Pierre Capital Journal, 2015.11.01].
The Pierre editors say that the corruption of the South Dakota’s one-party regime demonstrates that we need stronger, better government, not weaker, looser government:
Conservative South Dakota likes to grouse about federal overreach and over-regulation. But South Dakota, starting during the Republican administration of former Gov. Mike Rounds, offers a compelling argument that what was needed here was more federal regulation and oversight, not less. What we had here was shoddy government. The state and its partners did a lousy job managing two programs, and people were tempted into wrongdoing because they knew oversight was lax [PCJ, 2015.11.01].
And what happens if we don’t govern effectively? People die:
We are all made of crooked timber; the point of having oversight is so that no one is tempted or given the opportunity to break the rules. Because when we lack that oversight, we could end up with what we have now in South Dakota: seven people dead over the past two years because of corruption around federal government programs. Four of those casualties were children [PCJ, 2015.11.01].
I’m with the Capital Journal: It’s checks and balance time. Demand accountability from our current regime. If they won’t deliver the transparency and honesty we need to stop further corruption, then 2016 is the year to replace the Legislature with real reformers and gear up for cleaning executive house in 2018.
The ancient Hipple family members, who ruled the PCJ since its founding, must be spinning 600 rpms in their graves after this one went to print. The clan was considered the Hapsburgs of South Dakota print journalism until they sold the Journal in 2005 to Wick Communications. Glad to see Lance Nixon showing his potential as managing editor.
[Isn’t the PCJ the hometown newspaper of Pat Powers and Troy Jones???]
I imagine some tea spitting resulted this morning in some of the prominent households up the hill. No doubt, they’re phoning Lance and publisher Steve Baker right now to threaten they’ll pull their ad accounts until they see a complete retraction and apology!
“Lovey, a Howell NEVER runs in the face of danger! He walks very fast.”
Should anyone be surprised that our former Chicago lawyer executive in chief brought some of Chi town with him when he left that political machine for the one he and Rounds created/modified?
Does anyone know whose staff Garret Devries was on in DC? Might explain the misdemeanor charges, would hate to have the boy spill his guts to the press.
Jackley covered for Powers running a business out of his SOS office, guess Devries has to take a hit for the machine?
South Dakota attys larry long, jack ward, james schekelton and john meyer, all working for the state, testified by affidavits that joop and austin were nobodies, acting outside of any state governor’s office authority, yet rounds and likely daugaard knew this and still proceeded to allow joop to take over and continue until 2013. august 13 2009 mtn. quash., Darley v. SDIBI, LA County Superior Ct.
Wow! The Capital Journal called it like it is and pulled no punches. Wow!
One thing they weren’t absolutely clear about leaving room for GOP spin: “seven people dead over the past two years because of corruption around federal government programs.” What they actually mean is “state administration of federal government programs.” It wasn’t the federal programs that were corrupt. It was South Dakota Republicans running the programs who were corrupt.
Could there be a groundswell building to bolster the two-party system in 2016?
And look who’s been watching Gilligan’s Island.
I dunno about Chicago, I want to know where Marion EB-5 Rounds was schooled in the corruption, someone taught that boy well. Rounds was smart enough in that field to bring on the equally crooked Marty Jackley as his consigliere in this mess. Daugaard had to know how the scheme worked as he was trying his arse off to shed the flak that was coming. Who knew that when Benda met his end, he was the canary in the coal mine that was quickly filing with toxicity. It would not surprise me one bit to see this bunch of outlaws finally grant Medicaid Expansion to take away some heat. They need something to give us a shinny object to look at for a while. Oh, and stay away from the cornfields during hunting season or anytime for that matter.
Honest Democrats pass Medicaid Expansion in Montana! Damn, that sounds good for our neighbor to the west of us. We have it now in Red State North Dakota as well. Only in the corrupted state of South Dakota do we have the crooks and liars treated as if they are leaders. Come on Pierre paper call out this bunch of outlaws on their unforgiving treachery towards our working poor. They steal money from the health of our neighbors to lavish on themselves.
Jerry, that is what I was thinking about Lance NIxon as far as the cornfields. Won’t be long and SD will put the GodFather movies to shame.
How refreshing that Hipple’s old paper decided to tell the truth about the company town. One thing that they over-emphasize is the “federal money” aspect, as if that is the only thing of concern. The same can be said about the money collected by state taxes, then spent in similar ways. For example, where is all that money for “shale studies” going? That, supposedly was state money. And, the state plays all sorts of shenanigans when a politically favored business is given a permit without adequate vetting.
Still, the “federal money” aspect is interesting, and it really cuts across the Republican policy of pushing
block grants, the standard GOP talking point when they suggest how to reform federal programs. No, what the feds need to do is bulk up the oversight and enforcement bureaucracy, because the states tend to be pretty corrupt. And can you imagine if the feds give the ruling South Dakota government hundreds of millions of dollars for a deep borehole disposal test? The corruption will be far more than anything you’ve seen yet.
Not to sound like a broken record or an “I told you so”, but so much of this is what the Argus L— refused to print in the op ed that I submitted prior to the election. To go over the failed or never happened economic development plans under Rounds, 1.The expanded DM&E,
2.The Big Stone II Power Plant and then as a followup the Basin Electric Selby plant.
3. The 4 failed CAFO dairy operations.
4 The Anderson seed company that stiffed many SD farmers of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
5.The Aberdeen Beef Plant which hurt so many investors, contractors, and employees to say nothing of the folks applying for green cards.
6. The “Gorilla” oil refinery and coal burning power plant.
And then Daugaard’s breaking federal law by ignoring the Indian Child Welfare Act and taking Native children and placing them with White foster families, as a cash cow for his former employer, The South Dakota Children’s Home Society.
I am sure that I am forgetting some of the money drainers that these two, should be jailbirds pulled, but after the election, I discarded the files that I kept on their corruption.
Jerry,
As I said before, Daugaard and company will do the Medicaid Expansion when they can figure out how to make some really big money off of it for themselves, friends, and lawyers.
DD-DeVries was an intern for “Basketball Jones” Thune in 2011.
http://capitolwords.org/date/2011/06/28/S4153-2_tribute-to-garrett-devries/
On one of the pages on this link it lists him as an intern. http://congressional-staff.insidegov.com/l/39367/Garrett-R-Devries on one page I looked, it said “former.”
Rounds learned it from Janklow. Janklow did enough shenanagans to need to write the gag law. Rounds was Janklows Lieutenant Governor. Daugaard was Rounds Lieutenant Gov. So the torch keeps getting passed on.
The gag law says that if any state employee tells of corruption that they will be fined and go to jail. This opens the possibility that if no one outside the office finds out right away they never will. This is conflict of interest for anyone that is concerned with ethics. So they do not have an ethics committee so no one will find out.
How bad is the corruption in Pierre and the rest of South Dakota? The newspapers are busy doing reports of South Dakota mismanagement of public dollars. First of all nobody knows the extent of the problems.
Over the next few months a detailed list of questionable, unethical or unlawful activities should be made public. Then when the full extent of the problems are known, a reasonable effort can be made to correct them. Rather than have different problems pop up every week or so South Dakota needs to have the complete picture. In addition to EB-5 and Gear Up being mentioned perhaps the public should be asked to report everything that appears to be wrong. This might include God only knows who else. Find out how big the problem is and correct it!
Mr. Rounds was Mr. Janklow’s Lieutenant Governor? I thought that nice young woman named Carol was, but I am often confused.
Yes, Roger. If you want to learn about the gag law and lawyering up from out of state to protect yourself, talk to former state treas, Dick Butler.
Everyone in Pierre was ordered not to talk to Butler under that penalty plus Butler faced the same crime if he pushed it with his opinion of citizen care and concern in his elected job.
Man this gate has been left open for a very long time.
Mike Rounds wasn’t Janklow’s lt. gov., he was Janklow’s lap dog Senate majority leader. His job was to insure whatever Bill Janklow wanted Bill Janklow got. That included the gag law.
DD, as Roger E notes, there’s no need to invoke the tired arch-conservative anti-Dem rhetoric about Chicago. South Dakota’s corruption is home-grown, passed on from Janklow to Rounds to Daugaard. The SDGOP owns this corruption. The SDDP needs to win in 2016 and 2018 (and a generation of cycles after that) to fix this corruption.
The scandals in South Dakota all center on relatively few people who branch out from one law firm in Aberdeen. South Dakota has laws, such as he gag law, designed for the convince of those in government who want to consort with those who see government as the means to fleece and fool the people. A few journalists, such as Bob Mercer, have worked on important parts of the story, but since the time of Janklow and before the state’s press has adopted a stance of simpering acquiescence. But it reflects the cultural inclination that puts connivers and shysters in office.
Forget Chicago…Pierre politics is the new benchmark for corrupt! The king is dead…long live the king!
Cory, if it can make this blog money, go ahead and trademark this like Pat Riley did with “three-pe*t.”
On the plus side of corruption…if there is any…is that political science profs and civics teachers can travel to South Dakota to see corruption in action every January through March. Throw in political reporters and Rounds, Daugaard and company have created a cottage industry.
And the GOP still says that government doesn’t create jobs.
It doesn’t matter which party started it. If the state government was run by democrats (which will NEVER happen) and this level of corruption was going on, I’d be just as mad. The point is that our state government is corrupt and we need to find a way to end it. Wrong is wrong no matter who does it.
Annie, you are correct that, in general, that the corruption we are seeing in South Dakota right now could happen under any unchecked party. But right now, and in the 2016 election, it matters greatly that the party currently in power has fostered all of this corruption. Voters can’t just shrug at that corruption or decline to finger the individuals and the party responsible. Voters have a duty to face and fix that corruption. Their 2016 ballot will offer them many ways to do so:
Party matters, especially in the upcoming election.
Unfortunately, we can’t vote out the law firm Dr. Newquist sees entwined in all this corruption. We can only vote out their puppets.
This one party system has been in place in South Dakota for almost 4 decades. Obviously it’s not working. Oh and Annie…never say never.
Without naming names (because it’s not worth it), I think there is more than one law firm which can be cast as The Firm in Pierre’s various corruptions. I’m thinking of one firm in downtown Sioux Falls, another in downtown Rapid City and a third in downtown Pierre. And there have been some key lobbyists who have provided the safety net for the corrupt characters they helped bankroll in elections. To be fair, they’ve helped bankroll some Democrats until they no longer served their clients’ goals for control.
The state’s gag law, in my opinion, was the first aggressive step by the vested interests in South Dakota to shut down and punish any accountability of the protected class in Pierre. Mike Rounds was Bill Janklow’s and Citibank’s leading spear carrier in getting the gag law passed.
Rock on, Kerry! We start the takeover in 2016, with Democrats winning majority in at least one house and demanded majority representation on GOAC. Then we show we can fight corruption and earn statewide offices in 2018.
The Dems in Pierre are wetting their beaks as much as the Republicans or someone would be talking. The Gag Law would be ruled unconstitutional if it was used and the whistle blower would prevail in a lawsuit for damages and keeping their job.
No, they are all in on the corruption in some way
Yes Cory, I agree that party matters in the upcoming election. And your suggestions are exactly what we need to focus on now. The point is to create a system that makes it difficult for this to happen no matter who is running the show. If that means taking the actions you have suggested, great! Whatever it takes to stop it, I’m in.
Thanks, Annie. Right now, the most immediate step to reduce/prevent corruption is to oust the current regime. At the same time, in the 2016 election, we can vote for the ballot measures that will support more balanced power. Then, when we have a better balance in the Legislature and, in 2018, a different chief executive hiring state employees from a broader pool, we can pass more reforms to make it harder for one party to concentrate power.
I believe the most immediate steps we can take is to demand justice and jail them, Cory. Thanks for your continuing efforts.
90S, we might not get jail time until we get an attorney general willing to secure evidence and prosecute. The most immediate step we can take for justice is to vote in new watchdogs, Legislature first, then statewide offices in 2018.