I have a tummy full of turkey and cranberries to keep down; I really should not be reading Dakota War College.
But my tummy is soothed by finding the perfect retort to Pat Powers’s pig-slop squealing that lots of people like Dennis Daugaard and that Democrats need to accept “that Republican leadership is trusted in South Dakota.” That retort comes not from a liberal friend but from conservative comment-section cantankerer Daniel Buresh:
Trusted, but not for long with all the scandals. The governor needs to man up and push for ethics laws, conflict of interest laws, and put some teeth in the auditors office. They also need to have better open records laws. Dennis and a majority of our leaders have proven they can’t be trusted without some taxpayer oversight. If they can’t allow us that while spending our money, they can find the door when we kick their a$$es out [Daniel Buresh, comment, Dakota War College, 2015.11.25].
I may be as prone to wishfully overplay the power of corruption as a campaign issue for South Dakota Democrats in 2016 as Pat is prone to wishfully underplay it for his patrons. But even Daniel Buresh (a regular naysayer to many of my blog’s theses) seems to recognize that, with Gant, GOED, and GEAR UP piling up, even faithful conservatives may expect the Governor to show some leadership and demand more accountability from his own flunkies.
Ah, pass those cranberries my way again.
Hopefully Marty Jackel can take a solid position on the merits of a ethics commission to break up the good ole boy network!!
Cory you used the words leadership, accountability and the Governor in the same sentence. Shame on you and pass the gravy.
Marty I doubt it Happy Thanksgiving to every one .
Mr. Buresh is right that bloggers are not journalists in his past postings but he is wrong about the auditor’s office. Do you know what law firm is defending that Mr. Bollen fellow? Siegel, Barnett & Schutz. Isn’t that a Republican law firm and isn’t Mr. Barnett the auditor of the state?
Happy eating to you all, I am thankful for the fine dinner I was fed and am going to have more later this evening after resting some. I hope you all are as thankful for the things you have as am I.
This thread seems to call for solutions to long standing, wide and deep corruption in the State Capitol, largely centering around the Rounds/Daugaard administrations. A package of reforms needs to be introduced in the 2016 Legislature, but it must HAVE TEETH and it must be specific, tight and simple to understand.
I noticed a recent lament from Dave Bordewyk, general manager of the S.D. Newspaper Association. He felt that all the work he has done to pass open government legislation appears to amount to nothing based upon the rampant corruption of the Rounds/Daugaard regime. He’s right. It does amount to nothing. It was obvious when the proposals were made. His team in leading alleged reforms was too busy playing ball with schmucks. They operated out of a position of weakness. And their heralding event was setting up Sen. Jason Gant, R-Sioux Falls, as the spokesman for open and transparent government measures (which were whittled and watered down to appear to get something done and stay out of the way of the corruption and those who worked to keep it covered up). Dave’s a nice guy, I’m sure, but he was working with people who took their orders from Mike Rounds and they screwed the pooch. Jason Gant!!! End of story.
Going forward, what would be a five or six point package of reforms and harsh penalties to prevent the fleecing of government funds, jobs and fat contracts for family and cronies and all the other atrocities we’ve witnessed since Mike Rounds took office as Governor?
If you’re serious about fixing corruption, go straight to the corruption and fix it forever. Do not compromise and do not allow the crooks’ protectors in Pierre water down your reforms. A ban on no bid contracts is a good starting place, but make sure you cover all possibilities of sweetheart deals and make the penalties severe. Think like one of the criminals in these two administrations and figure out how to game the system of state-controlled jobs, contracts, funding and oversight. You need to be two steps ahead of these crooks to shut them out.
And when you’re developing a package of solid reforms, think about the coalition that needs to be on board to blow the whistle and explain the package to the public long before the lobbyists and the bought-off legislators get to Pierre. This can be won, but you will not gain anything if you think you need to play ball. If Joop Bollen is ballsy enough to dictate the venue for a trial involving his corrupt network, you as the public certainly have a lot more standing and credibility to sweep the dirtballs out of our state government forever.
96, in addition to your excellent corruption points, I would make it illegal for state, state contractors, etc. from double dipping – one state job only.
I would also shout long and hard about those that oppose corruption reform, you know, put a sign on their back like the “kick me sign”.
I have given my opinion on Dakota War College a few times but now am banned since my latest comments simply do not load into their website. Watch if this one drops off of their radar as well.
There is no way reforms get passed as long as Daugaard controls the strings of so many puppet “Republicans.”
Democrats also need to rally behind conservatives who call Daugaard out on his corruption and oppose the status quo corruption as usual environment that we have seen. I just don’t see that happening.
Mr. Elgersma, it is possible that Mr. Powers is having some web problems. His blog has become extremely slow even when it is not filled with pictures from press releases that we all can read in other places. I think it is getting infested with those things that need to be cleaned from computers. You can get this software but my granddaughter usually runs it for me. I guess what I mean is Mr. Powers may not be discriminating on you but is having computer problems. I’m just sayin…
Mr. Dakotan, if the libbies rally behind legislatures like young Ms. May or even that Mr. Russell fellow who is insaner than most, it will be no change and some minor entertainment. It is the libbies’ best hope, though.
I called this months ago – we do not want the corrupt installing ethics and corruption reform in South Dakota. They will never police themselves.
I say we need the state auditor to install ethics reform. People should march on the statehouse this legislature meeting and demand it. Mr. H is the man to lead that marching.
Democrats have been screaming about corruption for a long time it’s just that there voices weren’t heard because the REPUBLICANS wouldn’t listen.
Again trying to say Republicans and Democrats are the same is garbage. But lets see what would happen if the Democrats were in charge! Vote Democrat.
I think the libbies are a dying breed in South Dakota. The Democrat party is dying very fast. The Libertarians, led by the likes of my good friend Bob, and to a less extent one of those out-of-state fellows, Mr. kurtz, are on the rise. I think you will see Libertarians surpassing the Democrats and leading the loudest pushes for things very soon.
I think it is the wise, calm, Libertarian voices that are now being heard. They are not screaming, they are rationally discussing suggestions.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Owen, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
No one claimed the faux “Republicans” are Democrats. That limited two-dimensional understanding of politics, that you demonstrate, adds to the political confusion though that you ironically lament.
You rail against NFL Jersey supporting voters even as you preach the same nonsense.
There is no magic pill of (R) or (D) candidates. BOTH parties have shown that too much power corrupts.
As long as such pedestrian politics is pushed, over supporting individuals who show merit? We will continue to have the corrupt political system that is abused by dishonest people sullying both the (R) and the (D).
More dyslexia. Open gubmint = nope. Help for the least = steal from the least.
Think like the criminals, advises 96. South Dakota elects Republicans who holler about how we can’t trust government, but then those Republicans go to Pierre and legislate as if we can trust government and thus don’t need ethics commissions and toothy open records laws and contract-bidding rules. Taking 96’s advice requires overcoming our back-patting exceptionalism and recognizing that the corruption and tyranny that Republicans talk about to make everyone scared of Obama and Pelosi and get elected is at least as prevalent, more relevant, and far more immediately solvable in our own state government.
Disgusted, Democrats don’t need to “get behind” the mugwump conservatives like Lance Russell who throw rocks at the establishment but can’t muster a winning majority or a viable groundswell campaign for anyone or anything outside their own neighborly district boundaries. Democrats and reform-minded conservatives can work side by side to promote our common goals.
I’m happy to second Rep. Russell’s call for Secretary Schopp to resign, just as I was happy to second Sen. Adelstein’s call in 2012 for Secretary Gant to resign. Will Rep. Russell and our conservative friends now second my call for reform via the Anti-Corruption Act and the anti-gerrymandering amendment that will be on the 2016 ballot? They don’t even have to take the bold step you advocate of backing (Democratic) individuals of merit at the polls. Would it hurt those conservatives to come out in favor of those non-partisan ballot measures to erode the power of the GOP establishment?
Pat Powers is relevant like herpes is kissing.
Is Jeremiah Murphy still alive? He and grud should get a rheum.
The anger with the corruption in Pierre is wider than us dyin’ breed libbies might think. Folks have had a belly full of Joop Bollen and the EB-5 racket. They’re alarmed at the killings in Platte. They’re sick of the continuing drip, drip, drip of scandal and graft and cover up from the Gear Up fleecing and the state flag theft and abuses by Jason Gant are greeted by cynicism that this is just more garbage on a large heap of trash. Awareness is sinking in and public statements by Marty Jackley and Dennis Daugaard just keep picking the scabs off the wounds.
People don’t want more evidence. They just want someone to clean up the mess. A Republican can make this happen. So can a Democrat. This doesn’t have to be about a political party. Its authenticity is rooted in the fact that people are pissed off by what they’ve been seeing in the media since they found Richard Benda’s body in a Charles Mix County shelterbelt.
And, yes, it won’t get support from Daugaard and GOP leadership in the House and Senate. But how long can they stand up for protecting criminals as long as a growing population of angry South Dakotans stay in their face?
People don’t want more evidence—they just want someone to clean up the mess. Holy cow, 96—you mean we Dems don’t have to prove our point? We just have to offer candidates who remind people of the corruption they already recognize and say, “We’ve got the brooms; send us to Pierre to clean it up”?
Is Shantel Krebs trying to assume that mantle? Will other Republican candidates jump on board and declare themselves corruption fighters to keep their seats? Do Democrats need to jump into the fray sooner to establish their corruption bona fides and make the GOP look like they’re just shouting “Me too!” for political convenience?
so i gather we are NOT thankful for:
our south dakota GOP representative government;
its lobbyist stars like murphy, newbie on the block _____ smith, the sx falls lawyer ect;
new residents the Koch brothers;
environmental thieves like KXL, uranium miners, nuclear waste disposal brought to you by SDSM&T and out dear Board of Regents;
and the lack of effective leadership in SDDP to take down EB5, MCEC, John Thune and Christie Noem, and take out Rounds and Daugaard, GOAC, and de-elect legislators like May and Jensen ect.
Who’s with me!?-to mob roiling with pitch forks, hot tar, and burning brands. blach blach blach (chickens)
Don’t hold your breath over reforming the system in Pierre. South Dakota Republicans have led the way in sleaziness for decades, and the national Republican Party is trying to catch up.
The nationwide trend in Republican and conservative circles is to deregulate governmental ethics, campaign finance and lobbying rules, and open records, while increasing regulation on voters (voter ID, tougher requirements on ballot measures, etc.). Republicans in Wisconsin just gutted ethics and campaign finance and tried to gut the open records laws (failed so far, but still work on it), and need I say that the Republican Party is now headed by a Wisconsin slimeball of the worst order (Reince Priebus). South Dakota Republicans would have to buck the entire conservative and Republican national establishment to enact anti-corruption and ethics reforms, and they don’t have the integrity to do that.
Let’s not kids ourselves that anyone in the Republican Party is interested in reform. Lance Russell? Really? Lance Russell doesn’t care about corruption. He only cares about whether any money or power is coming his way. You can’t find any more corrupt legislation than the uranium mining bills he and Mike Rounds supported.
The Governor isn’t going to “man up,” and conservative aren’t going to make him “man up.” I appreciate Buresh’s passion on this, but your entire party and the entire conservative movement is rotten to the core.
there it is
Exactly, Mr. Pay. Good eye.
Mr. Pay you took the words out of my mouth. Great post.
Tired of these “conservatives” trying to turn the so-called moderates into Democrats-thus leaving things the status quo.
sorry DD but it is two dimensional. Republicans have the far right and a few moderates but it’s still the Republican Party. Just like there is the far left, moderates and yes even conservatives of the Democratic Party but they are all Democrats.
Not sure what to do, Don, when **reporting that in 2014 the number of people self-identifying as independent was at 39 percent, passing that of Democrats (32 percent) and Republicans (23 percent). **
Who is voting them into power? The digital voting machines most 8th graders could hack? Dems and Indies? Your very concise blame label has truth that only tells at best 23% of the problem and more likely something less.
I’m not defending anyone but no concessions by anyone creates exactly what we got with affordable care.
Au contraire mon frère Cory.
Perhaps my optimism for decency returning to South Dakota governance has obstructed my objectivity, but I think this is sinking in with the public. The public’s question is, what the hell are you going to DO about it? Solid reforms need to be publicized. Stake holders in reform need to be recruited. A real campaign needs to be launched to give Daugaard apologists a chance to screw themselves on reform bills in committee and floor votes or do the right thing. Now you have a campaign issue.
This doesn’t get fixed unless we engage regular folks and associations interested in fixing the mess. And don’t get me wrong, Cory. The messaging needs to keep coming through all kinds of media. But somebody now needs to stand up and lead. Just DO SOMETHING. To the cynics out there, you really can steamroll the governor when he’s wrong. It takes a lot of work and tenacity, but I’ve seen it done before and it can happen again.
The outrage is spreading. You don’t have to be a Democrat to understand things are rotten in Pierre. I’m hearing from Republicans that they’re embarrassed this is happening and nobody is taking charge to clean it up. Grab the brass ring. The window is now opening.
Donald Pay—what? really? I can’t rouse any useful allies from the Lance Russell wing of the Republican Party? We Democrats have to do all the heavy lifting against this corruption all by ourselves? :-)
96Tears: is a brass ring available in 2016? Can a leader rise from the Legislature to steamroll the Governor? If the 2016 Session produces no results, can a group of legislators collaborate in a statewide campaign to elect a reformist majority (or at least a minority big enough to make trouble)? Is there a role for either of our statewide candidates—Paula Hawks and her Senate ticketmate—to help grab that brass ring?
Cory,
Sho’nuff!
With Daugaard’s and Rounds’ EB-5 and Gear Up revelations, we’ve got two glaring examples of what happens when one political party dominates and then festers over two generations. EB-5 and Gear Up (and who knows what’s going to bob up next) will be around for a while. The stench in Pierre runs pretty deep. Democrats must be aggressive with tough reforms and keep up the heat. That’s Plan A.
Plan B involves waiting another 20 years hoping that the voting demographics in South Dakota might change to Democrat, or leaning Democrat.
If there are Democrat legislators and state party officials who aren’t committed to working as one to bust the racket in Pierre, they need to stay out of the way.
our list o elected dem leaders in the house-
julie bartling, gregory
shawn bordeaux, mission
dennis feikert, huron
peggy gibson, aberdeen
paula hawks, hartford (where mayors recuse for proxies?!)
spencer hawley, brookings
kevin killer, pine ridge
patrick kirschenman, sx falls
steven mcclearey, sisseton
ray ring, vermillion
dean schrimp,
HOUSE (cont.) (12 of 70 members)
dean schrempp, lantry
karen soli, sx falls
SENATE (8 of 35 members)
jim bradford,pine ridge
angie buhl o’donnell, sx falls
jason frerich, wilmont
troy heinert, mission
bernie hunhoff, vermillion
scott parsley, madison
jim peterson, revillo
billie sutton, burke
so we have 20 of some 105 state-wide elected representatives we must lean on to turn this little tub boat on the river. lets get crackin with a state-wide, issue-rich strategy to put the republicans out of business by showing their fatal flaws in every state department, administration, and state-wide.