South Dakota’s Fiscal Year 2015 Single Audit Report includes this breakdown of $2.33 billion federal dollars spent in the last budget year to promote the general welfare in our fair state:
The largest South Dakota budget category covered by Uncle Sam is health and human services—Medicaid, food stamps, etc. Next is environmental protection, keeping our air, water, and land clean. Third is education, with the feds spending almost as much on special education and other projects as we spend just paying our K-12 teachers.
The feds spent more on education in FY2015 than they did on our roads and bridges. Rounding out the top five federal expenditures in South Dakota is one private industry, agriculture, which received $247.8 million in what we may call corporate welfare.
That $2.33 billion amounts to over $2,700 per South Dakotan. That $2,700 buys a lot of health and economic security, clean water (as long as some meathead in Doland doesn’t turn off the lead-treatment spigot), school programs, and rumble strips. That money also constitutes a tempting trough for cronies and crooks who think they can rip off us taxpayers.
That $2.33 billion is why we need leaders who believe that government can and should work. We need Congresspeople who vow to do their jobs and never shut the government down. And we need state and local officials who are committed to transparency and accountability.
Does this mean that South Dakotans aren’t quite as independent as we think we are?
yes and no. ( I know you love those clear cut answers.) South Dakota has at least five of the most poorest counties in the country. It makes sense these counties would also receive the most federal funding.
Now, MC, don’t go blaming the Indians, the way typical Republicans do when they don’t want to acknowledge the entire state’s dependency on big government. Do you see a county breakdown anywhere of this federal funding data on which you might base your assertion?
Maybe some wingnut should inform the fed that the war on South Dakota, like the war on poverty just isn’t working and isn’t worth it. Why keep throwing billions at the state when the situation only gets worse every year?
I will say this-there seems to be more corruption and outright thievery in Dakota than in all the welfare programs combined federally.
Blame the Indians? No. I Blame the Federal Government. They had a treaty with the tribes, and didn’t honor the terms of the treaty. Now they are reaping their just rewards.
Thank you Mr. Seamans. You always have your eyes on the prize.
Clever, but, baloney! I’ve heard it before: I cite stats calling into question the SD conservative worldview, and some SD conservative mutters, “Reservations,” as if that refutes the whole point.
But back up: we still haven’t established that the five poorest counties receive some lion’s share of the federal spending outlined above. We can’t even have that debate until we have those numbers. And even if you can establish that disproportionate cash flow, those five counties are still as much South Dakota as our richer counties. If the feds weren’t footing the bill for whatever those counties need, we’d have to do it ourselves, for our people. Wherever that money is going, whether it’s covering teachers in Pine Ridge or farm payments along Skunk Creek in Minnehaha, it’s taking a burden off state government and South Dakota taxpayers. Thanks, Uncle Sam!
As a farmer I would venture that no native, non-farming person has received any where near as much of a federal payout as I have. I am nowhere near the worst and I don’t even have to pee in a cup to be eligible for these checks.
In case non farmers are feeling better about themselves it would be interesting to see the federal money that goes to cities and counties. I wouldn’t be surprised that in some cases that federal money approaches half of a cities budget.
Is the environmental line item for cleaning up messes or prevention/policing (or both)?
Good question, O! I figure it’s both—perhaps someone else here can fill in details?
But, but…. Our good friends over at the DWC are always taking about how all of our Republican governors are alway balancing the state budgets year after year through low taxation and spend thrift ideas…. What gives here? ;-)
https://dss.sd.gov/docs/news/reports/sdmedicaidreport2.pdf
The above has some interesting data on medicaid costs, etc.
In the counties with large Native American population, typically 35 to over 50% of residents are elgible for Medicaid. But scroll through the data yourself. It is all interesting.
Finding federal funding by county is not easy.
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/the-farm-bill-a-hand-up-or-a-hand-out/article_8ca1be96-cc84-569a-87be-dcb7a3c4ba32.html
There is a map here that shows Agriculture Department spending by SD County.
how many millionaires do we have and where are they located? I think the Forbes billionaire issue showed SD had maybe one or two??
good map, wiken, thx.
44. South Dakota 11,769 23.6 $42,525
Dakota has 11,769 millionaires. 23.6 per 1000 people. And you rank 44th in the nation.
Cory,
Correct me if I am wrong, but a large part of funding for Indian reservations come from the Dept. of Interior (BIA) and Department of Human Services IHS.
Tribes also received some direct block grants for numerous programs.
I can’t tell by looking at the chart if these federal funding sources are incorporated into what you are reporting.
It is strange that republicans continually complain about socialism on the reservation, yet do everything possible to prevent reservation growth.
http://gawker.com/americas-billionaires-all-got-cribs-in-south-dakota-to-1490308949
How many billionaires-all of them!
We need changes in state government. That’s why people like Cory & I are running. It certainly isn’t for the big salary of $6,000.
Don’t forget $123 per diem. That ain’t chicken feed and it is far more than I make on SS per diem.
Thank you for running.
Interesting stats on Medicaid eligibility, Douglas! How many of those eligible enroll and get benefits?
I’m going to take a wild guess and say that the five poorest counties aren’t taking a lion’s share of the federal dollars for environmental protection, infrastructure, or agriculture.
Roger, I think the numbers in the chart above are just the awards that the state gets from the feds. It would not include the direct spending the feds do via BIA/IHS. Does that make sense
Oh, and millionaires? Count me in—I feel like a million bucks every day. :-)
Ca, rog, doug, paul, mike, mark, m.k.leslie,
We all know federal dollars sent into rez from many sources are most likely not on this list, besides IHS/BIA
USDA rural Development, etc
HUD
Federal DOT
EPA
HHS
Federal dept of Energy
Federal Dept of Education
FEMA
ETC…
My rough guesstimate not on this state list for SD reservations-
600 million reoccurring average annually.
100 million average annual one time projects.
A ton of which goes to vendors, individuals, etc off the rez.
There’s more re-occurring and one time moneys
I would list more but I’m too busy feeling like a million today also caheidelberger! Thanks for the inspiration☆☆☆☆
Let us not forget that a large chunk of Medicaid money goes to nursing homes. The most recent figures I can find (2012) show about 63% of our nursing home residents are on Medicaid. They did not have the resources to private pay and long term care insurance was not an option due to cost and pre-existing conditions (high blood pressure, cancer, etc). They had to spend down their assets to meet the Medicaid qualifications because it was their only option.
I have talked to several people who have relatives in nursing homes on private pay. The cost is $6000.00 per month and up.
WR Old Guy, you are correct on the nursing homes, home healthcare and so many other issues that Medicaid covers for all. The problem with Medicaid Expansion is that it is not viewed in that context, it is only viewed as a means to punish the poor for being poor. The poor in this case being the working poor and not the ones who actually had assets that needed to be sold off and paid down to provide a roof over their heads while they await death. Daugaard and crew are very clever on this to keep the public in the dark on exactly how the Medicaid Expansion would help the communities suffering from lack of finding adequate employees to fulfill the job duties in these nursing facilities as they are chronically short of funding for that. Remember, Daugaard was the crook that cut funding for these nursing facilities when he became fiat leader of the state. Daugaard gets to blame the Indians for his already made decision on the expansion. The yokels then see the Indian getting something that they think they cannot get themselves and its off to the races (pun intended). One can only hope that the ones who have made this problem what it is, will sometime suffer the need to spend down their capital to qualify for the meager rations that Medicaid provides while they wait to meet their ends. Most of the right wing are to damn ignorant to understand their own economics though until it kicks them in the seat of the pants. $6,000.00 a month is a bargain when you consider old timers disease, then you are looking at over 10 grand a month. Good-bye to the family cruiser, the farm and what ever else you think is yours. You now are a ward of the Daugaard, your new daddy while he takes possession of what you thought was yours. Life is funny sometimes.
wow jerry. thanx for that. my gut agrees.
mfi-all the billionaires are “in” SD! I was dissatisfied, now i’m frightened. it would be funny if it weren’t so….
I have to stop reading this blog and join spike and cory in eternal bliss.