But let’s not think one clever one-liner in the Oval Office makes Larry Rhoden a great statesman. On principle and policy, he’s still incoherent.
The same day that Governor Rhoden went to Washington to celebrate new federal prescription drug price controls, the Governor issued his latest weekly ramble to decry government involvement in the economy:
When government gets too involved in the economy, it tends to make things a lot more expensive. Businesses waste time, effort, and money trying to comply with regulations. Fortunately, South Dakota doesn’t have that problem in the way other states do. We base our regulations in common sense, we cut red tape, and we have the 2nd fewest overall regulations in the nation.
But continued challenges at the national level do impact South Dakotans, and we are doing what we can to address them.…
Healthcare costs also continue to rise year after year. This past year, for the first time in South Dakota history, it cost state taxpayers more to cover Medicaid costs than to pay for K-12 education. Frankly, it should not be that way, but it’s a direct result of the federal government kicking more and more of the cost of Medicaid down to the states. And we’re working with the Trump Administration to address that, as well [Gov. Larry Rhoden, weekly column, 2026.09.18].
Governor Rhoden claims that government getting “too involved” in the economy “tends to make things a lot more expensive.” “Too” and “tends” are weasel words, making his principle vague enough to allow Larry to turn on a dime and advocate any government involvement that suits his agenda.
But Rhoden fouls even that vague declaration when he turns to health care. The cost-driving “problem” he identifies, “the federal government kicking more and more of the cost of Medicaid down to the states”, is not an example of government getting “too” involved or even “more” involved; to the diametrical contrary, Rhoden is complaining that the federal government has reduced its involvement in the health care economy.
Rhoden says he’s working with the feds to address that cost-driver, but the immediate result of that work, touted in a separate press release from Rhoden the same day as the above-quoted column, is more federal involvement in the health care economy: specifically, communist price controls on prescription drugs. The White House extorted the price cuts from Big Pharma on the promise of exemptions from tariffs, another radical involvement of government in the economy.
Less federal involvement in the economy would look like (a) no price controls (on drugs or beef) and (b) no tariffs (on drugs or beef or anything else), which would boost the economy and make lots of things cheaper. One would think Governor Rhoden himself would draw that conclusion from his own warning about too much government involvement. But the White House he praises is involving the government in the economy in policy after ad-hoc policy, and Rhoden apparently wants that involvement.
The most pesky involvement of government that raises cost (or reduces profit) in health care is requiring everyone get coverage.
Health care is the best issue to argue a side: is the government there to protect business profits or to protect citizens’ health? Whose interests ought government represent: business or citizenry?
Ironically, the only of those two that can actually vote to choose the government, consistently chooses a government that puts their interests in second.
Health care is cheap — if we just let those pesky sick people die untreated.