South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2016

Elections

Your vote for President in South Dakota doesn’t matter, really it doesn’t

l3wis 13Comments

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It’s kind of like an advisory vote, similar to the Events Center vote, it really has no clout. Maybe if you lived in California, New York or Florida . . . uh, maybe not Florida. Now I’m not saying NOT to vote. There are many important ballot initiatives and local races that you SHOULD weigh in on. But since South Dakota only has 3 electoral votes that ALWAYS go towards Republicans (heck, even our governor, Dennis Doofus is voting for Trump even though he denounces him as the nominee, still don’t get that one).

Like I said, if we were a bigger state with more political diversity, it would matter.

But what cracks me up is to listen to people who actually believe their vote matters. Just listen to this podcast of Belfrage. These people act like they need to vote for Trump, even if he is a disgusting pig and crooked business man to stop Hillary. Hey McFly, first off, you don’t have to vote for either candidate, you can leave it blank, and guess what, Trump will still win in South Dakota. Heck, Satan could be the Republican nominee for president, and would still win in South Dakota. Secondly, I have never understood defending presidential candidates even when they do ridiculous things, like both Hillary and Donald have done. Neither of them know you, and probably neither of them even care about you.

This is what has often chapped my hide about listening to these voters, mental health issues aside, I think Hillary refers to them as deplorables (I thought she was being nice) they get all worked up about the presidential election, a position they really don’t decide yet don’t show up to local school board and city elections (you know, the group of elected officials that determine most of the taxes you pay). Pay is so piss poor in South Dakota, most of us pay very little in Federal Income Taxes. Does it really matter, even if your voted counted, who we send to Washington? Just look at John Thune for example, he has literally done nothing during his terms. Don’t believe me? Has life in South Dakota gotten better for you because of Federal policies since Thune has been in office? Nope. EB-5 was a complete disaster and all of the Federal Money that was supposed to go towards Gear Up got stolen. And how is that Medicare expansion working out? The Feds don’t care about us.

So the next time there is a school board or municipal election, I want to see at least a 50% turnout (last election was 11%) and people calling in to local radio shows defending local candidates. Hillary is a crook and Trump is a loser and a crook. Who cares. Go do something more constructive with your life.

Elections Minnehaha County Pam Nelson Sioux Falls South Dakotans State Funding State Legislature

The South DaCola Voter Guide, kind of

l3wis 14Comments

I won’t touch on every race or issue, but on the ones I think are important. Let’s Go!

Re-Elect Pam Nelson for County Treasurer. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know who is running against Pam, doesn’t matter. Nelson has proved she is a strong advocate for citizens and tax payers.

Bonilla and Feinstein for County Commission. That is who I voted for, but I also don’t have an issue with Jean Bender. She has actually surprised me on commission and has been a great legal voice for the commission. Just don’t vote for Karsky. This insurance salesman has more conflicts of interest then you can shake a stick at. Time to retire Dean from local government so he has more time to dig holes at ground breaking ceremonies with the Chamber, his true love and boss.

Mike Saba and Jeff Barth for state legislature.

Yes on Amendment R. This is extremely past due. Technical schools should have had their own board 20 years ago.

No on Amendment S. Also referred to as Marsy’s Law. It is unneeded. Laws are already in place to protect victims.

Yes on Amendment T. There has been too much gerrymandering going on in our state and it is time to make the board that decides redistricting more fair.

No on Amendment U. This is a fake interest rate cap created by the payday lenders.

Yes on Amendment V. This is the most important Amendment on the ballot this year. By passing the non-partisan election amendment we will change the face of the legislature over the next 5 years, and hopefully we will have less amendments and initiatives in the future once we get better representative officials in Pierre.

NO on Ref 20. This will eliminate the youth minimum wage.

Yes on Measure 21. It will cap payday lending at 36%, and hopefully put them out of business.

Yes on Measure 22. I have said an ethics commission and publicly funded campaigns in SD is way past due.

I have no opinion on Ref 19 & 23.

I highly suggest you vote early, because the lines are going to be very, very, very long.

Elections Minnehaha County Sioux Falls

It’s going to be a very long night

l3wis 2Comments

Last week a Minnehaha County employee posted on FB that the county auditor, Bob Litz told him it is taking absentee voters between 10-30 minutes to vote. No doubt, it is a very long ballot (17″) and a lot of important issues. Forget about the presidential race, there are oodles of amendments and initiatives that need to be studied closely. Also, let’s just look at the ballot itself, a 17″ ballot will be the first time the county runs through the new vote counting machines. I don’t expect returns until Wednesday morning, so be patient folks.

Here is a great article about it.

SF City Council Sioux Falls Theresa Stehly

Lalley points out something DaCola has known about a very long time

l3wis 8Comments

And then the local MSM chimes in;

The shadow of secrecy continues to creep and the council’s action in the Stehly incident is just the latest worst example.

City Attorney David Pfeifle has refused to answer questions at to the legal justification of this secret session. This is unacceptable. Pfeifle is a public official and as such answerable to the people, which in this case is Argus Leader Media.

There is no place in a free society for the secrecy and subterfuge currently engaged in Sioux Falls city government.

It must stop.

First off, thank you Pat for writing this column, though I don’t agree with your digs at Theresa (surprised he wasn’t able to work in some Staggers digs in to). As I have said, this kind of bullying and intimidation has been going on for a long time. Kermit comes to mind, and ironically the AL has chimed in encouraging the bullying against him. Funny how these things work.

1st Amendment Mayor Hubris Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Public Works Sioux Falls

The Jesus Plows are back!

l3wis 11Comments

jesus

Lutheran School’s ode to fish and Jesus.

king

While stating you are ‘Christ the King’ school is not an issue, the Cross to the far left may be.

You sometimes wonder what part of the US Constitution government officials don’t understand when it comes to the 1st Amendment? Thomas Jefferson made it clear;

Jefferson’s metaphor of a wall of separation has been cited repeatedly by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Reynolds v. United States (1879) the Court wrote that Jefferson’s comments “may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [First] Amendment.” In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), Justice Hugo Black wrote: “In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between church and state.”

Many have argued against it, like our city attorney and mayor, but they are hardly our founding fathers who formed our democracy and wrote our bill of rights and constitution. The separation of government and religion is there to protect all of us, not just Christians.

The sad part of this is that after already being warned that this was not a good practice, the city relies on a disclaimer that is too small to read as a snow plow comes flying by with Jesus painted on the front. It just doesn’t pass the smell test. Why not just implement a policy that is simple;

Schools are discouraged of painting words or symbols on government owned property that promote a certain religion or sect. For example; Star of David, Muslim moon or the the Christian cross. If a school is not willing to abide by those rules, their ‘artwork’ will be painted over.

Wow! How simple is that?

For the record, I don’t have an issue with the Christian schools painting ‘God’ on the snowplows, that is a general term that doesn’t refer to a particular religion and well within 1st Amendment rights. Other words such as ‘faith’ or ‘spirituality’ are also acceptable.

Government property should not be used to promote a certain religion. Period. Many great societies immigrated to our country to rid themselves of religious persecution. They were tired of government telling them how to worship, or to worship at all. With freedom of religion, comes freedom from religion. Government has no place in it, and our Mayor, City Attorney and Public Works department should not allow it on government property.

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