South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

economy

economy Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Sioux Falls Taxes

At least Mayor Mike is being ‘somewhat’ realistic

l3wis 16Comments

No surprise, sales tax revenues are still down in Sioux Falls. If you think we are just going to ‘POP’ out of this recession by simply ‘SAYING’ things are getting better, you are crazy. I actually think things are getting worse and we have not bottomed out yet in Sioux Falls, and it is refreshing to see that our new mayor understands at least one thing that is going on in our city and country;

But, numbers released Thursday show that the sales tax numbers have now dropped one percent compared to last year at this time. Mayor Mike Huether says he was not surprised by the seven point swing, saying the economy hasn’t fully turned around yet.

“I think that those are more realistic. The economy in no way has recovered completely,” Huether said.

And Huether says the new numbers prove that the city needs to keep spending under control and do even more this year to cut the budget.

“We will scrutinize the spending habits of city government even more,” Huether said.

While I agree cuts should be made, we must also have a one year break from special interest spending. I guess I don’t agree with cutting customer service to citizens when we are not cutting special interests. If we want to cut back on the Parks budget, which is beneficial to everyone, then we need to stop giving the Zoo money for monkey hot tubs. Citizen services should come first, and foremost. Trust me, I believe that Mike wants to trim the city budget, but if he cuts services for the sake of indoor pools and hockey rinks, he’ll hear about it, and not just from me. Remember Mike, you can’t have your cake and eat it to. Munson thought that was the case. You have to make a decision; Citizens or Special interests.

economy South Dakotans

Rounds starts his annual autumn ‘Doom & Gloom’ speaking tour

l3wis 9Comments

Somethings never change in South Dakota; fall harvest, pheasant hunting, influenza scares and Mikey’s ‘The Sky is Falling’ speaking tour;

Revenue to the state of South Dakota was down by $33 million in the first three months of this fiscal year, Gov. Mike Rounds said Monday, setting the stage for a painful legislative session next year.

At the same time, thousands of people have been added to the Medicaid entitlement program, which pays some medical expenses for the poor. The 6,400 people who have qualified for the state/federal program since August of last year could represent another $40 million to $50 million in expenses, creating a “huge budget problem,” Rounds said.

Yes, blame the poor for all of our problems, nevermind the rich in the state don’t pay their fair share of taxes or that we handout no bid contracts like candy.

It wasn’t all gloom and doom. Business optimism is on the rebound, and unemployment in South Dakota remains low compared with the national average.

Yet we have the highest number of working moms and the lowest hourly pay of any state in the nation. Unemployment may be low, but underemployment is high.

Heidepriem said he opposes any increases.

“For my part, I don’t think you can tax yourself out of a recession,” he said.

And imagine that, it is the democrat who is the fiscal conservative in all this.

economy Wall Street

Wall Street’s Naked Swindle

l3wis 11Comments

This story is a few days old, but a great read;

On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody — nobody knows who — made one of the craziest bets Wall Street has ever seen. The mystery figure spent $1.7 million on a series of options, gambling that shares in the venerable investment bank Bear Stearns would lose more than half their value in nine days or less. It was madness — “like buying 1.7 million lottery tickets,” according to one financial analyst.

But what’s even crazier is that the bet paid.

At the close of business that afternoon, Bear Stearns was trading at $62.97. At that point, whoever made the gamble owned the right to sell huge bundles of Bear stock, at $30 and $25, on or before March 20th. In order for the bet to pay, Bear would have to fall harder and faster than any Wall Street brokerage in history.

The very next day, March 12th, Bear went into free fall. By the end of the week, the firm had lost virtually all of its cash and was clinging to promises of state aid; by the weekend, it was being knocked to its knees by the Fed and the Treasury, and forced at the barrel of a shotgun to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase (which had been given $29 billion in public money to marry its hunchbacked new bride) at the humiliating price of … $2 a share. Whoever bought those options on March 11th woke up on the morning of March 17th having made 159 times his money, or roughly $270 million. This trader was either the luckiest guy in the world, the smartest son of a bitch ever or…

economy

Gargoyle Leader columnist, Okerlund, slams our Washington Delegation. BRAVO.

l3wis 0Comments

I have always enjoyed Matt’s columns, he is one of the few independent voices at the AL. This part of his Sunday’s column was a real zinger;

U.S. Sen. John Thune has shown little inclination to offend the Republican Party or corporate interests. On the contrary, they appear to have him on speed dial.

When Congress finally found the courage to curtail the brazen abuses that the credit card industry long has been inflicting on consumers, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin voted against the bill – the only Democrat in the House to do so.

U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson was the sole Democrat in the Senate to vote against the bill. Johnson also is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which, when omens of financial doom were everywhere, completely whiffed.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with Sioux Falls mayoral candidate, Mike Heuther this week after he told me he quit working at First Premier, (paraphrasing). “I won’t do the bidding of Denny Sanford.” That’s good to hear Mike, you should pass that message onto your Democratic counterparts in Washington. Don’t bother with Ironic Johnny, he is a lost cause.

Matt also states the obvious in his column;

So get set for more antics once financial industry reform replaces health care reform on Capitol Hill.

More disinformation.

More duplicity.

More defamation.

More lies.

More scare tactics.

More name-calling.

Get out!

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